Sports Memorabilia Auction Concerns & Knowledge

Welcome to SMACK an Auction Watch Page. This page is meant to educate and warn buyers of possibly fraudelent memorabilia auctions listed on the internet everyday. You are welcome to have us review and post auctions so that others maybe warned. If you as a seller have been mentioned please feel free to defend yourself. Disclaimer: Anything posted here is an opinion and in no way represents that what is being offered for sale is fake, just questionable. Before You Bid Arm Yourself With Knowledge !

Thursday, March 31, 2005

Update Sellers To Be Concerned About

Cards purchased as reprints making their way back to the auction block are common, many times you can trace the history of the card by looking at the buyers feedback from sellers. I also like to look at what the seller has been buying and selling, which can be done by doing an advanced search.

The thing that bothers me and other collectors most is the way eBay has it's rules set up. They allow sellers to imply that the card is authentic when in fact it was purchased as a reprint from another eBayer. They merely have to say that the card is not graded an so they are selling at as a reprint. However in the rest of their description they are allowed to say whatever they like. It was given to me by my grandfather, I found it cleaning my uncles attic, these are a few of the many stories you'll read when you see these cards. Again the first question anyone buying hard to find high grade vintage cards should ask themselves is " If the seller thinks the card maybe authentic then why aren't they getting it graded" . This alone should be enough to make you suspicious.

Seller: mccubb
1952 Mickey Mantle Card Item #5181133725
purchased similar card from bigchiefmike2000 on 4/13/05
1952 # 311 Mickey Mantle Item# 5174426495
Seller: honda2quick
New Update
1952 Mickey Mantle Topps #311 Item# 5181225220
1952 Mickey Mantle Topps #311 Item# 5181220275
Now claims the card passes a light test for authenticity!!!
1952 Mickey Mantle #311 Item# 5180904118
1951 Bowman Mickey Mantle Item# 5180903824
purchased similar cards from erniefigures on 4/3/05 and 4/5/05
52 Mickey Mantle #311 Item# 5171499978
51 Bowman Mickey Mantle Item # 5171866131
Seller: mrmet
Mickey Mantle Topps 1952 # 311 Item #: 5179896892
made a private purchase from Seller: hyekingdom in this month. Hyekingdom has sold 8 1952 Topps Mantle's so far in March.
Mickey Mantle Topps 1953 # 82 Item #: 5178470688
Mickey Mantle Bowman 1952 Item #:5178471187
purchased Topps 53 Mantle and 52 Bowman Mantle on March 16th from erniefigures
Seller: newcer claims these cards were bought at an Estate sale.
1952 TOPPS MICKEY MANTLE #311 Item #:5179690901
1952 BOWMAN MICKEY MANTLE #101 Item #:5179692532
1952 BOWMAN WILLIE MAYS #218 Item #: 5179694655
purchased several cards from erniefigures including this 52 Topps Mantle
Seller: Sunnydays7799 has many Vintage Mantles for sale 1952 Topps and 1954 Dan Dee's The seller has this to say about these items. "PLEASE NOTE THAT THE CARD DOES NOT SAY REPRINT ON IT ANYWHERE AND CARD MEASURES 2 5/8 X 3 3/4 JUST LIKE ALL THE OTHER 52 TOPPS CARDS" .

Coincidences? You decide.
Our thanks to nightcrawler729 for bringing newcer and mrmet to our attention.

Before You Bid, Arm Yourself With Knowledge !

Wednesday, March 23, 2005

Update Sellers To Be Concerned About

This week brings a new tatctic to the way a card is being presented as authentic. In our weekly search to find out who is out there selling potentially bogus material I found this. This person is using a PSA label and a BVG grading sheet stuck to the back of a top loader to imply authenticity.
Seller: wierdos_collectibles (private)
1952 TOPPS MICKEY MANTLE #311 Item: 5178407484

1952 TOPPS MICKEY MANTLE #311 Item: 5178331317

Also available from this seller are these great items:
1909 T206 HONUS WAGNER LOOK!! REAL CARD Item: 5178333395
1909 T206 HONUS WAGNER !! RARE!! Item: 5178329709
1951 BOWMAN MICKEY MANTLE ROOKIE Item 5178321922

To recap the seller owns 3 high quality Mantle rookies and 2 Wagner T206 which represent in stated condition over $100,000 worth of the most sought after cards in the hobby questionable? You decide.

