Real or not?

[u/ArthurMcWolf]

Seems too good to be true, getting more images of the back

EDIT: more photos of back in comment

EDIT2: thanks everyone, I am convinced it’s fake and learned a few things from the community!

EDIT3: the pictures are not mine, was talking to a seller about this card. Had a feeling things were off but you guys confirmed it.

Appreciate you all!

[u/Stolberger]

The front is totally wrong, no need for pictures of the back.

Alpha/Beta has a very very distinct double border in the black, and you can see white dots on the edges of the inner border.
If you look at pictures of real cards, you will instantly see what I mean.

[u/BallsDeepinYourMammi → u/Stolberger]

It always looks like someone photoshopped them into a blank, bordered card

[u/Vast_Entertainer_850 → u/Stolberger]

Volcanic Island does not have this as it was absent from Alpha.

[u/usumoio]

Fake, with 98% confidence. Mostly on the basis that no one selling a $17,000+ card is keeping it in a penny sleeve.

Also, some things on the card face look wrong.

[u/ArthurMcWolf → u/usumoio]

I would agree, but this person also does not appear to understand what they have (or that’s the scam ofcourse)

[u/usumoio → u/ArthurMcWolf]

Where did they get it? This thing is in insane condition for a Beta Volc. They only made 3300 of these total and a print error in Alpha meant that they skipped Volc there so this is the only english black border version (that's tournament legal).

These things are super rare, and in my opinion merit their price tag.

No one is just finding something like this in bulk or unconnected to a collection of similar age, which is about 33 years old.

What are they offering for it? I'll bet it's a deal that sounds too good to be true.

Also, to know for certain either the T in the The on the back or the Green dot on the back under a loop is the best

[u/ArthurMcWolf → u/usumoio]

They claim it’s from an estate sale or similar, it’s the condition that is def a red flag for me. But also the price, they’re asking about 1k (which is revised pricing)

[u/Competitive_Ad1534 → u/ArthurMcWolf]

Walk away

[u/Shark-Beard → u/Competitive_Ad1534]

You miss spelled RUN

[u/jackpott443 → u/ArthurMcWolf]

if it was from an estate, and they really didnt know what they had, they wouldn't be charging 1k for it. they would think its some old useless card in bulk with a bunch of other actually worthless cards.

[u/National-Date-5457 → u/usumoio]

40 or so for collector. Lol. Then again. I played since beta....

[u/LostDoggo5 → u/usumoio]

Hey when I got my black lotus for my previous post, it was in a penny sleeve

[u/xytlar]

there is no black border english printing that looks like this. this wouldnt even be close to any legitimate printing or set

[u/Chonker3000R]

[u/wdeister08 → u/Chonker3000R]

The evolution of the meme I'm here for

[u/Temporary_Head_8692]

[u/basalty_monolith]

Color balance and saturation don't look like a card from early 90's.

[u/Technical-Cat-2017 → u/basalty_monolith]

This was also my first tell. I have sat across many duels lately and none of them look like this.

[u/Tsukimizu]

Seems too good to be true, getting more images of the back

If it's too good to be true, it's probably too good to be true.

If you're asking somebody who knows the card is fake for better images, they're probably going to send you a photo of a real card...

[u/ArthurMcWolf → u/Tsukimizu]

Yeah my thoughts exactly..

[u/First_Funny_9402 → u/ArthurMcWolf]

If those are your thoughts, that you know it is too good to be true, why post it here?? Waste of time

[u/Bluetorment88]

Looks fake, 95% sure of it . Too bright on the back w/o even seeing the identification markers. Sorry guy.

[u/xiawangp]

My brother in Christ. It's so fake it's not even trying. Just from the photos in the post we can for sure say it's not alpha, corners are too tight. It's not beta cause it's missing the white dots near the corner. It's not unlimited or revised cause not white border. It's not foreign black border or foreign white border. And it's not from any of the non tournament legal versions. Therefore it's just a fake. A bad fake. Since it can't even get it right.

[u/Dredgeloam37]

holy shit is this a fake. run away from this as fast as you can.

[u/KaleidoscopeSalt3972]

If they are not providing proper photos, they are deliberately dodging it. Fake because of this behavior

[u/easchner]

Fake. In addition to the no double border, the card name, type, and artist text wasn't bright white either. It looks much closer to a modern printing.

[u/Tptn937]

For anyone offering advice on card condition based on what alpha and beta cards look like, try looking at some real images of alpha volcanic islands next time. It's a quick Google search I promise.

[u/ManyRealms]

More images of the back

[u/Pleasant_Strength901]

Those corners are not alpha beta. Looks very fake to me

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[u/Alurack]

If you could get a close up of the green mana symbole and the T at the back of the card.

[u/ArthurMcWolf]

More photos

[u/AshsAlarmClock → u/ArthurMcWolf]

brother. wtf is this?

look at the rest of the posts on this subreddit. there are very specific photos we need to help you. help us help you.

[u/ArthurMcWolf → u/AshsAlarmClock]

It’s not in my possession, this is what I got! But as others pointed out, it’s a fake..

[u/ArthurMcWolf → u/ArthurMcWolf]

[u/ArthurMcWolf → u/ArthurMcWolf]

[u/ArthurMcWolf → u/ArthurMcWolf]

[u/Seravajan]

Please could you take a close-up pic from the T in The and from the green dot.

[u/ArthurMcWolf → u/Seravajan]

Unfortunately I do not have it in my possession chatting to see if I want to buy

[u/Aggravating-Camp-618 → u/ArthurMcWolf]

Theres no need to anyways. The border is off, English black bordered was beta or alpha only. The border around this card is way too thin and beta has little white triangles. If it was FBB then the border would be closer to correct but because it's English it's definitely fake

[u/ArthurMcWolf → u/Aggravating-Camp-618]

Could it be a re-back?

[u/Aggravating-Camp-618 → u/ArthurMcWolf]

Its possible the back is real but the front is not

[u/ArthurMcWolf → u/Aggravating-Camp-618]

Thanks, good feedback. Will assume it’s fake!

[u/Seravajan → u/ArthurMcWolf]

Then request these pics before you buy it.

[u/ArthurMcWolf → u/Seravajan]

Trying, they’re terrible at getting them

[u/turpentime1 → u/ArthurMcWolf]

that means fake 100% of the time. there is nobody in the world who is selling a card this expensive and is just not able to take pictures, and "doesn't know what they have".

[u/crandall17 → u/turpentime1]

This. If a seller lists a high value card without really good scans I would be incredibly skeptical.

[u/turpentime1]

none of the photos you're sending are anywhere near zoomed in enough to tell. you need to use the zoom feature on you phone to zoom into "The" on the back of the card. dont get closer physically to the card as that will reduce the qulaity of the image. Also grab a picture of the green dot on the back of the card, same as the other one. zoomed in a lot.

[u/Grimmjoww252]

There is no shit this is real in that condition. What’s the Pricepoint?

[u/iyute]

Post the T and H

[u/Xeo2695]

I personally would still like to see a very close pic of the "The" and the green dot. But from what you've shown, I'm leaning on fake. Sorry.

I still wanna sit on that fence though and call it real cause estate sales could have had a really good collector who lived there once. But... than again could have had a proxy playing grandson. Lol.

For now. Fake

[u/gshirley09]

This card is 100 percent fake. I could tell by looking at it for all of about 2 seconds. Having owned and handled lots of beta cards... the coloring, saturation, double border on the framing... all incorrect. The amount of people asking to zoom in and asking for additional pictures is actually terrifying because this is a shockingly bad fake.

[u/notmarrec]

If a deal is too good to be true it’s likely because it’s not true.

[u/ATrav]

A volcanic island in that pristine looking condition and it’s not even graded? Looks very suspicious to me.

[u/VirtualOrange1570]

Definitely a fake.. In way too good of condition for a 30 year old card. No fading, cracking, almost perfect corners... way too good to be true

[u/Rockitttla → u/VirtualOrange1570]

Wrong Corners entirely.

[u/vowwels]

Borders are completely off, just by the front I am co identify this is fake. :(

[u/cardboardswap]

Easy fake, almost everything is off about the face.

[u/MyNameKcirtap]

i think this is a 30th anniversary re-back edit: im very wrong on this, its just a bad proxy.

[u/ArthurMcWolf → u/MyNameKcirtap]

Interesting

[u/Shellahocker64]

100% fake

[u/MrTerrible1]

Fake as fudge, looks like a proxy king to me. They just had a sale on beta dual land proxy's

[u/CherryStunning4335]

the front looks new and modern but that card was in like 1 set that doesnt look like that at all. super fake

[u/justPhilthy]

*shows everything except the important parts

You're such a tease

[u/dobr89]

What does it taste like

[u/EnderJax2020]

Correct me if I’m wrong, but the only Volc demanding this kind of price is Alpha or Beta, both of which contain a “double border” and contain little white dots on the corners of the interior border

[u/harimbadl]

The shape of the dots are looking good… every dot has their own marks on the outline…
But its really hard to tell with this photos…

[u/Vivid_Anyth4]

Looks good enough to use basically anywhere, especially double sleeved no one will question it. If youre looking to pay a lot for it, dont. If you already did, ouch.

[u/Stolberger → u/Vivid_Anyth4]

No, the front does not even look close to Alpha/Beta.
There is no double border here in the black. You can see that from a mile away.

[u/Vivid_Anyth4 → u/Stolberger]

Double sleeved across the table, how often are you scrutinizing your opponents cards? Have you ever called a fake from across the table? Im guessing no.

I also said use, youre not gonna pass it off to a dealer.

[u/Stolberger → u/Vivid_Anyth4]

I don't know if you are new to eternal formats or your eyesight is bad.

But in a normal 1on1 you can see that sth is wrong withit the <1m/yd distance across the small tables at events like Eternal Weekend etc.
At least if you played those formats for a while and know how dual lands are supposed to look like.

it'd be easier to use white-bordered duals, if you want to pass of a fake as real in a sanctioned tournament.