Fake Edgar Summer Magic

[mwagee]

Hi Members,

Has anyone ever encountered a fake summer/edgar mtg card?
For those with uber edgar rares how can you be sure they are real?

Are there standard tests to employ for edgar cards?
ie opacity, weight, thickness, bend etc?

The reason I ask is because I was examining an edgar holy strength under a strong light, I could visibly see the the 5 colored circles on the backside from the front (they showed up as a lighter gradient). But when I examined other cards under the light, this didnt occur. It might just be because the summer ink is darker and only white cards would have light penetrate but I am not sure.

Any thoughts or comments are greatly appreciated.

[Tha_Gunslinga]

One of my friends recently bought a Summer Channel. He bend-tested it and it creased. He believes it is fake due to its inking pattern. I haven't had the chance to look at it yet, though.

[equi-nox76]

I could visibly see the the 5 colored circles on the backside from the front (they showed up as a lighter gradient). But when I examined other cards under the light, this didnt occur. It might just be because the summer ink is darker and only white cards would have light penetrate but I am not sure.

I can not see the 5 colored circles from the backside on the front under light on cards I have already for a long time... I'll have to check the others too
Honestly I hope the recently bought E's do not show the same as yours. [-o<
Chris

[mwagee]

Yeah, it only occurs on the Holy Str. The text seems a little bit off but I thought that just might be the way my eye picks up the way letters are beveled on a lighter background. I don't have any other white edgar cards to compare it to either

I would be interested to see if anyone else could scan a holy str under the light and see the 5 circles. (maybe its just the holy str?)


I'm curious as to how members like kikta and pickles authenticate their edgars. You guys there? :)

[sk1]

I use a 25x Macroscope which was made by RF Inter-Science:

http://www.rfinterscience.com/main_prod ... =1&group=1

I had gotten it over 15 years ago in conjunction with my stamp collecting, and it has proved invaluable for a number of things, like authenticating Magic cards (and looking at salt crystals, the fibers in dollar bills, etc., with my 5-year old son). This really is one of the best macroscopes you can get for the price (around $140.00).

Magic cards have a distinctive ink dot pattern -- which I typically refer to as "circular clusters" -- which can be discerned after viewing multiple real and fake cards. Fake cards usually have more of a standard "dot matrix" type pattern of ink dots.

Also, just by virtue of having viewed tens (if not hundreds) of thousands of cards, I can generally get a sense of what looks right or doesn't look right to the naked eye, what feels right or doesn't feel right, etc. I typically don't perform the bend test due to the potential damage to the card.

[AzureWinter]

if you have the actual card, and a scanner, you can change ur scanner setting to 1200+ dpi setting so you can see the "circular clusters" that sk1 is talking about.



Right top - Champions Stone Rain
Left top - Alternate 4th
Bottom - Beta Stone Rain
This was done in 600 dpi setting scanner

I tried to take sections where you can tell the printing style of the original cards looks very unique.
It's really hard to tell on newer cards but old printing cards, you can actually see this with naked eyes.
I dont own any fake cards to tell how they're printed but I would assume it'll look like the alternate 4th style printing

[sk1]

Thanks to AzureWinter for posting the scans illustrating what I was trying to explain. I guess if someone wants to check a card or two, scanning them in at a high resolution would be a cost effective alternative to buying a macroscope. But, for those wanting to check a lot of cards, or for someone who is short on time, a macroscope is the way to go.

[AzureWinter]

Now I just need to own one Summer card to see if they kept it the same circular cluster style printing.

[mwagee]

thanks for the input everybody :)

[sk1]

Here is a 1200 dpi scan of a Summer Magic card. It does show the "circular cluster" pattern.

[sk1]

1200 DPI scan of fake Black Lotus. Notice that the dot pattern is clearly different than that of the real cards posted above:

[AzureWinter]

After looking at sk1's fake lotus I noticed something else

Real magic cards prints all black ink after the color ink.
His fake lotus' black text parts have the same pattern as the color pattern.
Where as real cards, black text is printed after the color so it should be pitch black and not have this "circle pattern" on the Text, shadow of white text, mana symbol and number.



Except alpha and beta's border should have both pitch black and circular pattern black.

[equi-nox76]

Cool, I think I'll order one of those macroscopes, really better than scanning all the cards

[Giediprime41]

After testing thousands of cards for bend, thickness and sheen you just "know" from touch about most sets being real or not.
Beta has a thinner card stock than summer and are more flexable, where summer is more stiff.
I also compare new additions to my other known real summer before anything is agreed apon.
It's not an easy thing to copy all the unique changes fron set to set, and for the trained eye you spot fakes pretty fast.
Most inportant thing, (and i'm pretty sure all summer collectors do this) buy from someone you know or have some knowledge of "being on the level"!!
Summer doesn't grow on trees, not just anyone will have it for trade, or sale.
And if they do, ask them where they got it, the summer crowd is smaller than you think.
If they can't remember where they got it, be careful. (you just don't forget where you pick up a piece as rare as that.)
Now i know that sounds retarded to some, but you'ld be surprised how many people don't think when they buy things. Big or small, buy from a good source.
Giediprime41

[wizard1]

Cool, I think I'll order one of those macroscopes, really better than scanning all the cards

here you go! Free shipping and reputable

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.14897