Looking to learn how to spot fake Yeezy Boost 350 V2 Core Black? Afraid of buying fakes?
If so, you are in the right place, because this guide is going to teach you how to spot both the fake Copper, Red and Green releases.
In this ultimate guide on spotting real vs fake Yeezy Boost 350 V2 Core Black, we are going to provide you with more than 10 legit check guide steps that will hopefully clarify everything. Before that, the short answer:
The quickest way to check if you have a fake Yeezy Boost 350 V2 Core Black, is to check the size tag and the box label of the sneakers. On the size tag, look out for inconsistencies in the style and shape of the text and on the box label of your V2 Core, check to see if the size code matches the version you have (EU & US).
We do understand it might not be the easiest way to pick up this information and just apply it, thus we’ve added specific real vs fake Yeezy Core comparisons below — visual examples so we can get our point across.
Now that you know what we’re talking about, let’s get you to the proper fake vs real Yeezy Core legit check guide.
Checking the size tag and the box label are not the only techniques that you can use to determine the authenticity of your sneakers. In this complete guide to the real vs fake Yeezy Boost 350 V2 Core Comparison, we will cover 11 techniques, detailed with images, which can serve as indicators of an authentic pair of Yeezy Boost 350 V2 Core.
We have a detailed article explaining the barcode test over here, but we will summarize it in this post with authentic and fake vs real Yeezy Core examples. Do check the article linked above if any info below is unclear.
Scanning the barcode is the fastest way of spotting out 95% of the fake Yeezy Core pairs.
The technique works so well because the barcode is usually overlooked by fake manufacturers who do not care to pay attention to the details of the barcode.
When you want to scan the barcode of a Yeezy Boost 350 V2 Core pair, pay attention to the size of the sneakers too, because if they don’t match up with the shown results online, then you are most likely looking at a fake pair.
In fact, let’s have a look at the images with the results after scanning the authentic vs replica Yeezy Boost 350 V2 Core barcodes.
In the picture above we have linked the authentic results. As you can see, the box label says “US9” as for the size, and all the results match the size and the colourway of the product.
Now let’s also have a look at the fake Yeezy Boost 350 V2 Core barcode scan.
This barcode scan shows up the wrong results. First of all, you can see many other colourways but not the one that we need.
As such, they are typically unable to duplicate the barcode correctly, which makes the barcode a major indicator of authenticity in the Yeezy sneakers, including the Core.
You can scan the barcode using the Legit Check App. The app has a barcode function that works by comparing the unique barcode of your sneakers to other sneakers in the Yeezy-Adidas line.
Now, every Yeezy pair comes with a unique barcode that relates to a specific combination of colourway, style, and size. For the Core, the information would be;
Pay close attention though: simply finding the same colourway does not automatically mean the sneaker is authentic. Moreover, simply finding the same size and colourway does not mean the sneaker is authentic — a broken clock is right twice a day. The purpose of this test is to quickly weed out the fake barcodes that don’t get an aspect right.
How to scan your Yeezy Boost 350 V2 Core Black with the Legit Check App
First, you will need to download and install the Legit Check App. When you are ready to scan, tap on the barcode scan icon and focus in on the barcode on the box label of your sneakers.
Please note that the barcode scanning can only be considered a perfect match when the size and colorway combination on the results match the one on the box.
Thus, if only one of the two matches, then the box is still a fake. For the full story on how to scan the barcode on the box or your V2 Core for authenticity, read our article here.
As for the second step of the fake vs real Yeezy Boost 350 V2 Core authenticity check guide, let’s have a look at the size tag.
Every colourway in the Yeezy Boost 350 V2 collection spots its own unique details, so it is imperative to understand that what might be considered an inconsistency on one colourway could be normal on another.
That said, we spotted 12 inconsistencies between the real vs fake Yeezy Boost 350 V2 Core size tag. The quality of printing accounts for most of the differences between the original size tag and the fake size tag.
