Examining THE Favorite Target of Patch Fakers

I think if there is one type of fake patch that seems to continue to make its way into cards, its the Maryland flag patch that the Ravens wear on their jersey.  Because it has a busy design and multiple colors thanks to the makeup of the flag itself, the patch is a favorite of fakers since the team moved to Baltimore.  What people fail to recognize, is that the abundance of these patches in cards, especially the 2008 SPA and Exquisite sets, is not because they were actually made that way.

Of all of the Joe Flacco and Ray Rice cards on eBay, there just arent that many legit flag patches, but that doesnt stop people from chasing them like crazy. They are so abundant, that it prevents the informed people from even considering a buy, even if they are real. In fact, people are so used to seeing those patches that when a card like this goes up, people go effing nuts, despite the fact that this patch was never on a Ravens jersey to begin with. Check out the Wiki entry on this, there is no Ravens logo patch anywhere on the jersey, and yet, someone still felt it necessary to pay what they did for this obviously fake card.

As I mentioned in the SCU Scam School, I make it a point to avoid the Ravens logo cards like the plague. Its a very similar practice for the Titans’ sword logo and the Vikings head and chest logo as well. In fact, I would even go so far as saying that the Titans’ sword logo has reached similar status as the Ravens’ flag patch logo. There have been so many Chris Johnson SPA and Exquisite cards with that patch, that I actually laugh at the people who still buy.

Again, this is where literally 5 seconds of research would have avoided the problems present in the purchase of these cards. honestly, I am still shocked that people dont check before hitting the bid button. Do they really just think they know better? Its been many years since patch faking has become prevalent, but the buyers still do not cease to amaze me with their inability to do their own research.

Does the Fake Patch Solution ALREADY EXIST?!?

When we look at the problems facing the hobby, one could easily cite Beckett, collecting tendencies, or lack of visual appeal in recent card designs as main problems. However, fakes and the prevelance of the fake patches in cards is definitely at or near the top of this list, without question. I have championed different ideas of how to combat fakes in this hobby, whether it’s a national photo database of the high end patch cards, or encasement of the hits, but I think one unexplored solution may already be the best deterrant around. To my personal humor, it actually comes into play because of sticker autos, and it has been done already in a prevelant Upper Deck hockey product of all places.

For UD Ice, a set that a lot of hockey collectors wait for every year, Upper Deck has found a way to virtually encapsulate the patches on a card due to the need to have a player’s signature over the patch. A thin layer of acetate is placed over the swatch window to create a space to affix the sticker, thus creating an unfake-able card as well. If a douche wanted to fake one of these cards, they would need to remove the autograph some way, and I don’t think it would be hard to see if they did.

SO, this begs the question as to why this cant be used in a high end release like SPA, Exquisite or National Treasures to prevent the problems that have plagued the cards since their inception. Upper Deck cites that collectors want to get “closer to the game” by having the opportunity to touch the jersey swatches, but even I know that is code for “its too expensive.” I think that if the companies want to gain some fans on this side of the computer screen, they better figure out a way to fit it into the budget. I would much rather have confidence that my logo patch is real than have the ability to molest the swatch surface. I think it would also be a great solution to getting rid of ugly sticker autos, instead having the player sign the acetate surface instead of a tiny sticker.

Because the acetate is clear, as well as hard enough to resist damage, it is the PERFECT solution to this massive problem when it becomes the front of the card. Its time that the companies step up and actually do their part instead of letting the fucktards run wild with the douchebaggery I cover on an almost daily basis.

In fact, here is a visual representation to show you what I mean:


(CLICK TO ENLARGE)

I am in the process to purchased a cheap version of one of the 05/06 Upper Deck Ice signature swatches to show to the readers of this site, and ill let you be the judge once I have it in hand.

h/t Mstng99tim on FCB

Fake Peterson Logo Back Up On Ebay

When 2009 Ultimate Football came out, I was very excited for a number of the cards in the set. None more so than the Ultimate Patch Auto cards, which were beyond awesome. The Adrian Peterson from the set was one of the cards I HAD to have from the product and I set out to buy one as soon as I could. The first one that was posted was a blurry picture but still good enough to bid on. Not willing to wait, I offered the guy almost 50% more than I expected the card to go for, but he wanted to let it go. Less than 3 hours later, another one showed up on ebay, this time with 3 color patches, to which I hit the BIN as quickly as I could. Funny enough, that price was less than I offered the first guy for his one and two color patches Peterson.

Moving forward in time, the person who ended up winning the Peterson I originally bid on wasn’t exactly the best of people. The card, number 6/10 was put back on eBay with two reebok logo patches and a shield logo tag patch, hiding the serial number and expecting people to not see what’s up. Obviously, since I had been watching all the Ultimate Patch cards, this one set off red flags immediately. Eventually someone brought to my attention that this card was the one I had previously bid on, and it had been destroyed for nefarious purposes. Regardless of my proof, the card was sold for a lot of money, again to someone who didn’t take the time to do a simple google search.

