Private case record
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TCG Partnerz · Restoration case record
1997 Mystery of the Fossils Gengar (Japanese) No. 094
Case CA29UTXK · Andy H.
Run Up
- Year
- 1997
- Set
- Japanese Fossil (Mystery of the Fossils)
- Illustrator
- Keiji Kinebuchi
- Ungraded value
- $150-350
Japanese counterpart of the English Fossil Gengar - the Japanese expansion is called 'Mystery of the Fossils'.
Ungraded value is a p25-p75 range across active listings for this exact printing, dated on the day it was pulled. It is a market observation, not an offer or an appraisal.
Where your card is
-
Run UpComplete
The card identified and valued before anyone touches it.
-
CleaningComplete
Surface work, logged zone by zone as it happens.
-
RevealComplete
The post-press review, filmed end to end.
Card profile
- Player
- Gengar (Japanese)
- Set
- Mystery of the Fossils
- Year
- 1997
- Card number
- No. 094
Case
- Case
- CA29UTXK
- Client
- Andy H.
- Received
- 2026-07-26
Work performed
- A full intake walk of both faces, with a score spoken for fourteen of the twenty-four zones.
- Both faces wet-cleaned with the CardDoc solution, half the card at a time, one-way strokes, keeping pressure light over the existing scratches.
- Spot humidity on a lifted corner, then a full humidity bath under soft clamps.
- The crease and the corners worked with the roller and bone tools. The raised ridge came down; the indent of the crease could not be pulled back out, and the line still shows in the foil.
- One attempt on two small marks in the holo, which became less visible but remain.
- Pressed from the evening of 2026-09-12 to the morning of 2026-09-19, about seven days.
- The holo scratches and the edge whitening were judged beyond safe repair and were left alone. No paint was added to the lifted print.
TCG Partnerz grade our own 10-point working assessment
front
back
Hover or tap any zone to read its grade and what was said about it.
Tap a zone for what was said about it. Edges and corners are one piece of cardboard seen from either side; quadrants are the two faces' own surfaces. A zone marked ? was described but never scored, so no number is claimed for it.
A subjective in-house review scored by quadrant, corner and side, not a third-party grade. This map is the card as it arrived, from the intake walk on 2026-09-12. Fourteen of the twenty-four zones were given a number out loud. The ten marked ? were looked at and described but not scored, so no number is claimed for them. The Before figure of 5.7 is the average of those fourteen spoken scores, not a separate assessment. The card came out of the press on 2026-09-19 and the work was closed that day at review without a post-press grade, by choice: this record is the deliverable, not a number.
Restoration walkthrough
Tap any timestamp to jump to that moment in the video. Work = an action performed on the card; Check = an inspection or note.
The intake walk
- V1 2:17 Check The plan: a pre-grade walk, then a clean.
- V1 3:08 Work Front top-left corner: a small dent and crimp, the print lifted off the foil.
- V1 3:34 Check How a holo card is made: the print sits on top of a foil sheet.
- V1 6:04 Check Front top-left corner scored 4.
- V1 6:40 Check Front top edge 6, top-right corner 8.
- V1 8:18 Check A dent or crease on the front right side, called workable.
- V1 9:34 Check Front right edge 6, and scratching through the centre.
- V1 10:08 Check Where the scratches came from: set face down on grit, and sleeve wear. They cannot be removed.
- V1 12:01 Check Front bottom-right corner 6, bottom edge 6, bottom-left corner raised and frayed.
- V1 12:45 Check A dent in the yellow band above the bottom-left corner.
- V1 14:00 Check Front left edge 8. Two small dots in the holo beside Gengar's face.
- V1 15:58 Check A dark spot on the Gengar, checked: it is the print, not damage.
- V1 17:21 Check The front face as a whole: a 4.
- V1 19:00 Check Back: the front's corner bend showing through at the top left.
- V1 20:01 Check Back top edge 6.
- V1 20:43 Check Back top-left corner 5, top-right 6, right edge 4.
- V1 21:38 Check Tan staining on the back.
- V1 22:02 Check Back bottom edge and both bottom corners 5.
- V1 22:35 Check The crease goes through the entire card.
- V1 23:59 Check At every angle the paper looks torn. This needs special treatment.
- V1 26:14 Check The verdict: lightly played. The plan: clean, humidity, then the crease.
The clean
- V2 0:05 Check The CardDoc cleaning solution.
- V2 0:57 Check Smudging at the top of the front, first to go.
- V2 3:41 Check Held sideways, half the card at a time, one-way strokes.
- V2 4:14 Check The surface releasing along the bottom edge.
- V2 5:30 Check Light pressure over the scratches so as not to widen them.
- V2 6:13 Check The back.
- V2 10:26 Work Spot humidity on a lifted corner with the roller and card tool.
- V2 14:26 Work Still lifted. More moisture.
- V2 15:48 Check Lying down but keeping an edge, so on to a full bath.
- V2 16:56 Work Into the humidity bath under soft clamps.
- V2 17:43 Check The tools for the next step.
The crease and the corners
- V3 0:00 Check Out of the humidity bath.
- V3 0:40 Check Work centred on the crease.
- V3 3:05 Check Already less pronounced.
- V3 4:20 Check The crack in the surface cannot be removed.
- V3 5:15 Work Rolled down about as low as it will go.
- V3 6:05 Check The raise is gone. The imprint of the work remains.
- V3 6:15 Work A small section flattened by the tool, and worked back.
- V3 7:20 Check Better than before, but the crease could not be sealed.
- V3 7:45 Check The bottom corners.
- V3 13:40 Check The crease is indented and cannot be pulled back out.
- V3 17:30 Check One attempt on the two small dots in the holo.
