Counterfeit Cards

1979 O-Pee-Chee Wayne Gretzky Rookie card is one of the toughest modern rookie cards to collect in high grade. The set is comprised of 396 cards and are all blue bordered, making it a truly condition sensitive issue. When the blue-boarded cards chip along the edges or corners it exposes the underlying white card stock, which is the main reason this set and this particular card is so tough. This card also comes with print defect or “snow” on the front, typically around his face. The centering on the front and the registration is also very challenging to find with mint qualities. The card sells for thousands of dollars in mint condition and the factors above give a little insight into why. With this card being so difficult, alterations and counterfeits are very prevalent.

This Gretzky card is a real!This Gretzky card is a real!

Actually, this card is real.

Here are a few tips on what to look for:

  1. Buy graded product, it limits your downside, the alterations and counterfeits are really good and if you don’t examine cards on a full time basis and know what to look for it can be very painful to your pocket book.
  2. At first glance the two cards look alike, but under closer examination you will notice dot matrix printing surrounding every facet of the counterfeit card. The logo in the lower right, name and team name at the top all exhibit tiny little dots that run through the letters and spread or feather around. Even the black borderlines surrounding the picture are all comprised of tiny black dots.
  3. The back of the counterfeit card is a lighter shade of white, the real one is a little beige in tone, and the counterfeit also exhibits the dot matrix pattern throughout the card. The copyright date 1979 O-Pee-Chee Printed in Canada is clearly manufactured by tiny dots.
This Gretzky card is a fake!This Gretzky card is a fake!

This is the counterfeit version.

This particular counterfeit is a really good one, it even exhibits print defect on the front of the card, giving it a little more of an authentic look. Always use caution when buying high dollar raw non-graded cards. We are currently developing a counterfeit card alert system, which will enable our clients to get emailed articles and pictures like this as they come in. I look forward to sharing my findings on counterfeits to help our clients get a good foundation on the characteristics of counterfeit or altered cards. If you have any questions regarding this counterfeit please email me at mbaker@gacard.net.

 

 

Mike Baker
Director of Grading
Global Authentication