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How to spot fakes in South America?

  • 20
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    7
    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?
     
    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
     
    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:
    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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