Things are getting a little scarier for collectors

[tbob]

I remember when it was so easy to spot the counterfeit cards, the replicas, the reprints, the copies, the forgeries- whether it be the gloss or colors or paper stock or font, etc. I saw this card on eBay tonight and granted the seller does list it as a reprint but somehow you get the feeling this card could sell to an unscrupulous soul and wind up selling as the real deal. You don't usually see that many reprinted or fake caramel cards (the E90-1s with the number on the back which is always erased when they are tried to be passed off as real cards are the only exception I can think of) but this one makes me pause...

[familytoad]

Wow...that card looks good Bob, someone is a real artist if that's a fake. Its not perfect as you can sense when you look closer at the image, but dang, that would pull some bids!

Edit to say...its not a "fake", I guess a reprint is not exactly the same as a counterfeit, but the theory remains

[E93]

Definitely scary! Here is the real thing for comparison.
JimB

[caramelcard]

Jim,

Not a good example to post as comparison. "Normal" E93s don't look like that.

Yours is probably the nicest I've ever seen...so nice that it looks fake!

Great card.

Rob

[chaddurbin]

good home-made fakes are out there, you just need a good scanner and printer. but i bet in hand it will become more obvious. i expect the stock to be stiffer, hard to replicate 100 yr old cardboard.

[Matthew H]

I've collected ancient coins for the last 15 years and I can tell you that's a market that has almost been completely ruined by fakes and alteration. People have figured out how to fake a decent looking patina and have scared many many collectors out of collecting. I bought a coin last month, for $50, that I couldn't get for less then 300-400 ten years ago.

Lithographed cards have always scared me the most. Couldn't someone make a great fake using screen printing methods?

Like Quan stated above, it'll be the cardboard that won't be replicated. From issue to issue its too different.

What if a method was developed to remove all ink from a common card, then a more valueable card was printed... Whoa, scary. Hopefully Steve B will chime in and tell us it's impossible.