Heritage Offers Uncut Sheet of Magic: The Gathering and Pokémon Cards Certified by CGC Cards

An uncut sheet that combines Magic: The Gathering and Pokémon cards that is graded and encapsulated by CGC Cards™ is being offered in an ongoing Heritage Auctions sale. It is just one of the many CGC-certified items being offered in the Trading Card Games Signature Auction, which is set to end on August 17, 2024.

The Lightning Dragon, Drifting Meadow, & Blastoise Pokémon/Magic: The Gathering (1998) 25-Subject Test Print Sheet is graded CGC Authentic (AU) (lot 36040). As the label suggests, the sheet includes 25 cards, including 10 examples of Lightning Dragon, 10 Japanese examples of Drifting Meadow, and 5 yellow-bordered examples of Blastoise test print cards. Interestingly, the sheet itself has a white back — normally, uncut sheets from Wizards of the Coast’s Magic: The Gathering production line have regular Magic card backings, so this is a rare piece.

Each of the cards printed on the uncut sheet holds significance to their respective TCGs. Lightning Dragon was the first holofoil card printed for Magic: The Gathering; it first appeared in Urza’s Saga. Meanwhile, Drifting Meadow did not have a holofoil release until 2023 — the holo versions on this sheet may be some of the earliest holofoil printings of the card. Finally, the Test Print Blastoise cards come from a time when Wizards of the Coast was experimenting with creating the first English Pokémon cards. To learn more about this, click here.

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Three more Pokémon TCG test prints are being offered in the sale, including a Charizard, Pokémon (1996) Japanese Beta Playtest graded CGC 8.5 (lot 36056), a Blastoise, Pokémon (1996) Japanese Beta Playtest graded CGC 9 (lot 36057) and a Venusaur, Pokémon (1996) Japanese Beta Playtest graded CGC 8.5 (lot 36058).

The Pokémon TCG’s Beta test phase included cards that were very different from the cards that made it into the official release. For example, while Charizard’s Beta test card included much of the same textual information as its later Base Set release, it was obviously very different visually. The card featured Charizard artwork drawn by Ken Sugimori instead of the iconic Base Set illustration drawn by Mitsuhiro Arita, and it features white borders instead of gold. Additionally, the Beta playtest cards are missing rarity symbols, but include habitat information, which was later scrapped.

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Other CGC-certified cards in the auction include:

• a Shining Charizard, Pokémon (2002) Neo Destiny 1st Edition graded CGC 9.5 (lot 36029)
• a Crusade, Magic: The Gathering (1993) Limited Edition Beta graded CGC 8.5 (lot 37001)
• a Charizard, Pokémon (2001) Japanese Base Expansion Pack 1st Edition Holo graded CGC Pristine 10 (lot 37049)
• a Charizard, Pokémon (1999) Base Set Shadowless Holo graded CGC 7 (lot 37026)
• a Shining Steelix, Pokémon (2002) Neo Destiny 1st Edition graded CGC 9.5 (lot 37027)

Note: At the time some of these cards were graded, they were encapsulated with the original CGC Cards label. Starting July 11, 2023, CGC Cards began encapsulating cards with the new CGC Cards label. In addition to the new label, collectors enjoy many other benefits with CGC Cards, such as the ability to submit without purchasing a membership and an industry-standard Gem Mint 10 grading scale. For more information, go here.