Texture Errors: A Guide to Recent Texture Anomalies in the Pokémon TCG

Since the Black and White era of the Pokémon TCG, many higher-rarity cards have featured textured surfaces designed to enhance the artwork and provide a premium finish. These cards are often valued by collectors, both for their beautiful designs and because they are often the rarest cards in a set.

The texturing process occurs after a card's artwork has been printed, which occasionally results in production errors. Because these issues happen during the manufacturing process itself, they are recognized by CGC as legitimate printing errors and are presented in the CGC Cards Error Guide. Examples include Incomplete Texture, Missing Texture, and Misaligned Texture errors. Cards exhibiting these types of errors receive an "Error" designation below the grade, along with a description of the specific issue on the label. Because they are one-off errors, they are not tracked in the CGC Cards Census.

An Atticus, Pokémon (2024) Japanese Terastal Fest ex Super Rare - Holo with a Misaligned Texture graded CGC Gem Mint 10 Click images to enlarge.

In rare cases, a design mistake can occur during the creation of the rollers used to apply the texture. When this happens — and the defect is not corrected before the roller goes into the machine — every copy of the affected card will display the same anomaly. For example, did you know that every single copy of Charizard GX from Burning Shadows contains a texture error? Although the card has a retreat cost of only two Energy, the texture pattern includes a third retreat-cost Energy symbol. Because this feature appears on every copy of Charizard GX, it is considered an uncorrected error. As a result, it is treated as part of the card's standard production and is not noted on the grading label.

A close-up image of the retreat cost on a Charizard GX from Burning Shadows. Notice the additional texture for a third Colorless Energy next to the other two Colorless energy symbols. Click image to enlarge.

In other cases, errors of this nature can be far more significant. When both error and corrected versions of a card exist, CGC will usually recognize them as distinct variants. A notable example is the 2023 South Korean release of VSTAR Universe, the final special set of the Sword & Shield era. The set contains 35 textured special art rare cards, all of which were intended to feature unique texture patterns that complemented their artwork.

While all cards in the VSTAR Universe set can be found with their intended texturing, two cards from the set — Charizard and Entei — are known to have examples with swapped texture patterns. This production error occurred during the layout process for the texture layers, resulting in the texture files for the two cards being swapped in at least one position on the sheet for at least one print run. As a result, Charizard was printed with Entei's texture pattern, and Entei was printed with Charizard's.

Since both the regular and error versions of Entei and Charizard exist, these cards are recognized as distinct variants by CGC. It is important to note that variants like these are treated slightly differently from one-off manufacturing errors; they are broken out separately in the CGC Cards Population Report, allowing their relative rarity to be ascertained and recorded.

Please note: Although Charizard V and Entei V are texture "errors," because CGC considers these two cards as variants, they will not include the "error" designation under the grade on the label.

A Charizard V, Pokémon (2022) Korean VSTAR Universe - Entei V SAR Texture Error graded CGC 9 (left) and an Entei V, Pokémon (2022) Korean VSTAR Universe - Charizard V SAR Texture Error graded CGC Pristine 10 (right) Click images to enlarge.

Click images to enlarge.

Japanese Pokémon cards are often regarded as the gold standard for print quality. However, even their production facilities have experienced significant texturing mistakes. One of the most notable examples occurred with N's Zoroark ex from the 2025 Battle Partners expansion (also known as Journey Together in North America). Due to a layout error during production, an unknown number of N's Zoroark ex were manufactured using the texture layer intended for the special art rare version of N's Zoroark ex instead of the ultra rare. This resulted in a striking error, which can be seen below.

An N's Zoroark ex, Pokémon (2025) Japanese Battle Partners Ultra Rare - SAR Texture Error graded CGC Pristine 10 (left) and an N's Zoroark ex, Pokémon (2025) Journey Together Special Illustration Rare graded CGC Pristine 10 (right). The texture error can be best seen on the Ultra Rare's background, and on the "star" below Zoroark's tail. Click images to enlarge.

Because Japanese Pokémon cards feature exceptionally detailed and precise texturing, the difference between the standard and error versions of N's Zoroark ex is immediately apparent, even to the naked eye. This mistake was significant enough that The Pokémon Company issued a public apology acknowledging the production error!

Manufacturing errors such as these are desirable to collectors and often realize a higher premium than their standard counterparts. If you have an error card, consider sending it to CGC for expert authentication, grading, and encapsulation services. CGC's grading experts ensure the authenticity of your cards before encapsulating them in our industry-leading holder, preserving their condition and value. Get started by creating a free membership account here. Paid members get discounts on grading services.