Hacked The Charizard Charade
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Jan 16, 2026 The rise of ultra-rare Pokémon cards has triggered a billion-dollar market, but it also made collecting a target for fraud. The hosts delve into the world of Pokémon prototype forgeries, revealing the fascinating techniques used by a sleuth to expose a forgery ring. They explore the challenges of grading and the vulnerabilities in prototype construction that make authentication difficult. Plus, they discuss the impact of recent technology on both collectibles and fraud detection, with a nod to AI's evolving role in our lives.
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Invisible Printer Dots Reveal Origins
- Printer machine identification code (MIC) dots are subtle forensic markers embedded in laser prints.
- Those dots can reveal printer model, location, and approximate print time, making them powerful non-destructive authenticity checks.
Verify Prints By Checking MIC Dots
- When assessing printer-era collectibles, examine MIC dot patterns on high-resolution scans or originals.
- Request flatbed scans or microscope photos and compare to documented dot decoders before trusting slabbed authentication.
Amateur Sleuth Breaks The Ring
- Scott Mastromateo, an E4 moderator, used scans and a microscope to decode MIC dots on prototype listings.
- He found many cards printed much later than claimed and published evidence that exposed a large forgery pipeline.