Also out there are these fine merchants:

Seller: Update NARUed andrain (private)
1954 Topps JACKIE ROBINSON #10 Item: 5177464259
T206 Honus Wagner !!!Mangled Card!!! Item: 51779559551
purchases cards from a seller we have reported on earlier, erniefigures who has sold cards to several of our NARU ed merchants.
Seller: Update has changed name to d-lauction dleproperties (private)
1952 Topps MICKEY MANTLE No. 311 ROOKIE Item 5175970411
1948 Leaf BABE RUTH "His Last Card"!!! Item: 5173746090
1954 Topps HANK AARON RARE! Item: 5172466491
who does this person buy cards from? Give you a guess.... erniefigures.....
Seller: Update NARUed hollybeezay (private)
1952 TOPPS MICKEY MANTLE (ROOKIE) # 311
purchased card 1952 TOPPS MICKEY MANTLE ROOKIE #311 from another of our favorite sellers starsforless on 03/04/05. Also has purchased cards from erniefigures.

Well thats our report to date be wary of these sellers and remember,

Before You Bid Arm Yourself With Knowledge !


Sunday, March 20, 2005

Bogus Honus Sells For $10,000

Unfortunately this week has seen the sale of several high priced bogus reproductions of Vintage cards. Most notably a T206 Wagner which was supposedly found at a Flea Market Estate Sale. In the bottom of trunk which contained an old cigar box with an old pack of cigarettes, containing the most sought after baseball card in Vintage collecting circles.
WAGNER TOBACCO CARD IN VINTAGE BOX OF CIGARETTES !
Item: 5174860303 Seller: ronnie8470 (6)

The item sold for $10,000 to a sniper in the last minute of the auction. Looking closely at this sale there were several things the buyer should have seen which would have tipped him off that this card is a fake.

1. The card was found in a pack of cigarettes called “London Life” which where made in Denmark. The original T206's where placed in packs of Piedmont and Old Caporal brand cigarettes. So how did this card make it’s way over to Denmark to be placed in this pack.
2. If the card came out of this unopened pack, which the seller states it did, it would be in NM/MT condition. So how is it that the corners where rounded?
3. If you look closely at the scans you will notice that the word “Pittsburgh” is printed in one font size. As in this example. A real Wagner would have the P in a larger font than the rest of the letters in the word. ie.
4. In all real T206’s the colored photo is surrounded by a solid black border. His reprint has none.
5. The seller states as an answer to one of the many questions, that he is in need of money. Clearly if you need money you want the maximum amount for your discovery. Then why didn’t he approach one of the many reputable auction houses that specialize in these types of sales? They would have had the card graded for him.

As you can see everything about this sale points to a very questionable transaction.

Our thanks go out to Korey who has bought a new seller of questionable merchandise to our attention
Seller: Bigdaddyscard2005
T206 Hugh Jennings Detroit Sweet Caporal Back Item: 5177026293
To quote Korey “the person selling this item, previously known as kimpossible1430, then kelseysattic, then bigchiefmike2004, then bigchiefmike2000 they are a fraud.”
“I found myself in yahoo chat and they were asking to buy Non marked reprints to sell for big bucks on ebay.”

Kimpossible1430 and Big chiefmike2000 have been busy selling a number of vintage cards on eBay all ID’s are registered in Ohio.

Korey thanks for the heads up and,

Before You Bid Arm Yourself With Knowledge !

Monday, March 14, 2005

Update Alert Sellers To Be Concerned About

In our on going effort to keep you informed this is the current list of questionable auctions.

