How to spot a fake Pokémon card

A practical red-flag checklist. None of these is proof on its own — fakes vary, and a real card can fail a test through wear. Use several checks together, and for anything valuable, get it professionally graded (PSA / CGC / BGS).

1. Light test. Hold the card up to a bright light. A genuine modern card has a thin black opaque layer in the middle of the cardstock, so very little light passes through. Fakes often glow or let lots of light through (cheaper, thinner card).
2. Rip test (last resort, on a card you're willing to destroy). A real card tears to reveal a thin black layer between two white layers. A fake is usually all-white or shows blue/grey. Only do this on a suspected fake you already own.
3. Rosette / dot pattern. Under magnification, real cards print with a fine, even CMYK rosette dot pattern. Fakes often look blurry, have oversized dots, or visible pixelation — especially on the yellow border and the Pokémon art.
4. Texture & holo. Modern holos and full-arts have a specific textured feel and holo pattern. A flat, glassy, or "too shiny / mirror" holo, or texture that doesn't match a real copy of the same card, is a red flag.
5. Font & spacing. Compare the energy symbols, HP font, attack text and the small copyright line at the bottom against a known-genuine card of the same set. Fakes get kerning, bolding and the © line subtly wrong.
6. Back color & centering. The blue card back has a consistent hue and the Poké Ball swirl is crisp. Fakes are often too dark, too purple, or off-center. Check the back-to-front centering too.
7. Spelling & set details. Typos, wrong set symbol, wrong card number, or a holo on a card that was never printed as a holo are dead giveaways.
8. Weight & bend. Real cards have a consistent stiffness and snap back. Flimsy, overly bendy, or oddly heavy/glossy stock is suspicious.

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