Christopher M

Hey @PaulS. - I know you are super busy, but can you please advise on this? "Altered" is a different result than "Questionable Authenticity" ? Meaning, if the card was "Questionable Authenticity" it would have received that result rather than "altered"? Second question is: What is the difference between a card not being encapsulated and receiving "Altered" versus a card being encapsulated with a green "CGC Qualified Grade"? My understanding is the green "CGC Qualified Grade" is what is used when a card is altered.

Thanks for the quick response. I'm not seeing anything altered on the card myself. To be clear - "Altered" is a different result than "Questionable Authenticity" ? Meaning, if the card was "Questionable Authenticity" it would have received that result rather than "altered"? Second question is: What is the difference between a card not being encapsulated and receiving "Altered" versus a card being encapsulated with a green "CGC Qualified Grade"? My understanding is the green "CGC Qualified Grade" is what is used when a card is altered.

Hello - can you please define exactly what a card not encapsulated and returned as "Altered" "AC" means? I see the below page for what is not encapsulated, but I'm not understanding exactly what "altered" means. https://www.cgccomics.com/grading/collectibles-that-are-not-encapsulated/

yeah demand is good. I'm bullish overall on CGC, I am just questioning the logic on how they handled this specific issue. Specifically, the fact that they charged me the full cost for grading with an estimated TAT of x in early December, and now that time has essentially 3x'd. I realize the TATs are 'estimates' and not a formal contract, but in my opinion it is a bad business practice to not do everything possible to come within a reasonable window of the TATs for orders that have already paid months ago. I realize now they changed their policy to only charge once grading starts, which is good, but they should prioritize those that have already paid. Now that they changed the policy, TATs being a moving target is much more reasonable. You may have to wait longer, but you only pay when the grading happens. I understand prioritizing higher tiers, but in my opinion it's bad business to de-prioritize the lower tiers that have already paid in full, so much so that your estimated times you advertised at the time you charged the customer, are off by 200+%.

yeah wait, what the heck. I have an economy received 12/8 still on received. how is bulk from 12/7 being processed 1+ week before economy? I've been trying to be patient and not be irrational like some folks on this sub, but this is really frustrating.

I don't think you can 'beat' the updated TATs. I have an economy no subgrade submission received 12/8 that is still 'received'. I thought when they first adjusted their TATs they had claimed that submissions received before the updated TATs would still honor the TATs as of the date you submitted, but that hasn't been the case.

hmm thanks for your response - I didn't learn exactly what it was that deemed it fake. would love to learn from CGC! from my perspective what was the most strange was the front was 'peeling' off which obviously doesn't seem normal. But I've never really seen a water damaged card, especially not a water damaged JPN shining gyarados/magikarp so I don't have anything to compare it to whether that peeling is possible on a legit version of those cards

It came back with an 'altered card' label. I'm guessing that's the same as 'note genuine'? Edit - tried to quote/tag @PaulS. - thanks Paul!

@Allcoin - all good, was just making a joke. I don't blame for you not checking the CGC forums every day! There are some interesting characters on here though... Anyway just have my fingers cross the seller doesn't give me too hard of a time to get a refund

@Allcoin- thanks for the reply. Wish I heard from you before I paid to have it graded

Update - looks like it is indeed fake. My submission just finished grading today, the other cards in the submission received grades, but no grade received for the JPN shining gyarados in question. I guess that means it was deemed a fake and will be mailed back to me? @PaulS. from CGC can you please confirm? I need to issue a return/refund from the seller who sold me this card if it is confirmed to be fake.

Just going to bump this one time and ask if anyone else has any thoughts. Appreciate the 2 people that weighed in so far.

@mattyzeepgam- thank you so much for the reply! ugh, agree with you about facebook. I've found some cool vintage cards for sale on there, but the amount of grown adults who are trying to scalp cereal boxes and McDonald's happy meals because they have a random crappy promo card is just pathetic. A lot of sketchy people on there lol. Agree with your insight on the grading, I'd get it graded just for confirmation it is legit, and also because I like the look of the CGC slabs. Shout out to CGC! This has been my 'chase' card for awhile now, but didn't feel like spending the amount required on a near mint one. Would just be for my personal collection. Understand it won't grade super high

Going to bump this with one more link here https://imgur.com/a/e9oRJnK - photos video showing the 'wrinkling' of the card, and also another one showing the holo pattern extending past the main holo box onto the card. I'm really struggling here. The 'sticker' aspect seems so fake to me, but I keep reading how this card is actually a different, more glossy material than a normal card. I've never held any other Japanese shining gyarados to compare it to. For the record I am an existing customer who has spent $1k+ to date on CGC grading to date and am planning on sending in more cards soon. I am not expecting any sort of formal 'this is 100% real' or '100% fake' answers, from anyone CGC or otherwise. But any guidance would be appreciated. Certainly understand only a formal answer can come from paid, in person grading. Just trying to establish if this is clearly a fake and I should try and return the card ASAP. If I send it in for grading and it comes back as fake months later, I'm going to lose my leverage to dispute the transaction with PayPal. So far I have a seemingly pretty knowledgable person on another forum saying this *could* be consistent with warping from heat/humidity that other Japanese full art holos have had. On a seemingly less informed Facebook group many people are just saying "IT' FAKE!!1!!" Appreciate anyone's help!