Is this a fake signature?

General Question
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1

I bought this card for my daughter’s graduation on EBay. It is presently being authenticated by EBay but has not been delivered yet. I happened to be searching the artist name and your website popped up. I was looking through it and this exact card came up and it said Swolepokes declared the card as a fake in May of 2025. Of course I went into a panic and I am not sure what to do. I have Emailed CGC, EBay and the seller from EBay who seemed surprised but was amicable about the situation we were in. If EBay’s authenticity crew says it’s a real signature what can I do to recoup the money from a card that your community says is fake. What a mess! I thought CGC and JSA were the gold standard of authentication. I really could use some advise

Thank you

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2

It is a fake autograph and sketch. Here’s an authentic Tokiya autograph.

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JSA has been around a long time, but not in Pokemon. They were previously owned by BGS and got big in MTG auto grading. CGC bought JSA and has used them to authenticate signatures. Their [Witnessed] Signature Series is mostly excellent because they supposedly witnessed the autographs.

PSA / DNA is the best we have in Pokemon auto authentication, but even then, they make mistakes occasionally.

Sorry that you are dealing with this. CGC has an authenticity guarantee that can be read here, but they state very clearly that they do not guarantee the authenticity of an unwitnessed signature (lol). In other words, you may be screwed if the seller does not accept it back.

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3

Not sure what to do in this situation, but it will likely pass authentication as I believe eBay Authenticity does not actually guarantee the signature is authentic.

This is the message I usually get when an autographed card passes eBay Authenticity.

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4

Then again, this service might be dogshit too. Rachael Lillis died 8/10/2024, and yet CGC witnessed her signing this Misty on 11/23/25. :melting_face:

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5

Definitely just a label error (should have been regular cgc X jsa label but man has cgc been sloppy. I sent a card in for signature series signing and it came back with incorrect artist on the label :sob: had to send it back free of charge to get it fixed

6

I forget the fine print but the witness label doesnt mean that they witnessed it. They also accept some forms of provenance. In my case it was an email from an unverified guy

7

Auto authentication is an art that pretends to be a science. No company should be blindly trusted.

8

they changed it now so that it just gets authenticated normally or at least all the ones ive sold recently dont have that message anymore. it was dumb they say that on auto slabs in the first place since they arent authenticating the card again for graded anyway

9

The seller and forger behind this exact card actually sold another fake of the exact same card and autograph recently. :face_with_peeking_eye:

10

Thank you for your response. I have notified seller and they agreed to have it re- authenticated by CGCxJSA. I am hoping it all works out. I am caught between Professional Graders and Passionate Collectors on what this card is. I am a clueless gift purchaser but If you can’t trust the Professional Graders in this business. What is the purpose of paying their fees. I appreciate the passion everybody has like my daughter does but the business aspect of Poke stuff seems really sketchy. You should all get together and demand better scrutiny from the Grading and Authentication “ Professionals “ If they put their name on it. It must be real or you business will be worthless.

11

Re-authenticate a fake auto? Am I missing something here :thinking:

12

Maybe wrong wording. Send it back to CGC to look at it again for possible mistakes. Check their work for possible mistakes.