Private case record
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TCG Partnerz · Restoration case record
1999 Fossil Gengar #20/62
Case CC6UCEVD · Andy H.
Run Up
- Year
- 1999
- Set
- Fossil
- Illustrator
- Keiji Kinebuchi
- Ungraded value
- $25-45
Fossil - the third English set (1999), 62 cards. Gengar appears twice: the holo 5/62 and this non-holo 20/62. Same art, very different money.
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
- Set
- Fossil
- Year
- 1999
- Card number
- 20/62
- Ungraded value
- $25-45 (p25-p75, n=427; TCGplayer Unlimited market $38.63)
Case
- Case
- CC6UCEVD
- Client
- Andy H.
- Received
- 2026-07-26
Work performed
- Full zone-by-zone review under raking light before any work: four edges, four corners and four quadrants on each face.
- Both faces cleaned with CardDoc solution on a makeup-remover pad, worked in a single direction. Light soiling only.
- Edge whitening re-stretched with a pin tool under moisture rather than filled or coloured. No pigment was added to this card at any point.
- Top-middle chip on the back edge worked wet across several attempts; partially closed.
- A raised corner rolled back flat.
- Placed between two new acrylic plates under four spring clamps, pressure concentrated over the worked areas. 24 to 48 hours.
- Out of a 5-day press and re-inspected under raking light. Nine of the twenty-four zones were re-measured, and six came back BELOW their intake numbers - the front bottom-right quadrant most of all, on a crease that is still there.
- Two new marks are on the record: an indentation at a back bottom corner, and a small dent on the back inside the Pokemon logo. I believe both came from my own handling or from the press. Both are timestamped in the video.
- A cleaner and polish then worked over both faces and the card set on parchment to dry. First time I have used this product on a card.
- I would like a second pass before this comes back to you, to work those two marks and finish measuring the zones I did not reach. Nothing more happens without your say-so.
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 is the post-press state. An overall of 7.2 was assigned at review. Nine of the twenty-four zones were re-measured at the reveal on 2026-08-03; the zones marked ? were not re-measured that day, so no post-press number is claimed for them and their intake figures still stand. A second pass is planned, and the map will be completed then.
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.
Review
- V1 1:25 Check Top-left corner front: lifting and edge usage, no whitening or nicks.
- V1 2:04 Check Top edge front graded 10.
- V1 2:17 Check Top-right corner front: blunting with fraying, graded 8.5.
- V1 3:45 Check Chipping explained, and why it cannot be filled without making the card ungradeable.
- V1 6:05 Check Bottom edge front graded 9.8.
- V1 10:49 Check Top-right quadrant front: light left-to-right scuffing, graded 9.6.
- V1 14:57 Check Back top edge fails the horizon test: whitening stays as the card tilts. Graded 8.5.
- V1 16:27 Check Card reads balanced in the hand; a slight slant suggests binder storage, not damage.
Cleaning
- V1 22:09 Work Both faces cleaned with CardDoc solution, worked in one direction.
- V1 24:30 Check A drag felt in the middle of the back, where the card was handled.
- V1 25:38 Check Moisture applied deliberately as press preparation.
- V1 27:00 Check Edges re-stretched with a pin tool: "stretching a canvas back over the rigid inside".
- V1 33:00 Check Bottom-left corner whitening nearly gone, with the stopping rule stated aloud.
- V1 45:00 Check Top-middle back chip worked wet and nearly abandoned.
- V1 48:00 Check Further attempt succeeds: "What horizon now? ... That worked."
- V1 50:00 Work A raised corner rolled flat.
Press
Reveal
- V2 0:24 Check Out of a 5-day press. "It feels so crisp, so good."
- V2 1:51 Work The top-right corner worked in the first pass: "corner is now beautifully flattened."
- V2 2:53 Check Top-right corner front: edge bunting and a little crease remain. Called 9.2.
- V2 3:03 Check Revised to 8.7 as further chipping appears along the right border.
- V2 3:24 Check Photographed: the chipping on the right front corner.
- V2 3:35 Check "What I'm looking for is remnants of my work. So, have I produced my own errors."
- V2 4:48 Check Right edge front graded 8.8: chipping in three places.
- V2 5:21 Check Bottom edge front graded 10.
- V2 5:32 Check Bottom-left corner front graded 10.
- V2 7:30 Check Top-left quadrant front 9.2. No scratching; "still has a lot of its original topography."
- V2 7:34 Check Top-right quadrant front 9.4.
- V2 8:53 Check Bottom-right quadrant front 8.2, held down by the crease still present.
- V2 9:05 Check Bottom-left quadrant front 9.4.
- V2 9:13 Check The back: "this screams 8."
- V2 9:50 Check Back top edge 7.2. "Not mangled and not bent, just some home chipping."
- V2 10:38 Work Back bottom corner: an indentation. "You can see where I rolled it unintentionally."
- V2 12:00 Check Back top-left quadrant: a small dent inside the o of the Pokemon logo, missed on the first pass.
- V2 12:40 Check "My guess, it's going to be from pressing, something got in there."
- V2 12:28 Work Andy's standing instruction restated: "I don't want to send it in, I just want them cleaned up."
Polish (new method)
- V2 13:16 Check First use of a CardDoc cleaner and polish. Applied to the front, then wiped straight off.
