Has anyone found any that are authentic to 1996?
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@pfm, Iâm really sorry but to state the obvious - you should be incredibly proud of yourself for the way youâve selflessly brought this to light.
Iâm also sorry to anyone else whoâs bought these in good faith, I can only imagine the range of emotions you must be going through too.
I agree with those whoâve suggested considering going to the FBI or a lawyer. I also hope this is high profile enough to recover money for those who lose some in this.
Wish I had a nicer circumstance to come back and post. Take care all.
d
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You cannot authenticate a prototype is from 1996 using the dot matrix method. Itâs only useful for identifying copies made after 2005.
My mistake for being misinformed, I personally havenât seen anything from 1996
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Wait I thought itâs been around since the 80s, but the code to read it wasnât discovered until 2005?
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This was the best I was able to do using the camera filters on the image provided by CGC. I couldnât get to the dots. I must have used the wrong settings but tried to follow the one provided above for Zapdos and Mew.
Could someone please take a look at the cgc image and create an image with the dot patterns?
Here is the copy I own: https://www.cgccards.com/certlookup/1401042679080/
Thanks in advance!
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My bad, I misremembered and just now checked the wikipedia, youâre right
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Iâve been given high-res scans of some of the first alpha cards that hit the market. Notice the high quality backs.
Fortunately, all three have the âxeroxâ pattern.
I want to omit the printer serial number because 1) they arenât my cards and 2) I donât want to encourage people to fake the print dots in the future.
The date is July 11, 1996 - almost 3 months before the release of the TCG in October.
The backs have the same pattern. One is dated July 10th.
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so some are real then⌠lol what a mess
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Thatâs incredible news. At least there are a few real ones. So maybe that Gyarados with the high quality back is potentially real as well.
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iâm happy to hear that all of mine are real. sorry to hear that everyone elseâs are fake
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Does the term March Playtest even mean anything? Being printed and playtested in July then launched in October seems like an awfully short time to start a TCG.
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maybe the way to tell the real ones is to look for the ones in bad condition 
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No, March playtest was just the label name before all of the Alpha / Beta / Delta designations. They were slabbed before any of the nonsense started. CGC has since corrected them to be Alpha labels in their registry, but ironically keeping them distinct will be better since they are likely the only real ones
It is very likely that any that have publicly sold on auction sites or platforms after 2023 are fake. Even though there are still some listings for Alphas up I wouldnât buy them.
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This works for Yugioh Magic & Wizards cards. The real ones are always commons and always loved. And there are real ones⌠just lots of fakes.
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Great to see some are showing the correct date. I wonder if, at 1200 or 1600 DPI, you could build standard qualitative characteristics required for authenticity. Things like cardstock, ink, surfaces, text/font/alignment, design and spacing were all things I used in my Magic & Wizards analysis/research. This was a firm basis by which I could establish authenticity reliably.
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I agree it probably is. If the owner wants to reach out to me with a scan I can compare the printer serial numbers.
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My condolences to Gyarados collectors. Hereâs another card you canât get, right next to SNAP Gyarados.
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