What about all the other test prints and SNAP uncut sheets that came from Akabane? Does this indicate that those are fakes too I wonder?
12 Likes
Asking the real questions that this throws anything that came from him into questionable territory without some serious provenance.
8 Likes
Do people find it alarming that a major authenticating company known for identifying counterfeits in TCGs and paper money did not consider MICs when authenticating printed color ink?
55 Likes
^Thisā¦wonder how this plays out we are talking 10s of millions of dollars here. If @pfm can do this from his home with minimal tools CGC has absolutely no excuse with all the resources they have at their disposal. Whats even more disturbing is Akabane seems to be involved here. I would question any ātreasuresā coming out of his closet going forward
32 Likes
Id be curious if there is dots in any of the cards he originally posted on Instagram when they first surfaced. For example the original starters that surfaced.
10 Likes
Potentially.
Itās still possible that he provided the authentic copies and the scummy folks around him reproduced and sold 2024-printed duplicates.
17 Likes
Will anyone be seeking legal counsel? Honestly I would do it first thing tomorrow morning. We are talking big amounts of money. Lest the grading companies actually pay out.
16 Likes
This will definitely impact CGC. I canāt see how it doesnāt if everything gets confirmed.
16 Likes
@genchiro You met with Akabane and several of the buyers of these. What are your thoughts??
24 Likes
Can we finally just collectively admit that card grading and āauthenticationā is a massive scam?
17 Likes
Id like to preface my comment by saying that I have no stake or heavy thoughts on these since the start, as I never had any interest in them at all (just personal preferences of course).
However, @pfm the work done here is honestly something that not only gives me hope for the future of information on these, but also is something im just proud to see surface. In this hobby where theres lots of heavy opinions daily, deep research without judgement like this post is few and far in between.
Idk, i really REALLY just wanted to give you a lot of flowers here. Beyond that, im just gonna go back in the dark and observe these all with caution.
Thank you, seriously. 
57 Likes
This only relates to one particular grading company. Iām curious to see a response from them, if any.
10 Likes
Not really. Card grading has its purpose in protecting the card and providing a third party opinion that avoids seller and buyer bias. Itās not a perfect system but itās what we got. Furthermore, PSA did decline to grade them.
25 Likes
Should have been major red flags when known scammers were found out to be involved.
Shoutout to you PFM, this is all nutty.
10 Likes
I think the way CGC handles this will determine my next move.
12 Likes
Iām super curious how CGC will proceed. They gave everyone a pinky promise that itās totally legit but they canāt show you the proof so just trust them.
12 Likes
Hell to the yes. Iām tired of pretending its anything less than a blight, pointless and meaningless. but I shall shunt that to the side for the moment and I think we should focus on the fraud here and discuss what is important. Where this fraud comes from, how to find and hold accountable those who committed the fraud, and get them to pay for their massive crimes. Legitimately. I donāt want to undermine your statement here, but I also do not want to derail this conversation too much past, making sure those with some responsibility hold to their terms, and then beyond that, imprison or recover money from those who pulled off the scam.
6 Likes
One question thatās been bothering me with the beta playtest is the art used. Itās the Red/Blue Ken Suigmori watercolor images. But I donāt know if the timing makes sense that these were drawn before the release of the TCG. Also, there is no documented source for beta before 2024 as far as Iām aware.
Iām really curious if anyone can find the earliest documented usage of the Red/Blue Sugimori art. For example, I believe Jungle uses only Red/Green art (March 5, 1997) and Fossil is where we start to see Red/Blue (June 21, 1997)
45 Likes
how will the impact my celebrations etb?
61 Likes
Absolutely incredible work and thank you for being candid here. This is what people have feared and this is going to start a big waterfall of issues.
Something else to considerā¦ I have heard from two separate sources that Akabane was sued by PKMN in December. Cannot confirm what it was for.
32 Likes