How can you tell?

C

Captain Caveman

Guest
I got several Beta Land from someone right after Tempest
was release but I'm not sure they_are_Beta. Is there
some way to tell? Would the artist be a clue?

10 Swamp....Illus. Dan Frazier
10 Island....Illus. Mark Poole
10 Forest....Illus. Christopher Rush
10 Mountain....Illus. Douglas Schuler
10 Plains....Illus. Jesper Myrfors

Thanx,
Caveman
 
R

RabidKimba

Guest
They should be black-border, and if they're alpha, they should be made of different cardstock, as far as I know.
 
C

Captain Caveman

Guest
Re: RabidKimba

Thanx. They are all Black-bordered but I was wondering if
there was another way to tell. The person I traded with
said they were Beta but you never know.



I found them the other day while looking for stuff to trade
so I thought about trading them off but I _do not_ want
to claim they are Beta until I'm sure.


Caveman
 
H

Hetemti

Guest
If I remember correctly, A/B had three pics for the lands, and UL introduced a fourth. If that fourth pic is present, then those lands are "Chicago Styled." :p
 
G

Gizmo

Guest
I think that`s wrong. There were only ever 3 artworks for basic land until 5th Edition introduced a fourth.

Beta will be the same basic land art as in Revised and 4th Edition. The artists you named are right, the only other important thing is that the corners of the cards are right, if they are noticably squarer then they are Alpha (*significantly squarer* - Alpha was a totally different shape).

But I don`t think Beta land is particularly rare.
 
C

Captain Caveman

Guest
Re: Hetemti

&

Re: Gizmo

I'm pretty sure(99%)they are not Alpha. Anyway, thanks for the help. I'll just have to take them to the local card
shop the next time I go and ask one of those guys. That way they can actually look at the cards.


Thanx again,
Caveman
 
Z

Zadok001

Guest
Easy way to tell. If there are black-bordered, and share art with the lands in Revised (you've got all the right artists), then all you need in an Invasion common to indentify them.

Hold the land up, and place the Invasion card (or any other non-Alpha set, actually :) ) directly over it. If the corners line up, you have yourself a Beta card. Alpha cards have VERY different corners, trust me, you'll notice.
 
U

Ura

Guest
The easiest way to tell a best card such as the land in question is:

A) Are they black bordered? If yes go to question B, if no, then they aren't beta.

B) Do they have any kind of expansion symbol on them? If yes then they are not beta, if no then continue to question C.

C) Are the corners very rounded or are they more square like a card from a newer set. If they are rounded, then they're Alpha cards. The easiest way to check this is take any card from a newer set and lay it on top of the card in question. If the sides and corners match up, then you have a beta card, if not, its an Alpha card.

Alpha cards had dramatically rounded corners compared to all other sets.

Also something to look for is that Beta print run cards had much darker inking then other sets making them look as though they had black mixed into the ink when they were printed.

This technique is basically fool proof short of counterfeit cards.
 
M

Mundungu

Guest
If they are in forgeign language they are not Beta but a small print of revised.

REvised came first in foregin languages and the first runs where made with black borders.
In short:
Black border + foreign language = Revised.
 
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