Trading Card Glossary: 52 Collector Terms Explained
Plain-English definitions of the words collectors use, from pull rate and EV to slabs, pop reports and card conditions.
A · B · C · D · E · F · G · H · I · L · M · N · P · R · S · T · U · W
A
- ACE SPEC
- A powerful Trainer card limited to one per deck. ACE SPEC Rare also appears as a rarity in recent sets.
- Alt art
- Alternate artwork version of a card, usually with full-scene art. Modern Illustration Rares are often called alt arts.
B
- BGS (Beckett)
- Beckett Grading Services, a grading company known for giving four subgrades (centering, corners, edges, surface).
- Booster box
- A sealed display of booster packs, typically 36 packs for main English expansions.
- Booster pack
- A sealed pack of random cards from one set. The basic unit of opening.
- Break
- A live-streamed opening where buyers pay for a share (such as a team or slot) of the cards opened.
- Bulk
- Low-value commons and uncommons, usually sold by the hundreds or thousands.
C
- Centering
- How evenly a card's image sits within its borders. One of the four grading criteria.
- CGC
- Certified Guaranty Company, a grading company for trading cards, comics and coins.
- Chase card
- The most wanted, usually most valuable, card in a set. The card everyone is 'chasing.'
- Comps
- Comparable sales, meaning recent sold prices for the same card in the same condition. The best guide to real value.
- Condition
- The physical state of a card. Common raw conditions are Near Mint, Lightly Played, Moderately Played, Heavily Played and Damaged.
D
- Damaged (DMG)
- A card with major wear such as creases, tears or water damage.
- Direct Low
- The lowest listing eligible for TCGplayer Direct fulfillment, when available.
- Double Rare
- Usually the regular version of a Pokémon ex, marked with two black stars.
E
- ETB (Elite Trainer Box)
- A sealed product with booster packs plus accessories like sleeves, energy cards, dice and a storage box.
- EV (expected value)
- The average value you'd get per pack or box if you opened the same product many times. Equal to the sum of each outcome's probability times its value.
F
- Full art
- A card whose artwork covers the entire face, usually with a textured surface.
G
- Gem Mint
- The top grade on most scales, a 10. Some graders have an even higher Pristine or Black Label designation.
- God pack
- A rare special pack containing only high-rarity cards, found in a few sets.
- Grading
- Sending a card to an independent company to be authenticated, given a 1–10 condition grade, and sealed in a case.
H
- Heavily Played (HP)
- A card with significant wear, such as creases, heavy whitening or scuffs. Not to be confused with a Pokémon's Hit Points.
- Hit
- Any card better than a regular rare that you pull from a pack, such as an ex, full art or illustration rare.
- Holo (holofoil)
- A card with a reflective foil effect. On classic holos the foil covers the artwork.
- Hyper Rare
- A gold-etched card, marked with three gold stars, in Scarlet & Violet era sets.
I
- Illustration Rare
- Alternate full-card artwork of a regular Pokémon, marked with one gold star.
L
- Lightly Played (LP)
- Minor wear like light edge whitening or small scratches. Usually sells a bit below Near Mint.
M
- Market price
- TCGplayer's price based on recent completed sales. The main price used across PullMeter.
- Master set
- Every card in a set, including every variant such as reverse holos and secret rares.
- Moderately Played (MP)
- Noticeable wear such as whitening, scuffs or minor creases.
- MSRP
- Manufacturer's suggested retail price, the official retail price of sealed product.
N
- Near Mint (NM)
- A card with minimal to no wear. The standard condition for most listed market prices.
P
- Parallel
- A variant of a card with a different finish or color, common in sports cards and sometimes serial-numbered.
- Penny sleeve
- A thin, cheap, clear plastic sleeve and the first layer of protection for any card.
- Pop report
- A grading company's population report, showing how many copies of a card it has graded at each grade.
- PSA
- Professional Sports Authenticator, the largest trading card grading company.
- Pull rate
- How often a card or rarity appears in packs, such as '1 in 32 packs.' Official odds aren't published, so rates come from large opening samples.
R
- Raw
- An ungraded card, not in a grading slab.
- Reverse holo
- A version of a card where the foil covers everything except the artwork. Most packs contain reverse holo slots.
- Rip
- To open packs. 'Ripping a box' means opening a whole booster box.
- Rookie card (RC)
- A sports player's first licensed trading card, usually the most valuable of their cards.
S
- Sealed
- Unopened product still in factory wrap, such as packs, boxes and ETBs.
- Secret rare
- A card numbered beyond the set's printed total (such as 201/198). Collectors also use it loosely for modern rarities above Ultra Rare.
- Semi-rigid holder
- A flexible plastic card holder, often called a card saver, that grading companies usually prefer for submissions.
- Set number
- The number printed on a card showing its place in the set, such as 25/165.
- SGC
- Sportscard Guaranty, a grading company popular with sports and vintage collectors.
- Slab
- The sealed, tamper-evident plastic case a graded card comes in. Also used to mean a graded card.
- Special Illustration Rare (SIR)
- Full scene artwork for Pokémon ex and Supporters, marked with two gold stars. Often the chase cards.
T
- TCGplayer
- A major US online marketplace for trading cards, and the source of the market prices on PullMeter (via the Pokémon TCG API).
- Toploader
- A rigid plastic holder for a sleeved card, used for storage and shipping.
U
- Ultra Rare
- In Scarlet & Violet era sets, full-art Pokémon ex and Supporter cards.
W
- Wax
- Collector slang, mostly in sports cards, for sealed packs and boxes.
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