The Magic Librarities

If I posted this already, sorry for the re-run. I couldn't find it when I got back on the board and assumed i butterfingered the posting or the Dropbox thing.

I have been presented with three "Alpha-cut 4th Ed cards" I rally know nothing about this variation except I have always had my doubts about it... looks like a good job with fingernail clippers. In any case, is there a way to tell they really are Alpha-cut? Here is the shot I took (I hope, I never know if I'm using drop box right).

https://www.dropbox.com/s/t7p13f9uh1d4u ... 3.jpg?dl=0

Thanks

Gary

Hey Gary,

I know little about it too, but I've always shared your skepticism. I work in a print shop and we have die cutting machines; while printing MtG cards would involve a lot of work, I could Alpha cut anything you want en mass no problem.

Take it easy,
Jared

The only way to tell is to watch someone pull it from a pack

Tim; would it have come from a regular 4th ed booster/starter? Or is it more likely that a whole sealed product would be the same cut? Do you know of anyone that has actually pulled one--is there a video of such I wonder?
Really not sure what to think.

Jared;

You confirm my suspicions. when teaching in high school the fellow that ran the print shop was really good and amazed me with the things that he came up with. In this case there seems to be a school of collecting that accepts this type as legitimate so I am at a loss to know how to address it. I have one as a type piece (it was given to me) in my collection and these look about the same. Who knows.

Thanks fellows.

Gary

A friend of mine pulled 2 alpha cut uncommons from a 4th edition booster pack. The rest of the pack was normal. I have these 2 cards now

Although there are fakes around, I think the most are legitimate. Alpha cut 4th Edition cards do not have exactly the same shape as Alpha cards, but a little bit less rounded. There are a lot of random bulk cards around that wouldn't be worth faking, and no rares are known.
I'm pretty sure that this one is a fake as the corners are rounded too nicely and are looking weird (and the seller had too many playable cards):





Real Alpha cut 4th cards have the black dot on the back and are back cut, see:

http://greendisenchantproject.jimdo.com ... -variants/
http://greendisenchantproject.jimdo.com/edge-cutting/

I agree that the Lightning Bolt looks suspicious.

Gary's cards look real to me. (at least from what I can see from here)

It's only Commons and Uncommons that were affected.

Carta Mundi prints other stuff besides Magic cards, so it isn't to difficult to imagine that the wrong die was in the cutting machine.

I have around 30 of the Alpha Cut 4th cards, most purchased individually, so they come from a lot of different people / places.
Most of mine are basic undesirable commons, so less likely to be faked anyway.
I checked all my corners on them closely. They all match each other, and they match Alpha.

There are also Alpha cut Ice Age Commons & Uncommons, but those are much more difficult to find. I've only seen about 7 cards, mostly junk cards.
JGit has one and sent me a good scan of it. He's compared it to Alpha & Alpha cut 4th, and they match. From the scan, I'd have to agree.
Gunslinger has some also.

I've seen 2 pics of Alpha cut Revised, with a few cards in each picture. Supposedly they were opened in Texas.

I doubt they'll ever be worth much, but it does seem to be a legitimate variation.
Few people take the time to look for these, so public awareness is a factor in how many of them show up.
Here is a video from Keith, which I'm sure has raised awareness of Alpha cut 4th, but there still aren't many who know about Alpha cut Ice Age & Alpha cut Revised, so we see less of those.
He almost has a full set of Alpha cut 4th now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO7lIx8onbw

I'd compare it to finding a specific common card in a foreign language. There's a lot of them out there, but they're all lost in boxes of bulk, and no one looks for them or posts them for sale because they're not worth anything.

Tav

JGit posted his on this Mail Brag page.

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=6950&p=87109&hilit ... cut#p87109

All of the alpha cut cards I have have been found by rummaging through boxes of 4th edition at local stores (except the Ice age one which I bought). As always with any error like this it CAN be easily faked, but it's probably not worth it. I'd be curious to compare a faked card cut from a normal 4th edition card to a legit alpha cut 4th to see if there are any minor differences. Red flags should also be fairly easy to spot too (like large numbers of playable alpha cuts).

I would like to get my hands on one of the revised alpha cut cards though!

TheJGit wrote:All of the alpha cut cards I have have been found by rummaging through boxes of 4th edition at local stores (except the Ice age one which I bought). As always with any error like this it CAN be easily faked, but it's probably not worth it. I'd be curious to compare a faked card cut from a normal 4th edition card to a legit alpha cut 4th to see if there are any minor differences. Red flags should also be fairly easy to spot too (like large numbers of playable alpha cuts).

I would like to get my hands on one of the revised alpha cut cards though!

Hi,

can you check your Alpha cut Ice Age card for the black dot on the back? Thanks!

Neuron wrote: can you check your Alpha cut Ice Age card for the black dot on the back? Thanks!

Here's the back

Thanks!

Wow, thanks much guys, I have gotten a much bigger picture and more info than I expected and greatly appreciate it.
I can't check the ones I have atm as I just put them into storage while I'm off to Korea so I have a "must do" as soon as I get back.

I never thought to check to see if there was a dot on the back.... doh.

Thanks again for all the help.

Gary

I just checked 25 Alpha cut 4th edition cards that were on my desk.
All of them do have the little black dot on the back at the bottom as shown on Neuron's website.

I have a few more Alpha cuts in one of my binders that I didn't check yet.

Tav

Unfortunately I just put those I had in the bank in preparation for a trip to Korea and do not know if they have dots or not. I should have taken scans of the backs too but was in a hurry.

Thanks Tav, I'll check them out when I return (assuming K-J-U) lets me come back.

Gary