Strange card I found today

[lotusoftheleaf]

My boyfriend gave me a ton of Pokémon cards that he bought from a store that was going out of business. They were weird blister packs that didn't have boosters in them but loose, random cards from different sets thrown together, some even from the Base set. A few of them were in horrible condition straight out of the package and have scratches and bends and some of the reverse holos have bits of the images rubbed off.

Anyway, I pulled one card that struck me as odd. It's an Ampharos from Secret Wonders, which is supposed to be holofoil, only this one isn't. It isn't reverse holo either. It looks like an regular common card. It's also one of the few in shabby condition, with scuffs all over it. Is this some kind of misprint or maybe a fake card?

 

[Athena]

Those loose cards in blister packs are 3rd party companies reselling cards. You typically see them at big box retailers. They're normally not a very good buy, like most 3rd party packaged Pokémon products.

As far as the Ampharos goes, there was a non-holo version of that card made for the Powerhouse theme deck. The card you have was probably originally from that deck.

 

[lotusoftheleaf]

Thanks for the speedy answer.

I normally don't buy the loose card packs myself. The card's in such poor condition I'm probably just going to toss it since I doubt anyone would want it.