Knowledgebase: Learn About Collectibles, Trading Cards, Sports Cards and More

Is My Pokemon Card or Magic: The Gathering Card Real or Fake?: A Step-by-Step Illustrated Guide to Identifying Authentic vs. Fake aka Counterfeit Trading Cards for Popular TCGs
Pokemon, Pokemon TCG, Pokémon TCG, Selling Pokémon Cards, How to Price Collectibles, Graded Pokemon Cards, Magic: The Gathering, Authenticating TCG Cards, Card Appraisal Eric (Founder of Collectiwiz) Pokemon, Pokemon TCG, Pokémon TCG, Selling Pokémon Cards, How to Price Collectibles, Graded Pokemon Cards, Magic: The Gathering, Authenticating TCG Cards, Card Appraisal Eric (Founder of Collectiwiz)

Is My Pokemon Card or Magic: The Gathering Card Real or Fake?: A Step-by-Step Illustrated Guide to Identifying Authentic vs. Fake aka Counterfeit Trading Cards for Popular TCGs

As collectors and players of both the Pokemon and Magic: The Gathering trading card games (TCGs) since the late 1990s, we’ve seen all kinds of cards here at Collectiwiz, ranging in value from a few cents to tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.

And we’ve received all sorts of questions about topics like appraisal of single cards or huge collections, the most valuable Pokemon cards from the early years, metal trading cards, and most commonly, whether Pokemon or Magic: The Gathering cards are real (aka authentic) or fake (aka counterfeit).

So, we decided to write this Knowledgebase article with an easy-to-understand, step-by-step guide to spotting fake cards with pictures of actual Pokemon and Magic: The Gathering cards, covering:

  1. The difference between fake and real cards for both of these TCGs

  2. Specific characteristics of real and fake cards to look for, including up-close high-resolution photos of these features

  3. Inexpensive tools like jeweler’s loupes that you can buy to help you discern real cards from fake cards

  4. Where to purchase Pokemon, Magic, and other TCG cards to make sure you’re buying real cards

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To Grade or Not to Grade?: When Should You Send Pokemon, Magic: The Gathering or Sports Cards to Be Graded by PSA, BGS, or CGC?
Grading Collectibles, Professional Collectibles Authentication, Pokémon TCG, Magic: The Gathering, Sports Cards, Baseball Cards Eric (Founder of Collectiwiz) Grading Collectibles, Professional Collectibles Authentication, Pokémon TCG, Magic: The Gathering, Sports Cards, Baseball Cards Eric (Founder of Collectiwiz)

To Grade or Not to Grade?: When Should You Send Pokemon, Magic: The Gathering or Sports Cards to Be Graded by PSA, BGS, or CGC?

Grading collectibles refers to the process of authenticating a collectible item as real, and then assigning a “grade“ to that item based on its condition.

Different companies use different grading scales, but most have a large range from 1 to 10 (in the case of PSA), with a “1” indicating “Poor” condition and a “10“ indicating “Gem Mint“ condition, or a card that is in perfect condition.

In in the past two decades, interest in grading has skyrocketed, driven primarily by increased demand for graded trading cards, such as Pokemon, Yu Gi Oh, One Piece, and Magic: The Gathering cards.

Let’s dive into some specifics about grading collectibles, including (1) why you might want to grade your collectibles, (2) important considerations when grading collectibles, and (3) whether grading actually increases value (aka the price you’ll get if you want to sell).

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