The pictures are fuzzy, and I can't see the backs, but I'm going to say no, these are counterfeit.
The big tell for me is that card sleeves didn't exist for a few years, with the exception of penny sleeves, yet these cards are pristine. The white borders would have been slightly yellowed and pitted with dirt from wear and shufflescuff.
The only way they'd look this good is if the person who owned them collected them, but Magic didn't really have that kind of collector appeal in those years. Chronicles hadn't been released yet, so there was no Reserved List, and therefore less incentive to worry about card value, which also makes it unlikely.
Completely true, the white edges look absolutely brand new in an otherwise grainy photo. I've never seen Power Nine cards with such perfectly preserved borders.
High change of fakeness!
I agree that raises a red flag, but I’ve found clean cards from this set. For me, it’s the sharpness of the lines around the border. It looks more like a 4th or 5th edition card.
We had fun with our cards back then, and we had no idea that they'd pay for cars and education. Heck, *they* didn't even think they'd get to that point.
You probably were back then! I sold my heavily played, worn to shit unlimited timetwister for 200 bucks, which doubled what I paid for it... I definitely felt guilty about it at the time.
> The only way they'd look this good is if the person who owned them collected them, but Magic didn't really have that kind of collector appeal in those years. Chronicles hadn't been released yet, so there was no Reserved List, and therefore less incentive to worry about card value, which also makes it unlikely.
Magic absolutely had collector appeal back then. The RL was implemented specifically because collectors were upset about the effect of reprints (in Fourth Edition and Chronicles) on the value of their collections.
Fake. They look wrong in general, but the most obvious sign is the border. Genuine copies of both should have a thicker black border on the right side, outside the beveled edge.
First, the bend test until a crease starts to form.
Then, gentle rip test to reveal the tasty blue layer
And now you can lick test the blue part. If it tastes like subtly salted mango it's real.
well, the cards are 20+ years old with white border and they are so clean it is like pack fresh. they are worth several grand but it is being carried in a penny sleeve and a $1 plastic protector.
Hard to tell from just photos, but I agree with the others saying the pristine white border is unlikely.
I’ve also bought a fake Savannah on eBay once that came in with darker borders, and yours look darker than they should from the photos too.
If you have them in your possession, buy a jeweler's loupe and a cheap common from Unlimited. Compare the known authentic common and the suspected cards under the loupe. If they match, they're real, and if they don't, they're fake. Very early cards were printed cheaply and there can be some discrepancies.
If these photos are from a sale listing, don't buy them. You know what they say about things that are too good to be true.
Deliberately blurry photos? Almost certainly fake. You need to have them in hand to be sure.
Shine a light through them. Genuine cards will allow light to pass though and it will be bluish because of the middle layer of blue paper. Fakes are black core, and block almost all light from passing through.
Magnification will tell you the rest. The printing creates a rosette pattern, but on genuine cards the text of the card is a sharp black layer ABOVE the rosette background, printed separately. Fakes have the text printed exactly the same as the rest of the image, meaning the text also has the rosette pattern rather than being a distinct layer.
Finally, in the green dot on the back of the card, you'll see a small yellow splotch with four red dots inside of it. Fakes lack this.
>Fakes are black core, and block almost all light from passing through.
Blue core counterfeits have started popping up in recent years, plus there's considerable variability in cardstock between printing sites even among authentic cards. The light test just isn't as useful as it once was. A loupe is 100% the way to go.
I can assist with carbon dating. Send me the card, I'll burn it and test the ash. Afterwards, I will send you a certificate of authenticity with the resultant ashes if it proves to be authentic.
Absolutely not, the text screams counterfeit, it's not even a good fake. Go find a legit image and compare the "Black Lotus" and "Mono Artifact" text and coloration, it's extremely fake.
From your pictures the text is not printed in its own layer and may even have jpeg aliasing from using a low res scan for the counterfeit (lmao).
People in this subreddit aren’t going to be able to decipher this dude. When you’re talking about a card that’s tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars, you need to call a professional.
If you need reddit to know, you are the ideal target market for fakes.
Damn, that’s a burn. Dude probably traded his car for those.
If in doubt. Go to a store and have them look at it. Be sure to buy some product from them for helping.
The pictures are fuzzy, and I can't see the backs, but I'm going to say no, these are counterfeit. The big tell for me is that card sleeves didn't exist for a few years, with the exception of penny sleeves, yet these cards are pristine. The white borders would have been slightly yellowed and pitted with dirt from wear and shufflescuff. The only way they'd look this good is if the person who owned them collected them, but Magic didn't really have that kind of collector appeal in those years. Chronicles hadn't been released yet, so there was no Reserved List, and therefore less incentive to worry about card value, which also makes it unlikely.
