Spotting a fake Pokémon card - ideas/help

[PokeCollectorUK]

Hi All

First, I'm hoping that I'm posting this in the right area to get some advice.

I'm sure a question like this has been posted before but I'm after peoples opinions on how they spot fake Pokémon cards.
I've been collecting cards for years and I thought I had got quite good as spotting fakes but recently I've been stung again and now I've got growing collection of fake cards.

So, I'd thought I'd list how I go about it in the first instance but I'd love to know what techniques others use.

My techniques:

Comparison to the card of the same age - front and back. What do I mean?
1. Do the colours match - is the blue on the back of the cards the same
2. Does the Pokeball on the back have a crisp outline
3. Do the fonts match
4. Does the spacing between the letters match what I'm expecting to see
5. Is the fine print at the bottom of the card (date, manufacture etc) clean and crisp
6. Are the facts right? Is the card showing the written details I'm expecting to see
7. Are the colours vivid - are the blacks showing as a grey or jet black as expected


Now, what about the textures?
1. Does the card have the right textures in the right places - so many fake cards are flat, shiny/glossy when they shouldn't be
2. Does the paper/card feel right - so many fakes use good card stock but they don't compare when up against a real card - I use what I call the flick test

Then there is the thin black line along the edge of the card (depending on the year and place of manufacture)
There is the light test - holding a torch behind the card to see if there are the little black marks that you find in a real card


I'd love to see what other people do or please correct me if I'm doing something wrong.
If you have photo examples that would be great too.

Keep smiling everyone

 

[icycatelf]

Incorrect fonts (g's in names and effects should be double-storeyed, not tailed, for example), outrageous HP/damage (anything over 340 at the time of typing), having multiple typos, Type/Energy icons being "bloated" and highlighted from the right (as seen on older Energy cards) rather than the left, and full-arts having shiny strokes around the text are some of the biggest tells I've seen over the years. (Certain oversized cards and Japanese-exclusives are exceptions to the HP and icons.)

Also, cards that have foil covering both the art background and type texture (the cloudy blue, red, etc. behind everything). I can't remember if there are any official exceptions, excluding Ancient Mew, but all of those I've come across have been stickers. Any holo common or uncommon from the Classic-Neo sets is also fake (excluding Legendary Collection and anniversary prints).

It should be noted that glossy cards do exist, but they're all Japanese-exclusive (Vending Series and various promos).

*EDITED*

 

[PokeCollectorUK]

Cheers for your input

I'd forgotten about the outrageous HP situation and typos.

I've recently seen lots of so called Pokémon cards showing up on big websites that are selling them far too cheaply for them to be real. The easy tell with those is normally the holo effect. A lot of them have the issue you mention with the effect covering both the background and the text. They quite often the rainbow pattern going in the wrong direction too.

I've also seen UK designs crossing over with Korean or Japanese cards.

Card size is another telling factor - I know you can buy size guides these days but they are normally for sports cards to check for trimming which you don't tend to get on Pokemon due to the rounded corners.

I'm thinking of making a reminder list of all the factors for myself...happy to share if people would find this useful?

 

[icycatelf]

Can't forget cards that have a printed-on foil pattern, one that doesn't sparkle/change shape when tilted around in the light. It's harder to notice in photos and scans, but a lot of the ones I've seen online have the exact same dot placement as the very first image result on Google. The foil may look suspiciously rainbowy from being printed over a "flat" (iridescent without any real pattern) holosheet.

I've also seen a few lately that have copyright info on both the footer (inside the border) as well as the card border.