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 ]](https://perishablepress.com/wp/wp-content/images/2008/slifer-card/counterfeit-slifer-yu-gi-oh-card_set.jpg "Click the links below for full-size views")
- 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( apparently, authentic god cards display neither trademark nor 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 post. Thanks!
72 responses to “Fake Slifer Yu-Gi-Oh! Cards on Ebay”
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.
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 :)
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.
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!
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.
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)?
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.)
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 ;)
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.
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! :)
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.
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! :)