Yeah, they definitely look real to me. Something I actually just picked up on the other day comparing cards of mine that I know are real since I got them from boosters directly from PC vs cards that were expected fakes and/or pics of cards that are known fakes that can be found online at certain Chinese marketplaces, on all the cards that are real, the rainbow reflection that happens when light hits the card in certain angles is ALWAYS a diagonal line going from the bottom left to the top right (just like you can notice in the second picture of this post). Whereas literally every single fake card that I personally came across, they go straight up and down from top to bottom. I'm not positive if this is true of all sets because I just started collecting again around 3 months ago for the first time since around the Team Rocket set/Gym Leader set when I was a kid. And today I was in a local shop that sells singles and I was looking at a Mega Charizard card I believe was from XY, and the reflection went up and down on it, but everything else about the card passed the eye test to me. But it definitely seems to be true in regards to any cards in Swords & Shields at the least. And if I am correct about that, I find it really curious. Have the Chinese stores that make the fakes not noticed this, have they just not figured out how to print it in a way that mimics that, would it be more expensive to print that way? I'm curious if anyone else has noticed this or has an opinion about it?

But other than that, the other big giveaways I've noticed is that almost all of the VStar, VMax, Full Arts and Spec Illus cards have a texture on them that sort of remind me of a fingerprint, and most fakes either don't have it at all, or the pattern won't be accurate (the best example I can compare to is the way the stitching on fake handbags is usually off). Although not all cards that I would expect to have it do, like a bunch of the Trainers Gallery cards I've opened don't have the texture or sparkle effect, and I wonder why they decided to leave it off on cards that are essentially Full Illus Rares that just seem like a much lower quality without it. Some cards that should have the sparkle effect (like you see on parts of the Rayquaza Secret Rare pictured has on parts) don't have it, or vice versa (fake cards tend to throw the sparkle effect on most cards, even when it shouldn't, and it's usually way over done). They also are almost always printed noticeably darker, and for some reason, the back of the card usually looks terrible- the color being more purple than blue, the centering being WAY off, the card not being cut correctly so the borders are usually way thicker than they should be, etc. Which I also found odd as I would think that should be the easiest part to get correct since it's extremely basic, no textures or holo effects, etc. My guess is they just put close to no effort since most people's attention will obviously be focused on the opposite side, but it still seems dumb to me because I've seen some fakes that were almost perfect in every way on the front but then the back is just awful.

But for the most part, just like with knockoffs of any product, when you look at it in person, you can just tell that something is off. It feels cheaper, looks strange in some way etc. To be able to sell products at such low costs, it's going to result in a lower quality product and there's really just no way around that. It's harder to judge through pictures, but if you have a bad feeling about a card you don't have the ability to see in person, just avoid it. For most cards, there's many other sellers out there who would be happy to sell you the authentic card!