Logan Paul’s Dubious ‘Base Set’ Case To Be Verified This Weekend, Unlikely to Convince Collectors
Responding to the news that his purchase may be fake, Logan Paul has announced he’ll be verifying his 1st edition Base Set case this weekend. He’ll be joined by Baseball Card Exchange, the authentication company that originally certified his box. This presumably means the box will be opened, as it’s the first step to determining if products like these are real.
update on this: I’m flying to Chicago this weekend to verify the case with BBCE, the company who insured its authenticity
to be continued… https://t.co/grLMa92JCM
— Logan Paul (@LoganPaul) January 5, 2022
However, it will be difficult for the Pokemon community to believe any claims of authenticity unless Paul opens the box and invites the hobby’s experts to examine it. Due to the prevalent amount of convincing fakes on the market, authentication of old Pokemon products has historically required the collective knowledge of the community’s oldest collectors and even forensic analysis. This is especially the case if Paul’s $3.5 million purchase is to be touted as the largest purchase in the history of the Pokemon TCG. If he doesn’t publish a detailed report or invite actual experts, the only purpose opening his box will serve is to determine if the contents are overtly fake.
For example, one of the game’s most respected collectors, TCA Gaming, did not realize he owned a fake Base Set booster box until years after purchasing it. It looked real but he only noticed something was suspicious when he discovered the tiniest indentations under the shrink wrap that were not present on the wrap itself. He decided to take the plunge and open the box. Upon doing so, he discovered it was full of resealed packs:
This is why it requires so much time, experience, and knowledge to authenticate 1st edition Base Set boxes. As of now, none of the community’s experts we know have been contacted by Logan Paul.
Fraud in the Pokemon TCG has been on the rise in recent years. To trick authenticators, scammers assemble booster boxes using a mixture of legitimate packs on top and resealed ones underneath. In some cases all the booster packs in a box are resealed, rendering the entire box worthless. The ability to create fake Pokemon TCG products has become so easy that websites like Etsy sell convincing fanmade product if you want a hit of nostalgia for your home office.
Paul purchased the unopened case for $3.5 million in December. The news made headlines not only because it was purchased by a celebrity, but because it was the largest Pokemon TCG purchase in history. However, the box raised several red flags, including multiple origin stories, a dubious seller, conflicting labels, and concerns over its authentication process.
