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VGA graded a fake Pokemon Pearl?


AdamW

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Just poking around eBay, came across this listing:

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Sealed-2007-Pokemon-Pearl-Version-VGA-80-Nintendo-DS-Video-Game-NOS-/265063288282

I'm pretty sure that's fake, the ESRB logo is way off. So either the seller faked up the grading somehow, or VGA made a pretty big whoopsie there.

I've emailed VGA and reported the item to eBay, does anyone know anything else that can be done to save someone dropping a grand on a worthless fake? Thanks!

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I don't think so. That's the same wonky ESRB logo you see on all the Platinum fakes with a tear strip. The real Pearl used the chonkiest form of Esrb E, with all the stems of equal widths. The stems on that one are much too thin and the middle stem is shorter than the others, it looks more like the 1999 version (though they're thinner even than that one, I think).

Here's a real one:

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Pokemon-Pearl-Version-Nintendo-DS-AUTHENTIC-Holo-Cover-WITH-Manual-No-game/154344631548

compare the style of the E, it's a pretty obvious difference.

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Three minor details you should consider.

1) You should have contacted the eBay seller first. A lot of sellers do add said random game (graded or otherwise) for their own reasons. Cases like can harm their reputation since they are not video game experts.

2) CGA, Inc. is a 'grading' company. Meaning that they have a history of slip-ups like this. And when you do contact them, make sure you also contacted the eBay seller first. That way they know who has the product as a means of buying it off them if it turns out to be a graded bootleg copy.

3) Your response should have been included in your opening statement. Because all I see is a slightly blurred photo and nothing authentic to compare it to. And once you made that response, what you said finally made sense.

In the end... All I can say is that if it does turn out to be a graded bootleg, I will not be surprised.

But I do believe what you are saying is legitimate. With reasons being tied to the "Toy Toni" scenario, as well as ones involving the time they graded official Chinese reissued G1 Transformers as originals.

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Hi! Thanks for the advice. I have been mailing sellers sometimes when I notice fakes (there are just dozens of the Platinum fake, including multiple ones sold by a seller with 49000+ rep 😞), but I was worried in this case the seller wouldn't be likely to listen to some eBay rando when they have a game graded by a 'trusted' authority, so I figured it made more sense to contact VGA - if they contact the seller and say they made a mistake, the seller's more likely to listen, I figured. I thought eBay wouldn't ding someone if they sold one unknowingly, but if they might, I can certainly try contacting them.

As for the blurred photo, that's all the listing has 😛 I figured the DS Pokemon fakes would be well enough known in a forum like this that people would know how to spot them right off, but I guess not? Well, anyway, I did post a comparison now.

Thanks again.

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Why don't you just look up the serial number on the VGA website? That's what it's there for.

Game Information
Serial Number:       71463282
Date Graded:    Jan 13, 2021
Grade    80
(Sub grades are not available for this item)
Year:    2007
Company:    NINTENDO
Series:    NINTENDO DS
Title:    GAME CARTRIDGE
Name:    POKEMON PEARL VERSION
Variation:

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I tried that, it doesn't work for me. I couldn't find a place to search specifically for grade serials, and if I put it into the generic search box on the site it just tells me "an error has occurred". I thought you might need to be signed in for it to work so I tried signing up for an account, but their signup doesn't work for me either...

So, thanks for doing it! Yikes, and I was hoping it was an old one or something.

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Both graded on the same day. I wonder how many fakes the guy sent in. While grading companies all make mistakes, grading multiple 100% fake Pokemon games is pretty rough considering it's probably the most commonly bootlegged game series on the planet. Your local game shop probably trains its employees specifically to spot fake Pokemon games.

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Good spots tidaldreams - yup they're definitely fakes also. Along with the bad ESRB logo you can tell fake Platinums by the shatterfoil effect bleeding into the Giratina in places, it doesn't do that on real copies.

@a3quit4sthere are several versions of the 'E' depending on date, note - they changed the style slightly a bunch of times. You can see them all at https://logos.fandom.com/wiki/Entertainment_Software_Rating_Board/Ratings (very handy site) or I did a blurry montage from various pokemon boxes (the dates are just the dates of the games, they don't exactly match when the logos actually changed, the above site has those dates to the year at least). None of the real versions is as 'skinny' as the one commonly found on DS fakes (or GBA cart fakes), though.

esrbs.jpg.30369e83d5ad2a0ba9430379fff7c03d.jpg

 

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  • 1 month later...

Ugh, the Diamond is back:
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Sealed-2007-Pokemon-Diamond-Version-VGA-80-Nintendo-DS-Video-Game-NOS/353410072995

I've reported it to eBay, maybe if a few more people do it'll get taken down. Seller is different from last time and price is higher, I guess the buyer from last time is trying to flip it...

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7 hours ago, AdamW said:

Ugh, the Diamond is back:
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Sealed-2007-Pokemon-Diamond-Version-VGA-80-Nintendo-DS-Video-Game-NOS/353410072995

I've reported it to eBay, maybe if a few more people do it'll get taken down. Seller is different from last time and price is higher, I guess the buyer from last time is trying to flip it...

SMH... dude didn't even bother to retake the picture. This is such an obvious fake, that E is just atrocious.

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