Someone asked for my opinion on this PSA 10 1st Ed Base Blastoise if it looks like a fake stamp: ebay.us/kJn37h
The photo is terrible quality, which might be the issue. The seller also has a Venusaur listed, and the Venusaur stamp/photo is much more clear: ebay.us/ga83YJ
Maybe its just a very blurry thin stamp. Here is an example of a clear thin stamp: ebay.us/iNF6nc
The photo clarity is brutal, which might be the problem. Let me know what you guys think!
I’m just trying to learn here- what looks off about the alignment? I can’t tell a difference between the 10 and 8.
Also, I don’t think I could spend that kind of money on something with such poor image quality. And if I was selling something that expensive I’d at least go buy a nice light so my phone could take an adequate picture.
Can’t add anything to the question whether fake or real, but the seller is a member here: @jcpkmn
Really hard to tell because of the photo quality. Stamp seems a bit thick and bc of this also off. Wouldn’t be the first time psa grades a fake stamp sadly (no accusation that this is a fake).
Would be interesting to hear the sellers opinion on this.
I think the image quality is too low to make an accurate judgment. Rather than go off of these pictures alone, I would ask the seller for additional photos. Not only because a clearer image would make reviewing the stamp easier, but because anyone attempting something nefarious is going to be way less cooperative when making such a request. You can tell a lot about someone’s intentions by how transparent their customer service is or is not.
Comparing it to the other blastoise you refrenced I am leaning towards real just an awful quality photo in low light.
Using his Venusaur for comparison you can see that on the blastoise its not just the stamp which is unclear but the text around the same area is barely readable (specifically the red “Pokemon” text) where as the venusaur its a little more in focus.
Still I think its impossible to tell for sure without a better photo
I’m no expert at this by any means, but the stamp does look uncomfortably close to the gold bar. Maybe just a stamp with too much ink?
Might be real, might be fake.
The quality of the photo makes it hard to tell. I did some aligning in photoshop to compare the listed Venusaur with two Venusaurs from PSA’s website:
The only thing that stands out to me is the first E. Asking the seller for additional images of the stamp is likely the only way to be sure. Here the blastoise:
when i buy my 40k cards I always pick the blurry listings with no back pics
Having literally 0 experience in 1st edition base as a resident poor person, this was the first thing I noticed too. I’m leaning toward the combination of shitty photo quality of a stamp with too much ink rather than fake. Although if I were listing a card of this magnitude (and it was real), I’d probably find a way to get a better quality photo so that even some of the most experienced collectors in the hobby could distinguish if my card was fake or not, but that’s neither here nor there.
The seller has an instagram could message them there, I recognize the name too
Single blurry photo, no pictures of the back, cert numbers whited out. Real or not, I would avoid this on those factors alone.
Hello, E4
I am the owner of the ebay account and cards (Blastoise/ Venusaur) in question. Thanks for tagging me, @muk . I would have missed this thread otherwise.
I believe the cards are indeed authentic and I’ve been the proud owner for at least 3 years now. Venusaur was purchased from an acquaintance over on Instagram and Blastoise was purchased from a respected E4 member.
I would upload better images here but I do not know how. If anyone is that curious about the authenticity of the cards, feel free to dm me on Instagram (@jc_pkmn) and I’ll happily chat with you.
Though, the cards are not for sale. I have them (poorly) listed on ebay as a (poor) attempt at increasing interest in the other cards I have that are for sale.
@jcpkmn, go outside on a nice, sunny or semi-overcast day and grab photos of the cards then. Probably the most cost effective way to get grade looking pictures