Will CGC Grade? - Harry Potter TCG Playtest Beta Cards 1 1

[RJT3]

I would like to submit my Harry Potter Playtest Beta Cards for grading, I just want to make sure CGC will accept/grade them prior to sending in.

 

History/Provenance: 

This Harry Potter Playtest Beta Cards are 2 decks of 41 cards created in 2000 by Wizards of the Coast in preparation for the TCG Harry Potter launch in August 2001. Yes, you read that right, there are only 82 Harry Potter Playtest Beta cards in the world, of which 22 are lesson cards.

 

These cards had multiple purposes. On one side testing the playability of the game and its mechanics (hence the creation of 2 playable decks). However, many adjustments were made between the Playtest Beta cards and the Base Set cards released the following year in 2001.

 

How were these made?

Production, these were made with the same classic printing style as early Magic or Pokémon (i.e., Cyan + Magenta + Yellow in "rosettes", dotted to avoid Moiré's scheme, and Black in full print). This proves that the cards are authentic.

 

How are they different?

-These are the ONLY Harry Potter cards with the "1st Edition" logo printed on them, just as we see on early Pokémon cards.

-The back of the card was initially a different design but was changed before the release of Base Set in 2001.

-All of the cards are numbered 154/163

-Lessons have no illustrator name ("illustrated by")

 

How can they make sure they're official?

If you were in New York in January 2001, you can find these playtest cards at the Wizards of The Coast booth at the NYC Toy Fair for the TCG Harry Potter release announcement.

There are photos which I have attached from the event where you can see the Playtest Beta Cards on a table.

Additionally, these Harry Potter Cards were featured in a German magazine "KARTEFAKT" which previewed the upcoming release and cards.

 

Attached are photos of provenance.

German Magazine + NYC Toy fair WotC booth. Also confirmed by WotC employee.

 

Edited August 29, 2023 by RJT3
Misspelling & grammatical errors.

[KaileeS CS]

Hello @RJT3, Thank you for contacting us. Yes, CGC Cards grades virtually all trading card games (TCGs), sports cards, and non-sports cards. Currently, We currently accept cards sized 2-5/8” x 3-3/4” (6.6cm x 9.5cm) or smaller. Cards may be up to 7.25mm thick. As long as the cards are standard-sized, we should have no issues grading them.

Please let us know if you have any additional questions. Thank you!

[SnorlaxCollective]

These are super cool, thanks for sharing OP!