I just spoke with someone from WOTC who would be able to verify these cards, and unfortunately they could not. That does not mean that they are 100% fake, but the fact that multiple people from WOTC have not verified them is troubling.
More specifically, if someone was a casual collector, and does not know where they obtained these cards, they are most likely fakes. Unless they coincidentally bumped into a higher up at WOTC, which would be the most reasonable fictional answer, even then, the higher ups from WOTC are not verifying them as authentic.
I am not sure if the new member/OP on reddit is aware, but these are from the “test” sheet. Rusty typed out an article which referenced another WOTC employee who stated that the test sheets (the cards in question) were never printed by them.
The Holo pattern is what is the most troubling. It never happened at WOTC. The direct statement from the person I asked was, “the holo pattern makes me very uneasy about the cards”. Moreover, the Alakazam and Gyarados photo’s show the holo coming through he rest of the card. This did not happen with Wotc cards, and certainly not at that rate.
Ultimately, there is nothing and no one verifying these as authentic. Multiple WOTC employee’s have not verified them as authentic. Until someone can verify these cards, there is nothing that provides merit to their authenticity. These cards were most likely fakes printed during the golden era, similar to cards like [this](http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTAyNFg4ODU=/$(KGrHqF,!k8FH8uNjrN9BSG8dr09+g~~60_1.JPG?set_id=2).
I understand everyone’s hesitancy. I do have an opportunity with these that mattman23 and TheCharizardAuthority don’t necessarily have–I have multiple individual cards that can easily be shipped, rather than a single card (mattman23) or a large, expensive sheet (TheCharizardAuthority). I would be very willing to mail one to a location that could test for possible authenticity, even if those tests involved destructive processes. Personally, the mystery of all of this is fascinating.
smpratte, you do make an interesting point about the holo foil coming through. I thought that was odd. These are some other derivations that I’ve noticds (these are probably marks against the cards’ potential authenticity):
They are slightly shorter overall then their round-cornered cousins. The regular portion of the cards is the same, but the yellow margins on the bottom and top are a small amount narrower.
They also have a slightly textured “weave” to the surface.
I uploaded a new album to demonstrate these differences.
Sending them to a third party grader won’t matter as they won’t grade anything hand cut from a sheet. These cards were definitely hand cut, and/or not officially cut by WOTC.
I would recommend sending a card or two to a few people here who have dealt with thousands of WOTC cards. That way you will get multiple answers from multiple experts. Feel free to message me and I can point you in the right direction.
I can take more/better pictures if wanted or needed of my Alakazam. As ej91 and I discussed, he is more willing to send off a card or two than I am since I only have this one card.
Not sure what to comment - as without evidence they are real - they look just like the fakes from back in the day, and the fakes you see here in China at the toy markets.
Hope they are real though! Is there any way to really find out? Looks like even WOTC officials won’t comment on these. Perhaps send a letter including some of these cards to WOTC, along with the comments made here by people big in the game? Something they can’t ignore like an email.
Ah, didn’t think of that. It’s the same for my bro (senior designer at Hasbro) is no longer allowed to comment on Transformers now that he’s left the company.
Both ex WOTC employees did comment on the cards. The one said that the holo pattern concerns them. The other employee outright stated that WOTC never printed these cards.
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