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How to Spot a Fake TurboGrafx-16 or PC Engine HuCard
TurboGrafx-16 / PC Engine (HuCard): what to check before you buy.
Start with the best method and the universal red flags in the main guide; they apply to every platform. This page covers what is specific to the TurboGrafx-16 / PC Engine (HuCard).
Pressure: moderate, rising
HuCards are credit-card-shaped and physically simple, which makes them relatively easy to fake compared to a molded cartridge.
What to check
- Card thickness and edge finish. Genuine HuCards have a consistent thickness and cleanly finished edges. Fakes are often slightly thicker or thinner and show rougher edges.
- Printing. Genuine HuCard graphics are printed directly onto the card surface with high quality. Fakes show dot patterns and, frequently, slightly wrong color.
- Contact plating. Genuine gold contacts have even plating. Fakes show thin, patchy, or differently colored plating.
- Region. TurboGrafx-16 (US) and PC Engine (Japan) HuCards have reversed pinouts. They physically fit each other's systems but do not work without a converter. A "PC Engine" card that runs natively on a TurboGrafx is misidentified or fake.
- CD-based titles (TurboGrafx-CD, PC Engine CD, Super CD-ROM²) follow disc rules. See the note on discs in the main guide.
Frequently faked
- Magical Chase
- Bonk's Revenge
- Dungeon Explorer II
- Air Zonk
- The higher-value Japanese shooters
Check the price before you check the screws
A price well under market is the first signal on this whole list. Our price
guides carry loose, CIB and new values for every console we track, updated
daily from PriceCharting market data, so you know what a real copy costs
before you look at one.
View the price guides
Values and counterfeit patterns shift constantly. Cross-reference specific titles against current market data and community authentication threads before any significant purchase.