As you can see in the pictures above, we have used a pair of the Yeezy V2 Core Black Red, but the same flaws apply for all of the Core Black colourways.
1 – The “MADE IN CHINA” text is too thick on the fake size tag, and this is the most visible in this case on the letter “M”
2 – The “½” character is also too thick on the fake size tag, and besides, the “1” is placed too far away from the slash (“/”)
3 – One of the major flaws on every fake Yeezy V2 size tag is that the “R” next to the “adidas” text at the bottom of the size tag makes contact with the text.
On the other hand, the legit Yeezys will never have the”adidas” and the “R” in contact
4 – The “16” means the year that the sneakers have been released in, and in this case, it means 2016. The problem with the fake “16” text is that it is too thick, and the authentic text is thinner
5 – The letter “N” in the “CHN” text is first of all, too thick, and second of all, it has the rightest leg looking weirdly arched and curvy, and the authentic leg is straight and shapr
Next, we will have a closer look at the box label of your Yeezy V2 Core.
On the box label, the size number and the serial numbers are the main indicators of authenticity. Let’s have a visual example of real vs fake Yeezy Boost 350 V2 Core box labels to understand why.
As always, let’s have a quick look at the Yeezy Core Red Stripe and then we’ll analyze the rest of the releases.
Before you can check for the authenticity status of your V2 Core using the size as the indicator, you must, first of all, understand that the Yeezy-Adidas collection is released in two versions – the US version and the international version (Canada and Europe).
On the US version, the box label features 3 sizes, US, UK and F. The US size is in large print while the other two sizes are in smaller prints below it.
For the international version of the sneakers, there are 6 sizes featured on the Yeezy Boost 350 V2 Core Black Red box label – US, UK, F, D, J and CHN. Unlike the US version, here, all six sizes are displayed in equal prints.
The flaw on the fake Yeezy Boost 350 V2 Core is that, in this example above, the box label is a US version, and it says “V10”.
The authentic Yeezys that have the US box label must say either “V02” or “V03”. For more explanation, scroll down a bit to the Core box label.
Regarding the serial number, which is featured at the bottom of the other section of the label, the general rule is that all US versions have serial numbers that end with V02 or V03 while all European/international versions of the V2 Core have serial numbers that end with only the V10.
As shown in the image above, the authentic box label which is an international version has a serial number that ends with V10, while the fake box label, a US version has a serial number that ends with V10.
As you can see in the image above, the same flaw applies here too.
The rule of the thumb is the following:
The US version (which only features three sizes) will always have serial numbers that end with a V02 or a V03.
The international version (with six sizes), on the other hand, will have serial numbers that end with a V10.
For the full story on how to differentiate a fake Yeezy Boost 350 V2 Core box from an authentic pair box read our article here.
Next, you will need to inspect the lacing pattern of your Core Black V2. Please note that every sneaker released by Adidas as part of the Yeezy-Adidas collection all come with one particular lacing style.
This lacing style follows a simple pattern; the left lace goes under the right lace in the left shoe and the right lace goes under the left lace in the right shoe.
If your lacing style does not correspond with this pattern when you first unbox your sneakers, then you certainly have a fake product in your hands.
However, it is important to understand that following the correct lacing pattern does not always mean the sneakers is authentic either.
This is because the fake manufacturer can choose to lace their sneakers to mimic the authentic pattern although it is a replica.
Thus, we do not consider this to be a foolproof indicator of authenticity.
For the fifth step of the real vs fake Yeezy Core Black authentication process, you will inspect the boost sole of your sneakers.
The top indicator of authenticity here is the bubbliness of the boost sole. If the boost of your sneakers seems slightly rigid, then it could be that you have a fake.
Also, you will notice that there is less differentiation between the boost pellets on the authentic Yeezy Boost V2 Core and the striped circles are better defined.
