Hi, I just bought 2 B Moon from Chronicles and I've realised that they are clearly not share the same red tonality. Does this mean that one of them is fake or was it common back them?
Scans and photos are a real bear to analyze because the scanner or camera tends to introduce unwanted artifacts and/or remove artifacts we're looking for. I prefer to have the card(s) in question in hand and be able to compare to known good cards. This is something you should always do with incoming cards.
That said, I never looked too closely at my Chronicles cards so I never noticed color variations of this nature. I wouldn't be surprised though. I know many cards from within a particular set often have huge color variations. Dug out my Mystic Remorasfor a deck and half of them are lighter. I haven't the foggiest where my Chronicles Blood Moons are so I can't examine them to see if they're the same way. But enough of that....
The card on the right is raising more flags for me and warrants a closer look in person. If both were scanned together then I'm seeing some questionable areas with very poor rosette patterns. An example would be the wide border around the artwork where the rosette pattern flat out does not exist. Overall, the rosettes are not very well represented, to the point that I can't really attribute it to artifacts from the scanner.
The card on the left exhibits not only a much better rosette pattern but exhibits other indicators I expect from a Chronicles card whereas the one on the right does not. These, by themselves, are not hard indicators one way or the other but they help.
Tentatively speaking, I would give the right a much closer eyeballing. The card on the left is looking good (less the annoying artifacts) but if you got both from the same source, it would also warrant a closer look.
They were both scanned together. I also think that the one on the right is fake basically because all the other Chronicles cards that I have share the same red that the one in the left has. They both passed the light and the bend test.
Another thing I've realised is the black border on the bottom, doesnt it seems pixellated?
Is there any other scan that I could give you in order to be sure, or something else I can do?
The problem with this sort of thing is everything I'm seeing so far can be argumentively coming from the scanner. It is suspect that the scanner is picking up the rosettes on one but creating a Moire pattern on the other. Is this caused by the scanner or of the card? Hard to say. I also don't consider myself an expert identifying cards in images.
I'm not sure why I didn't suggest these but.... note: I'm pretty sure there's an awesome post somewhere about this but my search-fu organ is still sleeping.
I don't like the bend test. It has the potential to damage cards and wears the fibers unnecessarily. If we arbitrarily quantify how many times a card will pass a certain number of bend tests. How many times did that card experience the bend test? How many more can it survive before the fibers collapse? You have no way of knowing unless you're first owner.
The other tests like the water test and squeak test are jokes. Don't do them.
The first test above everything else is the, "wait... something isn't right," test. How does it feel? Slick or rough? Heavy or light? Does it smell funny? Does the ink look funny (in your case color)? These are good but it comes with caveats. The color test is just an initial thing but it isn't a definitive thing to depend on. Magic is known for color variations. This is besides damaged cards or counterfeits. Magic cards do get sun damaged and, due to the nature of light that humans are comfortable with, red is the first to go.
Get a known good card (some suggest at least two or three) from the same set. Same card if possible. Varying grades of played. Then use them to compare cards. It's easier to spot discrepenecies this way.
The light test is a good start. If it passes then the next test I would do is hit it with a UV light and see how it reacts. Be careful, there are genuine cards out there that won't react, Summer cards are notable examples. Others will glow differently. I have a handful trust have off colors under UV. Not sure why that is..... use the U. only as a test by the way....
Finally, buy a good loupe and learn how to use it. You specifically want to use it for the rosette patterns but I have used it to examine the edges and to look at damage, color bleed, pigments, etc.
I actually have a J Loupe and the only thing I've seen is a stronger rosette pattern on the card on the left and the small pixellation that you can see in the black border of the BM on the right. Other than that the back seem identical.
I dont know if that helps
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Please help me so I can contact my vendor
Thanks a lot
That said, I never looked too closely at my Chronicles cards so I never noticed color variations of this nature. I wouldn't be surprised though. I know many cards from within a particular set often have huge color variations. Dug out my Mystic Remorasfor a deck and half of them are lighter. I haven't the foggiest where my Chronicles Blood Moons are so I can't examine them to see if they're the same way. But enough of that....
The card on the right is raising more flags for me and warrants a closer look in person. If both were scanned together then I'm seeing some questionable areas with very poor rosette patterns. An example would be the wide border around the artwork where the rosette pattern flat out does not exist. Overall, the rosettes are not very well represented, to the point that I can't really attribute it to artifacts from the scanner.
The card on the left exhibits not only a much better rosette pattern but exhibits other indicators I expect from a Chronicles card whereas the one on the right does not. These, by themselves, are not hard indicators one way or the other but they help.
Tentatively speaking, I would give the right a much closer eyeballing. The card on the left is looking good (less the annoying artifacts) but if you got both from the same source, it would also warrant a closer look.
They were both scanned together. I also think that the one on the right is fake basically because all the other Chronicles cards that I have share the same red that the one in the left has. They both passed the light and the bend test.
Another thing I've realised is the black border on the bottom, doesnt it seems pixellated?
Is there any other scan that I could give you in order to be sure, or something else I can do?
Thanks a lot
I'm not sure why I didn't suggest these but.... note: I'm pretty sure there's an awesome post somewhere about this but my search-fu organ is still sleeping.
I don't like the bend test. It has the potential to damage cards and wears the fibers unnecessarily. If we arbitrarily quantify how many times a card will pass a certain number of bend tests. How many times did that card experience the bend test? How many more can it survive before the fibers collapse? You have no way of knowing unless you're first owner.
The other tests like the water test and squeak test are jokes. Don't do them.
The first test above everything else is the, "wait... something isn't right," test. How does it feel? Slick or rough? Heavy or light? Does it smell funny? Does the ink look funny (in your case color)? These are good but it comes with caveats. The color test is just an initial thing but it isn't a definitive thing to depend on. Magic is known for color variations. This is besides damaged cards or counterfeits. Magic cards do get sun damaged and, due to the nature of light that humans are comfortable with, red is the first to go.
Get a known good card (some suggest at least two or three) from the same set. Same card if possible. Varying grades of played. Then use them to compare cards. It's easier to spot discrepenecies this way.
The light test is a good start. If it passes then the next test I would do is hit it with a UV light and see how it reacts. Be careful, there are genuine cards out there that won't react, Summer cards are notable examples. Others will glow differently. I have a handful trust have off colors under UV. Not sure why that is..... use the U. only as a test by the way....
Finally, buy a good loupe and learn how to use it. You specifically want to use it for the rosette patterns but I have used it to examine the edges and to look at damage, color bleed, pigments, etc.
I actually have a J Loupe and the only thing I've seen is a stronger rosette pattern on the card on the left and the small pixellation that you can see in the black border of the BM on the right. Other than that the back seem identical.
I dont know if that helps