Recently sold a complete Base Set uncommon/common set to a guy (pulled them myself), and now he’s claiming they’re fake, citing that he could shine light through them, that the colors are slightly lighter than his other Base cards, and that upon ripping one apart, he found a “faded blue” layer as opposed to the black layer.
I’ll admit I was somewhat surprised to find that upon shining my iPhone’s flashlight through the backs of commons/uncommons from Base through Neo, all of them are partially see-through. I encourage you guys to try this and confirm. Of course, this only fueled his suspicions.
TLDR; buyer claims cards are fake, provided pictures: imgur.com/a/eRAel
Can you guys help me prove that these cards are authentic?
Is he the guy who just posted here before you?
If you pulled them yourself then there’s no doubt real. Plus, ask him who would be stupid enough to fake penny junk cards?
Yes, I wanted everything to be out in the open. I couldn’t get through to him about the variation in ink saturation or the middle layer being proof of authenticity, so I thought I’d post here.
The cards look real to me.
You know not for nothing but these cards were not in mind to be lit with todays phone light.
If you have a light bright enough anything can be translucent.
Yep, they look real to me. A small shade variation is totally normal. As stated above the light source was too bright. An ideal light for the test would have been a 75w incandescent.
Can confirm that using a flashlight like on your phone or the high quality quality one I used to own will shine through any card close enough to it.
I’ve tried it on japanese base cards when I first started collecting and when I opened up some japanese base packs the cards where identical. I believe the light test is only meant for using a regular ceiling light.
if you guys think i was a pain in the ass or being stupid then you guys are clearly missing the point. i am new to collecting older cards and a little off of what other base set cards would give me a suspicion if they are real or fake. if i am really here to cause trouble i would straight up told the seller it was fake and not go through all of this to confirm it. and seller, i never accused you of selling fake cards but i want to make sure im getting the real stuffs, that why before even really thoroughly checking the card, i gave you a positive feedback because i trusted you.
ps. you guys said that i used my phone flashlight and it is bright enough to see through any card. but when i try with other base set cards, the light didnt go through, so what might cause this?
here is a side by side comparison of two different base set cards imgur.com/RTnePXM
Not sure why everyone here is so quick to think that xfourpower is wrong - I’d be very suspicious of the cards too if I saw what’s going on with the above pic. I also use my phone flashlight to check cards and no, the flashlight on my phone does not show through legitimate cards.
Unless someone here can show one of their own cards that looks as crazy see-through as the above nidoran and weedle when using their own phone’s flashlight, I’d be inclined to think these were fake. There was a recent post about the different types of printings of the base set (all glossy vs all matte vs glossy border matte picture), so maybe whoever made that post can do a comparison with all three different types of cards.
Also, to answer the question of why would someone go through the hassle of faking penny cards: Fake cards inside used packs inside used booster boxes inside reused WoTC shrink wrap. If you get away with it, you’ve just made ~$1700 in profit (assuming you sold an unlimited box for $2000, the cost of the cards and used boxes/packs is not much).
I don’t know why you’re so quick to question people that have done this for years. I don’t need to use a flashlight to check my cards authenticity. I, and many others, can spot a fake right away. The light test is a throw away test that we don’t even use. If you don’t believe me take one of your real cards and rip it and you’ll see the same insides as the one in the OP’s images. Thats all the light test is supposed to do; check to see if there’s a barrier between the two layers. Honestly, it’s barely an authentication check.
@xfourpower Nothing wrong with asking the question and I’m glad you took the effort to learn about the cards before leaving a negative. You did right by the seller for doing so.
@hypernova Towards the end of the base set print runs WOTC used blue core stock instead of black core for some of the commons and uncommons sheets. There’s nothing special about the difference but the blue stock is a bit lighter. WOTC use blue core for Magic cards as well for most of the early print run. As far as I know base is the only set that had the change mid print run due to the bulk of the set printed at the time. Again totally legitimate
And you doing it for years somehow invalidates the fact that new fake cards could be popping up? Even PSA authenticated fake cards before. I see no harm in trying to get it cleared up proper.
yeah, i just want to clear things out. i didnt spend a huge amount of money on these cards but i want to make sure im getting the real deal. i dont want fake cards in my collection. i have told the seller before that when i was checking the bulk i bought from him, only the common cards was a bit off but the uncommon cards i got from him was real with no question. and the seller said he pulled all these cards from fresh packs, so why do the uncommon look real for sure but not the common. looking at the common closely from the side of the cards, i don’t see a black thin layer but i do see some blue ink mark only around the corner of the cards. @jkanly thanks for the information about the blue ink cards
“I and many others can spot a fake right away” seems to me like you believe that it’s impossible for new fake cards to pop up that are harder to spot than just by quickly looking at it, no?
If their fakes are that good they probably won’t be printing nidorans haha
generally fakes are extremely easy to identify by just looking at them, i’ve never seen a convincing fake, if anyone was to perfect faking cards, their effort would likely be put towards printing high value cards, not a 10 cent card
Fine, maybe it’ll take a little more scrutiny then right away. Now what’s your point? The OP wanted someone to confirm that the cards aren’t fake and to disprove the light test. That was done, then we had someone question the forum’s analysis. So I said what the light test was testing for, if anyone thinks that fake cards can’t have a barrier they’re kidding themselves, aka the light test is garbage.
Now I have you questioning my semantics choise? I’ll repeat what is your point? Why are you here if you’re not going to believe the general census of the board, what value is there to be had on you? Devils advacte is only valid when you have a point or spot something not seen by others. Lately there’s been a lot of devil’s advacates that don’t have anything to add rather then the question the forum.
Just know I’m not picking on one specific individual, but there’s a group of you that fit this description, and it’s annoying.
I understand being turned off by an infallible attitude but the person concerned with the cards being fake is providing nothing but a light and rip test which offers very little in determining their authenticity. I’d take cullers’s experienced opinion over someone who is admittedly new almost every time. No offense to the buyer in this scenario, it’s good to ask questions like this and be suspicious but you should also ask yourself, if someone has the ability to print an identical card front and back, why wouldn’t they take the time to pick the right card stock and why in the hell would they waste their time with making hundreds of cards when they could make one big card and gain the same return? I’m sorry but sealing packs, printing fake cards, and using a fake seal on an Unlimited Base Set box is way too much work when you could sell one raw card instead. I’d gladly stand corrected if there was substantial proof otherwise.
Fakes are one thing but “newer fakes” of cards that are sub $.10 each… wouldn’t make sense financially for any party involved.
I’m pretty sure I know which variant the OP received. If I have time this weekend I’ll check my bulk and perhaps do a few tests to uncover a bit more about the blue vs black core layer that @jkanly mentioned.
@xfourpower - were all the commons you received the same or just some of them? Just curious.
