Fake Pokémon cards: the common fakes and how to spot them

Counterfeit Pokémon cards are everywhere: in cheap online bundles, in "mystery" lots and sometimes inside graded slabs. Fakers copy what sells, so the more a card is worth, the more likely a copy exists. The good news is that most fakes fail simple checks you can do at home with a genuine common card from the same era to compare against.

The cards most often faked

• Vintage holos: Base Set Charizard, Blastoise and Venusaur above all, plus 1st Edition copies of any Wizards of the Coast era holo.
• Modern chase cards: ex, V, VMAX and VSTAR cards, full arts, special illustration rares and gold secret rares.
• Shining and Gold Star cards from the early 2000s.
• "Gold" and metal cards: almost every gold-foil or metal Pokémon card sold online is an unofficial novelty. Official metal cards exist only in a few special collections.
• Graded slabs: fake labels and re-sealed cases around a different or fake card.
• Sealed product: re-wrapped booster boxes and packs that have been opened and searched.

The tells, from easiest to hardest

1. The price. A chase card far below its market price is the first warning. Check the card page and compare.
2. The font and the text. Fakes often use the wrong font or weight, blurry text, misspellings, a missing accent on Pokémon, wrong attack names or damage numbers, or an HP figure in the wrong style. Compare word for word with the official image on the card's PokeClaw page.
3. The colours. The back of a real card has a specific deep blue with a swirl; fakes are often too purple, too light or washed out. The front may be over-saturated or dull.
4. The foil. On older holos the shine is only in the art box and follows a set pattern; a fake often has a flat rainbow sheen over the whole card. Modern full arts and secret rares have a textured, etched surface you can feel with a fingertip; fakes are usually smooth and glossy.
5. The symbols and numbers. Energy symbols misshapen or the wrong size, a missing or wrong set symbol, a card number that does not exist in that set, a copyright line with the wrong year.
6. The size and the cut. Real cards are 63 by 88 millimetres with evenly rounded corners. Fakes are often a fraction off, with rough or unevenly rounded corners.
7. The card stock. Genuine cards have a thin dark layer inside the card stock that shows as a faint line on the edge. Fakes often feel thinner, glossier or more flexible. Shining a phone light through the card and comparing with a real card from the same era often shows a difference.
8. The slab. Look up the certificate number on the grader's website and match the grade, card and photos; check the label's font, hologram and the case for signs of re-sealing.

Buying safely

• Buy expensive singles from sellers with long histories and real photos of the exact card, not stock images.
• Be wary of listings with many copies of the same chase card at a low price.
• Use the buyer protection of the marketplace you buy on, and keep the packaging until you have checked the card.
• For high-value cards, buy graded from a recognised grader and verify the certificate.

The cards worth checking hardest

Fakers aim at value. These are the twelve highest market prices in the catalog today; anything on this list offered far below its price deserves a close look.

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• How much is my Pokémon card worth?
• The most valuable Pokémon cards, set by set
• Pokémon TCG sets in release order
• Pokémon card grading: PSA, BGS and CGC grades explained
• Kanto Pokémon cards: the original 151 on cards
• One of a kind: Pokémon cards with a move printed only once
• Pokémon cards under $5: vintage, holos and ultra rares