is my psa 10 1st blastoise real or tampered?

General
1

Hey guys,

As many may know, I just started collecting months ago, and just made a purchase which I feel slightly uncomfortable with.

For the Blastoise with the older case, there are two small chips at the side (inside the case), one small chip at the top, quite a bit of whitening and the bar code isn’t scannable. Card has bit of whitening spot at the back. So I’m really worried if the card is fake or tampered and hope to get your views.

That said, the front of the card looks good to me, great centering, clean, looks mint and real for sure (but the last time i saw this was 17 years ago so not 100% sure). The buyer said no refund since i inspected it in person and i agree (didn’t realise it at first) - but i’m looking to buy another 15k USD worth of cards from him so need to make sure he doesn’t sell fake cards.

+to give some context, the seller feels legit and genuine from conversations.

imgur.com/a/4qZJV

Your perspective will be deeply appreciated.

2

**Heya SG

So I opened your link and scanned both of your cards with my phone [and typed the numbers too], and they both came back PSA 1st ed. 10s

It could just be that it is an older case? Hard to know for sure when looking only at photos :open_mouth:**

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3

Well the cert number checks out as a psa 10 1st ed blastoise and the card looks real so it’s likely real but I’m sure others have a much more informed opinion than I do.

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4

Old PSA number but the 1st Edition Stamp looks to be on the right place to be considered legit.

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5

Hey guys

Many thanks. should i be worried about the two chips at the bottom / the whitening etc? i.e. the case condition, whether it’s been tampered with

6

From those photos I cannot actually see any whitening but I’m looking on a phone so that might be why.

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7

Extremely unlikely. Why would someone tamper a case on a card that looks like it could get a 10 when sent in legitimately anyway?

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8

Two small whiter dots on the yellow border, don’t think it’d drop it below a 9 at any rate.

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9

lol i think i’m being noob here.

was actually asking about the frosting / chips on the case etc…but seems like everyone thinks the old case looks fine so maybe i’m just being paranoid.

Much appreciated guys (: sleep better at night, big purchase so was hoping the cards are ok.

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10

I honestly don’t see any whitening myself. However, that curly strand of, um, hair that appears to be trapped inside the case might be reason for concern.

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11

It’s most likely the case has some frosting. It happens sometimes during the ultra sonic sealing process. It’s also old so it might be damaged. I have a graded gold coin and the case looks super shady, almost glued back together, but it’s 100% genuine.

You can get this reholdered anytime so I won’t be too worried about it.

It’s normal to be paranoid/careful when dropping large sums of money on collectibles. :blush:

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Many thanks for all the help and assurance guys (: makes me feel proud to be part of this helpful community.

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13

It should be very obvious if the case was cracked to the point where one could replace the label or the card. The frosting here is extremely minor.

Congrats on your purchase :blush:

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14

To ease your worries, I have yet to see an actual re-cased PSA card. There was the fake snap pikachu card, but that was inserted into a gma case. Luckily this is a scenario that is easy to conceptualize, but near impossible to physically achieve.

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15

Still wondering about that kinky strand of hair inside the case… :thinking:

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16

Couldn’t imagine getting a PSA case apart without breaking the crap out of it, and cleanly enough to stick another card inside.

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17

It’s not inside, just flicked it off

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18

I only collect PSA 10s with pubes inside the case, so please PM me if this goes up for sale.

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19

Isn’t that was the “P” in “PSA” stands for?! :slightly_smiling_face:

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20

Pube Strand Authentication. An investment that truly pays dividends.

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