Seller: gpgcards 1952 Topss Mantle #311 item 5174863308
Seller: pgwillin65 1952 Topps Mantle #311 item 5173528840
pgwillin65 has sold 1 1952 Mantles in the last 2 weeks
Seller: hyekingdom 1952 Topps Mantle #311 item 517974072
Seller: hyekingdom 1952 Topps Mantle #311 item 5174974296
hyekingdom has sold 6 1952 Mantle's in the last 2 weeks
Seller: rjs2005 1952 Topps Mantle #311 item 5173992468
rjs2005 has sold 1 1952 Mantle in the last 30 Days
Seller: mccubb 1952 Topps Mantle #311 item 5174488872
Seller: slycardbuyout 1933 GOUDEY BABE RUTH item 5174453398
Seller: slycardbuyout 1933 GOUDEY LOU GEHRIG item 5174450450
slycardbuyout has sold to 1 Gehrig in the last 2 weeks and many other questionable cards
Seller: davss1 Babe Ruth 1933 Goudey item 5174304047
Seller: tandaexpresscardshoppe 1954Topps Aaron #128 item 5174520710
tandaexpresscardshoppe has sold 7 1952 Mantles in the last 2 weeks and many other high dollar vintage cards Over $11,000 in questionable sales for this one seller.

Before You Bid Arm Yourself With Knowledge !


Wednesday, March 09, 2005

Not All 10’s Are Graded Equal

Where to get your cards graded or what type of graded cards to buy, is a decision faced buy the new collector. In the new age of collecting the hobbyist is faced with an array choices. Unfortunately only a few of the choices are worth the plastic the card is bound in.

Non-reputable grading companies appear in the industry on a regular basis. A new collector purchasing a card whether modern or vintage, can be easily taken in by the disreputable dealer simply because they don’t know any better. They see a card issue listed as a GEM MINT 10 and they believe what is being purchased is graded to the highest standard. To make this article short and to the point the only companies that your prized cardboard should be seen in are:

1. BGS Beckett Grading Services - for modern issues 1980-present
2. BVG Beckett Vintage Grading - for vintage issues prior to 1981
3. PSA Professional Sports Authenticator
4. GAI Global Authentication Inc.
5. SGC Sportscard Guarantee Corp.
6. KSA If you collect Hockey you’ll see their holders

Note: BCCG is a division of Beckett, cards in these holders are simply that cards in a holder. BCCG provides a quick inexpensive way of slabbing a card with a general grade at best. Don’t confuse these grades with their premium service grades.

There are a handful of other companies out there, word of advice don’t buy anything in one of those holders, especially anything vintage. There are also a few very questionable concerns out there. The ones that come to mind are:

1. PSA Paradise Sports Authentication
2. VSA Vintage Sports Authority
3. AAA American Authentication Assoc.
4. Allstar Card Authenticators

If you see any of these run.

Before You Bid Arm Yourself With Knowledge !

Monday, March 07, 2005

52 Mantle Sells For $4800 - Well Almost

In my original "Sellers to be Concerned About" post I had reported that akanugget was attempting to sell a 52 Topps Mantle Rookie he had purchased from starsforless on 2/18/05. I'd been tracking the auction and noticed last night that it was up to $4800.00 with about an hour to go Needless to say I wasn't real happy seeing that. I managed to talk to a live help person, who at first told me she could do nothing about it.After giving her the auction numbers for both the current sale and the purchase, I asked her to please forward the information as soon as possible to the investigation team. I am happy to report that an hour later the auction and the seller were both gone.
Score one for the good guys!!!

Friday, March 04, 2005

The Most Commonly Counterfeited Cards

In an earlier post we discussed the top four counterfeited cards in the hobby. They were the 1909 T206 Honus Wagner Tobacco card, the 1933 Babe Ruth Goudey #53, the 1933 Nap Lajoie Goudey #106, (note: this card was actually not in the original 1933 set, when collectors complained of not having a #106 for their sets Goudey produced the card and sent it to those who asked, the card has a 33' front and 34' back to date there are about 100 known examples) and the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle Rookie #311.

