I wish this article didn’t have to be written. Unfortunately though, the amount of fake Pokémon cards in the market have gotten out of hand. If you do anything outside of opening packs from big box retailers or Local Card Stores, knowing how to identify fake Pokémon cards is almost a necessity.
It started with people wanting to relive some nostalgia. Fake cards were created since owning the real thing became far too expensive. And it turns out it’s hard to relive some nostalgia with a very fake card.
So the fakes became better. Then knowingly or not, people started selling them in the open market for the value of the real cards.
So here we are. A fair amount of fakes floating around and you reading this article to figure out if you have one or how to not get one.
I’ll cover vintage and modern cards and give both precise and general ways to spot fake cards.
Let’s jump in!
General Guide to Check for Fake Pokémon Cards
Let me start out by saying that spotting fake Pokémon cards is not easy to do. Even practiced individuals and practiced card shop owners have been fooled by fakes before.
Add in the fact that fakes continue to adapt and get better and it honestly just gets hard to keep up with. Unless you’re buying and selling cards all the time, I’m convinced just about anyone can be fooled.
Let’s go through some general quick-check ways to spot fakes. From there, we will go into more specific cards and eras.
Google Your Pokémon Card
Seems pretty simple but comparing your card to others online is a great first check. First, identify your Pokémon card using the name and numbers at the bottom. Search those two things and find other listings of your card. Let’s use the below card as an example, assuming I either own or am looking to buy this card.
In this case, I would search “Reshiram & Charizard GX 20/214. If I search images from there, I should be able to find some listings.
Do NOT use TCG Player or Pricecharting for the pictures. Look for pictures of your card posted through eBay, Mercari, or another similar website. You are looking for your card in a picture taken by an individual, not an image of a card. If you’re not sure what that means, look for cards that have a background of some kind that isn’t just plain white.
Interestingly enough, TCG Player has a still image that others actually use to make their fake cards, so that picture can help you validate if your card is fake or not. We will get to that later though.
One of the listings I found shows the card below.
What differences do you notice between the two?
The Coloring and Holographic Part of the Card
The coloring and/or the holo of the card is easy to notice off the bat on fakes. The back of the card can be off too, but let’s focus on the front for now.
In our first picture, we can see it looks pretty light and has a rainbow coloring. In posted listing from eBay, it doesn’t look that way at all.
Fortunately, the listing also had the card at another angle. This angle shows some pretty cool coloring on the card that the first picture does not have at all.
Based off that alone, we should feel pretty confident that our picture above is a fake card. Rainbow coloring is a major giveaway that not a lot of real cards have. A flat color without “depth” is another.
There are more differences though. Did you notice any others?
The Text Font and Size
On this card, the font should have been your second major giveaway. The word “Outrage” particularly just looks odd.
When we compare our card to the other listing we found, we can see that most of it looks off. Real cards will never have variations in the font sizing or type. And the difference between these two is far too different to go unnoticed.
Hold your card up next to a picture online and verify that the font and sizing matches the card you have in your hand. This is a fairly common issue that fake cards have.
Let’s look at a different card for your next check.
Make Sure The Picture Matches
In some cards, like our example above, the picture of the Pokémon doesn’t even match up. At first glance, they look very similar. Looking more closely though, we can see that both the hands (wings?) are cut off.
Most of the google images you search will be real. If you’re not sure, look for graded cards or just search more than one to be sure.
Since the picture doesn’t match, we can be sure that the above card on the left is a fake. Notice once again that the font doesn’t match up either.
And last but not least for this portion…
The Back of The Pokémon Card
Now here’s a test for you real pros out there. Check the below pictures of the backs of 4 Pokémon cards. Which ones are fake and which are real?
If you said that the top two cards were real and the bottom two cards are fake, then a gold star for you.
To be more precise, the top left card is a real vintage card from base set while the top right is a modern card from Shining Fates. If you didn’t get it right, no need to fret.
The reason it’s worth showing is because the coloring and the print of the back can give away fakes almost as much as the front can. The bottom right sticks out because the coloring is so off. The bottom left is far closer but still looks odd because of how odd the sizing is of the back. That being said, off-centering definitely does not automatically mean a fake card.
The last giveaway on the back of the card is its shine. They all should shine slightly, but the backs of some fake cards almost look like they have plastic over it, while others look like they are just a sheet of paper. Comparing the back of a similar-aged card next to the one you think is fake can definitely help you out.
