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How to spot fakes in South America?

20
Posts
6
Years
    • Seen Feb 22, 2024
    I'm an American living in Uruguay, and Pokemon is super popular here. However, intellectual property laws are not.

    There are a few shops which sell 100% guaranteed to be official merch, so finding legit packs isn't actually difficult. But there are also "kioskos" which sometimes sell legit merch, and sometimes sell bootlegs.

    Once I open the packs, it's easy to spot fakes because of the poor paper quality and a hilarious number of obvious errors. But telling the difference from the packaging alone is a little more difficult.

    Any tips on how to spot fakes before I open the pack?
     
    22,953
    Posts
    19
    Years
  • I'm an American living in Uruguay, and Pokemon is super popular here. However, intellectual property laws are not.

    There are a few shops which sell 100% guaranteed to be official merch, so finding legit packs isn't actually difficult. But there are also "kioskos" which sometimes sell legit merch, and sometimes sell bootlegs.

    Once I open the packs, it's easy to spot fakes because of the poor paper quality and a hilarious number of obvious errors. But telling the difference from the packaging alone is a little more difficult.

    Any tips on how to spot fakes before I open the pack?

    Generally the colors will be more faded/saturated and there will occasionally be errors in the typography on the packs.

    Here's a decent video that can help that explains it better than I can: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jUlxi62gUk
     
    17,133
    Posts
    12
    Years
    • she / they
    • Seen Jan 12, 2024
    You may also find that the packages for the individual boosters themselves are cut unevenly. Or come in boxes that legit Pokémon cards aren't sold in. Most recently, I saw a "deck box" - which only contained about 20 cards - sold in a box that had no semblance to the set that it was supposedly from. A Neo Destiny Chancey has no business being on an Undaunted booster, ya know? Just make sure you educate yourself on what it is you're looking for. :)
     
    Last edited:
    20
    Posts
    6
    Years
    • Seen Feb 22, 2024
    Thank you both for the help! I've taken notes, and if I spot anything I'll try to remember to take a picture. Again, thank you!
     
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