Other cards to look out for are:

1. 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth Cards #’s 144, 149, 181
2. 1933 Goudey Lou Gehrig #160
3. 1933 Sport Kings Babe Ruth #2
4. 1948 Leaf Joe Dimaggio #1
5. 1948 Leaf Babe Ruth #3
6. 1949 Bowman Jackie Robinson #50
7. 1951 Topps Willie Mays Rookie #305
8. 1951 Bowman Mickey Mantle Rookie #253
9. 1952 Topps Willie Mays Rookie #251
10. 1953 Topps Jackie Robinson #1
11. 1954 Topps Hank Aaron Rookie #128
12. 1955 Topps Roberto Clemente Rookie #164
13. 1955 Topps Sandy Koufax #123
14. 1968 Topps Nolan Ryan Rookie #177
15. 1968 Topps Bobby Orr Rookie (Hockey)
16. 1986 Fleer Michael Jordan Rookie #57 (Basketball)
17. 1979-80 O-Pee-Chee Wayne Gretzky Rookie #18 (Hockey)

When looking to purchase these cards be very careful whom you are dealing with. If you can, purchase them in a graded condition.

A small update it was bought to my attention by one of our team members (cardcollector1677) that the following cards should be added to the list.

1. 1963 Topps #537 Pete Rose RC
2. 1969 Topps #250 Reggie Jackson RC
3. 1980 Topps #482 Rickey Henderson RC
4. 1982 Donruss #405 Cal Ripken Jr. RC
5. 1982 Topps #21 Cal Ripken Jr. RC
6. 1985 Topps #401 Mark McGwire RC

Thanks cc

Before You Bid Arm Yourself With Knowledge !

Thursday, March 03, 2005

UPDATE ALERT!!! Sellers To Be Concerned About LIST

Seller: hyekingdom 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle RC #311 Item number 5171793839
1952 Topps Mickey Mantle RC #311 Item number 5171793625
Seller: rjse2055 1952 Topps #311 MICKEY MANTLE Item number 5171490219
Seller: executive17 1952 MICKEY MANTLE 311 TOPPS Item number 51714544141
Seller: brumleyman Old cigar box with "93"1933 Goudey cards, and Babe Ruth Item number 5169782704
purchased on Feb 26/05 Item number 5170063075

Coincidence?

Tuesday, March 01, 2005

UPDATE ALERT!!! Sellers To Be Concerned About LIST

Seller: hose4321 Glad to report that this seller has also been NARUed a little late but, better late than never. Now that I've taken a closer look I believe hose4321 and monty 7198 where the same seller. both have a location of Bainbridge, Ohio.
Seller:
monty7198 As of this writing this seller has been NARUed. For those who don't know what that means, it stands for Not A Registered User. eBay pulled the plug on this fraudulent seller before he sold his bogus goods. Kudos to eBay you need to be this vigilent more often. For everyone's info seller location was Bainbridge, Ohio, just incase he shows up under another ID.
Seller: blaclabl As of this writing this seller has been NARUed. For those who don't know what that means, it stands for Not A Registered User. It is to bad it did not happen prior to the selling of a 1952 Mantle for $1800, but he had several others that where being bid on when eBay pulled the plug. A word of warning, don't surprised to see them back under another name.

Well it didn't take long for this seller to get a full head of steam on. Earlier in the week his box from an old man down the street yielded a T206 Wagner and now these.

Seller: monty7198
52 TOPPS WILLIE MAYS # 261 Item number:5170364161
53 TOPPS MICKEY MANTLE # 82 Item number: 5170364861
55 BOWMAN MICKEY MANTLE #202 Item number:5170365367
56 TOPPS MICKEY MANTLE #135 Item: number5170365868

Book Value for these cards not including the Wagner is better than $30,000 in the stated condition. The T206 Wagner in the stated condition adds another $110,000. A similar condition PSA PR-FR 1 with the Sweet Caporal back sold at the Mastronet auction in 2004. Not a bad box of cards from the tooth fairy. Oh excuse me, an Old Man that was moving and didn't want anything to do with 140K...........

Thanks to greywickedboy for this report:
Seller: lupegrace
Babe Ruth Goudy No 181/Hank Bauer Bowman No 219 Item number:5169344293
purchased these items from: hose4321
1/24/05 1933 BABE RUTH #181 GOUDEY Item number:5160008961
1/10/05 1950 BOWMAN #219 HANK BAUER Item number:5153913692

Coincidence?

Before You Bid Arm Yourself With Knowledge !


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