[Shaney777]

Hello everyone,

I recently bought quite a few sealed junk wax era packs on eBay, but I am concerned about the cards' authenticity. The packs looked to be in perfect shape (no tampering visible at all), yet the cards inside smell like they were just printed. There is not one hint of mustiness or decay, and the scent reminds me of how a brand new, glossy-paged book might smell - or even a brand new pack of Pokemon cards from the store. I am used to a musty odor with packs from that era (after all, they ARE around 25-years-old), and if the inside of the pack and cards smell old, the cards are somewhat "authenticated" for me. The brands in question are 1989 Pro Set, 1990 Pro Set, 1991 Fleer Ultra, 1991 Pinnacle, 1991 Pro Set, and 1994 Fleer Ultra. I feel super stupid for thinking that someone has perfectly recreated all of the cards (including commons and even expired contest inserts) in these packs, but the sickly strong, newly printed smell is just...completely suspect. Has anyone ever came across whole packs of fake cards from the junk wax era? I keep thinking that there could be a large printing operation somewhere where they are perfectly recreating packs and cards, including foil overlays, etc. to make money. What should I do to figure out if these are real? I don't have the money to send a card from each brand into PSA or BGS.

[jplarson]

I've broken 91Pinnacle in the last 1-2 years from a sealed box and they still had a faint "new card smell" to them. No one would waste time on anything except maybe the 89 and 94 boxes.... I but doubt it. I say rip away and if set building, pick up missing singles via trade or sports lots.com. if grading, best of luck on RCs!

Here's a link to the Pinnacle break I did
box break

[jonathani]

Nearly anything can be counterfeited.

[Shaney777]

I've broken 91Pinnacle in the last 1-2 years from a sealed box and they still had a faint "new card smell" to them. No one would waste time on anything except maybe the 89 and 94 boxes.... I but doubt it. I say rip away and if set building, pick up missing singles via trade or sports lots.com. if grading, best of luck on RCs!

Here's a link to the Pinnacle break I did
box break

Thank you for commenting. 1991 Pinnacle had the very strongest new smell out of all the packs I bought. Do yours have a super glossy finish with somewhat fine leathery visual texture?

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Nearly anything can be counterfeited.

Do you believe someone in, say, China might go to the trouble of counterfeiting cards from that era, though? There really isn't anything too valuable to be had.

[jplarson]

Thank you for commenting. 1991 Pinnacle had the very strongest new smell out of all the packs I bought. Do yours have a super glossy finish with somewhat fine leathery visual texture?

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I don't recall off hand but they were not as glossy as 91 Pacific but more glossy than 91 Topps. While a great many things could be counterfeited, I just dont see it being worth the effort on a box of cards with minimal return. It would be more efficient for a counterfeiter a higher value box.

I say rip away and post your results!

[soccerscrub]

I'm with the rest of the replies on this thread in that I would think there would be no reason to counterfeit those particular cards/years.

[jacobystealshome]

why counterfeit an era in which there are 10 billion of each card?

[evolb909]

The "new" smell may be due to the type of pack. Those are all enclosed packs as opposed to older "wax" packs that can be easily opened and re-sealed. In other words, these guys would have had to counterfeit the packs themselves also! Unlikely they are fakes... I bought a bunch of same era boxes cheap from a local guy 2 summers ago, and being that the packs were still sealed, they still smelled as new as they did back in 1989-1994. Should be good!

[Shaney777]

Thank you all for the replies. So, no one thinks it was even possible for someone to counterfeit them quite a few years ago when the cards were worth a lot more? That's somewhat worrying me.

[scottzoe]

I don't think anyone is saying it not possible (jonathani did state that just about anything can be counterfeited), what we all are say is it is highly unlikely. What more likely contributes to the new card smell is the type of wrapper (foil or plastic seal well as opposed to wax), how they had been stored over the years, and the fact that they have not previously been opened.
With that said, have fun with them. For less than the price of a pack of most current cards, you can open a whole box of that era, have the fun of busting the packs, sorting the cards, and reading the stats.

Scott