(high quality: https://i.imgur.com/tZcYQbM.jpg)

See this? One is real, one is not.
I had a cartridge, and at one point decided I was gonna go for a complete in box copy. But I wouldn't be fooled for a fake one, nooo, so I started closely inspecting as many copies on the Japanese market as I could find, and made a list of differences to check for:

* Background image color and sharpness (the purple buildings)
* The glowing hair
* The lowest parts of both legs, that shouldn't have any pronounced black lines
* The POLESTAR font, which is sometimes slightly different, as can be seen in the R
* "LICEVSED BY NINTENDO"
* White lines around the top left text that shouldn't be there
* Back label color and number imprint, that shouldn't be too pronounced
* and a few more

Then I waited for one to pop up for a "decent" price (as long as any of these prices can't be called decent). It had a box in great condition, but with some little wear from use at some places. There was a manual, a registration card with matching SHVC number, and the cartridge didn't tick any of the fake-boxes I had. So I bought it.
When it arrived, all seemed fine, outside and inside. Then opened up the cartridge, I don't know why I even did that, and this came out:




I was honestly shocked.
To much closer inspection, the box didn't have that typical old cardboard game box smell, and cardboard seems to feel a slight bit thinner.
On the cartridge, the first Japanese character of the second row has a slightly different color, the lines in the hair a little less sharp, the pink is a little darker (none of this I could have seen from the usual auction photos tbh).
And, and that's the strange part, the label seems to have been cut out a little higher.

I remember seeing that in the photo, but thought, it can't be possible for anyone to fake a label and add some extra image in the top. Because no Magical Pop'n cartridge I've ever seen has that. And you can't possibly make up some extra image...

So, what I'm asking myself now (and you I guess):
If someone makes a counterfeit game thís good, with a box which looks 100% original in real life, a registration card with matching numbers that feels and looks 100% original to me, and a cartridge with a label cut out in a way so it reveals more image that wasn't there on the original: Is this made by someone who has access to the original image files? Or am I missing something?
And if this person is doing it in this quality, why not change that small sticker part and make it match 100%? Is that just the "fun" of leaving a little hint to find out if anyone notices?

Also, if this is where repro game techniques are right now, I honestly wouldn't trust to buy any of these games anymore. I have never seen a Japanese seller who's willing to open up the game to show the board inside (because they will sell anyway). I have asked, never get a reply. A photo of the cartridge pins would've showed a color difference, but also those photos are usually not included at all or available on request. Plus, doesn't seem like a big step up for a forgerer to then just take an original Super Famicom board and put that chip on there.

I'm angry, shocked, sad. And that's it, what can I do. If I would have seen this game in an actual Japanese store, standing there, holding it in my hands, opening it up and closely checking it, I would have believed it was authentic and bought it, it's that convincing.
I don't know if this post is meant as a warning, or anything else. It's a pretty sad reality though.
Probably I'll sell this again, honestly tell it's fake, earn back just a few bucks, and beg the buyer not to use it to do anything stupid to someone else.

I have made some more hq photos of the package, all are up on https://imgur.com/a/Ed1nzok...

It is a bootleg: http://nintendoage.com/forum/mess...

Those are really well done bootlegs- could have happened to anyone without board pics. Sorry mate

Yeah I've seen that thread before, even before I've bought mine.
It had some label issues that I had put on my list, the print wasn't that good and had some recognizable mistakes. This new one seems again much improved though.
 

Huh. What am I missing? That looks like every legit board I've ever seen...

One thing is there is no game code on the chip.

Is it a real board from a cheap game with bootleg chips? Or can they actually produce boards that close to the originals?

It's using a MX29F1615 Flash chip for the game data, it's a standard 16-bit programmable memory from days gone by. You can pull that chip off, pop it into a programmer and write a different game to it - something you can't do with an original Nintendo made game as they used MaskROM chips which are read-only.

It's a bootleg board. I cant put my finger on what exactly gives it away but I've seen enough original boards that there is something noticeably off about it. I think it's the pins specifically. The real give away is it's using an off the shelf flash rom, which is enough in itself, but also there are no jumper wires which an original board would require for a fake. The cic chip does appear to be authentic Nintendo though, they must have harvested that

More like Magical Poop.

The word Nintendo on the board is spelled N1ntendo unlike real boards.

Ha! It is "N1ntnedo"! That would give it away. But that's a pretty damn good approximation of the real thing. I'd like to know when it was made. (i.e. an old bootleg from the heyday of the system or a brand new one). Scary if they're churning these things out now.

dang thats an impressive fake... i hate fakes.

I posted in the thread linked above, it definitely sucks. I hope you had insurance on it unlike the bootleg I got through Yahoo Auctions JP.  

I do have a legit copy now if you need some comparison picks of a real PCB board. It should have SHVC-AIAJ-0 like the label cover.

Looking on eBay right now, I wouldn't trust any of them without PCB pics especially now that we know they're faking CIB copies as well. The only listing with PCB pics is a Taiwan bootleg that I went ahead and reported.

Fixed.

Btw, if your copy is legit the stamp on the cart/pcb should read SHVC-F4RT-JPN.  

How is the manual quality? I have seen pretty shoddy repro carts and boxes but I would like to see more examples of what they're messing up with the card stock and prep work on other paper documents.  

FYI the original labels are designed with overprint area so that the die cutter does not have to line up with it perfectly. Some legit labels will show more at the top and other legit labels will show more at the bottom. I have a lot of NES games that were cut so much lower than they were supposed to the the end label text is chopped off or touching the edge. Out of all my dupes for Game about stereos one of them shows significantly more of the stack of Tetris pieces than the others. It's just how the industry works for labels like these so the bootlegger likely copied one that was cut higher than yours.

I assume it's pretty new. It looks 100% original from all the outsides and insides, apart fromt the pcb. Nothing else showing any sign of repro, so very professional and therefore most probably 2019 new.
 
No insurance, used Yahoo Auctions indeed. With a proxy through Paypal though, so might try there.
I have an original cartridge too, so I have already checked the differences.
And same here, I can't trust anyone selling this game anymore without board photos. Unfortunately though, I haven't seen any Japanese seller yet including pcb photos, or even replying to me asking for it. So it's a roll of the dice really, there's nothing else here that could give it away.
 
Manual looks great, just like the box and cartridge. Nothing in there that tells me it's fake.
Registration card too. Correct feel and thickness of the paper, print with matching SHVC numbers, looks 100% original to me. But I don't think it is.
 
Thanks, I was particularly curious for that part. I have never seen one of these cut out higher, but understand that's not an uncommon thing at all, and is not something to look out for when searching for hints of fake practice.
But still, how do they get everything printed so high quality, so it can't actually be seen by the eye? Is that even possible without having the original image files? I'd assume a scan of the box, manual, and cartridge label, would result in a visible drop in quality. And this one looks pretty much 1 on 1 the same when seeing both original and repro next to each other.
Also, usually repro labels of this one have a bit less image visible on the cartridge label, probably because of the same reason you're mentioning. They need some overprint and therefore make the whole image a slight bit bigger. This one is not bigger, it looks exactly the same size.