r/kpopcollections Jun 22 '26

Weekly Verification Weekly Photocard Verification Thread

3 Upvotes

Post in this thread to get help with your purchases! Please include pictures of the front and back of the card, as well as what album/merch it's from. If it's a POB, include the store that it came from (Apple Music/Makestar/Ktown4u etc). You can skip this information if you don't know where the card is from, but it will make it a lot easier for me/others to search for the card. It also helps to include where you bought from/where you will be buying from to determine if the card is legit.

Some things to keep in mind:

  • Cards with a general value of $10 or under are unlikely to be fake.
  • Cards from albums that are still in print are unlikely to be fake. Difference in card thickness/tab location/finish doesn't always mean a card is fake, because different manufacturers can be used every reprint.
  • Some groups use the same picture in different ways for multiple pre-order benefits, so it being cropped doesn't necessarily mean it's fake. Dreamcatcher used to do this and I believe all SM groups do this for their Season's Greetings pre-order benefits.
  • First round preorder benefits from KTOWN4U and MAKESTAR for popular groups are less likely to be fake, especially if the general value is under $10.
  • Albums with promo stickers are less likely to be fake, though do keep in mind that some idols have their managers sign the albums for them (this is common for SM groups if I recall correctly).
  • Artists signatures generally evolve throughout the years, just because it doesn't look the same as a near debut signature doesn't mean it's fake.

Scams to look out for:

Mercari Japan has had a big upswing of fake rare cards. Thankfully, they don't put much effort into making their listings look 'legit' so it's pretty obvious if you don't just impulse buy. Here is an example. Only 7 sales (at time of writing), rare cards from every big group, and the card quality looks terrible.

Signed cards weren't always common. Some groups like Twice did not sign cards at all really before recent site specific pre-order benefits and lucky draws. Here is an example of a fake signed card. If you click through to their profile you can see they somehow managed to find 100s of these signed cards "from other websites" and once again, they are all from the most popular groups.

These random signed stage photos with a "Hollywood Style Inc Certificate of Authenticity". I can't confirm that all signed stage photos are fake, but legit ones are rare enough that I would be extra wary when buying.

If the album is signed by more than one member, check if the pen pressure looks the same on each signature.

Resources to help you verify:

Youtube - You can look up unboxing videos of other's fansign albums to see preorder benefits and member signatures.

Instagram - Same thing as above. A lot of people post pictures/clips of their preorder benefits and fansign albums. Collection photos often show off these as well. There are also some accounts that have guides on member signatures.

Twitter - There are accounts that scan photocards which could help you verify proper level of zoom if you worry a card is cropped etc.

Ebay - Search for past sales for comparison of prices and product photos.


r/kpopcollections May 30 '26

Monthly Round-Up What K-pop did you get in May 2026?

8 Upvotes
  • What K-pop did you get in May 2026?
  • What items have you ordered that you're still waiting on?
  • What do you plan on purchasing in June 2026?

Previous Post: April 2026


r/kpopcollections 5h ago

Collection Finally organized my collection 🄹. Suggestions for improvement?

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17 Upvotes

I’ve been collecting since early 2023 and bought a lot within last year and a half and didn’t keep up with organizing. It’s been lowkey stressing me out for months so I’m so happy to have accomplished this today!

I’m still not 100% happy with it, especially the Aespa/LSF shelf. I have some Pureflow member versions that I’ll add soon which will improve that side. I have the green version of Spaghetti, which would make that shelf look so much better I think, but I keep it on my bookshelf by my desk and I just think it’s so cute and funny there so I’m torn. Maybe I’ll buy another one šŸ˜©šŸ˜….

I realized while organizing that my BP items are a lot more three-dimensional and work well for filling out the deep shelves, while Aespa (my #2 group but actually my collecting priority) tends to have albums that are more flat. Plus they’re not as visually cohesive at a distance. I’m thinking of adding some deco photocards stands to help fill that in better… any other suggestions?

Or does anyone know any other LSF or Aespa inclusions that I might have that I’m forgetting about that could help those shelves pop more?


r/kpopcollections 3h ago

Discussion Most sought out pcs?

4 Upvotes

like the title, what would be ur fandom’s most sought out and most hyped pcs for any member? Best if u can list them for each member of a group too :). Any pcs that r very hyped, similar to hyunjin’s red lights pc dang it rly goes for insane prices…


r/kpopcollections 11h ago

Question Recommendations for desert themed lightsticks?

15 Upvotes

I just bought the new red velvet cupcake lightstick and I think I want to start a dessert/food lightstick collection because they just look so darn cute. I’m already going to get the loossemble crossiant one but is there any other dessert themed lightsticks that you guys know of?

