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More Counterfeits Hit the Market

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The list of the newest counterfeits
The list of the newest counterfeits (click to enlarge).

 

 

The first thing I want to stress is to not panic. We've had plenty of counterfeits hit the market before, and Magic hasn't died yet. Instead, I want to simply bring this to your attention with a few tips for handling this.

First, as I said, don't panic. While some of the flaws with the last run seem to have been fixed visually, odds are the materials these are printed on are the same. The first batch of Chinese counterfeits felt super fake to the touch, and I doubt these are much different.

What I do suggest is educating your friends about these. I saw a Craigslist post earlier about someone selling these as "proxies," and that's just not okay. Whether there's any ill intent on the side of the buyer or the seller doesn't matter; these shouldn't be in circulation. There are no laws that I'm aware of that prevent this, but the fact is more of these out there do not help our game. Rather than just berating anyone who may think the concept is cool, I would suggest simply educating them about the fact that while it may seem cool to get "Power" for cheap, in the long run it has the potential to destroy the game, and there's no point in having cheap "Power" if you aren't able to play it.

The battle against counterfeiting is always ongoing, but as a community we've dealt with it before, and we're equipped to deal with it again.

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Corbin Hosler

Corbin Hosler is a journalist living in Norman, Oklahoma (also known as the hotbed of Magic). He started playing in Shadowmoor and chased the Pro Tour dream for a few years, culminating in a Star City Games Legacy Open finals appearance in 2011 before deciding to turn to trading and speculation full-time. He writes weekly at QuietSpeculation.com and biweekly for LegitMTG. He also cohosts Brainstorm Brewery, the only financial podcast on the net. He can best be reached @Chosler88 on Twitter.

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Posted in Casual, Counterfeits, Feature, Free

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12 thoughts on “More Counterfeits Hit the Market

  1. A counterfeit Tarmogoyf turned up at a local sports/card shop during the first wave. I was going to buy a collection with a lot of fetches, so I actually asked the card shop owner if I could inspect the fake Goyf so I knew what to look for. After reading many articles on spotting counterfeits and examining the fake Goyf firsthand, I can honestly say that the fakes are MUCH easier to spot when you know what to look for.

    That being said, Boss Hosler is correct. The community needs to take an active role in educating themselves and friends/acquaintances regarding the counterfeiting issues at hand (as well as not panicking).

    Thanks for the heads up!

  2. I just visited China last month and I must say that the second wave of counterfeits are much better than the first. Not only do they pass the bend test but they also have blue centers. However, they do feel flimsy to the touch so they are still distinguishable if you know what you are looking for.

  3. I had a fake Wasteland passed on me (through ebay). It took 2 dealers to verify it was fake, so they are not as ‘obvious’ as people think. The feel was slightly glossy but not obvious to about 5 random MTG’ers. I was pretty shocked so be aware! Also, dealer showed me a Mox Sapphire that was PERFECT copy.

  4. people keep saying that you can see the difference if you know what you are looking for.

    But… what should I be looking for than?

  5. I have seen, felt and played around with many of these fakes. I will tell you can tell the difference. First take all cards out of sleeves before trading. Under light they look glossy on the black border of the back of the card. Second they feel like a deck of playing cards. Much more flimsy. They also are some what off colored.
    Hope that helps

    on a side note. I see nothing wrong with using them for EDH or for the casual player. The worst it would do is tank EDH staples.

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