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Some Goyfs are faker than others.
Some Goyfs are faker than others.
Some Goyfs' mothers are faker than other Goyfs' mothers.
- Morrissey, probably.
Fake Magic cards are getting better. A little. They're still pretty terrible, frankly. While some are starting to be developed that pass the light test, the bend test and the blue-line test but still don't pass the "A Magic player looks at it and doesn't say 'that looks fake as shit' test". A pretty convincing fake card was shipped from TCG Player, possibly without their knowledge it was fake (though probably not). The buyer, a redditor, showed pics of the results.
Look how glossy it is. It shows up even better in another picture.
A special thank you is owed to /u/bakegore for exposing the fake in this reddit post.
I won't say who the TCG Player seller was because if I do, people are going to run around saying "Better not buy cards from Mr. Magic on TCG Player, he shipped a fake Goyf" and I don't want to be responsible for that.
As bad as this glossy fake is, it's not the worst I've seen this week. Look what someone on eBay tried to pass off in an auction with a starting bid of $200
Yeah? Are we sure the Zendikar Goyf used that art?
Watch out for fakes, go through the chargeback process on TCG Player if someone ships a fake to you and, in general, examine cards you buy in person. Fakes aren't good enough to pass the "experienced player" test right now, so that is still your best weapon against counterfeiters.
My buddy took a gamble last week on a craiglist post selling a set of Unl Power and a set of the Rev Duals for $500. The guy accepted $200 util the cards arrived and the other $300 after everything was confirmed, but only sent the Duals. The print was good unless you know what to look for, passed the bend test and even had the blue strip in the middle. They were however incredibly glossy and felt like brand new playing cards (the kind you would play poker with) and had that kind of “waxy” feeling. They indeed are getting better, I will be afraid to buy and trade for older singles in the next year or two when the counterfieter’s figure out the right stock to print on…
It may be prohibitively expensive to mirror the exact process Wizards uses and that is why fakes continue to look “off”
Jason,
Thank you for taking the time to comment on this very serious topic. The fear of counterfeit cards has the capability to erode consumer confidence in the collectible gaming market, and it is an issue we at TCGplayer watch very carefully.
In your article, you mention that “a pretty convincing fake card was shipped from TCGplayer, possibly without their knowledge that it was fake (though probably not).”
We would like to clarify some things for you and your readers. The card in question was not shipped from TCGplayer. It was shipped from an individual seller on our platform – one of several thousand such sellers.
Upon receiving the card, the buyer contacted us immediately, and has been working with us to resolve the issue. We’d like to stress that you are always 100% protected on every order with our Buyer Safeguard.
We have numerous safeguards in place to proactively detect errant sellers or individuals looking to abuse the system. When isolated instances of fake cards do come to our attention, we act upon them swiftly, and have an excellent track record for resolving these types of issues:
http://brainstormbrewery.com/counterfeits-on-tcgplayer-my-experience/
Author Anthony Capece says the experience made him “…more worried about buying from non-TCGplayer sources now.”
In other words, our reaction to counterfeits has been so good, it makes other sites look worse by comparison.
On top of that, you always have the option of using TCGplayer Direct, where the cards are shipped out of our own carefully-managed inventory. This lets us check each card multiple times (upon being received and added to our inventory, and again upon being packed for shipment.) With TCGplayer Direct, we can virtually eliminate counterfeits and cards being of lesser condition than you ordered.
We appreciate you keeping a vigilant eye out for counterfeit cards, and we certainly acknowledge the growing problem they may represent for collectible gaming, but we want to again remind you and your readers that with our Buyer Safeguard, you have nothing to worry about when purchasing cards from TCGplayer.
Thank you very much,
Team TCGplayer