If you haven’t collected Pokémon cards for a while, or are coming back into the scene, then there may be some terms thrown around that you aren’t familiar with. Facebook groups and Pokémon communities will always have their own lingo and “in-house” phrases / memes, but I wanted to put together a few that may help you get a headstart when you join.

You may know some of them, you may know all of them, but hopefully these terms can give you confidence in communities. If you can think of any others then drop a message in the comments to share the knowledge!

“Box Break”

Lots of Instagram influencers and streamers have been doing Box Breaks recently. A Box Break is when someone opens (breaks into) a Booster Box and sells the boosters contained inside. The slots for the boosters are sold ahead of time and only once all are sold will the box be opened.

But why is this important? Why not just buy a single booster? Well, each booster box generally contains a set number of holos in older sets, and secret rares in newer sets. Having the Box Break streamed removes the chance of your pack being weighed (check our description below) and also gives you that suspense watching it live if the pack is opened.

Sometimes a Box Break is just done to sell boosters, with the boosters sealed and numbered on stream, but more generally the booster packs are opened on stream. This gives the streamer great content and also makes for a thrilling watch. Holos and Rares are treated with care and protected once opened and you can see it handled.

There are other Box Break variations than those listed above, such as buyers receiving all cards of a certain type (Fire, Water, etc). TCG Player have put together a nice overview, so give it a read if you’d like to know more!

“Razz”

A Razz, I believe derived from the item RazzBerry in PokémonGo, is an alternative term for a Raffle. This is predominantly used in Facebook Communities as it prevents Facebook from automatically picking up the group to be moderated through overuse of the term Raffle. It’s essentially a strategy against Facebook AI to keep groups running under the radar.

Raffles allow users to buy tickets for a price the fraction of the prize. For example, selling 25 tickets for a £100 Pokémon card at £5 each. This gives the seller an additional £25 and one lucky buyer will get a great deal.

“M, NM+, LP, etc.”

When you come to buy Pokémon cards either through eBay or online communities, then cards will usually be listed with one of a number of abbreviations. These relate to the quality of the card as the seller percieves it. I’ve included the range below, but you’ll generally only want to be looking for NM+ if you’re a collector.

  • M – Mint – This is rarely used, as it’s hard to justify a card being truly Mint. It’s more likely that the seller will use the much more comment NM+ rating.
  • NM+ – Near Mint or Better – The card will show minimal or no wear, and can have a nearly unmarked surface, crisp corners and unblemished edges outside of a few minimal flaws.
  • LP – Lightly Played – Minor scuffs and light marks from being used. The card should have no major defects such as creases or tears.
  • MP – Moderately Played
  • HP – Heavily Played
  • D – Damaged – Unless you’re looking to get a PSA 1 rating on a card (yes, some people do!) then you’ll want to avoid Damaged cards. These are heavily marked with stains, creases and/or tears.

You can find a more in-depth breakdown of the card grades with corresponding imagery over at TCG Player, who’ve put together a pretty great guide.

If you’re buying a PSA or graded card, then these will have a 1-10 scale that represents the quality of the card against a number of factors, so you can buy and collect with confidence.

£xx all-in”

When you term term “all-in” is added to a sales post it simply means that the price includes postage and fees. It’s used as an incentive for the sale as there are no hidden fees.

“Unweighed”

Weighed and Unweighed are terms used to describe booster packs being sold. Before opening a booster pack, you can place it on an accurate scale and get an indication of whether or not the pack contains a holographic or full art card. With a keen eye, sellers can open the good packs for themselves and then resell the “light” (likely without holo cards) packs to recoup funds.

This is why Box Breaks have become so prevelant as of late, to prove that packs are unweighed. If you’re buying vintage boosters, or booster packs from more expensive sets, then it’s definitely worth asking the seller the weight of the pack.

I’ll be expanding on this subject in some upcoming posts, looking into whether modern set boosters are still possible to weigh.