How old are these cards? I was heavily into Pokémon in fourth-sixth grade so that would be around 98-01 ish. I might have been into it a little after that, but nowhere as heavy. By high school (04ish) I was completely out of it as far as card collecting goes. I’m pretty sure I got these cards within the 98-01 era as that’s when I was into it most heavy. Quite possibly 02-03 but I can’t be certain. I’m pretty sure I got these cards from my Aunty via a gift basket type of deal she made for me for either Christmas, Easter or my birthday. It probably had these cards and a bunch of other Pokémon related things as well (stationery, candy, toys etc.)
I’m all for legitimacy and the real deal. I won’t claim something is, what it isn’t, but is there any objective proof that these are fakes? I’m willing to accept they are fake, but I’d also like hard evidence to best ease my own mind. From research, I’ve only been able to find this thread www.elitefourum.com/t/1998-bandai-pocket-monster-anime-collection/23732/1 as to any information whatsoever as to what might and might not be real. Supposedly the fakes only say “1998” and are pretty much all holofoils. Mines say “Bandai 1998 Made In Japan” so that seemed like a good bet they could be real. I just noticed however, that quite a bit of mine are also holofoil and go across the whole card whereas in the thread it says they should be contained to just the picture. That makes me wonder.
For the other cards… there’s basically no info at all anywhere about them except from what I’ve seen others selling. I bought a charmander and squirtle from a seller online recently and they’re basically indistinguishable from mine. I also bought other “extras” from another seller… same thing. For the silver backed ones… I bought a set from a seller thinking that maybe I could flip for some profit if they were as much as people were claiming they were. Those are absolutely fakes of that I’m pretty sure. The holograph is lower quality and the card itself just isn’t as well made. I’ll post some pics comparing the two later.
I don’t mind or care if these cards are fake… I just want absolute proof so I know that I’m not throwing a bunch of valuable cards away or ripping anyone off unintentionally.