And if you do all of these steps and still don’t know if it’s real or not?
Head to Reddit for Help
Seriously. Go to r/ismypokemoncardfake on reddit and post your card there. The bro’s and broettes are super helpful and can point you in the right direction.
Hopefully that was a helpful initial checklist to figure out if your Pokémon card is fake. If there’s anything that I missed, feel free to send it over in the comments below!
Now that we’ve covered that, let’s get into some more specific examples.
How to Identify Fake Vintage Pokémon Cards
Pokémon cards have changed a LOT through the years. Vintage cards had a similar style and holographic pattern for quite some time. After a while, the design changed to the entire card being holographic with all sorts of designs and otherwise along the way.
For clarification then, vintage cards in this article will be looking at the original sets from base and gym heroes up to the neo sets. We will look into specific cards and give guidance on what to look for based on what we find.
Let’s get started!
Fake 1st Edition Shadowless Charizard
How can we start an article on fake vintage cards without starting with the true OG Charizard. It’s an incredible card that you likely won’t be able to get your hands on for less than $3000. If you’re interested in a graded or PSA 10 version, then you will have to shell out over $200,000.
With that kind of price tag, it’s not surprising that fakes make their way to the market. And if you are going to spend any amount of cash on a card, then it’s worth making sure that you are getting what you think you are.
How To Tell They Are Fake?
In the pictures above, each has it’s own tell, some more obvious than others. I’ll show a real Shadowless Charizard below, which is the same with the exception of the 1st edition stamp to the real card.
Top Right Charizard Issues
The top right Charizard above has a few errors. The biggest being that it has a shadow along its right edge of the holo.
Every English 1st edition Charizard will also be shadowless, meaning is has no shading along the right edge of the card. Alternate language 1st Edition Base Set cards actually will keep the shadow, as you can see in the picture below.
If that’s not enough, then the odd coloring of the Charizard itself as well as the surrounding card should give you an idea that it is a fake.
Bottom Left Charizard Issues
Yes, the bright light is odd on it. Outside of that though, this card has one main tell that it is a fake. The holo pattern has far too many crisp and brightly shining stars.
The real Charizard definitely has some, but the come and go depending on where the light shines. The fact that every star shines so brightly is the main issue with this one.
Top Left Charizard Issues
This is a VERY common fake. You are likely to run into this one potentially above all others. And to the untrained eye, it doesn’t look half bad. So how can you tell it’s fake?
If you said the stars, that would be a good start. There are once again far too many without the depth that a real holo card has. All vintage holos have a “depth” to them that this card just lacks. I’ll show a real shadowless further below so you can see what I mean. Here’s a photo of the fake with more lighting to give you another idea.
If you are somewhat trained though, the coloring on this card should be the big giveaway. The real Charizard just isn’t that…. red. The shadowless and 1st edition have a lighter hue than the more common base set unlimited version. Even those though aren’t as dark as this card.
Let’s now look at the last one.
Bottom Right Charizard Issues
Now, the bottom right Charizard has some odd lighting on it. Outside of that though, the card looks pretty good.
If it’s really hard to tell if your card is fake, there is one final check you should do. Looking at the holo placement.
Start by pulling the image of the real card off TCG Player as I have done below. Next, look at the star placement next to your card.
As the bottom right Charizard picture points out, the star placement on the fake is IDENTICAL to the TCG image. Because of the way these cards were made, the holo pattern should never match perfectly.
One More…
Came across one more VERY good looking fake that is worth posting about here. The below are some pictures of it.
Honestly, this card looks really good for a fake. Far better than any other I’ve seen.
There are a few smaller giveaways on this card that it is a fake, but they are not easy to notice. Let’s run through them so that you can make sure you don’t wrongly purchase this card.
- Coloring is still off from a real one
- There are too many stars in the holo (watch for the same star placement)
- The rest of the card has too much of a “sheen”
It’s going to be near impossible to find this card in amazing condition. If you do and the price is too good to be true, then it’s likely that it actually is.
Let’s look at a real Shadowless Charizard below!
Real Shadowless Charizard
Now that we’ve gone through a few fakes, let’s look at a real Shadowless Charizard. Despite it not being a 1st edition, the card is identical to what a 1st edition Shadowless Charizard should look like, with the 1st edition stamp being the only exception.