- V3 19:35 Check Less visible. Still there.
- V3 22:00 Check Left to dry.
Out of the press
- V4 0:00 Check Out of the press after about a week.
- V4 0:49 Check The holo scratches remain. The corner turned out well.
- V4 1:01 Check The corner lies flat.
- V4 1:17 Check The line still shows in the foil, but the crimping is gone.
- V4 1:58 Check The back: the damage is almost gone.
- V4 2:18 Check The surface crack still shows; the lift is gone.
- V4 2:50 Check Whitening remains.
- V4 3:14 Work A small crimp, flattened. Back into its case.
Sessions (5 on record)
No defects recorded in this session (not a clean bill).
Full walk of both faces with a score spoken for most zones.
The card is called Sabrina's Gengar
at 01:45 and 14:53; that is a slip of the tongue. The card on camera is the Japanese Fossil Gengar, ゲンガー LV.38 HP80 No. 094, Kinebuchi, and the Fossil symbol is named at 17:58.
Top-left corner: a small dent and crimp, with print lifted off the foil 03:08; scored 4 at 06:04 (I'm going to go ahead and give it a four right now. It's a 3/4
). Top edge 6, top-right corner 8 06:40. Right edge: a dent or crease 08:18, definitely something that we can get out of there
; scored 6 09:34. Surface scratching across the holo, attributed to the card being set face down on grit and to sleeve wear at the bottom 10:08 10:59; he states the scratches cannot be removed. Bottom-right corner 6, bottom edge 6 12:01. Bottom-left corner: raising and fraying, not scored 12:01; a dent in the yellow band just above it 12:45. Left edge scored 6 at 13:16 and then 8 at 14:00 after a closer look; the later figure is recorded. Two small dots in the holo just left of Gengar's face 14:00. A dark spot on the Gengar was checked and called the print, not damage 15:58 17:00. Front face as a whole: a five ... maybe even a four. Let's go with a four
17:21.
Top-left corner 5, the front bend showing through 19:00 20:43. Top edge 6 20:01. Top-right corner 6, right edge 4 20:43. The opposite edge carries a visible impression, described and not scored 20:43. Tan staining across the back 21:38. Bottom edge and both bottom corners 5, given as one figure 22:02. The right-side crease goes through the entire card 22:35, with a long scratch running off it 23:09, and at 23:59 the paper looks torn at every angle: this needs special treatment
. Close: I would still consider this lightly played
26:14. Plan: clean, a short humidity bath, then work the crease. At 06:04 he states he cannot add paint to the lifted print.
No defects recorded in this session (not a clean bill).
Wet clean with the CardDoc solution 00:05. Smudging at the top of the front called out first 00:57. Cleaned half the card at a time with the card held sideways, one-way swipes 01:25 03:41; he reports residue coming off 01:59 02:46 and the surface releasing along the bottom edge 04:14. Kept pressure light over the scratches so as not to enlarge them 05:30. Back cleaned 06:13, moving the card as little as possible because a trapped particle once left a line on another card 06:28.
No defects recorded in this session (not a clean bill).
Out of the humidity bath after an hour and a half
by his own count 00:00. Work centred on the crease 00:40. At 03:05 it is not as big and pronounced
.
can't get away from that crack
04:20; the raise is gone but still the imprint of the work
06:05; a little mashed section that I think I might have caused
, then worked back 06:15; It's better than it was before. But we didn't create a better thing and we weren't able to seal it
07:20. The bottom corners worked next 07:45. A small area that would not settle 09:35 was given more moisture 11:45 and had no ridge at 12:10; at 13:40 he concludes the crease is indented and I can't pull it back out
. One attempt on the two small holo dots 17:30: not so prominent. They're still there
19:35. Ends with the card left to dry 22:00.
The recording ends with the card out; the reveal on 2026-09-19 opens with it clamped in the acrylic press. So it went in after 21:47 on 09-12, and this session is dated to the work that ended in it. No zone was scored in this recording.
No defects recorded in this session (not a clean bill).
Out of the press on 2026-09-19, about seven days in. Handled bare-handed with washed hands, as stated 00:00, and put back into its VaultX case at the end 03:14.
The card feels nice and crispy
00:00. The holo scratches remain, as expected, and that corner did turn out real nice
00:49, now flat 01:01. On the front crease the foil still shows a line, but that crimping is gone on that edge, and on this one, too
01:17. Back: that damage is almost all gone
01:58; the surface crack is still visible, the lift is gone, a little of the work shows, and on the other side too much pressure ... probably could have done a little extra work on it
02:18. Whitening remains 02:50. A small crimp is still visible but flattened 03:14.
No zone and no overall was scored at this sitting, so no post-press grade is claimed.
No defects recorded in this session (not a clean bill).
Lucas reviewed the finished card on 2026-09-19 and closed the work WITHOUT a post-press grade, by choice.
And is not a zone walk; it records the closing decision on the date it was made, sourced to Lucas. His words at the reveal the same morning were the assessment: fully restored now to a degree of which I think is, it's hydrated and going to last another 30 years
reveal 02:50, and the card went back into its case. The Before figure on this case (5.7) is the average of the fourteen zone scores spoken at intake, set on his instruction; it is not a separate assessment and no after figure is implied by it.
Watch the restoration
Photo record
Intake inspection · Sat 12 Sep 2026 · 17 photos
Cleaning · Sat 12 Sep 2026 · 2 photos
Press / flatten · Sat 12 Sep 2026 · 15 photos
Post-press · Sat 19 Sep 2026 · 11 photos
TCG Partnerz · work record, not a grade. Photographs taken during the documented sessions for this card; order follows the custody chain.