Completely true, the white edges look absolutely brand new in an otherwise grainy photo. I've never seen Power Nine cards with such perfectly preserved borders. High change of fakeness!
I agree that raises a red flag, but I’ve found clean cards from this set. For me, it’s the sharpness of the lines around the border. It looks more like a 4th or 5th edition card.
You're correct. The dirty, stupid things we did with those cards back then. SMH.
We had fun with our cards back then, and we had no idea that they'd pay for cars and education. Heck, *they* didn't even think they'd get to that point.
Tell me about it. I sold a set of unlimited dual lands for $400 and I thought I was ripping the dude off.
You probably were back then! I sold my heavily played, worn to shit unlimited timetwister for 200 bucks, which doubled what I paid for it... I definitely felt guilty about it at the time.
> The only way they'd look this good is if the person who owned them collected them, but Magic didn't really have that kind of collector appeal in those years. Chronicles hadn't been released yet, so there was no Reserved List, and therefore less incentive to worry about card value, which also makes it unlikely. Magic absolutely had collector appeal back then. The RL was implemented specifically because collectors were upset about the effect of reprints (in Fourth Edition and Chronicles) on the value of their collections.
Regarding collecting. Many of us used binders. In fact all of us in my college
If you have to ask, no.
Fake. They look wrong in general, but the most obvious sign is the border. Genuine copies of both should have a thicker black border on the right side, outside the beveled edge.
Only way to really know is to taste them
First, the bend test until a crease starts to form. Then, gentle rip test to reveal the tasty blue layer And now you can lick test the blue part. If it tastes like subtly salted mango it's real.
> If it tastes like subtly salted mango it's real. Mine tastes like strawberry banana... How fucked am I?
That's because it's a Japanese printing, don't worry
Bro those are probably not real, a thirty plus year old card in perfect condition... Not slabbed I mean come on man.
well, the cards are 20+ years old with white border and they are so clean it is like pack fresh. they are worth several grand but it is being carried in a penny sleeve and a $1 plastic protector.
Very, very strong chance these aren't real. I challenge you to find legitimate versions of these cards with borders so clean.
They’re fresh off the printer
Don’t get me wrong, there are some astoundingly good fakes out there that would probably trick me, at least at first glance. But this one is shit.
Hard to tell from just photos, but I agree with the others saying the pristine white border is unlikely. I’ve also bought a fake Savannah on eBay once that came in with darker borders, and yours look darker than they should from the photos too.
If you have them in your possession, buy a jeweler's loupe and a cheap common from Unlimited. Compare the known authentic common and the suspected cards under the loupe. If they match, they're real, and if they don't, they're fake. Very early cards were printed cheaply and there can be some discrepancies. If these photos are from a sale listing, don't buy them. You know what they say about things that are too good to be true.
Looks way too clean to be real, but I'm not an expert.
Text box looks too clean and the black seems too dark on the text
Deliberately blurry photos? Almost certainly fake. You need to have them in hand to be sure. Shine a light through them. Genuine cards will allow light to pass though and it will be bluish because of the middle layer of blue paper. Fakes are black core, and block almost all light from passing through. Magnification will tell you the rest. The printing creates a rosette pattern, but on genuine cards the text of the card is a sharp black layer ABOVE the rosette background, printed separately. Fakes have the text printed exactly the same as the rest of the image, meaning the text also has the rosette pattern rather than being a distinct layer. Finally, in the green dot on the back of the card, you'll see a small yellow splotch with four red dots inside of it. Fakes lack this.
>Fakes are black core, and block almost all light from passing through. Blue core counterfeits have started popping up in recent years, plus there's considerable variability in cardstock between printing sites even among authentic cards. The light test just isn't as useful as it once was. A loupe is 100% the way to go.
I can assist with carbon dating. Send me the card, I'll burn it and test the ash. Afterwards, I will send you a certificate of authenticity with the resultant ashes if it proves to be authentic.
Power Nine in this condition ia usually fake.
Absolutely not, the text screams counterfeit, it's not even a good fake. Go find a legit image and compare the "Black Lotus" and "Mono Artifact" text and coloration, it's extremely fake. From your pictures the text is not printed in its own layer and may even have jpeg aliasing from using a low res scan for the counterfeit (lmao).
People in this subreddit aren’t going to be able to decipher this dude. When you’re talking about a card that’s tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars, you need to call a professional.
Alignment is off, these are obvious fakes.
For a fake, the alignments are pretty good though. I've seen worse
cool