Fan-made card

An example of a Pokémon TCG fan-made image fake card

A fan-made card, sometimes referred to as a fake card or custom card, is a custom or fictional card based on cards from any particular trading card game, but created by one or more fans of the game rather than the original creators. They are distinct from counterfeit cards, which are duplicate or fictional cards that are created by some other person, group, or company than the original creators to sell to unsuspecting consumers.

Since the release of the Pokémon Trading Card Game, several groups of Pokémon fans have formed creating their own versions of Pokémon cards, and still continue to do so to this day.

Types of fan-made cards

There are three main categories of fan-made cards: text fakes, hand-made cards, and image fakes.

Text fakes

Text fakes are cards that are created only in text or written form with very little, if any, imagery used to create them. They are generally simple and easy to make. Message boards with a sizable Pokémon TCG community typically have a fake card creation forum, such as The PokéGym's Create-a-Card forum.

Hand-made cards

Another popular method of making custom cards involves creating them by hand using tangible art tools. Usually, creators will take an existing card, cover up parts of the original card using correction fluid, and write in their own text. Other methods include using blank templates, such as those provided by the staff at various Pokémon TCG tournaments, including Wizards of the Coast's own Create-a-Card templates. These templates had spaces to draw a Pokémon and write in all the text necessary for the card, and sometimes also included a sheet of energy symbols for its attack, type, weakness, and resistance.

Beckett Pokémon Unofficial Collector was known to publish custom cards which had been sent to the magazine.

Image fakes

Image fakes are cards created using a computer and a system of blank cards and other elements to create completely new cards from scratch, such as by including new text or original artwork.

At one point, image fakes may have been the most popular fan-made cards within the Pokémon TCG community. They gained prominence when Nick15's first fake, Missingno., was posted on one of the largest Pokémon TCG websites of the time, the PokéCenter at CCGNews.com. He later shared his creations on his own website, Pokémon Aaah!, which included instructions on how people can make their own image fakes. This system gradually grew in popularity and was adopted by other sites, like Pokémon Zeo!. Over time, however, image fakes began to fall out of favor, even as sites such as PokemonCardMaker.org continued to promote them. Despite this decline in popularity, some fake card creation sites, such as mypokecard.com, remain active.

At times, image fakes have been found on auction sites sold by people who did not know that they were unofficial.

Proxy cards

Proxy cards or proxies are cards that, similar to counterfeit cards, are made to replicate specific official cards. Unlike counterfeit cards, however, proxies are not marketed or sold as legitimate; their purpose is mainly to serve as a placeholder for a real card in competitive Pokémon TCG play. Players may choose to use proxies in their decks because the equivalent real card is expensive, hard to obtain, not yet available in their language, or because the player simply wants to play-test the card without prior investment. Proxy cards are not allowed in official tournaments and can only be used in casual play.

Proxies are typically exact copies of the card they are replicating in terms of content, but some may have embellishments such as custom art and unique text formatting. Proxies may be purchased, but since they are largely a cost-cutting measure, they are typically printed by the player using them. Proxies are typically placed inside a sleeve atop a Basic Energy card during play rather than being printed on card stock. Some players may instead opt to write the effects of the card they are proxying directly onto another card.

External links

FakeCard.com Archive of the first Pokémon TCG fake card website, previously known as Pokémon Aaah!, created by Nick15
Pokémon Zeo The second ever Pokémon TCG fake card website, created by The Echidna and purity
My Pokecard An easy-to-use card making site
PokemonCardResources DeviantART group dedicated to creating fan-made cards