Spotting Fake Pokémon Cards

Retailers and consumers should be aware that counterfeit or "fake" Pokémon trading card game cards are being sold in the United Kingdom and Internationally.

With the large variety of card sets and promotional cards available, it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep track of what's real and what's not.

Are my Pokémon cards fake?

• The paper stock used for some of the counterfeit cards is thinner, feels lighter, and bends easier.

• A good number of the fake foil cards have a cheap, glitter looking foil that just doesn't look right. A foil card that looks like this is a definite sign that your card is not genuine.

• Some counterfeit cards allow light to shine through. Use the "light test" to check your cards. Hold the card up to the light: if you can see light through the card, it is counterfeit.

• Newer counterfeit cards may pass the light test, but their quality is below the standards of the official trading cards. Compared to the real cards, many counterfeit cards have poor colouring, blurry artwork, fuzzy print, and/or a waxy feel.

• Cards that say "Made in China" are counterfeit.

What if my real cards look different?

• Mistakes do happen, and there's no exception with the Pokémon trading card game cards. Some Pokémon trading card game products contain misprints. We just want you to be aware that these are not counterfeit cards-they're just misprints. (and possibly worth more)

• Official Pokémon trading card game products come packaged with both red and yellow logos in markets worldwide.

This site is not associated with Nintendo, Wizards, Creatures, GameFreak, Topps or Burger King.
Pokémon and Gotta catch 'em all! are trademarks of Nintendo.  All copyrights are acknowledged.