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Last Updated on August 10, 2022 by Ch David
If you have a set of Pokemon Trading Card Game cards and if you want to see whether they are authentic or not, then here’s the place you want to be.
Just by reading this fake vs real Pokemon TCG guide, you are going to easily know what to look for in order to spot fake Pokemon trade cards.
Along with every step of our guide on what to look for in order to spot fake Pokemon cards, you will see reference real vs fake Pokemon TCG images.
These images will help you properly see the details between the fake vs real Pokemon TCG cards, and so, it’ll become even easier for you to tell fake Pokemon Trading Card Game cards.
To put it shortly, the easiest way to spot fake Pokemon cards is to look at the inscriptions on the cards, as the replica Pokemon cards commonly have grammar flaws and typos, while the authentic Pokemon TCG cards will always be flawless and they will never have any typing flaws.
For the very first step of the guide on how to spot fake Pokemon TCG cards, we are going to look at the foil packaging in which the Pokemon cards are inside.
Although we don’t have a reference image with an authentic Pokemon TCG card’s foil on the rear side at the moment, we are going to highlight only a replica example.
First of all, looking at the “Sun & Moon” text, you can observe how there us too much space in-between the and symbol (“&”) and the “Moon” text.
The authentic Pokemon TCG cards would have space in-between the letters rather than the fake foil’s text, and even more, all of the genuine foils will have the same amount of space between the letters.
Then, in the image with the fake Pokemon cards foil package above, we have pointed out a few flaws that would never be seen on the genuine foils.
Looking at the “Sun & Moon Series” text at the top of the foil, on the very first line of text, you can see how the foil package actually says “Seies”, missing out the letter “r”.
On the other hand, on the genuine Pokemon TCG foils, there should be written the full name, including the letter “r”, and in fact, there should not be left out any letter on the genuine foils’ text.
In the lower side of the foil, you can see how the fake Pokemon TCG card has its next “Sun & Moon” inscription not only badly spaced between, but also mistyped.
What we mean is that the fake card says “Sun&Monon” instead of “Sun & Moon”, which is the way that you’ll notice the genuine foils typed as.
Lastly, at the bottom of the image above, you can see how the fake Pokemon Trading Card Game foil has its “International” text mistyped as “Lnternational”.
Keep in mind that little flaws like typos matter the most when you are checking the Pokemon Trading Card Game cards! All of the legitimate Pokemon TCG items will have their text perfectly written, with no flaws.
For the second step of the guide on how to identify fake Pokemon Trading Card Game items, we are now going to look at the real vs fake Pokemon TCG cards for their colours on the front side.
The front side is the same on most of the popular Pokemon TCG items, and so, we are going to look at those that have the pokeball on them, with the blue background at the orange “POKEMON TM” text.
So, first things first, let’s have a look at the real vs fake Pokemon TCG image from below, and after that, we will explain the flaw on the fake card.
In the image with the authentic vs replica Pokemon Trading Card Game image above, we have pointed out how the fake card has its colours improperly defined.
Looking at the replica Pokemon TCG card, you can see how its blue colour is too blurry and too little split around into more shades of blue.
In fact, the replica Pokemon Trading Card Game card has its blue shade pretty constant throughout the card, as there are only two shades of blue, which are too light.
On the other hand, the authentic Pokemon TCG card has its blue shades darker, and on top of that, they split around the card more than the fake card’s colours.
Also, if you look at the white side of the fake card’s pokeball, you can see how it shines too much, while the authentic Pokemon TCG card has its pokeball less shiny.
One other flaw that we’ve spotted on the fake Pokemon TCG card is that its “POKEMON” inscriptions are yellow instead of being orange, like the genuine card’s text.
For the third method on how to spot fake Pokemon TCG cards, we are going to look at the fake vs real Pokemon Trading Card Game cards for the quality of how they were packed inside the foil paper.
As always, let’s have a look at the reference real vs fake Pokemon TCG card image below, and after that, we will explain the situation with the two items.
In the image with the authentic vs replica Pokemon Trade Card Game cards above, you can see how the authentic cards are sealed inside the foil packaging as tight as there is no air inside the bag.
