How to identify a fake altered card?
Economics forum
Posted on Nov. 3, 2014, 9:10 p.m. by Rman92011
There is a person at my lcg that has an "altered revised Savannah " no one knows whether it's real or not, because it has been painted on. He values it at $40 and I was wondering if there is a way to tell if it's fake or not, or if I should take the risk. Can anyone provide insight on this?
Well it's only been painted over to the point where I can't see the front borders, or perform the light test, so I was wondering if there was any way to tell if it was genuine or not. Only the front of the card is painted over. I don't know if performing the bend test would damage the card or not.
November 3, 2014 9:20 p.m.
does it have the blue line in the edge, does it have a tapped symbol in the text-box? does the back of the card pass the water-droplet test?
Still, if the borders are painted over, this isn't an investment card, I'd steer clear of it if you want something you can move later on.
November 3, 2014 9:40 p.m.
CommanderOfBolas says... #5
I honestly would trust him more if he were selling at a higher price. Only asking for $40 makes me feel very unsure about it. I wouldn't do it if he painted it in a way to make it hard to prove its legitimacy. Maybe Epochalyptik has some insight here?
November 3, 2014 11:45 p.m.
CommanderOfBolas says... #6
If you can, get some pictures of it. it would help out with your question
November 3, 2014 11:48 p.m.
ColdHeartedSith says... #7
If the card is real, its MTG card stock with blue line in the cards edge all the way around as well as water resistant on back and stock that can curl from end to end and back to straight. Unfortunatly there are several ways to blank a real card and print the desired card on the blank via High quality color printer. These are detectible next to real one when closely inspected but this becomes very tough when its altered art. Some people actually make fakes to have altered because they dont wanna ruin real ones. these are display peices for a plaque and such.
November 3, 2014 11:59 p.m.
Kirito_swo says... #8
Yea I agree with commanderofbolas if he was asking for more I would trust it more but for 40 I probably wouldn't pick it up unless you're picking it up for edh or something similar.
November 4, 2014 midnight
HorrorAvengers says... #9
40$? Definitely fake. If you can't tell though, at 40$, it's a good enough alter I'd get it anyway. But I'm not even a spectacular alterist and if somebody wanted an altered abur land, I'd charge a hell of a lot more than 40$. 40$ maybe if they supplied the land.
November 4, 2014 12:04 a.m.
ColdHeartedSith says... #10
I don't think Savanna would be a card someone would choose to pay to have altered. More likely a deccent fake a guy made and he either had it altered or did it himself to see if he could pass it off and didn't think his low price point would give it away at 40.00 seemingly out of guilt burdoning his concence too greatly too ask for more $.
November 4, 2014 12:09 a.m.
It may just be a really bad alter which makes the card less valuable :)
November 4, 2014 2:28 a.m.
DarkMagician says... #12
Even if it is real it's not tournament legal so the value is all but gone right there (which may be why he is selling so low). If you're buying with hopes of reselling down the road don't bother, if you're buying to play casual and you like the altered art and it won't break your bank then I say go for it.
November 4, 2014 11:36 a.m.
He asks $40 for it because that's what he paid for it, and he doesn't know if it's real or not, and has never tested it, so he doesn't want to charge more than what he paid for it. He's a good trader, and I've traded with him before, so I trust him more than I would trust a random person.
November 4, 2014 11:39 a.m.
DarkMagician says... #14
The issue is the cards actual resale value is skewed. If you're buying for casual play then go for it. Check the methods listed above though either way
gro0ve says... #2
As far as altered cards go, if you're buying it because you like the way it's been altered and want to play it casually then yes I'd buy it at $40.
If you're buying it because you want to invest in a collectible dual land that you can use in legal play then no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, don't buy it.
It's not valuable if it's been painted over so much that you can't tell if it's fake or not, and same goes for a judge allowing its play in legal formats.
November 3, 2014 9:17 p.m.