AdamW | 714 Posted February 25, 2021 Share Posted February 25, 2021 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! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LifeGame | 807 Posted February 25, 2021 Share Posted February 25, 2021 Pretty sure its legit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamW | 714 Posted February 25, 2021 Author Share Posted February 25, 2021 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YOURTURN | 1,258 Posted February 25, 2021 Share Posted February 25, 2021 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamW | 714 Posted February 25, 2021 Author Share Posted February 25, 2021 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Code Monkey | 2,148 Posted February 25, 2021 Share Posted February 25, 2021 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: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamW | 714 Posted February 25, 2021 Author Share Posted February 25, 2021 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tidaldreams | 654 Posted February 25, 2021 Share Posted February 25, 2021 Looks fake to me. I wouldn't trust a pokemon game with the E looking like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonebone | 1,329 Posted February 25, 2021 Share Posted February 25, 2021 Yeah I saw people talking about this, likely a fake as DS titles were heavily faked. Grading companies sadly let one get by sometimes. I'm not sure what their policy is, but they should offer to buy it back if they cared about their reputation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kell | 102 Posted February 25, 2021 Share Posted February 25, 2021 (edited) Just for another data point, My legit Pearl has a chunky “E”. Would take more pics but has been at WATA to get graded for almost 4 months now. Edited February 25, 2021 by kell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamW | 714 Posted February 25, 2021 Author Share Posted February 25, 2021 Yeah, I don't think it's a variant situation. The bad logo doesn't quite match any of the four real variants of the solid black E, and Pearl's release doesn't really coincide with a switch in logo anyway. I think all legit copies have the super chonky E. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tidaldreams | 654 Posted February 27, 2021 Share Posted February 27, 2021 Here's another one that looks questionable: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Sealed-Pokemon-Platinum-Version-VGA-80-Nintendo-DS-Graded-Video-Game-NOS-/265039268898 This is what a real one should look like: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DefaultGen | 5,726 Posted February 27, 2021 Share Posted February 27, 2021 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tidaldreams | 654 Posted February 27, 2021 Share Posted February 27, 2021 I didn't even realize it's the same person. Here's the last one to round out the trifecta: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Sealed-2007-Pokemon-Diamond-Version-VGA-80-Nintendo-DS-Video-Game-NOS-/383922111354 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a3quit4s | 4,370 Posted February 27, 2021 Share Posted February 27, 2021 My SoulSilver has a chunky E This one has not for resale on the back since I think it was bundled with the pokewalker gizmo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamW | 714 Posted March 1, 2021 Author Share Posted March 1, 2021 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamW | 714 Posted April 12, 2021 Author Share Posted April 12, 2021 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... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LifeGame | 807 Posted April 12, 2021 Share Posted April 12, 2021 On 2/24/2021 at 8:57 PM, LifeGame said: Pretty sure its legit ...ok maybe not Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tidaldreams | 654 Posted April 13, 2021 Share Posted April 13, 2021 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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