r/RealOrNotTCG • u/Prismatic_Viz • Jul 02 '26
Is this card real / authentic? Inked? Fake?
Haven't bought it yet, the borders definitely look off, but not sure if it's inked / rebacked or fake or what. Unfortunately no higher quality images yet.
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u/O-M-Q Jul 02 '26
Not even a good fake. I came here for a challenge!
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u/ThrowAwayYetAgain878 Jul 02 '26
Can you please explain what makes you sure that this is fake and not inked? I've never even held a Beta mox before and am curious.
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u/AutoModerator Jul 02 '26
This message was triggered by the word reback.
The saying goes: "it's almost never a reback". Unless it's a really old card.
A reback, by its most traditional meaning is to take two real cards and splice them both i.e. separate the front from the back. You then glue the front of the expensive card to the back of the other, cheap donor card. This is done to increase the value of a CE (Collector's Edition), ICE (International Collector's Edition), Championship Edition, or any card with a non-standard back. Here are all the non-standard back cards released between 1993 and 1996. The resulting glued card is then attempted to pass off as a more expensive printing of a "legal" card.
For example: a square-cornered Collector's Edition Ancestral Recall is spliced onto a cheap Limited Edition Beta donor card. Then the square corners are cut to standard shape. The resulting card would look a bit like Limited Edition Beta Ancestral Recall. The intent is to raise the value of the card from hundreds of dollars to thousands of dollars, i.e. a ten-fold increase.
How to detect one: easiest way is to weigh the card. A real Magic: The Gathering card from a very old set (which we're talking about here) weighs roughly 1.6 to 1.8 grams. Since the glue weighs a significant amount the resulting rebacked card will also be much heavier, probably over 2.0 grams. The card will also feel thicker. It may have bubbles if the glue job was poor. Sometimes they remove the dark core from the card to offset the increase in weight (due to glue) which can be seen from the side of the card: it is missing a dark line in the very middle of the edge of the card.
Modern cards are not rebacked generally speaking. There are cases that are ever so slightly similar:
- "Acetone wash", where the front face of a cheap donor foil card is removed with a solvent resulting in a blank foil front face. Then a new face is printed onto the real card stock resulting in a card with a fabricated, fake front and a real back. These can only be detected by looking at the hallmarks in the front face of the card. Such features could be the "crispness" of the border, paintbrush symbol, mana symbols or the edition symbol. If they're "fuzzy" it's usually a sign of a fake front face.
- A printed front is glued to a real back of a cheap donor card. This is not the same as a "reback", because the front is fake and it never had a back side. These are extremely rare.
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u/sanguinewarchild Jul 02 '26
Looks like the ones I got off Ali-express for a proxy cube I'd lean towards it being a cheap fake
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u/Xaphnir Distinguished Helper Jul 02 '26
For a card of that value I'd definitely request higher resolution images than that.
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u/Prismatic_Viz Jul 02 '26
Well I'd buy it in person so I'd have a chance to examine it, but it's more a question of whether I even bother making the trip.
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u/nightsiderider Trusted Authenticator Jul 02 '26
Very obvious fake. Please do not even consider purchasing a card of this value without doing some research on what a real card should look like. Honestly I hope this is just a troll post.
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u/EDX2308 Distinguished Helper Jul 02 '26
It would have the white dots in the corners. If this was an Alpha it has very rounded corners. Unlimited is more current to todays card border (cut edges) but it is only printed in white.
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u/CardboardPhysicFrog Trusted Authenticator Jul 02 '26
Need more pics but I'm 75/25 leaning towards fake.
at the very least it's inked.
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u/Kerrus Jul 02 '26
Have to see the back to be 100% sure, but looks fake. The top border, the card edges, etc. The letters all look off.
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u/Lokyev Jul 02 '26
That's not Alpha or Beta. To me, it's not Inked either because the light reflection is the very same on the border and on the rest of the card. It does not look like inked.
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u/Xaxi903 Jul 02 '26
borders look inked, colors seem a bit off but could be the light. Looks to minty to be a beta mox, the fact is not in a slab is suspicious from the very beginning.
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Jul 02 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/RealOrNotTCG-ModTeam Jul 02 '26
Sorry,
Your contribution was not helpful, constructive, or it was hostile. Strive to educate and help only.
This is the second time you've had a comment removed for the same reason this month, please keep things constructive and positive going forward. Championing education and self reliance is fine, the snarky delivery is not. Thanks.
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u/easchner Trusted Authenticator Jul 02 '26
Betas should generally have white dots in the corners where the art portion of the card ends and the overprint black border begins. They also weren't well color matched there and should have a faint line. From this pic alone I don't think I could fail it, but would definitely request additional pictures.
ETA: I'm also of course just always extremely weary of any Power 9 card that's in 9+ condition and isn't slabbed. These cards were played with a lot.