If your card is a holographic (the sparkly kind), the First Edition hunt gets spicy. Look at the edge of the holo foil. On a true First Edition, the foil pattern extends all the way to the card’s border, without any weird gaps.
How to Tell if a Pokémon Card is First Edition (2026 Guide)
Later print runs sloppily cut the foil short, leaving a dead zone of plain cardboard. It’s like buying a pizza and finding the cheese stopped an inch from the crust. Repulsive, but common.
Also, watch for the “shadowless” trait we mentioned earlier. A First Edition holo that’s also shadowless is the holy grail. We’re talking “sell your car and buy a used Ferrari” money.
