A genuine
Just like it sounds, the rip test involves ripping a card in half. Real Pokémon cards are made of two thin pieces of cardboard glued together, with a black layer in between. By ripping the card, you can reveal this layer—if there is no layer, the card is fake.
Authentic Pokémon cards combine a lighter blue with other variations of blue, so you'll see dark blue and light blue being used to form the back image of a genuine card. When inspecting the back of a Pokémon card, having a card you know is authentic to hand is recommended.
You'll often find that the kerning on fake Pokémon cards is abnormally large and is usually inconsistent. There will be segments of text that appear almost normal—and segments of text with abnormally large gaps between the letters.
While it's hard to put a definitive number on it, we estimate that there are a total of 14,569 Pokemon Trading Cards released in the English language.
1. 1998 Pokemon Japanese Promo Pikachu Holo Illustrator. Logan Paul purchased the 1998 Pokemon Japanese Promo Pikachu Illustrato-Holo for $5.3 million in July 2021. The Pikachu Illustrator card is widely considered the rarest and most expensive Pokemon card in existence.
A quick way to test if your Pokémon card is real or fake is to take a close look at the edge of it. Real Pokémon cards have a very thin sheet of black between the cardboard. It's very thin, but up close it is easy to see the darkness between the two thin halves of the card. Fake cards do not have this.
It's important to note, however, that collecting fake cards is not for everyone and that the focus should always be on obtaining genuine cards and preserving the integrity of the hobby. Collecting fake cards can be a fun experience if you're experimenting with building a new deck or editing a current deck!
First and foremost, it's important to understand that fake Pokémon cards are not authorized or produced by The Pokémon Company International (TPCi). Therefore, buying, selling, or distributing fake Pokémon cards is considered copyright infringement and is a violation of intellectual property laws.
Pikachu Illustrator is a legend among Pokémon collectors, and for good reason. The card was originally produced as a prize card for a series of contests run in Japanese magazine CoroCoro Comic between 1997 and 1998.
In 2022, a Shadowless Holo of Charizard with a PSA grade of 10, a grade only handed out 122 times to Charizards, sold for a record-breaking $420,000 at auction. If you're looking to start building your Pokemon card collection, check out the best Pokemon card packs to buy or the most expensive Pokemon cards ever sold.
Are Pokemon cards on eBay fake? As a whole, Pokemon cards on eBay and auction sites are not fake. Most cards being sold on auction sites are real, but it is not uncommon to find fake cards being sold. Auctions that do no display clear images of a card should be avoided.
While Amazon does have measures in place to ensure the authenticity of products and protect against fraud, there are still scammers who operate on the platform. When buying Pokemon cards on Amazon, it's important to do your research and only purchase from reputable sellers with high ratings and positive reviews.
We all know that booster fresh smell when you open a pack of legit Pokémon cards right? It seems one thing these counterfeitters haven't quite mastered is recreating it, many of the fake cards don't smell 'booster fresh' and might smell a bit plasticy/different.
It's better to throw them out as they aren't worth anything and they just end up mixed in with the pool of genuine cards which is a real pain for everyone.
Unless you're collecting for multiple people, we don't recommend going beyond four or five booster boxes. There are some very valuable, chase cards in most sets, but once you get to your fourth or fifth box most of the cards you open will be cards you already have four or more copies of.
Official Gold Pokemon Cards
There have been only two official gold Pokemon card releases during the franchise's existence: Charizard and Pikachu. The Pokemon Company has officially certified these cards as authentic gold cards. You can assume that any other gold Pokemon card you come across is a fake.
The average value of "charizard" is $78.69. Sold comparables range in price from a low of $2.99 to a high of $5,000.00.
1. 1998 Pikachu Illustrator Card. There's no better place to start than what many consider to be the rarest Pokemon card in existence, the Pikachu Illustrator card.