As we can see, there are a good number of stars, but not so many that they are clumped together. There are also some bright ones while some seem to fade out at the same time.
If we look at the coloring next, we can see that the coloring is far lighter than the base set, non shadowless version, and quite a bit lighter than some of the fakes.
Let’s look at another angle.
Take a look at the fake Charizard picture above taken at the same angle as this one. The “depth” and “pop” of the holographic is far more noticeable and intense than any of the fakes. It also has no rainbow hue, which is a big giveaway on fakes of this card.
This holo depth is another BIG difference in fake vintage cards vs real ones. If it’s in your possession, shine a bright light on it and you should see a stark difference in where the holo ends and where the border and Pokémon image begins.
I’ll finish with one final GIF below before moving to our next card!
Fake 1st Edition Blaine’s Charizard
If you’ve read the whole article to this point, then thanks! Also though, use what we’ve gone through and see if you can identify the differences between the Blaine’s Charizard on the left (the real one) and the Blaine’s Charizard on the right.
The Text
For this particular fake, the text is a big giveaway. Looking at our two cards, we can see that the sizing and even the font of the card is incorrect. Again, that will never happen when dealing with real cards.
What else did you notice?
The Holo Pattern and Depth
I’ve called this out a few times now, but it’s worth doing so again. Even though the real card above is in a slab, we can see how much of a difference there is between the holo and the bordering. The fake on the right lacks that depth and doesn’t have the pop that a real card does.
If you have a card you think is fake and you run the light over it, the holographic portion should “glow” while the Pokémon on the card and border should starkly contrast it. Below is one more picture to give you another angle.
Let’s get to our next card.
Fake Skyridge Charizard
Yes, the above is what is supposed to be one of the most highly coveted Charizard’s in the Pokémon card game. Unfortunately though, it is a VERY common fake floating around and it has tripped up a number of card shop employees and myself as well.
Let’s look at what a real one is supposed to look like below and run through the differences.
What do you notice?
Rainbow Holo on the Fake
There are not a lot of real cards that have a rainbow holographic pattern. In both modern and vintage cards, you should be incredibly weary if the card has a rainbow coloring on the holo.
In the top left picture, we can clearly see that rainbow coloring, while the real card below doesn’t show that at all.
The Coloring of the Holographic
For this card particularly, we can see that there is a blue coloring on our first pictures of the fake. When looking at a picture of the real card, we can see that it is more of a white background with coloring differences around the stars.
The Depth of the Holographic Section
Said it above, but it’s worth saying again. When held up to a bright light, these fake cards lack shine and depth. These cards were incredibly well made in their original form and are meant to look very impressive. If you are unimpressed by any skyridge holographic card, you should double check if it is in fact real.
If there are any vintage eras or cards that I missed that are worth running through, let me know in the comment section below!
How to Identify Fake Modern Pokémon Cards
We’ve covered a lot already on identifying fake Pokémon cards. That being said, modern cards are made in a COMPLETELY different way. And with their popularity being as high as ever, it’s worth spending some time on modern cards specifically.
There are a lot of generations to cover that are all made in different ways. I’ll give a general overview of what to look out for, but if there’s any generations you would like to hear about specifically, let me know in the comments form below!
Fake Modern Pokémon Card Checklist
Let’s start with a picture of a fake and real Kleavor V, Ice Rider Calyrex Vmax, and Darkrai Vstar. These three cards have are all from the Astral Radiance set but have completely different holo patterns.
There’s a very noticeable feature the the three fake cards on the left. This feature is a main giveaway for modern fake cards.
Vertical Rainbow Holo Pattern
The vertical rainbow holo pattern is a main giveaway for fake modern Pokémon cards. Some real have diagonal rainbow patterns, but none will have the vertical one.
And if we look at the picture above, despite there being three different cards, all of the fakes show the same thing.
Let’s look at another picture below full of different fake Pokémon cards.
Again, completely different cards in completely different sets, but they all look the same. Vertical. Rainbow. Holo.
Keep an eye out for this and you will spot most modern fakes.
Lack of Texture
If you pick up any relatively expensive card that is a Vmax, Alternate Art, or Alternate Full Art from the Sword and Shield era, they should have “texture” on the card. This typically takes the form of very small lines on the card that almost looks like a fingerprint. Below are some examples of real cards that have texture.
