On Tuesday, October 4th, 2021 at approximately 9:30 AM (MST) we officially identified our first Pokémon card (a “Binacle” from the Forbidden Light set) using our PhyzBatch-9000 card sorting robot. To the best of my knowledge, this makes us the world’s first and only card sorting hardware on the market to offer Pokémon card recognition*, and certainly the only sorting machine to provide both Magic: The Gathering and Pokémon card sorting ability. Though still in beta testing – and very early days at that – our Pokémon recognition software, coupled with our patent-pending foil detection technology, already gives us the unprecedented ability to distinguish between holofoil and reverse holofoil cards. With potentially five different versions for any given Pokémon card (1st Edition Normal, 1st Edition Holofoil, Normal, Holofoil, and Reverse Holofoil)**, being able to differentiate between the subtle variations and assign the correct price is no small feat! To this end, I must commend the efforts of Stephen, our Lead Developer, without whom I wouldn’t even know where to start on this project. Sure, I played Pokémon cards back when I was in grade school, but the game has changed rather significantly in the intervening decades.

• * There have been other automated Pokémon card sorters made over the years [1], but I have couched my statement with the qualifier of being "on the market". I would argue that ours is the first commercially available product to scan, recognize, and physically sort Pokémon cards.
• ** Some cards have significantly more variations than the five listed above, but generally speaking most bases are covered by these categories. The Relentless Dragon has a delightful article delving into the myriad printings of some of the earlier Pokémon cards [2].

In summary, we at TCG Machines are very excited to have cracked into another card game and to officially support recognition for the world’s two largest TCGs. There is a long road ahead, with plenty of exciting improvements and features planned as we continue development with sorting Pokémon cards, but the first step has now been taken. To close, here’s my take on the Pokémon theme song from the perspective of our PhyzBatch-9000 sorting machine:

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🎵 I want to be the very best

Card sorter there ever was

To scan cards is my real test

To separate them is my cause

I will sit on your tabletop

And with my robot eyes

I’ll ID cards – I’ll never stop

I need to organize

Pokemon!

Gotta sort 'em all 🎵

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References

1. M. Versteegen, “YouTube,” Pikido Edutainment, 2 August 2017. [Online]. Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Oi4DWKNfh4. [Accessed 9 10 2021].
2. The Relentless Dragon, “Identifying Early Pokémon Cards,” The Relentless Dragon Game Store, [Online]. Available: https://relentlessdragon.com/pokemon-card-game/identifying-early-pokemon-cards/. [Accessed 9 October 2021].