Condition Guide

Condition Guide

At Hikari League, we understand that judging the condition of a trading card can be subjective; opinions vary among collectors on what qualities a card should be, such as near mint or excellent.

Below is our easy-to-understand Condition Guide to help you understand the condition of our cards. You will find below the guidelines for Single Cards.

 

Raw cards

NM/M (Near Mint / Mint)

A card in Near Mint / Mint condition will have no more than very minor wear or may have a small piece of whitening along one edge of the card.

 

EX (Excellent)

A card in Excellent condition will be showing some signs of minor play. A card in this condition may exhibit one or more of the following:
Very small marks on the sides of the card
Light wear around one or more corners/edges of the card
Minor surface scratches on either the front or back of the card
Small binder bending/creases
Surface scratches on the foil of a holographic card
 

US (Used)

A card in Used condition will show more significant wear. A card in this condition may exhibit one or more of the following:
Whitening around multiple sides
Fading/whitening of front and/or back surface of the card
Shuffling marks/creases at the edges of the card
Distinct corner wear
Moderate binder bending
Clearly visible surface scratches on a holographic card
Minor creasing

 

HP (Heavily Played)

A card in Heavily Played Condition is deemed to be our lowest card condition. These cards show more significant wear or damage, and will not generally be sold on our website. A card in this condition may exhibit one or more of the following:
Major Inking
Physical Damage (minor tearing or holes)
Heavy corner wear
Major front or back whitening
Creases – 1 or more
Major water damage
Writing on the front or back of the card
Major shuffle creases
Cards with very obvious surface damage, minor indentations etc
Heavy, consistent, border wear
You should assume that opaque sleeves will be required to play a Good condition card in sanctioned tournaments.