And, looking at the fake cards, you can see how they are sealed improperly inside the foil, as there is a lot of air inside the bags, and so, the foil on the fake cards becomes more flimsy, rather than having the authentic tight look.
You can compare this with the bags of chips that have a lot of air inside; that’s now how the authentic cards should be, as they have to be exactly the opposite, having no air inside whatsoever.
Proceeding to the fourth method on how to identify replica Pokemon Trade Card Game cards, we are going to have a look at the yellow borders on the interior side of the fake vs real Pokemon cards.
Basically, we are going to check the important side of the cards when in a battle between your Pokemon and the enemy’s Pokemon.
For this comparison, we’ve picked the cute Pikachu card, and for the replica, we have the powerful Slingshot card.
But, leaving these guys aside and moving to the yellow borders, you can see how the fake Pokemon card has its border slightly bigger than the authetic border, in terms of height.
In fact, the genuine Pokemon TCG card has its border looking narrower and shorter in height when put side-by-side with the fake card’s border.
This flaw can be visible both at the top and at the bottom of the fake card highlighted in the real vs fake Pokemon TCG comparison image above.
For the fifth step of the guide on how to see fake Pokemon TCG cards, we are going to look at the bottom side of the box in which the fake Pokemon TCG Booster Pack cards came into.
In the image with the fake Pokemon cards’ box above, we have pointed out how there are several kerning flaws in-between the letters.
By that, we mean that the fake cards’ box have their characters badly positioned one next to another, as there are different amounts of space between these, while on the genuine boxes, there is supposed to be the same space between each character on the box.
This flaw can be visible on the very first line of text, where some of the letters and characters have too much space between, such as the “Sun& Moon” text which is supposed to say “Sun & Moon”.
Besides the phrase from above that’s flawed twice on the first line of text, you can see how the fake box also has its “Seies” text flawed as well, because it is meant to say “Series”, with the “r” inside the word as well, because that’s how the word is supposed to spell.
Then, skipping one line of text lower, you can see how the fake Pokemon TCG box has the “levels!Jump” text flawed, because as the rules of grammar mention, there is supposed to be a blank space between an exclamation mark and the next word.
Therefore, the genuine boxes should and will always mention “levels! Jump”, as they respect the rulers of grammar and spacing between the words inside a proposition.
Going to the sixth and the last step of the guide on how to spot counterfeit Pokemon TCG cards, you have to try and easily bend the card in order to check its quality.
Although we can’t really picture this, we are going to tell you only what it is supposed to happen when you bend an authentic and a fake Pokemon card.
An authentic Pokemon TCG card won’t really have to bend easily, as they are made out of a stronger material than the fake cards.
Also, don’t consider that the genuine cards are unbendable, because they are able to bend, but they bend way harder than the fake cards.
So, in order to bend an authentic card, you’ll basically have to put a bit more pressure on the card in order to get the action done.
As for the replica Pokemon TCG items, in most cases, you will be able to easily bend them like a piece of paper, which is not how it should really be like.
In fact, the counterfeit-manufactured Pokemon TCG cars are usually really easy to be bent, while the legit cards are harder to bend if you compare and apply the same pressure on both the real vs fake Pokemon cards.
The 6 real vs fake Amiri jeans steps outlined above are well detailed and it will be time demanding to perform each authentication step when you need to confirm the originality of your Pokemon cards.
That is why we have compiled this quick 60 seconds solution to authenticating your jeans. Below are the top 6 indicators that can help you determine if you have a fake set of cards or the real deal.
If you have read this guide and are still uncertain about whether your Pokemon cards are real or fake, the Legit Check App offers an authentication service to put your mind at ease.
Should you either not be confident in your ability to follow this guide or are simply lacking time, all you have to do is send us high-quality pictures of your Pokemon cards and we will get back to you with the results within 24 to 48 hours.
Need our opinion on your item’s authenticity? It’s a service we provide.
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Alternatively, use our free resources: written guides and video tutorials.
Thank you for reading this,
Ch Daniel and Ch David
