Is this Charizard counterfeit?

General
1

Hey everyone

I’ve been away from the hobby a while and have returned with my first purchase in some time - a Shadowless Zard :blush:
However, I have concerns that it may not be a legitimate card. The card I just bought has a very dull holofoil and is slightly off-color, though the weights of the two cards are exactly the same at 2.29g. Also, it shows some classic silvering that reassures me it is a legit card…

What do you guys think? Have you seen this type of variety among the first print runs?

Pics (1st Zard is one I’ve owned for many years, 2nd Zard is the one I just bought):








Thanks so much!

2

I am a novice, but the horizontal lines on the holo pattern are sketching me out. Excited to see the answer to this! Pretty good fake if it is one.

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3

I think people have spoken before about different shadowless prints including one with a ‘ruby’ Charizard. Where the color pops a little more.
I’m unsure if that’s what you have but to me those cards seem legitimate.

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4

the horizontal texture on the holo doesn’t look normal. the card also looks hazy.

but these pics make it hard to tell so i can’t guess

the coloring is fine

the text/font usually seems off on all the fakes ive seen in person.

sorry i cannot say 100% without seeing in person.

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5

Thank you guys for the replies so far. Really is tough to tell because so many signs point to it being legit while having some abnormalities (like the weird horizontal holo pattern?).

I did just find this thread: www.elitefourum.com/t/shadowless-charizard-color-variation/28046/1

It does seem like the one I just bought may be a “ruby,” but I haven’t found anything about the interesting holo texture or the seriously dull holo.

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6

My gut tells me its real

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7

I think u gud, g.

The right is kinda sus, ngl. But like you said that silvering is hard to replicate. I think it’s gravy, but sen 2 PSA 2 be shur.

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8

Please provide us more detailed pictures of the holo, focus on angles of the art box. This is very strange. Y’see, this isn’t an ordinary “ruby”, which is just to mean the two color variations. I have both, and have had many different shadowless Zards. Yours appears 100% authentic in every way. But the holo is strange, and at first I thought it was a print error, but zooming in, it is too hard to tell. Does the gloss of the holo appear the same as the light Zard?

Even now I’m convinced it is genuine, as nothing seems wrong with it other than the odd holographic undercurrent, and even then, it looks kinda good and real, just off in printing.

NVM on the extra pics–see below post for conclusion.

9

Ahh! I just figured it out. It is a print defect. See the holo being misaligned? Look at the left side of the art box. See the portion of non-holo that should be holo?

The holo is misaligned. Seems genuine as hell, and if proven to be so, is incredible.

Everything is misaligned to the right, off center. The placement of the outer design lining layer is off center from left going right. I believe that is a genuine ass Charizard.

It is lacking gloss–do a feel test on it. And the back as well, with clean hands.

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This is one of mine. Authentic. Has that look to the holo, but not so off. But has the same off line as yours consistent with many from this run. If yours isn’t authentic, I’m a crazy person.

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11

Might sound kind of weird but I’d just smell the card. Your nose should be able to tell you what you need to knows.

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12

Can’t find anything wrong with it.

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13

Great pun!

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14

The one on the left in your photo is what people call a “ruby” card. Not sure if you wanted the technical explanation but, the color variance is created by a decreased magenta ink density. These were adjusted throughout the print run via a control panel after analysis of the color bars with an instrument called a desitometer.

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its real.

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16

Yep, all good as mentioned above.

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17

They’re real. It’s just ink levels that didn’t have perfect consistency. Red is notoriously the hardest color to match for any application and I have a few that have wildly different hues

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Thanks so much for the help everyone. Super stoked about it!