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Author
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Topic: Best way to spot fakes
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Vegas10
Member
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posted February 13, 2012 05:05 AM
        
besides the bend test what are the best ways to tell fakes, and how reliable is the light test?
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coasterdude84
Member
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posted February 13, 2012 10:18 AM
It depends highly on the type of fake. Some cards (i.e., Dark Beta) are printed on card stock, so they'll pass the bend and light tests all day long. They're so named because they look like the darker beta cards you sometimes see, though they could be from any of the early sets. A while ago, someone here posted a Candelabra of Tawnos that was Dark Beta. The only way to recognize those is the look closely at the printing pattern, and you'll see the edges of the lettering is fuzzy, as opposed to the sharp edges of a real card.Regarding rebacks, these are typically made from CE or IE card faces and real card backs, spliced and glued together, and then the corners are clipped. When done properly, this can be very difficult to spot, and can sometimes even pass the bend test. If you have a set of calipers, measuring the thickness of the card can usually indicate a reback. Personally, when I'm not sure, I always look at the corners. You can usually tell if a card is die-cut (like the real ones are) versus scissor or Xacto-knife cut. This just scratches the surface of it though. There are a myriad of different types of fakes out there, but each one has its flaws.
[Edited 1 times, lastly by coasterdude84 on February 13, 2012]
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caquaa
Member
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posted February 13, 2012 12:26 PM
The light test can indicate a few things. The first is if the card is printed on real card stock or not. If someone made a poor fake on their own card stock it would likely have different qualities then real magic cards and you'll see a different quality when held up to the light.The main use for the light test would be attempting to determine a reback. If someone glues two cards together you'll often see glue blotches and such, even with a good job. Its not the only thing I'd rely on. As mentioned above, the corners often give most rebacks away pretty easily, even in scans.
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telmagic20
Member
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posted February 21, 2012 01:06 AM
also the more valuable the card is the more chance that it might be a fakelike for normal rares noone will bother faking them but for P9s people might want to fake them so be sure to test
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stu55
Member
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posted February 21, 2012 05:58 AM
quote:
Originally posted by telmagic20:
also the more valuable the card is the more chance that it might be a fakelike for normal rares noone will bother faking them but for P9s people might want to fake them so be sure to test
Man you are full of just useful posts today
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WeedIan
Member
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posted February 21, 2012 11:26 AM
quote:
Originally posted by stu55:
Man you are full of just useful posts today
LuLs! quote:
Originally posted by telmagic20:
also the more valuable the card is the more chance that it might be a fakelike for normal rares noone will bother faking them but for P9s people might want to fake them so be sure to test
Why wouldn't they? Imagine someone made 500 fake Sword of War and Peace for the Luls. It cost them $1 per fake card, price jumps to $40, they sell them on ebay $5 under what everyone else is shipping. Oh look still a huge profit. People will counterfeit anything as long as they can make money off it. __________________
Member Since 03/28/2001
11000+ posts
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CoupDeGrace
Member
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posted February 21, 2012 11:58 AM
quote:
Originally posted by stu55:
Man you are full of just useful posts today
*likes* __________________
If MTG is a metaphor in our lives, it will be Yawgmoth's Bargain
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hilikuS
Member
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posted February 21, 2012 12:08 PM
quote:
Originally posted by WeedIan:
People will counterfeit anything as long as they can make money off it.
It's just like money though. In a sense that it's more worth your while to try and counterfeit bigger bills than it is smaller ones. Yeah, a SoW+P is still a $35 bill, but you can do a bunch of those, or one lotus. Assuming they're all equally difficult to make passable fakes of, you'd rather be doing the lotus. Yes I understand that the bigger the money bill, the more precautions they take to prevent you from trying to make a fake, but I think that sorta goes along with what I'm sayin'.
[Edited 1 times, lastly by hilikuS on February 21, 2012]
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coasterdude84
Member
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posted February 21, 2012 01:40 PM
But at the same time, people will go over a NM Lotus with a fine-tooth comb, whereas NM Swords are,figuratively, a dime-a-dozen. No one is checking to see if their in-print cards are real or not. As long as it doesn't attrached attention to itself, it won't be questioned.
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caquaa
Member
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posted February 21, 2012 03:07 PM
Note to self: Print more Sword of War and Peace
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