Just got my Feb issue of PSA and they had a whole article on counterfeiting and how it is “one of, if not the most, important roles that PSA plays”.
This seems pretty timely given the CGC beta play test card scandal. What do you think?
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They posted this on their website right after the story broke:
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I would think these need to be proofed and printed several weeks in advance before distribution. While it’s funny, I think it’s just a coincidence. The website update however is much easier to do and is probably too timely to be dismissed as nothing.
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Just FYI that was up before my post. They recently updated their website. The timing is really funny though
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PSA updated their website on 1/25. pfm wrote his thesis on 1/26.
Incredible timing.
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well wait, PSA did decline to grade these cards earlier so maybe they were always going to print something about counterfeits.
They also probably receive tens of thousands of fake cards per year
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I know that the CGC Playtest situation is huge news in Pokemon, but the rest of the collecting world doesn’t know or care about it. Your conspiracy theories are fun, but sometimes the boring answers are the correct ones.
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I’m more curious about what the top ten most counterfeited cards are
Definitely has to include illustrator and trophy cards
It didn’t! For completeness here they are.
I suspect most we’re probably purchased raw and submitted by an innocent individual.
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Well this makes me feel better that most likely people sending in fakes just aren’t aware
Those flashfire charizard fakes have been everywhere for years now
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kind of saddening to see that so many people probably thought they were getting the deal of a lifetime on a 1st ed base charizard…
The fakes for 1st edition zard are easy for them to catch because they always suck. Never seen a convincing fake
The felt hat pikachu on the other hand isnt holo, and the artwork is simplistic with limited colors to boot. The card stock itself is different though and the backs are not accurate enough so its easy to catch for psa but i can see how novices get scammed when buying and thinking nothing wrong when submitting
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as for the mega cards like flashfire zards, there were many thousands of these fakes that hit the market. They often find their way to goodwill once ppl realize they are fake (completely faded and overall a terrible proxy)
and then goodwill auctions these fakes using very far away distant images to then (scam) the buyer at auction and tell them no refunds
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Stunned that #2 is a Uniqlo promo from 2014.
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