Finally received the “new” Japanese fakes that have fixed a couple things we saw issue with in the last batch. These no longer have lines in the holo or a plain yellow border. The backgrounds in the foil are more prevalent. So we are gonna walk through the red flags so as you are buying you know what to look for.
I will also add that I’m very frustrated as half my order was missing and several of the cards are the wrong ones for example I bought a CD promo set, but received a CD promo Venusaur, Squirtle Starter Deck Blastoise and XY 2016 promo Charizard.
We will start off with what makes these promos “good” in photos 3 & 4. Comparing Venusaurs, card feel is extremely similar and appears the same in photos, the fake is more “matte”, and the holo is spot on, there’s no more lines and the feel/reflection is the same.
The red flags are visible however in photos 5-10:
Fakes Rosette pattern is too small, it’s correct, but smaller than the real deal
The most obvious sign, the colorless energies are missing the bottom shadow, the fire energy has a white spot instead of a white reflection and the font for Ken Sugimori is incorrect
Pokemon in the evolution box is too fuzzy and pixelated
Back has the correct rosette pattern but is too dark. It is also slightly pixelated but it’s hard to see in photos
Card stock from the side is thicker and the black line is obvious on the fake
Print quality on some, such as Charizard shown, is pixelated and poor up close
Last minute tips: light test is pointless, light does not go through holo cards. Rip test is also pointless you can damage real cards. Scammers can post real cards and send you the above fakes, examine the cards as you receive them! Not just in the sales photos. Buy from reputable sellers that didn’t pop up in the last 3 years riding the hype train. Plenty of these are fooling vendors and card shops sadly and it’s because they use the old ways of verifying (stagnant holo, off color, wrong border size, etc) these obviously do not have those issues.
So given these tips, can you determine which Japanese vintage in the last photo are fake or real?