How To Spot Fake Pokémon Cards

Counterfeit trading cards are a big issue for the games industry, and some of the fakes can be hard to spot. We visited Roy Raftery, a trading card expert with years of experience buying and selling Pokémon cards, at his shop in East London to find out more. Roy gave us some tips on some of the key things to look for when buying and selling cards, before challenging us to see if we could spot some fake Pokémon cards.
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How To Spot Fake Pokémon Cards

[@jimc.goodfellas226]

Now this is the important stuff we've been needing....

[@oklizzie]

Well, if your being sacastic, not true.. It is because people buy rare cards for 500 dollars and imagine if they got scammed!

[@moises.305]

@@oklizzie They deserve it for being stupid enough paying that kind of money for pokemon cards lol

[@untitled3112]

@@moises.305 How do they DESERVE it? People have a strong passion for this stuff.

[@shroomy7054]

I gave u 200 likes

[@Unknown-cx3nl]

lol

[@brandonm7492]

Me: *rips entire collection* yup, they’re real

[@pastel_playz104]

I just realized the rainbow charizard that my friend gave me is fake😩

[@doubleziv]

And the EX entei i gave my friend For a fake charizard Xd

[@alexmcintyre9164]

I want to like this but 151 likes is a good number

[@r3alitycubedSK]

my friends are like bruh why u rip theres no reason to just to see if real

[@Serenaa_lolz]

Recently I bought an entire Pokémon collection on eBay and I didn't know any of this tricks so I ripped them all. They were all real. RIP foil 2004 Poochyena

[@tommy6944]

Imagine you bring your shadowless first edition charizard and he starts doing this 5:28

[@RichieWilliams97]

Lol. “Welp, can’t tell if it’s real or not by bending it. Gonna have to give it the Hoppip test now.”

[@milkinz]

Lmao

[@rayohnine]

😭😂😂

[@AS-ri1mb]

He gonna catch these hands

[@squishyboi1179]

XD

[@daartistboi]

Gee, thanks... This could have been really useful in my *CHILDHOOD*

[@Nnnnnnnnnn670]

rumor has it .....children still exist

[@moises.305]

@@Nnnnnnnnnn670 gotteemmm

[@ryua5161]

Same

[@datwayclay3704]

Well shi look at ppl now they brought trading Pokémon cards back ( grown men btw)

[@clown_around_town638]

almost all my cards are fake

[@Gundam-bruh]

Where TF was this video 20 years ago when I needed it the most..

[@girlieoliva5379]

Them:shiny is fake Me:still thinking why my 2013 cards has over a thousand hp (True story)

[@unimornnbr1]

The back is extremely important, you can tell if its fake just by looking at the back

[@kevindagoat2081]

Unimornnbr1 explain

[@iseeyou6828]

Some backs of the cards are so faded it’s obvious that is fake compared to other Pokémon cards but it doesn’t mean all fake or real cards are like that

[@Rhoney716]

i have plenty of legit cards i pulled as a kid with a lighter backing, i dont think you can go on back color alone

[@Noscripts]

ur right i always look at the back too u need to focus on the red part of the pokeball most of the time the fake pokemon card has a darker pokeball on the back and the real has a lighter pokeball

[@Sirg17x]

@@Noscripts Yet the print quality on official cards can vary a good amount. Border colors can be lighter or darker blues or yellows, centering can be perfect or half of two cards in one where the print line was offset in production, hell I got a pretty faded xy evo Tangela straight from a sealed pack. Can't remember if it was from Walmart or Pokemon Center.

[@freyaearle2441]

What’s sad is I didn’t even have any real ones to compares them

[@savileroof464]

My stepdad and his two kids ordered 120 pokemon cards for 5 pounds on aliexpress and they seriously dont want to believe me when i told them theyre 110% fake. So i watched this video to prepare myself to absolutely demolish their false hope when those cards arrive

[@xavarrowww6]

lmao

[@MarathonWZ]

Furry

[@notasian7620]

Need update 😂

[@SirVergewaltig0re]

@@notasian7620 yeah same lmfao

[@spiralbaguette598]

So what was their reaction?

[@efraindelacruz3364]

Always used the light trick as a kid when the base set came out. Such a useful thing to do to easily spot the fake if it was difficult to tell. Glad to see someone mention that trick.

[@selfademus]

Efrain De La Cruz sorry, but it is virtually impossible for anyone _to easily spot the fake_ _if it was difficult to tell._

[@andrepwe6337]

Always do the rip test to make sure its legit

[@donttalktome.5922]

But what if u want money, and want to sell them. And then u rip them and its real then u cant sell it..

[@andrepwe6337]

@@donttalktome.5922 .

[@austinrb6301]

@@donttalktome.5922 .

[@spiralbaguette598]

@@donttalktome.5922 .

[@hyenaholicproductions9033]

The problem with the rip test is that... well, it's the rip test. You should only use it on cards you already know are fake, and fake cards aren't worth the paper they're printed on.

[@veganporkkebab389]

People need to support shops like Sneak Attack Games more instead of buying from online warehouses.

[@-KillaWatt-]

This is actually becoming a major problem for trading card games. Magic the Gathering has been dealing with fake Chinese knock offs for years and they just released their newest generation and I must say, They are getting pretty hard to detect. I have an Imperial Seal in my collection that is a counterfeit and I can tell you of at least two instances where a local game store wanted to buy it from me. The card is worth $800 if it were real but it looks so good people who actually deal with the cards all the time have tried figuring out if it's real or not.

[@natigrab3166]

Did you sell it?

[@user-ol6ur6cd2k]

Anything that’s a FAKE is from CHINA since “ANCIENT TIMES”

[@ellk1991]

It always was a major problem. I was buying fake booster packs in 1999. Some were really good and hard to spot even then.

[@oRealAlieNo]

The forbidden city is filled with counterfeits.

[@LucasPlay171]

@@superhappygamer1162 it's not just that, it's also illegal

[@Zaintz1]

I have a shiny gyarados which passes all the above tests (including the light test). but its got 100,000 hp

[@sarahmitchell7799]

I was about to be incredibly happy for you.

[@pooo709]

That means it’s fake. Only Pokémon card max hp can be 250.

[@anonym3852]

@@pooo709 Gosh Captain Obvious. I missed you.

[@bluebery]

@@pooo709 I have a card from 390 tho-

[@theresivy]

testes...

[@mk_annan22]

Thank you for recalling my childhood franchise back again. :')

[@enter_agoodname6254]

i think the best thing how to spot a fake card is that when you look on a pokemon card from the side the real one will have 3 layers (white,black,white) and the fake card has only 2 layers (white and white)

[@D1ana2009]

I have a moltres card that says retreal instead of retreat. I can't believe I never noticed it.

[@1stfacts542]

5:40 Spot on acting skills!!! 👏👏👏 He knew from the split he saw it 🤙🤙🤙🤙

[@DanknDerpyGamer]

I am actually surprised that counterfeiters haven't been using cardstock with black layers sandwiched in between, since that shit has been available for a long time (and Magic the Gathering counterfeiters often use that stuff)

[@lizard415]

wow this would have been so useful 15 years ago

[@paulhicks9399]

More like 20 years ago

[@Nnnnnnnnnn670]

children still exist so does pokemon its useful info

[@selfademus]

Dwain McSwain something else that exists is the qualifier, _'so'_ that dude placed directly preceding his _'useful.'_ *_so_*_ useful_ he didn't say it's useless... yet that's what you respond to.

[@KuramiRocket]

Great guide to identifying fakes. Want to start collecting pokemon cards so this really helps.

[@terraxgaming4117]

I have over 4k fake yu gi oh cards

[@dinofluff]

This helped me find a fake Kartana in my collection :')

[@dan_hahn]

that is SO interesting because in MtG the light passes through quite a bit differently than in pokemon cards. a good thing to know for folks who may be jumping into the pokemon craze.

[@imjody]

Hey thanks. That 3rd level was a tough one for sure.

[@bread_n_butter8614]

From what I've gathered from this video, the easiest tell of a fake card (in this batch of cards) is the card number which is noticeably thinner/paler in fake version

[@vovoczczcz8103]

Thanks for the flashlight tip! :D

[@JohnTechG]

never knew about these tips when i was a kid and i haven't collected in forever but this was great insight thank you!

[@leafpot587]

We Need More Of This Important Stuff

[@kuldeepsingh1364]

After checking my cards I found out that my ALL CARDS ARE FAKE.😭

[@carsforlifelater1594]

Rip

[@adamt808]

kuldeep singh same

[@hiimaperson6594]

Same ☹️

[@chris07]

It's so hard to find a real card in India unless you are ready to pay through your nose

[@user-ii5yz1ts2p]

I don't really care if a adorable pokemon card(e.g) fake pikachu)is fake .is it just me?

[@darijomatesic2261]

thanks now rick harrison will call me

[@firstkeepitreel]

I know of one card that will never get old.... *THE UNO REVERSE CARD*

[@shahimagesyt]

Yeah but is it real?

[@dannagarcia2556]

bayspotter this comment is under rated

[@andersrommelchristiansen9898]

Can you also do the light test on gx and ex cards, where the graphic is different from a normal card?

[@lalang4806]

thanks!! very helpful

[@derricksuter8105]

Thank you so much this is much help God Bless 🙏🏻

[@elaichiuchiha4161]

i wanted to sell some cards and this helped me a lot. i had some oversized fake cards and the flashlight trick really helped me a lot

[@vintopin]

nice, I ripped 5x Charizard cards they all have inner layer. Good news is they are all real

[@WhiteTenpenny]

Can't wait to go to my local card shop to give this a test. I've been getting back into collecting them just because I think they're neat. Definitely not reselling. I don't care if the cards are even worth a penny, they're just the coolest and moat amazing pieces of art to me.

[@critterwhisperer5821]

I have 3 tins of non duplicating cards. Some I got as hand me downs and I've been staring at some and come to realize upon further inspection, that only full art cards would get a full holo. Not the weird pattern on a normal card. And those are so pretty too. I'll hide them in my fakes stash

[@LucasPlay171]

You should try playing the game

[@WhiteTenpenny]

@@LucasPlay171 I have online and it was fun. It’s just hard in person because you gotta build a deck. Kinda just wanna buy one of the ones already made and just try it like that without getting judged.

[@LucasPlay171]

@@WhiteTenpenny i mean yeah, personally i find the building a deck part of it really fun(part of why i thought About not buying a trainer box, but at the end I'll have to anyway)

[@WhiteTenpenny]

@@LucasPlay171 How do you even know where to begin tho if you don’t mind me asking? Like there’s so many cards in legal play that do so many different things. Do you use cards all from one set or mix it up?

[@michaelwilloughby8493]

Thanks for the tip I wish I had watched it sooner

[@BaxxyGaming]

Definitely what people need to know in 2019

[@Nnnnnnnnnn670]

news flash just cause your not a child doesn't mean children stopped existing

[@moises.305]

grow up lol

[@joojetchen3882]

And 2020

[@farmerdreydan9319]

I actually like the cards does this mean I’m a loser

[@tc6103]

Farmer Dreydan nah liking Pokémon cards is pretty neat

[@blwl5624]

Have 2 new packs sitting at home .. Will have to do the torch test.. Fingers crossed lol

[@youtubeisbroken241]

BLWL I’d they are new and out of a pack, they are going to be real

[@Erik-cp8yh]

5:39 The "hard" nidorina is immediately identified by the "40/64" text. Just like the last card, the text is too thin and small. Spotted it within the first second.

[@xanperia]

Do Korean Pokemon cards have the middle dark layer as well? I got a booster box and I was pretty sure the cards were fake, but the secret rare card with ridges looked quite good... Idk what to think.

[@Sweeney-Kubach]

Great video my friend!

[@golddropper2747]

I dont know if my first gen charizard is real. Time to rip it apart and see for myself Update: it was real

[@noin35]

the smaller sized all-holographic cards are often stickers

[@albertusaswin2012]

RIP the original Hoppip card

[@dasher566]

going trading in 5 min thx

[@FalconPan]

I remember when I first found out about the light test - I went through my collection, and almost all my cards from the Team Aqua/Magma set onwards (i.e. until Holon Phantoms when I had stopped collecting) were fake. Probably hundreds of € wasted on worthless pieces of paper 🙃

[@rogerbowles5480]

maybe the light you used was too powerful and they were all real why didnt you take them to somebody just a to check a few

[@Omar000ooo]

That was helpful thank you

[@user-rolerskates]

Thank God all my rarest Pokemon cards are real

[@KingKong-oz3cw]

And I think I wasted $3 today lol one person in the lcs I go to has tons of gym challenge/hero cards and I got an dudrio one and according to this video it 75% fake

[@modern-vintagetcg9174]

Really good video

[@musaababdullah580]

I dont get it why these cards cost so much?

[@leafpot587]

Heres Why Numbers Of The Pokemon Cards Decrease A Pokemon Collectors Love

[@vaishalirandheer3048]

They are too cheep in my country. 30 cards for ₹ 15. Which is $ 0.21

[@user-jd3gf5xw1x]

@@vaishalirandheer3048 depends on the rarity, foil and number of it. if you get very common ones, they are literally worth either 0 or negative

[@nerdybacon6244]

I know uno is more cheaper

[@KedKexKevin]

And suddenly the Food War dude is spotting fake Pokémon cards. Awesome!

[@loomman5296]

Shining a light through is genius. I wish I knew this beforehand. I have a Sobble that has a bit of a different looking back to it, the shades of blue are less pronounced and the red is really saturated. Definitely gonna see if it's fake.

[@jabracada]

good video, nice job

[@dragonbreath545]

So i recently received a pokemon card, looked pretty normal in terms of shine, back was good, everything was pretty much perfect. even the smell lmao. (it's a full art btw) The only thing i found off about it was that there was REALLY shallow texture. you can obviously see it, but it's extremely hard to feel, honestly. is it fake, or is it possibly an error card?

[@alikarami6061]

This video ruined my childhood. I have around 8000 cards, and non of them cleared the flashlight test😭

[@jackhoff5304]

Sameeeee 😂 now that Pokémon cards r trending again I searched for my old card collection of 200 card turns out almost all of them were fake :,(

[@Dgcamarena]

@@jackhoff5304 I will tried my luck now

[@jackhoff5304]

@@Dgcamarena good luck !

[@dman4435]

Great video

[@javy6971]

Friend:bro how did you know my Pikachu card was fake Me:(lifts glasses) you could say that I'm a detec... Friend and anyone reading this comment: surprised Pikachu face🤔

[@theguythathasanormallife3205]

Thanks for advice

[@tayg2469]

You know what interest me the most is the flash i mean i ripped the card open and saw a freakin black layer but still it passes through the card??

[@UltimatePota]

I've been going through some of my old Pokemon cards, and found this Kommo-o that on the back has a golden top of a pokeball instead of red. I tried searching this up thinking I hit the jackpot, but now I'm starting to believe its fake because I have searched all over the internet for it. I tried checking the obvious factors like if the rims are dark blue, but now I've tried all those tactics and it seems pretty legit... apart from the golden top. So is this real and super rare, or just a fake decoy? Quite frankly I think it's fake.

[@louiseklindworth6021]

thanks so much it's so healpful.

[@Mr.CreamCheese69]

Is it just me or is It getting harder and harder to find real cards now? I have a few hundred cards collected from ebay and about half are fake. I purchased most of them individually, others in a binder.

[@MopLobster]

My friends and I would always just assume that all the Japanese cards were bootleg in the early 2000s lol.

[@olgathehandmaid]

literally

[@pepsiman9511]

I wouldn't recommend doing this on your own because I had a rare non-holo Dark Machamp card that looked extremely fake. It had uneven borders on both the front and back. The supposed royal blue color on the back was like solid purple. It sticked out of my collection like a sore thumb. I could also easily see the other side of the card with the light test too. I couldn't hold it in and teared it up, only to find out that it was real! (It had the blue/black cardboard layer in the middle.) Ouch! That's $10 into the trash.

[@LucasPlay171]

Dude but if it was bigger than the other ones then... You got a bigger problem there

[@jeromerethmel7163]

I really wanted to know this thank you

[@cowchills1894]

S

[@mikedlp9159]

Hey thanks for the tips i just bought a card from amazon and i did that camera tip or trick thanks

[@ct6686]

iv been using the light trick as a first test and then moving to other tests from there

[@adventurouseddie9369]

The light test is flawed, I've tested it on a 100% obvious fake and no transparency. Also the light used is a variable in itself, I used it on my real cards and you could see through it if placed too close to the phone light. To be fair the chances of 3 Targets, 2 Kmarts, 3 Big Ws & 5 Eb Games in my state selling fakes is highly unlikely

[@DUSKvsDAWN]

Ordered a Jungle set Eevee from a seller on ebay. Doing the torch test it shines through pretty easily. Sad days

[@scp-yr4kv]

Do energy’s have a third layer because only my energy’s failed the flashlight test and they were the same size.

[@mauricethegecko9700]

I just opened up a pack of pokémon cards and I got older cards! Not first edition, nor second edition, nor third edition, but they were old enough to look like first edition without actually being first edition. I asked my grandma if I could run down and get some pokémon cards. She said yes, but she was coming with me. I was telling her about vintage cards and that you have a chance to get a booster pack of vintage cards that you could sell. When we got there, there was a choice. I could get a small pack for 5 dollars, a bigger one for 8 dollars, or a bigger one for 12 dollars. She didn't want to pay 12 dollars for pokémon cards, so I got the 8 dollar pack. We got home, and my brother chose which pack he wanted to open. I grabbed the other. I opened up mine, and as soon as I saw that Growlithe, I went nuts. I took a video of me going through the cards. *"Growlithe, Nidoran, Vulpix, Sandshrew, Ponyta, Ninetales, Arcanine, Kakuna, Trainer: Energy Reveal, and Trainer: Blastoise Spirit Link."* I haven't shown my parents the cards in person, but I sent them the video.

[@superhappygamer1162]

Why did you go crazy over a Growlithe?

[@aliliz7204]

@@superhappygamer1162 Favorite maybe?

[@TheDankShrimp]

@@superhappygamer1162 People have their favorite Pokemon, or you gonna tell me you only care about expensive cards?

[@superhappygamer1162]

@@TheDankShrimp Ok. I can understand that. I just wanted to know.

[@TheDankShrimp]

@@superhappygamer1162 Yeap, I think this is a recurring problem in the TCG community, people see the hobby as a way of making more money, so now people don't care about their favorite Pokemon or card, they care about which is the most expensive card... I'm not pointing fingers at you by the way heh, just the situation.

[@foxperit]

Thanks, that torch trick made the difference. My sister just bought a fake pokemon box ;(

[@zstrode.8953]

Thanks this video helped alot just ordered some and they are fake 🤦‍♂️

[@titantrongod]

I still remember the smell when I use to unbox a pokemon card box&tin 😍

[@selfademus]

​james calderon meth is odorless.

[@sausagegaming4518]

Thank you so much

[@MaCad364]

I have a question: I have 3 different cards but 2 of the same figure from 2018, but the color looks a little lighter than the other one, but the side are the same, everything it’s the same but the different is the picture in the from that is a little lighter or darker the color, I don’t want to throw one of them without making sure it’s not a fake one 😭 ( By the way is not a holo or something, just the regular one )

[@SDSypher]

I was looking through old cards and there's an ultra rare rayquaza, but it isn't shiny and I'm not sure if it's supposed to be

[@MythicalGod909]

Top tier content!

[@lalang4806]

i have a collection bought 20 something yrs ago, all 1999 and 2002. not graded but like new. i wanna know what theyre worth. any tips?

[@starlights5749]

so i tried the ripping it apart technic and some type of stickers that had the shiny part just peeled right off

[@KailenOsborn]

I bought over 800 cards with like 38 GXs and two Vs and I just found out they are all fake 😤 my mom felt bad and sent me this video, would have been useful

[@koutakajima8050]

I have a whole box of cheap and fake cards HAHA I wonder if some of them might actually be real. I wanna check em out

[@dozeofaudio]

i ripped a 1st shadowless venusaur....turned out it had the middle layer..

[@ridemonster189]

Very usefull

[@onetime9147]

Hey I have a question. I got some cards Wich are from 1995-2000 and it is a little bit silver on the edge. Is it fake?

[@connorlee8983]

I have a Flying Pikachu that makes a twangy sound when bent, but the sound is not as loud as when i bend a card that I know for sure is real. Also, when I shine my phone flashlight up close to the Flying Pikachu, it doesn't shine through like it would with a fake card. Is my flying pikachu fake?

[@dittoxkuriboh7725]

What do youdo with your fake cards I collect mine for a special art and craft project that I will post on KZbin in april of 2020 but first I need to get more fake cards.

[@g24eva27]

Also does only one company make Pokemon cards or do a couple make them? Half the new cards I buy from official Nintendo decks from target have a light problem but when checked from the side they have all the layers. But it's not super see through like a fake. I bought a new pack today and that issue seemed to be gone but. There must be others ways of checking besides hit or miss with the light. When I bought all three official kalos starter decks back in 2013 the light test only works on the three starter Pokemon cards. Otherwise there is a problem with the lighting with the regular cards. I know they are not fake because I ripped some of them.

[@toasty3775]

Brb going to test all my cards

[@wolfclipse1345]

What does it mean if a Pokémon card does not have HP on the top right is it a mistake or is it fake?

[@kerrys.kritters.animal.rescue]

Pft.. I watched this and went to check my 1st editions base jungle set, shined the light on the back and can clearly see the Pokemon logo shine through so was like well damn they fake.. ripped one in half and it does have the black going through the middle.. :/ super confused now and probably ripped a 1st edition for no reason xD

[@blitzythesimp]

Its ok if you can see the logo its just you need to see if the circle is big or not the small one is real and the big one is fake

[@Pluto-VR]

exact same thing happend to me and i was so confused

[@connorboudraux7983]

The light trick was helpful. Bought an abra card on ebay and was a bit dubious so tried it. The pokèmon logo came through so this saved me from taking in a fake card

[@lishavaid1482]

I like this video it is very useful to me

[@luease1369]

i shined the light back of the card and the whole card was see thru i then decided to rip it and it has a black layer? is this a well made fake?

[@Wilkyway101]

is a pokemon card fake if it you tear it and has the balck material in the middle but a purple swirl on the back?

[@beastpodz418]

Where is the location to his store I need help I can’t even tell if my cards are real

[@ottertheprocapnot9658]

i check my 1st edition LT surge jolteon when i use the method to use the flash light rather than really small its medium but not large like the fake one can someone explain it to me (i used the i move the card and it makes the noice)