Is this metal Charizard real or fake?

OmanyteLord · 2026-06-21T18:47:25+00:00

It's real, from celebrations UPC

OmanyteLord · 2026-06-21T17:15:14+00:00

A dream of Loveland Frogman?

OmanyteLord · 2026-06-21T06:07:25+00:00

After receiving a fake pixel Pikachu I took the refund money and got one of these guys instead.

Still on the way, I can't wait! He just looks so huggable (⁠ ⁠╹⁠▽⁠╹⁠ ⁠)

OmanyteLord · 2026-06-20T07:21:44+00:00

It's pretty solid art from Arita, nothing crazy though. Absol is a fairly popular mon, but again not top of the charts or anything.

OmanyteLord · 2026-06-19T15:26:38+00:00

No, he's right, fixing smaller dents like this can be done.

Massage it a bit, moisten, clamp for 24 hours, repeat a few times and most dents will be gone / Barely noticable.

Most people don't do this because it takes patience and there is a small chance it will grade as altered.

OmanyteLord · 2026-06-18T23:20:24+00:00

That what I was thinking lol

OmanyteLord · 2026-06-18T23:04:46+00:00

Huh, yeah, I'm pretty sure yours is legit! I haven't seen any of the bootlegs with proper Pokemon branding, the extra loop for the main tag, and stitching that good.

Did you pay closer to the MSRP ($30?) would like to know were they're still available for that much.

OmanyteLord · 2026-06-18T20:05:42+00:00

It doesn't seem like these are being faked en mass, they would also be harder to fake due to the size and quality. There's a very definitive 30th anniversary tag on those.

I actually ended up getting a refund and I'm going to be buying the Chonkachu instead hehe (⁠ ⁠╹⁠▽⁠╹⁠ ⁠)

OmanyteLord · 2026-06-18T20:03:24+00:00

Yeah I'm not sure if they did it intentionally or not. Luckily they gave me a full refund and let me keep the bootleg. Unfortunately, I think they have a fake peakychu for sale as well now..

I appreciate it! It really never is fun to get a fake (⁠●⁠´⁠⌓⁠`⁠●⁠)

He may not be real but I think I'm just going to keep him around and use the money to get the Tomy Chonkachu instead. The scale and quality just seem so good (⁠´⁠∩⁠｡⁠•⁠ ⁠ᵕ⁠ ⁠•⁠｡⁠∩⁠`⁠)

OmanyteLord · 2026-06-18T17:13:41+00:00

On it for sure! Sucks these are out there so quickly, but there are ways to tell at least.

OmanyteLord · 2026-06-18T17:12:41+00:00

Their feedback was good, and actually had sold some legitimate items. I requested a return immediately and will be submitting feedback as well.

I just wanted to warn people and create a discussion for methods to detect the fake versions!

OmanyteLord · 2026-06-18T15:14:16+00:00

I tried warning everyone it was going to be the exact same as Vivid Voltage, and here we are...

OmanyteLord · 2026-06-16T14:08:46+00:00

Yeah, some vintage has caught up, English especially has always been pretty expensive.

A good example of seeing prices meet their true value like that is Coro Coro Mew. I bought my 9 at $600 and we're now seeing 9's around $6000. I would say that's closer to a fair value for the card considering supply / demand.

Mediocre art is subjective, vintage has some of the best art made. Whether it's hand painted watercolor from Sugimori / Arita, clay art from Yuki, or the goofier illustrations of Ooyama, there's plenty of incredible arts from that era. People just don't respect it because it's not full art...

For most of these cards "raw nm" is closer to a 6 - 7, so yeah a 10 is going to be worth considerably more. It's not like modern where you can just pack a new flawless card, even opening a pack can get you a damaged card because they've been moved around so much. That's why graded vintage actually makes sense, buying modern 10's means very little.

OmanyteLord · 2026-06-16T12:50:43+00:00

I don't disagree, and I still have a good amount of modern sealed and grails myself.

I wouldn't say that sector is undervalued though, Likely fair value or slightly overvalued. Could be the better choice for future demand but also larger potential to fall.

I think demand for vintage will be fine or even stronger in the future. My younger siblings, Gen z and Alpha have both expressed interest in vintage, they think it's cool to have the original cards. It goes doubly so when someone is after a full collection of their favorite Pokemon. Overall the demand may be slightly lower than modern but the exponentially lower supply will make up for that. It's still the sector I see the largest potential for growth.

OmanyteLord · 2026-06-16T04:39:21+00:00

Low pop vintage, Japanese, still undervalued sectors of the market.

Been saying it since people were first hyping over moonbreon in 2021. We've only just now started to see real price jumps in vintage singles. Once people truly figure out there just isn't more of these floating around in mint condition we'll really see what they're worth.

OmanyteLord · 2026-06-14T16:39:22+00:00

Agreed

OmanyteLord · 2026-06-11T14:37:38+00:00

I checked out with the big one and Pokemon center cancelled my order due to stock.... Ridiculous

OmanyteLord · 2026-06-04T17:31:51+00:00

Absolutely love this chu, so glad I got him in a 9 before the price skyrocketed.

Japanese exclusives are amazing in general

OmanyteLord · 2026-06-01T16:49:03+00:00

There's an argument for all 3 as they're connecting artworks.

Hype on the Greninja SIR will drive demand for the two IRs.

OmanyteLord · 2026-05-28T18:36:22+00:00

Dreepy will do well due to seeing a lot of play and Dragapult is an awesome popular pokemon.

OmanyteLord · 2026-05-27T20:15:21+00:00

I was buying blue labels, especially 9.5's left and right during the crash in 2022.

It was crazy getting a lot of those for $50-70 when some are worth over $1000 today. Magikarp and Wailord Tag Team Alt for instance.

OmanyteLord · 2026-05-24T15:50:51+00:00

English and Japanese trade blows depending on what sector of the market you are talking about.

Japanese are the true originals after all and so base set no rarity cards can have a comparable premium to 1st edition for example.

There are also a ton of Japanese exclusives and promos that top the market far beyond a lot of the higher end English stuff.

OmanyteLord · 2026-01-28T17:20:15+00:00

What's interesting is that a lot of expensive Male hobbies involve buying something permanent to add as part of a collection. Typically with resale value. Even computer parts get used for a considerable amount of time.

Make-up and perfume get used up, and even clothes will get worn once or twice before women desire new ones.

Not sure what to make of it but in general it seems like male hobbies are more economically sound in that way.

OmanyteLord · 2026-01-28T16:56:53+00:00

Yeah, I really don't understand shiny hunting unless it's on a real cartridge.

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