How do I tell Shadowless from Unlimited Base Set?

Shadowless cards have no drop shadow to the right of the artwork frame, thinner HP text and generally flatter, lighter colouring. Unlimited cards have the shadow. Both share the same artwork and card numbers, but they are different markets.

What is a 4th print Base Set card?

A later Unlimited-era English Base Set printing identified by a 1999-2000 copyright line at the bottom of the card, with slight colour differences. It is scarcer than standard Unlimited and typically carries a premium over it.

Why is my vintage card worth less than the price I saw?

Usually condition. Headline vintage figures are often Near Mint or graded sales, while most surviving 1999 cards are Lightly to Moderately Played once you account for centering, edge wear and surface scratches.

How do you price a card that barely ever sells?

With a range rather than a point estimate: the last genuine sales, the wider condition ladder, and community-verified prices where sales are too sparse to stand alone. COMPED shows the sale count so you know how thin the evidence is.

Why are some vintage cards missing a price entirely?

Because a comp needs sales of that exact edition and condition. Split Base Set across 1st Edition Shadowless, Shadowless, 4th print and Unlimited, then across the condition ladder, and some cells legitimately have no recent sale. COMPED leaves those unpriced or ranged rather than borrowing another edition's number.

Why do vintage slab prices dwarf the raw comp?

Surviving high-grade vintage is rare, so a PSA or ACE 10 is priced from its own auction and marketplace results — often orders of magnitude above the raw card. The two are never derived from each other.

Why can't a scan tell my Base Set edition apart?

Editions share artwork; the differences are a drop shadow, a copyright line and subtle colour. A scan flags the candidates and asks you to confirm, because guessing an edition is the single biggest source of wrong vintage valuations.

Vintage

Vintage Pokémon card values, done properly

Vintage is where pricing tools fall over: sales are infrequent, condition swings the number by multiples, and four different Base Set printings share one piece of artwork. COMPED prices each printing as its own card.

Comp a card All comping guides

Four Base Set printings, four markets

Identifying English Base Set printings
Printing	How to spot it
1st Edition Shadowless	1st Edition stamp, no drop shadow beside the art frame
Shadowless	No drop shadow, thinner HP text, flatter colour, no stamp
4th print	Drop shadow present, 1999-2000 copyright line, slight colour shift
Unlimited	Drop shadow present, 1999 copyright line

Averaging these together — which many trackers effectively do — produces a number that is wrong for every single one of them. COMPED labels the printing on the result and comps it separately.

Condition does most of the work

Vintage raw comps anchor to realistic played grades, because that is what most 1999 copies actually are.
Whitened edges, off-centre cuts and holo scratches are normal on vintage and are priced in, not ignored.
A NM raw vintage holo is genuinely rare and trades far above the played cluster — treat it as its own tier.
If you are pricing to sell, photograph the corners and holo under angled light before you claim a condition.

How COMPED builds a number

UK sold data first. Completed eBay UK sales in GBP are the primary evidence. If a card is thinly traded, the search widens to global sold data rather than falling back to a guess.
Exact printing only. Set, number, language, finish and edition must match — 1st Edition, Shadowless, 4th print and Unlimited are priced as separate cards, as are reverse holos and regional printings.
Outliers scrubbed. Digby drops damaged copies, lots, proxies, mislabelled graded sales and single freak results before the weighted comp is calculated.
Condition-anchored. Vintage raw cards are anchored to realistic played grades rather than pretending every copy is Near Mint; modern cards anchor to NM.
Community-verified. Vendors and collectors confirm prices in the Price Trainer, and that consensus nudges the headline comp on cards where sales are sparse.
Uncertainty is shown, not hidden. When there is not enough comparable evidence, COMPED says so and shows a range with the sale count behind it.

Thin sales, honest answers

Low-population vintage cards and low-pop slabs can go months between sales. Collectors discuss this constantly: the last sale might be stale, the seller wants well above it, and there is no clean number to point at. The right output is a range with the evidence attached, plus community-verified input where the market is too quiet to speak for itself — not a confident figure with nothing behind it.

Keep reading

Graded slab comps

Where the big vintage money actually trades.

UK prices in GBP

Vintage sells differently on eBay UK.

How to comp a card

The process behind every vintage number.

Why tools disagree

Vintage is where the spread between apps is widest.

Common questions

How do I tell Shadowless from Unlimited Base Set?: Shadowless cards have no drop shadow to the right of the artwork frame, thinner HP text and generally flatter, lighter colouring. Unlimited cards have the shadow. Both share the same artwork and card numbers, but they are different markets.
What is a 4th print Base Set card?: A later Unlimited-era English Base Set printing identified by a 1999-2000 copyright line at the bottom of the card, with slight colour differences. It is scarcer than standard Unlimited and typically carries a premium over it.
Why is my vintage card worth less than the price I saw?: Usually condition. Headline vintage figures are often Near Mint or graded sales, while most surviving 1999 cards are Lightly to Moderately Played once you account for centering, edge wear and surface scratches.
How do you price a card that barely ever sells?: With a range rather than a point estimate: the last genuine sales, the wider condition ladder, and community-verified prices where sales are too sparse to stand alone. COMPED shows the sale count so you know how thin the evidence is.
Why are some vintage cards missing a price entirely?: Because a comp needs sales of that exact edition and condition. Split Base Set across 1st Edition Shadowless, Shadowless, 4th print and Unlimited, then across the condition ladder, and some cells legitimately have no recent sale. COMPED leaves those unpriced or ranged rather than borrowing another edition's number.
Why do vintage slab prices dwarf the raw comp?: Surviving high-grade vintage is rare, so a PSA or ACE 10 is priced from its own auction and marketplace results — often orders of magnitude above the raw card. The two are never derived from each other.
Why can't a scan tell my Base Set edition apart?: Editions share artwork; the differences are a drop shadow, a copyright line and subtle colour. A scan flags the candidates and asks you to confirm, because guessing an edition is the single biggest source of wrong vintage valuations.