Fake Umbreon Vmax Alt Art aka “Moonbreon”
The biggest chase card of the Sword and Shield era cards. Its raw price started at around $220 and has since jumped to as much as $600. It’s no wonder that this card has fake versions of it.
I’ll run through two common Etsy copies before showing what a real one looks like.
Fake Umbreon Vmax Alt Art #1
This first one above looks decent and could definitely fool the untrained eye. There are a few giveaways that are a little more obvious in this version though. Did you catch them?
The Text
At the very top, the actual text of the Umbreon is incorrect. If you take a few moments to look online at some real versions, this should become fairly obvious.
The Texture
It’s not always easy to see, but these Alternate Art cards all have texture on them that looks a bit like a fingerprint. The texture is very difficult to copy and most fakes won’t have any texture at all. It’s not on every holographic card, but it should definitely be on this one.
Let’s get to our second fake.
Fake Umbreon Vmax Alt Art #2
Remember what I just said about the texture? This will be a giveaway on most fake cards, but a lot of proxy cards are starting to incorporate it in some way. This next example is another fake, but does have texturing on it.
Not only that, but the text looks pretty good here. So how do we tell that this is a fake Moonbreon?
The Holo/Texture Match
Now, despite this copy having texture, it does not mean that the texture and holo matches exactly. And unlike a fingerprint, the texture should look the same on all of these cards.
There are some other smaller tells with this card that gives away that it’s fake, but this should be the main one that you can tell with.
Since this can be hard to find, I’ll add some close-up pictures of a Umbreon Vmax here. Looking through these should show you what the real card actually looks like.
Real Umbreon Alt Art Vmax 215/203 Picture #1
Quick note that the card pictured below is graded. The light reflection is due to that and unfortunately I can’t (won’t) take it out. That being said, these pictures should still get the point across.
If we take a look at the pattern and holographic portion of the card, we should notice a few things. The first is that the texture is basically circles around the moon at the top. Those circles expand throughout the card, with just a few breaks along the way.
The second thing to notice in this picture is that the moon has its own texture, separate from the circles. It’s especially cool because it almost looks like craters in the moon, much like our very own!
Let’s take a look from another angle.
Real Umbreon Alt Art Vmax 215/203 Picture #2
You’ll notice two different breaks in the circular holo texture in this picture. In the first, there is a break along the horizon. After that point, the circular texture continues until the water line ends.
The other difference is the roofs of the buildings. Once again, this detail is particularly cool.
What do you notice in looking at the roofs? Well the texture on both actually looks like roofing tile rather than the circles from the moon! Again, makes you appreciate the amount of time put into designing these cards. And once again, this is a detail that fakes have not been able to capture to this point.
As a final note, the eye of the Umbreon should glow red with a slight white sliver along the top of the eye.
If there are any details I missed, let me know below!
And now that we’ve covered that card, let’s get to some other cards.
Fake Leafeon V Alternate Full Art #167
This is another popular card out of the Evolving Skies set. It’s an Alternate Full Art rather than an Alternate Art Secret Rare like the Umbreon above.
The image below is a common Proxy of this card that you can find through Etsy. The image of the card looks fine below, but are there any giveaways based on this picture?
Lack of Holo Shine
It’s actually really hard to take a picture of these cards without some sort of holo glimmer on it. If you find pictures of an alternate or secret art from this era, there should be a nice diagonal shine on the card. If there’s not, ask the seller to give some additional photos from different angles.
Lack of Texture
No matter what angle these pictures are taken from, these Pokémon cards should show some kind of texture. The above image doesn’t show any, which should be a giveaway that it is fake.
Below are some pictures of a real Leafeon V Alternate Full Art.
Real Leafeon V Alternate Full Art #167
Below are two pictures of a real Leafeon V. These should give you a good idea if the card you are looking at is real or not.
If you would like to see any more cards, let me know in the comment form below!
Conclusion
Hopefully this article has given you what you were looking for. This is a hot topic and unfortunately will continue to be for as long as Pokémon cards are popular. Thank you for visiting and taking the time to read through it.
Want to avoid Pokémon card scams? I write all about them here.
Trying to ship some Pokémon cards effectively? Check this article out!
Need more Dragonite in your life? I’ve got you covered.
If I missed anything or if you have any comments, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at [email protected]!
Thanks for reading!
