Trading cards
Proof in every layer, and in the case
Crystals can go into the paper fibers or the plastic, the ink, the inkjet code, the varnish, the gold foil, the sticker adhesive, the magnetic holder and the seal on the holder. A fake has to beat every layer at once, and one scan checks them all.
Seven layers, one card
Each part of a card is made by a different step, often by a different supplier. Each step is a place a counterfeiter can cheat, and each one can carry its own crystals. Pick a layer, or light them all.
One scan, eight checks
- Autograph ink—
- Card stock—
- Inkjet code—
- Varnish—
- Gold foil—
- Serial number—
- Magnetic holder—
- Holder seal—
Illustration with a fictional player and team. The reader’s pulses are slowed down so you can follow them.
The case is part of the proof
Collectors keep their best cards in magnetic one-touch holders, and graded cards live in sealed slabs. Today a case only protects. With crystals in the acrylic and a crystal seal on the label, the case proves what is inside it, and shows when a card has been swapped.
How each layer is applied, including handheld printers for card backs and seals.
- Holder acrylic
- Crystals compounded into the plastic when the holder is molded. Clear as ever.
- Holder seal
- A sticker with crystals in the label stock and the adhesive, printed with the card’s code. Lift it and it will not read again.
- Card and case, matched
- The seal’s code and the card’s code sit in the same Forever record. A real card in the wrong case, or the wrong card in a real case, fails.
From the mill to resale
The record starts before the card is printed and follows it through every hand it passes. Each scan adds to the same history.
Milled
Crystals go into the paper fibers or the card plastic when the stock is made.
Printed
Crystal ink, varnish and foil go on press. Inkjet codes and serial numbers are recorded.
Packed
Packs and boxes are sealed with crystal film, tied to the production lot.
Cased
The hit goes into a crystal holder, sealed with the card’s code, or into a grader’s slab.
Resold
Marketplaces and buyers scan the card and the case. Same pattern, same history.
Who checks it
The same scan answers a different question for each person who handles the card.
The card maker
Proves which cards came off its presses, and finds reprints and altered parallels in the market.
Collectors
Know a hit is real before they pay for it, and keep the proof in the case when they sell it.
Graders
Confirm the card, the autograph and the foil before the slab is sealed.
Marketplaces
Check high-value listings on intake, card and case together, and cut disputes after the sale.
Put it on every card.
Card makers, holder makers, graders and marketplaces: tell us about your print runs, your cases and your highest-risk products, and we will show you a reader on your own cards.
Talk to Spark Labs