Hello and welcome to Pikakirakuzu’s guide for spotting fake Pokemon cards! While there are many guides to spotting fake Pokemon card on the internet, I thought I would go ahead make my own, especially since there are so many different signs to spotting a fake Pokemon card. The most blatant sign of a Pokemon card being fake is color, typing and text mistakes. If a Pikachu card says its level 999 water type and/or its print seems to be blurry it would be obviously fake right?
But spotting fakes isn’t always obvious, especially to the untrained eye. For example, did you know big name stores such as Walmart and Target carry fake Pokemon cards? Those 50 card mystery packs you see hanging up for cheap near the checkout aisle are not from an official vendor!
With seemingly trustworthy stores carrying bootleg products, its key to educate ourselves on what the signs of a fake Pokemon card actually is. Some subtle signs to look for are the shading of the card to be off, the card stock is too thick or glossy, the card is holographic when it shouldn’t be or has the wrong holographic pattern.
Now that you have a basic understanding of some signs of fake Pokemon cards, here is a more in depth list:
♥ Card print is blurry and low quality.
♥ Card has spelling mistakes, incorrect punctuation, incorrect font, etc.
♥ Card has incorrect typing or evolution listed.
♥ Card has the wrong holographic pattern or shouldn’t be holographic.
♥ Card is peeling, general bad quality.
♥ The pack of card had a lot of duplicates or a lot of holographic cards and rares.
♥ Card does not have official packaging.
♥ Card is not the same size as confirmed real cards.
Helpful Pack/Card Information:
♥ Modern Pokemon card packs come with one to two holographic cards.
♥ Modern Pokemon card packs also come with one energy.
♥ You can look up a Pokemon card by looking up the name of the Pokemon and its set number on the bottom left or bottom right in vintage cards.
♥ Ditto from the official Pokemon Go set has a peel-able top layer. This is the only time this should be acceptable.
♥ Official Cards are sometimes stamped on the side of the art on the card for promotions or special events.
What You Can Do:
So you think you have a fake card, but how do you really confirm your suspicion?
The easiest method is to google a scan of your card and see if it matches up. There are also Pokemon unofficial cataloging card apps you can use as well such as Pokellector. Now, it is important to note some cards do come in holographic and non holographic forms, as well as cut perfection varies, and official errors do occur.
Another method you can do is take a confirmed real card and rip it. Yes I know it seems a little counterintuitive, but real cards have a middle layer between the card stock while a lot of fake cards don’t. If you prefer a less destructive method, you can look for a dark strip looking down at the top of the card.
How to Avoid:
Its sad to say that every collector has probably accidentally bought a fake card at least once in their life whether they were a child or otherwise. But even so, how can we do our very best to make sure we don’t get them? Well here are a few tips for you:
♥ Buy only from licensed vendors. Pokemoncenter.com Is the official place to get them but they sell out quick!
♥ Check merchandise for possible tampering and resealing.
♥ Check secondhand cards with scans of cards online.
♥ Only buy secondhand cards with people with good reviews or references.
Thank you so much for reading – PikaKiraKuzu.com
Sources for photos: thecardbazaar.com.au , https://zenmarket.jp/
PikaKiraKuzu 
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