You know the feeling: you are holding a booster pack and wondering whether you can guess what is inside. Can you weigh Paldean Fates to see whether there is a hit in there? We tried it ourselves, and we can tell you straight away: no, that does not work.
How does weighing Pokémon packs work?
As you know, people have been trying to weigh booster packs for years. The idea is that Holos, Full Arts or Shiny cards are heavier than standard cards.
The Pokémon Company is not stupid, though. They have been using weight correction for a while now, with code cards or extra card stock, for instance. That makes the weight of a rare card far less obvious.
We weighed several Paldean Fates packs ourselves on a precision scale. And yes, there were small differences. But a "heavy" pack gave us three Commons just as easily as a light one did. So it really tells you nothing.
What makes Paldean Fates extra hard to weigh?
Paldean Fates is not a standard set. It contains Shiny Vault cards, and those can sit in the reverse slot too. That means you do not have one shot at a hit, but two.
That makes weighing even less reliable. Reverse Holos and Shiny cards barely weigh more than ordinary cards either. Everything sits so close together that as an ordinary collector you are never going to find a pattern in it.
What should you do instead?
We always say: buy what you like, not what is supposedly "heavy". Want better odds? Then you are better off doing this:
- Go for an Elite Trainer Box or a Premium Collection
- Buy single packs from a reliable shop
- Or simply buy the card you are after directly
We prefer buying sealed ETBs or displays. That way we know everything has been distributed fairly. And yes, sometimes there is nothing in there – but the tension is real. That is the whole point.
Our advice: forget about weighing Paldean Fates packs. It does not work, and it takes the fun out of the game. Open packs the way they were meant to be opened – with enjoyment, curiosity, and maybe a bit of luck.
