1984 Topps Football is loaded with lots of rookie cards. Eric Dickerson, Howie Long, and Dwight Stephenson to name a few. There are two quarterbacks though who’s rookie cards you immediately think about whenever this set is mentioned – John Elway and Dan Marino. Both have been heavily counterfeited over the years.
With so many grading companies looking the other way and allowing trimmed/counterfeit cards to pass through, its important to know what to watch out for. Nothing could be more irritating than finding out the centerpiece of your collection is a fake.
Below are some tips on what to keep an eye open for when looking at Dan Marino 1984 Topps rookie cards:
- Black border – many counterfeit examples exhibit a black border that comes to four sharp corners around the photo. On authentic examples, those corners are much more rounded.
- If you’re able to weigh the card, counterfeits tend to be a little heavier. Counterfeits tend to weigh 1.93 grams compared to the normal 1.90 grams.
- Look at the Miami Dolphins logo on the card’s front. The stripes on the dolphin’s helmet are usually fuzzier on a counterfeit. Take a common Miami Dolphins card from that set and compare it to the Dan Marino card you’re looking at. Authentic examples should have clear stripes.
- On the front of Marino’s jersey you can see the number “13”. Lots of counterfeits have a notch out of the “1” near the edge towards the center.
- On the back of the card, the © logo is incomplete, and the “A” in “YEAR” and “8” in “1983” (in the statistics box) are both filled in on counterfeits.
Filed under: Fake Card Info | Tagged: 1984, a, card, dan, fake, how, marino, rookie, spot, to, topps |
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