Well, its back up on ebay, and this time, the person wants even more money than it sold for originally. Stay away, stay FAAAAAAR away.

EDIT: Looks like the card has been taken down and replaced with something else. Maybe the seller was notified it was fake and actually took it down like a good person should.

Its Rare That Fakes Generate This Kind Of Money

Fake patches have become sort of a good/bad situation these days. Obvious ones rarely generate much money, and the less obvious ones generate tons. Because of the way fake patches have been covered on the message boards, blogs and other non-mainstream hobby media, collectors have been able to avoid some of the pitfalls that once plagued them. However, based upon recent auction completions, im not so sure people are wising up as much as I thought they would.

Look at how much this fake Peyton Manning that I covered last week sold for. Check out this Tom Brady too. I cant believe this Favre hit the number it did. Those are HUGE prices, despite the fact that they are ridiculously fake. My favorite fake promoting company, PSA/DNA, seemed to think they were authentic enough to slab them, and that I just don’t understand. I explained that the presence of the Captain’s patches alone should have been a tip off, but because the faker was skilled at creating these terrible cards, they passed it off. Inexcusable.

Guys, the reality of this situation is that our only line of defense is ourselves, and even a quick 2 second google search on these cards would have brought up the FCB AND Blowout thread where these fakes were outed. Ufjumper7 may be gone for the foreseeable future, but there is always someone else to take their place. Kevin Burge has been operating for as long as I can remember, and he is responsible for so many fakes that I cant even count them in an excel spread sheet. The list is that long.

Its one thing when the card generates 50 bucks or even 100 bucks, but when someone spends the cost of a month’s rent on one of these horrid fakes, we have to start asking how they think it can be real. I know if I were about to drop that kind of money on a card that obviously has doubts as to authenticity, I would do everything in my power to rid myself of that doubt. Hell, I recently bought an autograph for 150 dollars and I spent close to an hour online comparing it, despite the presence of authenticity statements from “reputable” companies. That was 1/10th the cost of what this person paid.

The sad thing is that a lot of the people who buy the fakes, refuse to admit to themselves that they cant tell the difference. I have received no less than five emails from different scam victims explaining that they know better than I do, even in the face of obvious observation. How dare I call them uninformed for not being able to recognize they were being had. God forbid. Really, the problem is the attitude more than anything, and I mean no disrespect when I say that even the most hobby saavy person is at similar risk as the newbie is. Just because someone has been collecting for 30 years, does not mean they know their ass from their elbow in a lot of these cases. The reason I say this is because of how little the mainstream hobby resources have focused on fakes in general. You can go back through years and years of Becketts, Tuff Stuffs, and any other magazine, and there wont be much to reference from. So, I don’t fault the uninformed for being uninformed in that respect. What I do fault them for is not taking the time to research their purchases, something that should be a part of buying on the internet even outside of sports cards and memorabilia. A simple five second search through completed auctions or google would have saved this person a ton of money, and that is exactly why they have every reason to hate themselves for wasting that kind of money.

I may not be the one hitting the buy it now or the bid button, but I will not stop talking about this as long as SCU is up and running. Fakes are a epidemic that have garnered the attention of national law enforcement, and I think its good to have as much dialouge as possible.

NJD2525 Hits All The Douchebaggery High Notes

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Its one thing to sell fake autos. Its another thing to sell fake patches. Its completely different when you do both and are absolutely fucking terrible at it. NJD2525 has been called out on Blowout, and after reviewing some of the ridiculous fakes he has for sale, I dont even know what to say. He makes Ufjumper look like Picasso. I swear to god. He is TURRABLE.

Lets review some of his wonderous creations:

Andre Iguodala NBA Logoman – The logomans from Timeless Treasures were 1/1s and their own set. Scouting the set FAIL.

Larry Bird Triple “Patch” Auto – Im actually surprised this card didnt end up with three logomen in the windows. He is that bad at doing this.

Rajon Rondo Tag Auto – Yeah, at this point, there isnt even a questionable tag I can put on any of these.

Albert Pujols “Auto” Card – If Albert Pujols even came within 100 miles of this card at any point, I will print out this post and eat it. So terrible.

Albert Pujols “Auto” Card #2 – Two Pujols autos? Wow, he must have had a private signing or something! WOW! Actually, he has like 10 up. Haha, nice.

LeBron James “auto” card – And he met Lebron too? Holy shit, this guy must be the coolest ever. I totally want to meet him so he can introduce me to all his player friends.

Michael Jordan “auto” card – Now you gotta be shittin’ me. He met the GOAT? His Airness along with Pujols, LBJ, and all the others? Ah-mazing.

Guys, I seriously wonder how dumb you have to be to bid on stuff like this. Its not even funny. These are so bad that I believe my wife could tell the difference.Plus, when they only sell for 10 bucks a piece, you have to wonder.