I would first like to say that this is an international community formed around this product. Yet I feel I can speak for everyone within that community and say the production quality of English Pokemon cards is so poor that they are not worth the premium prices charged.

In contrast the quality of Japanese Pokemon Cards printed by the Media Factory are phenomenal. Consistently they arrive in pristine condition, they have the same characters, the same artwork, the same attacks, yet the English cards do not have the same level of quality control.

I’d go as far as saying that 90% of cards pulled directly out of new English booster packs will have eroded edges and chunks taken out of the corners. If this wasn’t bad enough, on many occasions the cards have been so poorly miscut that another card image will appear on the same card.

The TCG consists of both players and collectors, irrespective of which market the Pokemon Company International aim for; you wouldn’t purchase a brand new Mercedes Benz and expect it to have dents and scratches on it.

Although Pokemon does have a policy where if you aren’t happy, they will send out a few free packs. But what’s the point? They will be in exactly the same condition as the cards purchased originally – not to mention no same card is guaranteed. Bringing it back to the Mercedes Benz analogy, I would be furious, expect a discount and a replacement. Yet Pokemon would send you a new car with the same dents and scuffs but we accept this?

This applies to everything on the market today. Any lamp, any desk or any computer made, all have a Quality Manager associated with the inspection of goods to deliver the best product quality to their consumer. Yet for the last several years Pokemon appear to have neglected this system and disregarded the consumer entirely by doing so.

I would like to add that this isn’t a personal attack against the company from us. We just simply LOVE Pokemon and the Pokemon TCG but as a community we know that we deserve better and we expect better quality.