The printing facility in Japan produces cards with: Better centering JPN cards are cut with tighter tolerances, making off-center cards far less common than in English print runs Smoother card stock The paper quality is more uniform, reducing surface imperfections that cost points on the grading scale Cleaner edges Factory-fresh JPN cards show fewer whitening issues straight out of the pack Consistent foil application Holographic patterns and texture are applied more evenly This means a freshly pulled Japanese SAR or SR has a meaningfully higher chance of earning a PSA 10 compared to the same card printed in English
Maybe I am a larper
The latest sets are incredibly hard to get hold of, for example, with most items fetching a ridiculously inflated cost
A much more powerful example is Warren Warleader, which can make attacking tokens or pump the board when it hops into combat
(Magic: The Gathering maker Wizards of the Coast would release the English localisation of the first Base Set in January 1999.) A number of cards from the Pokmon TCGs earliest Base Set make a reappearance in Celebrations as part of a Classic Collection
4 Omnath, Locus Of Creation Fourth Time's The Charm Omnath's been through the Magic equivalent of the five stages of grief, gaining a color every time we revisit the character