Some People Are Dumber Than A Bag Of Idiots

Check this auction out, brought to my attention by the guys over on FCB. Its basically a very similar situation to the fake Pujols card that I posted on earlier, only this time, the seller just re-signed the card in a different colored ink.


Though a huge checklist disappointment, last year’s Mayo was one of two 2008 Topps football sets to feature on card autos. This year, they switched to the usual ugly ass stickers, and at the same time, allowed stuff like this to run rampant.

Like the Pujols, the guy took his cheaper LeSean McCoy blue auto that wasnt numbered, wiped off the auto with rubbing alcohol, and re-signed the card with red ink to signify a card numbered to 10. Because Topps was stupid enough to not foil number these cards, someone got screwed. Seriously, they have almost as many numbered parallels in their products as Panini, and yet the Rookie Premieres and cards like these continue to go unnumbered for some god forsaken reason.

On another, equally stupid note, who the fuck thinks that this card is real? Are people THAT fucking stupid? I mean, this one isnt even close. Then again, there are people who still pay 175 dollars for those ridiculous fake rookie premieres, so I guess Im not surprised.

Triple Threads Scam In Progress


Despite my feelings on the awful abomination that is Triple Threads baseball, there is a new scam that has been making its way around eBay. Basically, a scammer pulls one of about ten thousand shitty cards from the product, and they get very angry with their wasted money/life. Then, they take out their rubbing alcohol, wipe off the autograph of the crappy player, and re-write an auto of a good player. They call it an “error,” leading uniformed people to buy it thinking its real, and that Topps made the mistake of putting the wrong sticker on the card.

In this example brought to my attention by Jeff from New Card Smell (a great blog – go check it out), this person has altered a Blake DeWitt to look like an error of Albert Pujols’ sticker on the card. As you can see, the auto is a bag of fail, and the guy’s other auctions are filled with other obvious fakes.

This has been going on for a very long time, but usually people are smart enough to avoid any purchases. Regardless of how obvious it looks, it still bears repeating to those of you who see them.

Remember, in all cases, check a sellers’ previous auctions before bidding on a card you find suspect in any way. Usually these arent isolated incidents, and the sellers have a history of horrible fakes. Also, if a card has a red flag, just walk away. You cant get hurt if you don’t buy.

I Hate The Culture Of Scams

Ive always taken a firm stance against douchebaggery in this hobby, mainly through outing the scams that I find to be the most detrimental to my overall experience with cards. For some reason, there is an unlimited supply of asshats to join the ranks of people looking to take advantage of others, and knowledge to combat them is at a high premium. Most of this is probably due to lack of coverage in major news sources, time needed to learn about countermeasures, as well as a lackadaisical attitudes by the manufacturers. This is combined with a secondary market that functions both online and in storefronts, thus limiting policing bodies.

That’s not to say that memorabilia in general hasn’t received national attention, as operation bullpen and FBI raids at the national sure completed the picture of who is taking notice. Im just wondering if maybe sports in general takes on more of these scams than with other money making ventures. Is it because Memorabilia is so valuable and easy to fake?

Lets take a look at some of the more recent card scams for evidence, as it has become very easy to fake and make money off of them. With the rookie premiere autographs, as well as the patches in cards that you can cut off of a 10 dollar ebay bought replica jersey, the opportunity cost of scamming people is micro. Its those types of situations that worry me to no end. I could go on the most widely read sports site in the world, post non-stop for a year and still not even make a dent because of the culture created by the bodies who have the ability to police the problems.

Then, when you look at sources like the idiots over at Beckett, who have a pedestal to reach a lot of collectors, they don’t. Instead, they only address this situation when the manufacturers give them the window with a press release or something. They never take the opportunity to inform, as it shows a weakness or vulnerability in collecting, and they are in the business of sounding the “all is well” alarm 24/7/365.

Even places like social media outlets created by the manufacturers have the opportunity to address the sitution, but rarely take that chance. They also don’t want to show the chink in the armor or the weak link in the chain because Its bad for business. Even though places like Panini have offered patch faking countermeasures, nothing is valid until you already own the card. Add in that the quick opinion button for PSA only applies to autographs, and there is nothing to help the general collector to avoid scams.

I have mentioned before that a national photo database is a great idea, but that only will be used by collectors who use internet media for their collecting habits. I think the best thing would be for the manufacturers to utilize an outside service to comb through questionable auctions, and prompt eBay to pull them down. They wont catch them all, but they will catch some.

This does bring us to another huge issue, which is eBay themselves, as they make tons of money off the sellers who sell fakes and get away with it. Each of those final values sends a percentage to eBay’s bottom line, and to take those away is taking money out of their pockets. When you factor in that most people don’t avoid ebay despite these things, you have a recipe for disaster.

When it comes down to it, scams are always going to be a part of any commodity that has money making ability. I just wonder why cards continue to be the easiest to thrive in when you are a criminal. Granted, now with mediums like blogs that garner thousands of readers per day, and don’t have to answer to their advertisers, hopefully the weak link will be exposed more. At that point we can begin to repair it, and hopefully we wont have to live in this type of culture for much longer.

We Have Our First PSA Slabbed Fake Rookie Premiere Auto


I sincerely hope this is fake slab, for their sake. This auto is 100% fake, and as we can see, it has been graded by PSA. I thought it would only be a matter of time, but now its pretty obvious that either PSA has a bunch of amateurs, the fakers are now creating their own slabs, or someone cut a deal with the devil.

What a fucking joke.
Here are a few other examples of Burge’s fakes, just for proof. Now they are “graded.” Wonderful. This is an example of a real one for those of you who are unfamiliar with how the cards are supposed to look. Here is one other. Here is the ebay search to show you just how many of these fakes there are.

Fake Pujols Triple Threads Autos Are Bad News


Reader CT sent me this thread over on Collectors Universe that brings about a troubling situation with Topps Triple Threads. When you look at these cards, its pretty simple to see that something is up with Pujols’ sticker. Im guessing that either the seller has removed the real stickers and just used the trick from before to fake the autos, or Topps is being had, and just didnt care to run QC on the stickers that Pujols “signed.”

Regardless if these stickers are real or fake, the problem remains. Stickers do nothing but cause problems, and there are a ton of horrible people out there who will take advantage.
Here is a real one:
Here are the fakes: