Fake Slifer Yu-Gi-Oh! Cards on Ebay

Believe it or not, one of my most popular posts here at Perishable Press is an article I wrote about a counterfeit Slifer Yu-Gi-Oh! card. Since its publication, I have received some very interesting information regarding the apparently extensive market for fake Yu-Gi-Oh! cards. Recently, reader Deana wrote to share her experience with an eBay purchase of a “very good counterfeit” Slifer card on eBay.

As a savvy Yu-Gi-Oh! collector, Deana has purchased “some really great cards” on eBay. For example, she once scored an authentic, 70-dollar DDS-001 Blue-Eyes White Dragon card for about 35 bucks. She says that obtaining legitimate high-value cards through eBay is “really and truly a luck of the draw.” Even worse, many eBay shoppers may have purchased counterfeit Yu-Gi-Oh! cards without even realizing it. As Deana explains, the subtle differences between “real” and “fake” cards are not “something you would notice unless you are a collector.”

Fortunately, after receiving a Yu-Gi-Oh! Slifer card that she had purchased on eBay, Deana’s experience as a collector paid off: the Slifer card was a fake! After being contacted from Deana about the fake Slifer card, the vendor acted surprised, responding that, upon closer investigation, he had realized that another one of his cards — Obelisk the Tormentor — was also a counterfeit. On another occasion, Deana received a refund for a $21 “counterfeit Red-Eyes Black Dragon card” that she had also purchased on eBay.

As for the fake Slifer, the vendor allowed Deana to keep the card, which she dutifully scanned and posted for this article. Here are the front and back scans of the counterfeit Slifer card, followed by a list of carefully observed “flaws” in the cards design.

[ Front/back scans of counterfeit Slifer Yu-Gi-Oh! card ]

Full-size view: front of counterfeit Slifer Yu-Gi-Oh! card ( scan by Deana )
Full-size view: back of counterfeit Slifer Yu-Gi-Oh! card ( scan by Deana )

Observed counterfeit mistakes

Displays the word “GOLD” (in both English and Kanji) instead of “DIVINE”
Foil logo in bottom-right corner reads “top-to-bottom” instead of “right-to-left”
Totally missing the Kanji characters at the bottom-left corner on the front of the card
Totally missing the trademark Konami and Yu-Gi-Oh! logos on the back of the card
Artificial holographic properties resulting from waxy gloss finish
~~Displays “© 1996 KAZUKI TAKAHASHI” on the bottom-right corner~~
( Thanks to George Hazard for the correction. )

Also worth mentioning is that the vendor shipped this supposedly “rare” Slifer card in a “simple white letter envelope.” Further, “the card itself was in one of those flimsy card protectors, even though [the vendor] promised in the auction that it was going to be in a ‘rigid plastic sleeve.’” If you have purchased valuable Yu-Gi-Oh! cards through eBay (or anywhere else, for that matter), you should take a few moments and investigate the authenticity of your cards.

Hopefully, this article will help others understand the subtle differences between counterfeit Yu-Gi-Oh cards and those that are legitimate. Yes, it’s pretty sad that there are subhuman garbage bags out there that feel the need to rip off kids (and adults) with fake collector cards. I guess that’s what happens when you lack the skills needed to counterfeit the Benjamins. Thanks to amateur trash like yourselves, I enjoy the distinct pleasure of exposing and mocking your feeble skillz! Maybe if the Yu-Gi-Oh! market takes a dive, you pathetic losers can counterfeit Garbage Pail Kids instead! :) </rant>

Many thanks to Deanna for bringing this story to my attention. It does help! ;) If you have an interesting “counterfeit Yu-Gi-Oh” experience to share, please drop me a line or leave a comment on this article. Thanks!

About this article

This is article #511, posted by Perishable on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 @ 11:36am. Categorized as Graphics, and tagged with Graphics, images. Updated on March 25, 2008. Visited 12191 times. 30 Responses »

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30 Responses

1 • March 23, 2008 at 6:04 am — George Hazard says:

I would like to point out that a few of your Observed counterfeit mistakes are wrong. First, Genuine God Cards DO NOT have the “Konami” or “Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game”. Second, Geniune God Cards DO say “Divine” and ALL Yu-Gi-Oh Cads say 1996 Kazuki Takahashi.

2 • March 25, 2008 at 1:00 pm — Perishable says:

Hi George, thank you for taking the time to share this information with us. Although I am not (yet) convinced of your first point concerning the absence of both “Konami” and “Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game” on the back of genuine cards, I have investigated your second point and found it to be accurate. To account for the discrepancies, I have edited the point about “© 1996 Kazuki Takahashi” and credited you for the correction. As for the word “DIVINE” appearing on all genuine cards, you are correct, but the counterfeit card in question actually displays the word “GOLD” instead. This was an error introduced while writing the article, and has been edited to reflect the correct information. Thanks again for the feedback and for helping to improve the accuracy of the article. Cheers :)

3 • May 4, 2008 at 8:44 pm — Jason says:

George is right, real god cards do not have the “Yu-Gi-Oh!” and Konami logos on the back, two additional things. Each god card has a different colored back, Slifers being red, Ra is yellow, and Obiliesks being blue. And each god card says “This card cannot be used in a duel.” in the bottom left where the serial number should be.

4 • May 5, 2008 at 7:28 am — Perishable says:

Thank you for the information, Jason. I am now convinced that you (and George) are correct concerning the lack of “Yu-Gi-Oh!” and “Konami” logos on the back of legitimate God cards. Subsequent articles concerning counterfeit Yu-Gi-Oh! cards will reflect this information. Also, huge thanks for the additional tips about the different card colors for God cards. As for your last point, where on the card is the serial number that is replaced by the phrase, “This card cannot be used in a duel.”? Thanks again!

5 • May 10, 2008 at 4:39 am — RJ says:

The god cards that are included as promos in American video games say “This card cannot be used in a duel.” As for the god cards that are included in the Yu-Gi-Oh Worldwide Edition game, it contains the kanji characters in the bottom-left corner of the card. Yes, the phrase “This card cannot be used in a duel.” is on the bottom-left corner of the card.

6 • May 12, 2008 at 9:40 am — Perishable says:

Thank you for sharing this information, RJ. It looks like you are confirming the location of the phrase, “This card cannot be used in a duel.” — correct? And I assume that we are talking about the front side of the card (the side with all of the card’s information)..? Even more interesting is the notion that cards from American video games include the “card cannot be used” disclaimer but those obtained from the Worldwide Edition do not. Do you know the meaning of the kanji characters that replace the disclaimer (i.e., does it say the same thing, only in kanji)?

7 • May 25, 2008 at 5:31 pm — Diez says:

RJ is right about the disclaimer in japanese. The reason it’s there is because it came in the Japanese video games. The ones with the english disclaimer were released as promos for the U.S. So it’s understandable why it’s there
Ra - Dawn of Destiny Promo (Xbox game)
Slifer - Yugioh the movie ani-manga Promo
Obelisk - Shonen Jump subscription Promo

Also a good way to tell if a card is fake is by comparing it’s text to another card you own to make sure it’s the right format.

Also make sure the card is from the same country when comparing because some U.S. and Japanese cards have a somewhat different thickness. (This is mainly for the Japanese-English print god cards.)

8 • May 26, 2008 at 12:06 pm — Perishable says:

Great information and tips, Diez. Thank you for helping to improve our knowledge of authentic versus counterfeit Yu-Gi-Oh! cards. Comparing the general formatting (card thickness, typography, etc.) of cards is a great idea and definitely a good way for everyday collectors to identify potentially fake cards. Incidentally, I would love to get some high-quality scans of the different versions of the god cards. If you (or anyone) can assist with this, drop me a line ;)

9 • May 26, 2008 at 2:52 pm — Diez says:

I almost forgot the back of all real egyptian god cards are suppose to be missing the Konami copyright and Yu-Gi-Oh! Logo. They explain that on every website and It’s like that on the back of my Slifer and Ra. By the way I got mine directly from the games. My friend gave me his Slifer(GB1-001) from his Worldwide Edition game and I got The Winged Dragon of Ra(DOD-001) from the Dawn of duel game.

It should be noted that the Asian-English Slifer’s text is a bit different when compared to most english cards I don’t know why but I checked it out with a few other GB1-001 Slifer cards in person and online but they seemed fine. Like I mentioned before about comparing the weight of two cards make sure they are they are from the same country.
(Ex. Asian-English + English = Bad
English + English = Good)
I know I said this already but I can’t stress this enough.

10 • May 28, 2008 at 5:03 am — Perishable says:

Diez, you are a literal wealth of Yu-Gi-Oh information! Thank you for the emailed link to the hi-rez scans, and thank you also for sharing from your apparently extensive experience with identifying counterfeit versus authentic Yu-Gi-Oh god cards. It is much appreciated, and I am sure that your advice will further help readers determine and verify the legitimacy (or illegitimacy) of their suspect Yu-Gi-Oh cards.
— Cheers! :)

11 • June 2, 2008 at 5:18 am — brandy says:

hello. i started collecting yu gi oh cards because one of my friends plays tournaments. i have around 1,000 cards. i dont know which are fake or real. i also have cards that have the same picture but different name. and i also have some that have the same name but different picture. how do i tell the real ones from the fake? and also the numbers right below the picture on the right side, is that a way for me to tell if they’re real or fake? thank you.

12 • June 2, 2008 at 9:34 am — Perishable says:

That sounds like quite a task, brandy! The first thing to keep in mind is that counterfeiters most likely don’t bother with low-value cards — they tend to go after high-return investments such as the god cards and anything else that is rare or otherwise hard to get. Of course, the this article or this one should help in identifying the real versus fake god cards, which you can then use to investigate other rare and suspicious cards. Good luck! :)

13 • June 2, 2008 at 11:20 am — brandy says:

Well the problem is that i bought these cards at stores. and i’ll continue with the Slifer card, i have a card that the name above the picture says “Dragon-Sky” and it has the same picture as the real one. and code under picture on right side is “G4-01″. so i dont know if its real or fake, can you help?

14 • June 3, 2008 at 11:33 am — Perishable says:

Hi brandy, I would like to help, but it is difficult to make a diagnosis without actually seeing the cards in question. Perhaps you could scan a few good examples at high resolution (i.e., 300dpi) and email them to me? Scroll down the page for the link that says “Contact via email” and I’ll see what I can do :)

15 • June 4, 2008 at 5:48 pm — Diez says:

Hey Brandy I think the card is 100% fake unless the card is in japanese and The ATK & DEF are different from the english cards with the ATK above the DEF. It would help if you scanned it. But based on what you described its most likely a fake.

If anyone needs more info on the card game e-mail me at DiezPina@Yahoo.com or Wolfman_FX@Yahoo.com

16 • June 8, 2008 at 8:02 am — Perishable says:

Thanks for keeping an eye on things, Diez! ;)

17 • June 8, 2008 at 12:38 pm — Diez says:

Ok I looked at both of the scans. These cards are 100% fake.Heres whats wrong with both cards. Both of them are missing the word divine above their attribute symbol and the text are wrong because its suppose to say something else. They are also missing the phrase “this card cannot be used in a duel” in English or Japanese in the bottom right corner(BTW any other card would have a number that can unlock them in the video games). Slifer’s name is wrong, He is suppose to be a [divine beast], and the number G4-001 should say GBI-001 or YMA-001 if it’s in English. Obelisk main problem is the artwork which proves its a complete fake since there isn’t any alternate artwork for the card.

I hope this was helpful

18 • June 10, 2008 at 10:03 am — Perishable says:

@brandy: Thanks to Diez, I have also seen the scans and concur that the cards are indeed “100% fake.” May I ask the name of the store from which they were purchased? Such information would certainly help others avoid a similar situation.

19 • June 11, 2008 at 2:47 am — Brandy says:

well the first couple of packs i bought at Kmart. then I started buying the cards at a 99 cents store in Shafter, CA. but thank you for your help. Can i send you more cards and see if you can tell me if they’re fake or real? they’re in japanese.

20 • June 13, 2008 at 2:11 pm — Nick says:

Hi I have a god card that has on the bottom (this card can not be used in a duel) can you tell me if it is real because I know that real god cards dont have 1st edition only limited and none and the one I have is non with that saying. Please Email me back with the information

Thank you

21 • June 14, 2008 at 8:18 am — Perishable says:

@Brandy: Kmart!!?? Yikes, that suggests a much larger Yu-Gi-Oh counterfeit problem than I had previously imagined. Generally, I would suspect, counterfeit cards wind up in smaller outlets and venues (99-cent stores, ebay folk, etc.), but to think that Kmart is buying bulk cards from illegitimate dealers is fairly newsworthy. I don’t suppose Konami would be interested in this..

22 • June 14, 2008 at 8:22 am — Perishable says:

@Nick, @Brandy: As for verifying fake Yu-Gi-Oh cards, I highly recommend taking Diez up on his offer for assistance in comment #15. He seems more than happy to examine your potentially counterfeit cards. Thanks again, Diez! :)

23 • June 17, 2008 at 8:44 pm — Jai says:

Hello, Yu-Gi-Oh TCG collectors. I would highly doubt that Kmart would be dealing in counterfeit cards. I buy a lot of cards from Kmart (although, it is the Australian version of the store which is owned seperately from the American store) and all cards I have bought are legitimate. The cards you bought at the 99-cent store are probably the inferior ones. As we all know, counterfeit cards are illegal and I doubt that many stores such as Kmart would get themselves involed with such business.

By the way, I have a friend who recently acquired a large number of Yu-Gi-Oh cards and after examining them I was able to tell him that most were fake. The thing that I find frightening was that some of them were extremely accurate, such as a Red Eyes Black Dragon which was almost identical to the legitimate card, except for thinner text in the heading.

24 • June 18, 2008 at 11:12 am — Thanks, i understand now. says:

I have been reading here and now understand howto determine real or fake cards..in fact i was so dissapointed in myself..i just binned the fake cards right away (found 7 fakes, All high lvl monsters that i cant remember names for.

Again thank you very much….still got 72 cards…just started collecting again >.<..even watching the tv shows as well :D

25 • June 18, 2008 at 11:14 am — Thanks, i understand now. says:

Forgot to mention…it was actually EBAY i got the 79 cards from, and that was only 4days ago…lucky it wasnt more than 7…i examined rest very closely to see if there were more..but luckily not…..Thanks again…*note to self: Dont ever buy Yu-Gi-Oh cards from ebay..go argos or somewhere* :P

26 • June 18, 2008 at 10:24 pm — Deana says:

@Jai

A store such as Kmart dealing in counterfeit cards? I know it sounds like a strech, but I actually have a friend who bought some “rare” cards in a pack at Wal*mart that turned out to be counterfeits. Granted, she doesn’t have them anymore, but the thought is still there. BUYER BEWARE! O_O

@Perishable

I totally forgot about the god cards not having the Konami symbol and such. xD *shot*

27 • June 23, 2008 at 3:20 pm — Perishable says:

@Jai: That’s an awful lot of faith to have in a department store! Although I don’t know about Kmart’s business ethics, I do know that they are in direct competition with Wal*Mart and will do just about anything to stay competitive. Even if they are aren’t intentionally buying bogus Yu-Gi-Oh cards, they certainly are looking for the best available dealz. Assuming that the counterfeit market is as prevalent and as lucrative as it seems to be, I would be surprised if Kmart didn’t find themselves occasionally (and perhaps inadvertently) doing business with some corrupt distribution networks.

28 • June 23, 2008 at 3:33 pm — Perishable says:

@Thanks, i understand now.: Glad to hear that you got everything worked out. I completely understand not wanting to buy Yu-Gi-Oh cards from the eBay folk, but keep in mind there are probably a few legitimate and trustworthy dealers, assuming you can find them. Your best bet? Stick with local, verifiable dealers, triple-check everything (especially for large purchases), and don’t hesitate to cry foul if something smells phony.

29 • June 23, 2008 at 3:35 pm — Perishable says:

@Deana: Don’t sweat it — I did the same thing with more than just the Konami symbols! I am no expert in this game, but certainly enjoy the company ;)

30 • July 24, 2008 at 5:56 am — Laura says:

I’m really confused. I bought 3 god cards for my son off ebay. They do not have Konami or Yu Gi Oh symbols on the back. Is that a dead give away for being a fake? His little friends are telling him they aren’t real due to that.

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