Fake Cards...Graded or Raw
 

I would like to ask the experts, and it appears that the true card collecting experts are on these net54 forums, to estimate the level of fakery in the hobby today. With all of the stories and revelations breaking of late, even a PSA graded example, how much fakery is really going on, and how concerned should we all be?

at least a billion dollars worth of trimmed, soaked and conserved cards of which only some are true fakeries, IMHO

It's all over the place.

Some use grading as a sight unseen service where they value the opinions of others over their own, that's not good. If you really want to be involved in this hobby, why would you place significant value in the opinion of some completely unknown person that may have just been hired with no prior knowledge? It makes very little sense.

You really need to be constantly learning about current trends in this hobby or you'll be left in the dust. It's a good idea to have some cheap equipment such as a black light, loupe, and digital magnifier to understand what you're looking at. A lot of examples don't need that level of examination, but it doesn't hurt.

This trend of seeing known reprints getting authenticated as originals only drives home the point that you need to learn and develop your own knowledge. You need to know that examples exist that were clearly marked as reprints as an alternative for collectors who just wanted a cheap example to look at. Most in the hobby can detect issues like perforated edges and rubbed off "reprint" text, but not all. That doesn't even get into understanding what using an exacto knife and hot spoon with a little spit looks like on original items.

There are a lot of highly knowledgeable people here, but no one knows everything even if they claim they do. We all need to be paying attention.

Never worry. Keep pushing forward, learn. Enjoy the hobby. If you get burned learn from it and move on. Avoid letting things take away from the joy of the hobby.

Inserting random card pic
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...5a85305353.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Personal opinion:

Very small percentage of graded are straight up fake but they are certainly out there. I believe a very large percentage of both vintage and modern high grade cards are tampered with in some way by doctoring, whether by trimming, recoloring, cleaning, etc.