How to Tell if a Vintage RC is Fake?

[svbetts]

I am thinking of buying or trading for the OPC and/or Topps RCs of Gretzky, Lemieux and Roy over time, and I prefer to own ungraded cards. I know this increases the risk of buying a fake, so I want to know what the visual "tells" are. I know on the REAL Gretzky OPC RC there is a yellow dot on his left shoulder. Besides that though, I don't know how to tell any of them apart. Were the Topps RCs ever counterfeited?

Thanks for your help,

svbetts

[centrehice]

Look for the famous OPC Wire Cut Edges, one, or two, or three edges will be slightly fuzzy as these were cut with wire, not a blade.

OPC card backs are more Beige in colour with tiny flecks of darker Beige throughout.

Topps card backs are grey and much darker in colour.

Fakes are usually spotted in backing colour. OPC Fakes will have a grey back, razor sharp edges, or will be from very thin card stock, flimsy in fact.

Topps Fakes from 79-80 will be very thin card stock, again flimsy, and will appear darker and dirtier than the real ones.

Hope this helps.

[svbetts]

That's a good start. Thanks! Do you know if there are any Yzerman fakes out there?

Look for the famous OPC Wire Cut Edges, one, or two, or three edges will be slightly fuzzy as these were cut with wire, not a blade.

OPC card backs are more Beige in colour with tiny flecks of darker Beige throughout.

Topps card backs are grey and much darker in colour.

Fakes are usually spotted in backing colour. OPC Fakes will have a grey back, razor sharp edges, or will be from very thin card stock, flimsy in fact.

Topps Fakes from 79-80 will be very thin card stock, again flimsy, and will appear darker and dirtier than the real ones.

Hope this helps.

[RGM81]

Real OPC Roy RC:


The "tell" on this card is that there is a little black dot on the header just right of centre on the card. If it doesn't have the dot, it's a fake. Also the border should be more of a cream colour than a true white.

[reoddai]

Here are some fakes. One and all



I've seen graded Gretzky that may not have a dot on their shoulder. If you need high res scans of the fakes, drop me a line.

Couple of tips:
If you want to buy these guys, buy in person so you can feel and examine the cards closely in perseon
Invest in cheap commons from the same set so that you can compare thickness, print quality and cardboard material

Cheers,
reoddai

[Drewk86a]

Invest in cheap commons from the same set so that you can compare thickness, print quality and cardboard material

Cheers,
reoddai

Excellent suggestion!

[svbetts]

Thanks guys! To RGM81, thanks for the tip on the black dot. Those are the things I am looking for. I pretty much never get to see a card before I buy it, so I need things like that I can see over the web.

svbetts

[RGM81]

Glad to help. With a card like that, that little pointer can be the difference between someone spending $75+ on a fake card and making the informed decision to walk away.

[Yipper]

You can also purchase a graded one (grade to your liking) and just crack the case. You know its real and you get the condition you want.

Cracking the case is very easy as well.

Cheers! Good luck!

[svbetts]

Check out this website I found online. I know KSA isn't known as the best, but it seems like a pretty helpful page. What do you all think? The only thing that was annoying was they didn't specify what brand they were talking about. I'm assuming OPC.

http://www.ksagrading.ca/counterfeitdetector.php