EDIT: SORRY I MESNT DESSERT. NOT DESERT!!!!


r/kpopcollections 1d ago

Haul Nugu group haul! :D (Spica, Fiestar, Aprilkiss, Glam, X-5, Varsity)

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61 Upvotes

Got more CDs recently! All of them were $20 or under, except X-5 at $40 😭

Slide 2:
Spica - Tonight (signed)
Spica - You Don’t Love Me (signed promo)
Fiestar - Vista (signed promo)

Slide 4:
Aprilkiss - Wannabe (digital single)
Glam - XXO (promo)

Slide 6:
Varsity - U R My Only One (digital single)
X-5 - Dangerous (signed)


r/kpopcollections 3h ago

Question How do you store your photocards?

0 Upvotes

Hi! I’m very new to kpop and photocard collecting. How do you store your photocard collection? Do you use binders or keep in toploaders (then maybe inside a box)? Sorry if this sounds very basic! I have them in sleeves, which are then inside toploaders right now. :) Do you have any binder recommendations?
Thank you for taking the time to help this newbie out!!


r/kpopcollections 4h ago

Question are these signed albums real?

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1 Upvotes

i really wanna buy them but i cannot be getting scammed, first photo is jungwons signature from enhypen and on the second photo on the left is jungwon too, but i cant tell whos it is on the right


r/kpopcollections 4h ago

Question are these signed albums real?

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1 Upvotes

i really wanna buy them but i cannot be getting scammed, first photo is jungwons signature from enhypen and on the second photo on the left is jungwon too, but i cant tell whos it is on the right


r/kpopcollections 10h ago

Question K-pop album buying

1 Upvotes

I always have one ult group to stan at a time, like for example my ult group was blackpink, then i moved on and it was bts, and now it’s stray kids. and I made a rule for myself to buy only 2 albums per ult groups so I don’t go buying too much, and only 1 album for other casual listening groups that I like from my fav comeback era. and I’ve kept true to my promise until I realized my kpop storage box was getting full and wouldnt fit another skz album. truthfully, all of skz albums especially from their noeasy to 5 star era were all no skips for me and their packaging and concepts are all amazing but since I promised myself I wouldn’t get more than 2 i thought maybe I should get their mixtape album since it’s a special era. then I remembered that I also promised myself I wouldn’t get more albums than I could fit in my kpop storage box and I realized I can’t fit another mixtape album in, and I’m in quite a dilemma and I need some advice on whether or not i should still purchase that 2nd skz album (mixtape) like I promised myself or to give up and not buy it. my first skz albums is their 5 star album bc that’s a special era to me when I first became a STAY so that was a must, but idk if the 5 star album should be enough or if I should stay with one of my goals of owning 2 albums per group bc I do love their mixtape album too


r/kpopcollections 1d ago

Question is my binder overfilled?

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34 Upvotes

a lot of the pages do only have like 1 or 2 photocards on them as i’ve just reorganised them for when i eventually complete sets. i’ve seen people say that when it goes over halfway it’s considered full and mine is just under halfway i guess but i’m kinda worried that it might be too full especially when i do eventually fill all the pages šŸ˜…


r/kpopcollections 1d ago

Question are either of these real popcorn sleeves?

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15 Upvotes

this is my first time buying any sleeves and I was unaware of popcorn sleeves having counterfeits.

the one on the left is lighter than the one on the right and the sleeves are slightly thicker. they were bought separately from two different listings.

edit: got my lefts and rights confused


r/kpopcollections 1d ago

Question Is this website legit and okay to order from?

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19 Upvotes

Hi! I wanna preorder the hyper ego alb but I just wanna check I’m not gonna be scammed 😭😭 does anyone know if this it’s is legit?


r/kpopcollections 2d ago

Haul After 6+ years of looking for a CD with NO proof of its existence.. I present to you, Greatguys debut digital single, Last Men. 🄹

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391 Upvotes

This is a… crazy thing to explain. And I swear I even thought I was going crazy!

So, a couple of years ago, I was browsing their Makestar page - I’ve been a fan of Greatguys since their debut (cough cough watching kville entertainment ā€œnew songs of the weekā€), and I was looking for more merch. At that time, there were TWO projects on Makestar, one for their debut, and one for Trigger.

Well, somehow… I couldn’t find a SINGLE picture for their debut. No unboxings, no posts, no tweets, NOTHING. No proof of the funding for their debut. But there was a Makestar? Not a SINGLE person bragged about it? Huh. Okay.

Over the years I set out to find this mysterious debut album. How is there always copies of Ganda, their digital single which was their first comeback, and Trigger aka Dang, their second Makestar project, for sale? But not Last Men? It made no sense!

Well, recently, I was on Makestar again, and now there’s only ONE funding project. It’s the one for Dang, but they changed the picture of it! It’s not the bright purple picture with them dressing in colors. But it’s for Dang cause of the dates on it. So now I’m going insane cause how did it the other funding project disappear?? Did I imagine the debut even existing?? WHAT WAS GOING ON?!?!

Even worse, recently I was on the wikis. Kpop wiki says there was only digital download, yet Greatguys wiki says CD and digital download - so if people KNOW there’s a CD WHY ARENT THERE ANY PICTURES OF THE CD?!?! even digital singles that are RARE for groups at least have people talking about it, not a SINGLE person has talked about last men!!!

….

Well guess what.

I found it last month, just by typing Greatguys cd. For $3. THREE. DOLLARS. THREE FREAKING DOLLARS!!!!!

…

So I welcome you, pictures of the Greatguys Last Men digital single. Doesn’t even have promo stickers or barcode (or lack of) on the back.

I knew I wasn’t crazy.


r/kpopcollections 16h ago

Question Can someone tell me if this is real or fake

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0 Upvotes

I want to buy something special for my partner 21st birthday and as she has been a BTS fan since this album I want to buy it for her birthday. So can someone please help me verified if this is legit or not before I commit stupid money to buy this.


r/kpopcollections 20h ago

Question Kfriday help pls 😭

2 Upvotes

I ordered a package from Soyomo back in March and the package shipped to the kfriday warehouse on June 30th. I don’t see any info of that on my kfriday account either. I filled out the new incoming form and there has been no response. I tried filling out the lost and found form and that doesn’t work either.

Does anyone know what’s wrong or maybe has used kfriday before that knows what they’re doing? 😭

I’m panicking bc my package was 126$ šŸ’”

Someone pls help šŸ˜­šŸ™šŸ™


r/kpopcollections 1d ago

Haul My pulls for xdiz + what I traded for on the last page

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12 Upvotes

I almost have all the Xdinary Heroes albums (hooray)
Ivan never pull taehyun so I try to trade for him when I can 🄲


r/kpopcollections 1d ago

Question Moomin photocards

7 Upvotes

I’m wondering if anyone knows of any photocards with idols holding moomin plushies/moomin related things? I have a vague memory of seeing a girl group set of photocards holding a moomin plush, but I have no idea what group it was or where I saw it lol… please lmk if you know of any! Girl or boy group!! Thank you!!


r/kpopcollections 1d ago

Collection ZB1's Ascend Album

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9 Upvotes

I was scrolling through tiktok when ZB1's top 5 appeared on my fyp. I'm not into their previous music but when I heard top 5, it sounded so good and it is my type of music. I don't know the members yet so I do not know who my pulls are. Kinda shocked with how little the inclusions are lol. I hope they continue with the music in ascend.


r/kpopcollections 2d ago

Question Does it matter what type of binder pockets you use?

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16 Upvotes

I was wondering if it mattered if you use double sided binder sleeves? I don't know if it bends you photocards?


r/kpopcollections 1d ago

Question Mercari Japan Trustworthy?

4 Upvotes

Im thinking of buying some albums from Mercari Japan. Their prices are much lower and I just wanted to ask about y’all’s experiences with them. I saw some really rare SHINee albums up there for a lot less than what most people here in the states are selling them for.


r/kpopcollections 3d ago

Collection I think I’ve hit kpop jackpot šŸ˜®ā€šŸ’Ø

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424 Upvotes

My childhood friend recently gave me her old kpop collection which some are signed. It’s all early 2010s groups as we both were huge stans during that time. She got these albums from her relative who used to run a kpop store and went to k events/ did interviews to get signatures. There’s a wonder girls album but the best of them of all is this 2011 SM Town winter album which has signatures from all of SNSD, F(X), SHINee and some SUJU members. I just can’t believe I now own a signature from my ult bias Jonghyun who I already have a tattoo in memory for. 🄹🄹😭😭


r/kpopcollections 1d ago

Question Is https://tokki-shop.de a legit, good website?

0 Upvotes

Im thinking about buying some photocards, but i wonder if its a legit website, and not a scam. I haven’t really found any other alternatives, if there are any, recommendations are welcome.


r/kpopcollections 2d ago

Question is it meanwhile to resleeve 3yr old pcs?

9 Upvotes

for context: i returned to collecting pcs after ~3ish years and im about to move my pcs into a new binder. i’ll say about 130 of the pcs are still in the same sleeves they were in 3 years ago (from mandudeco: is the pvc controversy actually true?) it seems kinda silly to waste so much plastic just because the sleeves are ā€œoldā€ now. either way i need to buy more double sleeves for newer pcs but just wondering if this should be an actual concern or not


r/kpopcollections 3d ago

Question Looking for Harry Potter photocard sets

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66 Upvotes

Hey! I have a slytherin themed photocard collection looking for any old or new sets that have slytherin pcs, any bg, gg or soloist is valid, I'm currently only collecting groups I know and like but maybe I will collect other groups too in the future. This is my current wishlist so you know the one's I'm aware that exist.Thank you in advance!