How to spot a fake card!

gregorioTheOreo

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    • Seen Oct 30, 2010
    Okay guys, I've got a running list (it's actually quite small) of how to spot fake cards. Since we're a community of Pokemon-Card Experts, I was wondering if anyone else had any tips for spotting fake cards.
     
    there are also false box with the name "pokemon 6":

    [PokeCommunity.com] How to spot a fake card!
    [PokeCommunity.com] How to spot a fake card!
    [PokeCommunity.com] How to spot a fake card!


    source: pokevana
     
    That Pokémon 6 stuff seems like something that Nintendo needs to come down on with the full force of a lawyer team (a fate I rarely call on anyone).

    Let's see, there's the quality of the material. If you bend a Pokémon card slightly (not crease it), it should instantly snap back to its original position. Lesser materials will take noticeably longer to regain their posture and do so in a much more fluid motion. Pokémon cards have a distinctive 'twang' when they are tugged at and released.

    The next thing is to use your brain. Is it listed on your favorite card listing site? Does it have tons of typos? Is every part there (illustration, set number, set icon, etc.)? Is everything the correct color (backings differ commonly due to factory humidity - more talking about the color of text on HP, powers, etc.)? Is it beyond overpowered? 9/10, a simple Google search can find a card if it's real.
     
    One thing I find about the fakes I've seen is that they have an extremely distinct texture. Real Pokemon cards are a little slippery because they are properly laminated; fake ones, on the other hand, are so soft and grainy that when you rub them together they really grind against each other. This goes with what Shadow was saying about quality of the material. Pokemon cards should also not be see-though, and you should not be able to easily see the pokeball and logo on the back when you hold it up to a light, looking at the front side.
    Once I bought a few packs, and someone had skillfully opened them and resealed them with the fake ones inside. The rarity was all out of order, in that they were ALL rare cards, which is a pretty good indicator. There were also cards in them that did not match the set that the packs were from, for example there were Diamond and Pearl cards in Platinum packs and so forth. Look for these clues if you are suspicious of the booster packs.
    If you suspect a card you own is fake, think about your source; you should only have to be wary of individual cards you bought from a source that you are unfamiliar with, or packs from a place that may not be a reputable retailer, like corner stores.

    There are many image resources out there, Serebii.net being the best in my opinion, so if you need to compare your card to the real thing you can search their database. You can find basically any English card ever printed on some TCG database, so if something about the image looks weird to you, you always have an authentic one for comparison.
     
    I've seen comments about how if the borders of the card aren't even it could be a sign of a fake, or if the pokemon displayed in the card is not centered in the picture and is off to one side, that could also be a fake... Even though a couple of the Gym hero's cards... Sabrina's Gengar for instance and Erika's Venusaur were not centered. Also if it's a level x, cards that are fake will just be a shiny silver or something.... holographic has it's own special design. Also you can tell if the energy cost, retreat cost logos are separated too far a part. Look for mispelled words and such if you have doubt to... sometimes it just may be a misprint in the card.
     
    How about the light test? Hold a card up to light if it's translucent it's fake.
     
    Ghostdragon said:
    I've seen comments about how if the borders of the card aren't even it could be a sign of a fake, or if the pokemon displayed in the card is not centered in the picture and is off to one side, that could also be a fake... Even though a couple of the Gym hero's cards... Sabrina's Gengar for instance and Erika's Venusaur were not centered. Also if it's a level x, cards that are fake will just be a shiny silver or something.... holographic has it's own special design. Also you can tell if the energy cost, retreat cost logos are separated too far a part. Look for mispelled words and such if you have doubt to... sometimes it just may be a misprint in the card.
    Click to expand...

    That's true, it may be hard to tell if it's just a misprint, as there are a few out there that had centering issues but are not fake. A little bit of research will probably sort it out, because there will almost certainly be an article on it or something like that on a Pokemon or trading card forum. Not many of the newer cards have centering issues, but sometimes the card isn't cut perfectly and the edges will be uneven; you would then have to try the light-test, or examine the quality of the card material to determine if it's fake.
    There are also a few misprinted, non-fake cards out there, but they are pretty well-documented, you probably wouldn't have trouble finding lists of them on the internet.
     
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