- V2 15:01 Check "A full applique of this on this side of the card."
- V2 16:04 Check Same on the back, worked edge to edge.
- V2 17:38 Check "It did bring out that corner. The sharpness of that corner's nice."
- V2 18:30 Check Fingerprints still lifting; more microfibre needed. Card to be re-wiped with fresh gloves.
- V2 19:17 Check Set on parchment paper to dry. A second pass is requested before the card returns.
Sessions (5 on record)
No defects recorded in this session (not a clean bill).
Full zone-by-zone review before any work, filmed end to end. Raking light across all four edges, then each corner, then the quadrants, front and back. [00:01] "this 1999 Fossil Gengar ... at first glance, I said, 'I don't know what I can do to this.'" [02:17] top right corner front: "some blunting, presents a little bit of fraying ... somebody has slammed this down." [03:45] chipping called out and its limit stated plainly: "when chipping occurs, that's typically when there's missing paint ... that I cannot replace. Other people might take on a marker or color just to fix it for visual purposes, but of course any alterations like that will cause grading to be impossible." [14:57] back top edge, the horizon test: "The more I tilt the card, the whitening still shows. What I'd like to see is that whitening disappear like a horizon." [16:27] "this card feels balanced ... it hasn't been bent, it's not flimsy." [17:00] a slight slant down the right side, read as storage rather than damage: "that could denote that it sat in a binder in a corner spot." [08:23] identity and market stated on camera: "1999, rare, non-holo, Unlimited series, Fossil 20 of 62 ... ungraded, it goes for anywhere from $25 to $45."
No defects recorded in this session (not a clean bill).
Cleaning and edge work, same recording, beginning at [22:09]. [22:09] both faces cleaned with CardDoc solution on a makeup-remover pad, worked in one direction: "I'm just starting at the top. Nice soft movements ... you can feel the grip of the card, and as it sort of releases as you come down." Little dirt lifted: "not enough for me to go, 'This is a dirty card.'" [24:30] a drag felt in the middle of the back, where cards are handled: "this one definitely has a little needs a little love right here in the middle." [25:38] moisture applied deliberately as press preparation: "this heavy application right now will become part of the moisture that survives and helps mold the final state." [27:00] edges re-stretched with a pin tool rather than filled: "you can imagine stretching a canvas back over the rigid inside ... we're taking those valleys away." [33:00] bottom left corner: "It's almost gone. Look at that!" with the stopping rule said aloud: "I know eventually that blue cracks and then you have a bigger problem." [45:00] the top-middle back chip, the hard one, worked wet and nearly abandoned: "There's nothing I can do here. Not without touching the card directly." Then on a further attempt, [48:00] "I think I got some of the blue pushed over right there ... What horizon now? ... That worked." [50:00] a raised corner closed out last: "Voila! Corner piece gone." NOTE: no polishing, and the reason is on the record at [10:49]: "we won't polish this card because it's not high gloss or a holo foil, so this one will just be cleaned and wrapped up."
No defects recorded in this session (not a clean bill).
Into the press at the end of the same recording. Two brand-new acrylic plates and four spring clamps, with pressure placed deliberately: "I'm trying to put the points of pressure where I know the card had the most work." Expected to stay 24 to 48 hours. A slight convex curve was noted during cleaning and is part of what the press should take out. Overall assessment given on camera as the clamps went on: "my overall score for this would be a 9.2 ... It would definitely be graded as a 9, maybe even an 8 by a professional grading service." Post-press condition is NOT recorded here - that is the reveal.
No defects recorded in this session (not a clean bill).
Out of a 5-day press and inspected under raking light. Nine of 24 zones were re-measured and six of them scored BELOW their intake figures: front bottom-right quadrant 10 -> 8.2 on a crease still present [08:53], back top edge 8.5 -> 7.2 [09:50], front top-left quadrant 10 -> 9.2 [07:30], front bottom-left 10 -> 9.4 [09:05], front top-right 9.6 -> 9.4 [07:34], front right edge 9.0 -> 8.8 [04:48]. Two zones improved: the top-right corner 8.5 -> 8.7 [03:03] and the bottom-left corner 9.0 -> 10 [05:32]. Two NEW findings, both of which he attributes to our own work rather than to the card: an indentation at a back bottom corner, "where I rolled it unintentionally" [10:38], and a small dent inside the o of the Pokemon logo on the back, "missed on the first go" and, his read, "from pressing, something got in there" [12:00, 12:40]. No overall post-press figure was spoken. He asks for a second pass before the card is returned [10:43, 18:42].
No defects recorded in this session (not a clean bill).
A new method, used here for the first time: a CardDoc cleaner and polish applied to both faces and wiped off immediately with microfibre, "a lot like waxing the car" [15:15]. Front applied and wiped [13:16-15:24], back edge to edge [16:04-17:38]. It lifted remaining dirt and sharpened the corner definition, "it did bring out that corner" [17:38]. Fingerprints were still transferring at the end, so the card was to be re-wiped with fresh gloves and a clean cloth before being set on parchment paper to dry [18:42-19:17]. No abrasive, no solvent on the holo window, and no work on the edges or corners in this pass.
Watch the restoration
Photo record
TCG Partnerz · work record, not a grade. Photographs taken during the documented sessions for this card; order follows the custody chain.