How To Spot A Counterfeit 1990 Leaf Frank Thomas Rookie Card

As a direct response to the high-quality cards found in 1989 Upper Deck Baseball, 1990 Leaf Baseball featured some upgraded qualities of it’s own.  Thicker card stock and glossy photos sure had card designs on the upswing.  That time period in the hobby is known as the junk-wax era.  Products were being overproduced to the max.  Today, most of those sets carry little to no value.

“The Big Hurt” a.k.a. Frank Thomas, has a rookie card in the 1990 Leaf Baseball set.  It is card #300.  This likely will be the most valuable card in the set until the end of time.  Guys like Larry Walker and Sammy Sosa have rookies in here too, but their cards don’t have as much demand.

Raw copies of this particular Frank Thomas rookie card continue to sell for anywhere between $2 and $20 depending on the condition.  That’s quite good considering the era its from.  At one point in time the price was much higher.

Counterfeit versions have been floating around the hobby for years.  They continue to popup today.  At a quick glance you could easily purchase one that’s fake.  Upon further inspection, the differences between the two are very clear.

Here is an example of a counterfeit:

The front is fuzzy-looking and has a dot-matrix print pattern.  This can especially be seen on the Chicago White Sox logo, and areas that have a silver color.  Much thinner paper quality too.  That bright gold line above the dugout is also a giveaway.

When looking at the back, the text is much darker.  The trademark logos are lighter in tone along with Frank Thomas’s picture.

Here is an example of an authentic card: