Q&A for How to Know If Pokémon Cards Are Fake

Yes. Pokemon company will happily authenticate a card. If it is fake, they will send you a copy of the real one with a booster code for Pokemon tcg.

If you are battling competitively or trying to sell them, that is a big no-no. But if you make it clear with your opponent that the cards are fake and this is for fun, you might be okay. If you are using fake cards with some friends in a group, it's totally fine.

Trading websites such as eBay, Amazon, or Craigslist are more likely to sell fake cards than a brick and mortar store. You should also be careful when trading cards with someone, especially if a trade seems too good to be true.

It's pretty hard to tell. With some, like eBay, some people use fake photos instead of the real thing to mislead you into buying it. At a first glance, it might seem legit, but the cards you actually get might not be. If you do buy cards off the internet, check the seller's reputation, if the site has that. If they have high reputation, there's less chance of it being fake. If they have low reputation, don't bother.

Traditionally, full art cards usually have a brown or rust-colored border. If it is yellow, it is likely a fake.

When people go to a trusted store that sells Pokemon cards, they expect their money's worth in real cards, which can be resold and used in tournaments. If a fake card package is on the shelves at stores the consumer wasted their money on non-usable fake cards.

Sometimes the colors on the back of a fake Pokemon card are a bit lighter than the real cards. Also, fake Pokemon cards have stats that don't seem realistic. It is also thinner and easier to bend.

Probably. Most fake cards have cheap edges around the cards and often arrive to the consumer with worn or bent edges.

Yes, they do. There are still Pokemon card collectors today, and there are still occasional scammers trying to take advantage of them.

Timburr is in fact a real Pokemon. You can easily find a picture of the Timburr card online to compare to the artwork on your card. Almost all fake cards do have the correct artwork, though, so follow the instructions in this article just in case.

Not necessarily. Very rare cards have shiny borders, while some can be dodgy, so watch out!

You can just thrown them away, through some people like to keep them (separate from their real cards).

It is safer to buy them from a store, as in the store you can actually see the card and you can inspect/compare it with other cards, while if you buy it online people may put a picture of a real card while giving you a fake one.

No. If you use it, it could be unfair to the other battler because of how much HP or attack damage it has.

Look at the EX at the top of the card. Is is plain yellow? If it is the card is fake. If the EX is golden and shiny then it's likely not fake. Also If the card doesn't shine rainbow or golden color when reflected in the light, then it's likely fake.

Yes and no. Some Game Stops do sell real Pokemon cards, but some don't. I bought 2 booster decks and they were real and got 2 booster decks in a different Game Stop and they weren't real.

The word Pokemon appears twice, once right-side-up at the top of the card (above the red side of the Pokeball), and once upside-down at the bottom of the card (below the white side of the Pokeball).

Some cards (such as a Rayquaza EX or "Super Charizard") can do more than 250 damage with one attack, but if the cost of the attack is very low energy and the HP of the card is very high, the card is either real but illegal to use in duels, or fake.

It might be fake, but inspect the rest of the card using all of the steps above.

Not in tournaments, but you can among friends.

Beldum is a real Pokémon, so the card might be real. Follow the steps in the article to check if it's real.

Real Pokemon tins usually have a metal covering on them, and on the edges as well. If the tin is fake, it has a cardboard covering to it.

Yes. Fake cards are made out of thin, single layer paper.

Not necessarily; the issue might just be a printing error. Try to check any blogs about identifying fake cards if you want to be absolutely sure.

Yes.

You can go to a comic book shop. You could also search pictures of fake cards and compare them to what you have.

Yes, this is normal. EX and GX cards can sometimes be smoother than other cards.

Pokemon cards are detailed and unique, and there are many parts and aspects to them which can be faked, so close inspection in different ways is essential.

Yes, it can.

Whatever you want. You can throw it away, or you can keep it if you like it - just don't use it in Pokemon card games and don't tell people that it's real.