Yep, random new guys shouldn´t buy these boxes unless they really know what they´re doing there. It can definitely happen to everyone, but you can eliminate chances of getting a fake wotc box drastically if you have some sort of experience with them.
Revs Box was interesting, as it was a japanese clear wrap. Fakes of those have surfaced already, way before the recent reseal dilemma. It was inherentily different from the english wotc reseals we´re talking about here as it was entirely fake as opposed to a rewrapped box with evolutions packs inside. The seal itself was not comparable to a genuine one, but then again you would have to know or compare to a real box.
Glad you acknowledged that Guru is by no means an expert, he barely knows how to pronounce Charizard
I’ve spoken to people who have bought from him, and I’ve heard positive things. I’ve also been a bidder on many of his auctions and his boxes have always appeared authentic from the photos.
Re: the dirt in the shrinkwrap – I’ve actually seen this with an authentic MTG box, so I imagine that it would also be possible with Pokemon boxes. Still, foreign matter under the shrinkwrap is potentially a red flag. But if everything else on the box checks out, I wouldn’t be too concerned.
EDIT: I’m assuming this is the one you purchased? If so, yikes – that is one minty box. It would be very difficult to find an empty box in such pristine condition to reseal. Boxes usually sustain damage from when they’re opened (often subtle damage). This box has none of the typical opening wear. So all of that points to the box being authentic. And I don’t see any other red flags. If it’s a reseal, it’s an exceptionally well-done one and would need to be examined in person.
So are blister packs the way to go now? We all have had first hand experience of how difficult they can be to open sometimes so I’d imagine a resealed one would be very obvious.
Question for anyone in the know. What is the chance the WOTC boxes with the wizards logo all over the plastic wrap are faked? Are those pretty much in the clear, or are people able to fake that plastic wrap? Seems like all the big videos of fakes are with the logo-less wrappers. I seem to recall videos from a long time ago specifying that the wrapper with the wizards logo isn’t something thats been replicated as a passable fake, but what do i know?
I remember recently watching Rudy on YouTube show how someone could reuse the original wrapping by carefully cutting along the seams of an old MTG box wrap. So I would say that it is possible to fake a WOTC wrapper and a box having one isn’t a 100% guarantee the box hasn’t been tampered with.
Just want to let you guys know I volunteered a 1st ed box of fossil as tribute. Couldn’t get the top packs to budge or slide, and I can personally attest to the fact that the box failed the shake test. meaning when i shook it, i could hear cards hitting the side, not just packs and crimps. turns out the packs are legit and so is the box, the cards just happened to be loose enough in the packs to make me think the crimps were open as if resealed but they weren’t. they aren’t vacuum sealed tight and as a results some of the cards could slide within the packs.
the only fail proof test is to open it. on the bright side, i have always wanted to open this box and i’m getting all the cards my allowance didn’t afford me in 1999
unfortunately no dragonite holo but 2 dragonite non-holo :\ i did get 2 articuno at least. for people buying this box, keep in mind the high dollar cards may not even be in there, and then getting a 10 is another story.
I have seen Fighto’s auctions/sales throughout all of 2020. He always had crazy items up for auction including multiple first edition boxes, multiple skyridge/aqaupolis boxes, Ex series etc. His description says he was part of the game since 1999 so to me, that is saying all his stuff was acquired personally… not bought off of another person. Just take a look at what he’s selling and his sold listings and its clear to me that its as legit as it gets if you’re buying booster boxes.
Been reading through this thread and feel the pain. I tend to avoid ebay unless there’s a trusted seller with authentic product. Ive purchased 4 “sealed” decks on ebay and all 4 were reseals. One of them, they didn’t even try to rewrap the cards…just taped them up without the rare. And has anyone seen the bs of “card artisans” printing on cleaned fronts of cards? They’re sold as placeholders but I’ve already seen fakes like them on the market. Link to one: www.etsy.com/listing/782433759/1st-edition-shadowless-charizard-proxy
Just to add to that, keep in mind the WOTC Harry Potter TCG came out around the same time as Pokèmon. It was discontinued but the HP booster boxes are identical in size and have the Wizards-stamped wrapping. I’m sure someone can map a data trend map between HP box sales over the same time frame as these fake boxes have been popping up… (watch me look like an idiot when there’s zero correlation).
But really though, it’s a cheap source of supply for the wrapping rather than trying to replicate it, unfortunately.
Aha, so that’s why boxes from some random, shitty failed TCG that no one ever gave a shit about have randomly increased in value by 1000%. Honestly, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if you were right.
Also, MTG boxes from the early 2000s are similarly affordable (typically under $500) and the shrinkwrap should be identical as well.
I feel like they’ve accelerated in the last six months but I haven’t gone back to study or validate that impression. I actually started buying them whenever I’d come across one or two in good condition. Oddly enough when I first got into collecting Pokémon I was a lifetime away from being able to afford a base set booster box. My daughter lives and breathes Harry Potter and I forget how it came up specifically but she had a few of the HP booster packs.
That led me to learn about the WOTC link, and soon after I bought my first Harry Potter booster box… because I couldn’t afford a Pokémon one. It was my way of at least getting part of the experience for cheap. She suggested once that I print out a base set box and tape over the Harry Potter box. Haha (I didn’t go there.)
EDIT: Maybe I should remove my post describing this so it doesn’t give anyone else any bright ideas?
Heheh my man . Definitely have to be careful about this aspect… Hopefully Harry potter boxes will be too expensive to harvest for wrappings at some point.
