In the world of collectibles, few things are as valuable as an autograph. If you need proof, ask any baseball fan how much a 1/1 autograph of Paul Skenes costs and they'll tell you. With that in mind, it's no wonder why video game fans are turning to autographed artwork from their favorite creators, voice actors, and artists, physical games, and everything else under the sun.
One of those creators is Yoko Taro, the protagonist of games like Nier: Automata and Drakengard. It has a very unique autograph with his logo and the name “YOKO TARO” engraved on the front.
There's just one problem. Apparently, more than half of the Yoko Taro autographs available in the wild are actually fake.
Genius Yoko Taro is one step ahead of resellers.
Taro took to Twitter in response to someone sharing his autograph on a collectibles website, revealing that not only was that particular autographed item fake, but many other items with his signature were also fake.
As it turned out, Taro knew full well that the reseller was trying to get his signature and cash it in, so he signed the items with details so small that they were invisible to the naked eye, allowing him to spot the fakes a mile away.
“We have confirmed that almost half of the autographs being resold are actually fake, so please do not purchase them,” Taro wrote, but it is unclear where exactly most of these fakes are being sold.
Likewise, Taro did not explain how his fans could tell the real from the fake. Obviously, disclosing that information will put resellers back in the driver's seat as they build even more elaborate cases.
Like Yoko Taro himself, the end result is a mystery. That means if you have a “YOKO TARO” autograph on your collection, it's most likely fake and you should go and double-check. Ugh…
- released
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March 7, 2017
- ESRB
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M (Mature): Blood, partial nudity, strong language, violence
- engine
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proprietary engine
