Authenticating decks as genuine vs. counterfeit

[amadhatter53]

Today's world is one that where everything is copied. It's not just money, expensive watches, and designer brands. Most people who have been in this hobby or a while have at least heard of counterfeit decks. It seems most of these are made in the China and the decks chosen tend to be the rarest in order to end up being sold for as much as possible to unsuspecting buyers. But how can someone tell it a deck is legitimate? Printing technology has gotten pretty advanced, though I can't say to anything to any certainty because I'm never had a counterfeit deck. I've passed on a number of deals, fearing I would end up with a fake deck.

Recently I had a scare and didn't know where to turn. I had gotten a very good deal on Black Ghost V1, and when I got it, it seemed suspect to me. A few things stuck out to me, and I didn't know who could tell me anything. I asked the opinion of a few people I know and they all had the same thought: the things I had noticed were unusual and shouldn't be there. Finally after talking with Ellusionist, I found out the deck was in fact legitimate, and it wasn't usual at all that I had noticed the oddity of the deck because Ellusionist had a specific related problem.

But still: Ellusionist couldn't guarantee me anything, and there aren't always people available like the the nice ones at Ellusionist to give assurance that a deck looks legitimate. So how can one figure out that a deck was made by who it claims, or that is may have originated through a criminal enterprise designed specifically to fool us and take our money?

Any thoughts, anyone?

[sprouts1115]

http://unitedcardists.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=2331

[volantangel]

Im guessing that it was shrinkwrapped rather than the usual cello ? As far as counterfeit decks go, jerrys, bikes & bees are pretty darn common, there have been reports of fake ultragaffs that are really pretty fake, but then again if you are just using it as gaffs and able to get it at a cheaper price i dont see why not. Other than that, i dont think there are many that many "high-quality" fakes out there that would give you problems.

[Mike Ratledge]

That being said, there are a couple of Malaysian people on ebay.com that are known for having the impossible. I'm pretty sure it's written up in the feedback subforum.