[drcy]

If it's cheap, I don't see anything wrong with buying a fake or reprint. But, as has already been said here, you learn more from the genuine cards, even if they're cheap low grade commons.

But it's not an either/or. You can do both if you want. In fact, it will be revealing and good practice to have some real cards and reprints for comparison. You'll likely notice that the reprints are obviously different than the real in various ways.

If someone's seriously interested in learning how to identify fakes, I think getting some fakes to examine and test your skills is good idea-- but in conjunction with examining real ones.

I've alway enjoyed real and fake detecting, using my microscope, learning about printing techniques, being a Junior Sherlock Holmes. For me, that's as much fun as collecting. Clearly, I'm not one who wants my collectibles to arrive hermetically sealed in a slab of plastic.