YouTuber Faces Legal Threats After Exposing Flaws in Pokemon TCG Grading Company
A YouTuber known for his content surrounding Pokemon Trading Card Game (TCG) ended up in hot water with card grading company CGC. After manually altering cards and testing CGC’s credibility, the YouTuber received near-perfect grades, leading to legal threats from CGC.
The practice of Pokémon TCG collection is taken very seriously by some with the qualification of cards by reliable graders being integral to the sector. Certain TCG cards can sell for millions of dollars, with some individuals using the opportunity to perpetrate scams.
Within the Pokémon TCG collector community, a niche group finds interest in factory errors that can enhance the value of apparently worthless cards up to ten times. These factory errors can come in the form of misprints or miscuts where a machine misaligned the card and removes a certain portion, these are coveted cards and need to be professionally graded for authenticity.
Pokemon TCG YouTuber Exposes Major Grader
In an attempt to put to test the quality control of major grader CGC, the Pokémon TCG YouTuber sent them some manually cut cards that they certified as factory errors. After the result, the YouTuber got banned from receiving future grades and subsequent 'threatening' legal documents.
Grader Accused of Mishandling
In a follow-up video, the YouTuber detailed his banning and the subsequent legal threats, insisting he was merely pointing out CGC’s failing process. The YouTuber lamented the alleged threats by CGC to silence him, he noted that his aim was never to make a profit off the cards he sent but to verify the seriousness of CGC when it comes to grading Pokémon TCG cards.
According to the YouTuber, he sent cards that were 'very obviously altered' in his opinion, and thought any professional Pokémon TCG card grader should have been able to notice the modifications. In his words, he experienced a 'shocking truth' in his discovery that CGC does not actually grade their cards properly and went on to claim they should be embarrassed.
The YouTuber also raised concerns about how many people may have been affected by allegedly substandard grading practices of CGC. He warns his viewers to be extremely wary of the company and went as far as referring to CGC as 'the worst company' he's ever seen. He further stated that he only shone a spotlight on something that should not occur and they responded by banning him.