CGC Trading Cards Featured Card of the Month: The Seal of Orichalcos

Game: Yu-Gi-Oh!

Set: Upper Deck – Duel the Master Side Event

Card: The Seal of Orichalcos

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What makes it special? Fans may recognize The Seal of Orichalcos from several Yu-Gi-Oh! sets, including Legendary Collection 3: Yugi’s World and Magnificent Mavens. These examples, however, are all reprints of the original. The Seal of Orichalcos was originally printed for use by UDE staff in the Orichalcos Challenge — a special event that challenged players to duel members of UDE’s staff, who used decks with unfair advantages. Winners of the event got to take home event-exclusive cards and bragging rights. To learn more about the card’s history, click here.

Did you know? The Seal of Orichalcos UDE Promo was printed in 2005, but it was only available to Upper Deck staff. Fans of the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG and anime wouldn’t be able to get their hands on a version of this legendary card until 2012, when it was revised and finally released in the Legendary Collection 3: Yugi’s World set.

After the Orichalcos Challenge, the Seal of Orichalcos UDE Promo disappeared from the public eye for nearly 15 years, with no records or photographs of its existence ever showing up online. It wouldn't appear again until 2017, when Yu-Gi-Oh! collector AsianYensation uploaded a reveal video of the card on YouTube.

Some in the collecting community believe that showing the back side of the Seal of Orichalcos UDE Promo is disrespectful of the card's origins. This could be related to the fact that there were no online images or records of the card available until AsianYensation's reveal video.

Sales highlights: A Seal of Orichalcos, Yu-Gi-Oh! (2005) Upper Deck – Duel the Master Side Event – SEAL EN001 Unauthorized Print graded CGC 7 realized $26,400 in a Heritage Auctions sale in June 2022.

CGC Trading Cards Registry: Yu-Gi-Oh! fans will be delighted to learn that CGC Trading Cards has launched a Yu-Gi-Oh! section of the CGC Trading Cards Registry. Explore your options for adding cards to a set there.