While the striped circles appear to be randomly generated to the genuine sneakers, on the fakes you will notice a mathematical pattern to the circles.
The shape of your sneakers is a reliable tell of its authenticity whenever you want to differentiate a fake Yeezy Core Black from the real one.
Every colorway in the Yeezy Boost V2 collection comes in one unique silhouette and any slight deviation from the shape might be all you need to tell if it is a replica or not.
On the replica of the V2 Core Copper pair, you will notice that the shoe’s opening is wider and they may appear to have a different structure from what’s on the authentic pair.
To help you better understand this, take a look at the sock liner and the angle from the bottom of the tongue.
Next, pay close attention to the “peak” of the tongue and the authentic shoes curve differently from the fake ones.
You will notice that while the authentic pair curves significantly more upwards, the fakes have a somewhat flatter shape.
The toe box is where the toes fit in. As shown in the picture below, you will notice that the toe box is significantly bulkier on the fake pair when compared to the slender toe box of the authentic pair.
This difference can be attributed to the poor attention to detail from the fake manufacturers as well as the lower quality factory equipment used in the production of the sneakers.
Next, you will need to inspect the middle stitching on your Yeezy Boost Core Black.
We have inserted two pictures of the front and rear view of the middle stitching to help you understand what you are supposed to be looking at.
For the first picture which shows the front view of the stitching, you can see that on the fake, the structure of the stitching is different from that of the genuine sneakers.
Also, the threads are thicker and the stitching is noticeably wider on the fakes compared to the narrower stitching on the original.
On the rear side of the Yeezy Copper, as seen in the second picture, the inconsistency in the stitching is still very much present, appearing to be weaker and narrower on the fake Yeezy Copper.
You will find this step to be a very easy way of spotting a fake Yeezy Boost 350 V2 Red Stripe as it can be observed with the naked eye.
The insole of your sneakers features several inconsistencies that can help you differentiate a fake from an original.
On the rear of the insole is the Adidas Trefoil logo. Here, you will notice some inconsistencies in the Adidas Trefoil logo and the outline of the logo.
As you can see, the text is thinner on the fake insole than it is on the real Yeezy Core.
Plus, there is more space between the “Adidas” text and the hexagonal pattern on the fake sneakers compared to the space on the original pair.
The same spacing flaw can be noticed in the outline surrounding the Adidas Trefoil logo.
Here, you will notice that the text is bolder on the fake and as a result of the thicker characters, there is less space between letters. This can be seen in how the letters “a” and “s” touch each other.
Also, while the characters on the fakes have rounded edges, the authentic pair has well-defined characters with sharply printed corners. This is particularly visible in the “i”.
A different spacing and font-weight can be noticed on the YEEZY text as well, mostly visible on the Y and Z letters.
Also, pay attention to the Trefoil logo. You will notice that on the fake insole, the bottom of the logo has got rounded corners, whereas the authentic insole has letters with sharply-printed corners.
You might find this fake vs real comparison difficult unless you have both the authentic and fake pair side by side.
That is we recommend that you download our app, where we organized all this information (along with other fake vs real guides for streetwear items) properly so that you will be able to pull up this visual comparison fast.
Performing the 11 detailed steps outlined above might be time demanding and impractical when having a face to face meeting or when buying the Yeezy Boost 350 V2 Core online.
That is why we have compiled this quick 60 seconds solution to authenticating your sneakers. Below are the top 11 indicators that can help you determine if you have a fake pair of sneakers or the real deal.
If you need help with the authentication of your Yeezy Boost V2 Core, we’ve got you covered. All you have to do is send us high quality pictures of your V2 Core and we will get back to you with the results within 24 to 48 hours. The results will also come with a report on why we believe your sneakers are fake or authentic.
That brings us to the end of our real vs fake Yeezy Boost 350 V2 Core guide. We will continue to update this article as better and newer comparisons are put out.
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Thank you for reading this,
Ch Daniel and Ch David