Counterfeit Frank Thomas 1990 Topps “No Name” Rookie Gets BGS Approval

On December 27, 2018 a counterfeit 1990 Topps Frank Thomas “No Name On Front” Error Rookie Card found it’s way to BGS (Beckett Grading Services).  It should’ve been sent back to the individual who sent it in with a note stating its not authentic.  But did that happen?  No.  Instead it slipped through the cracks, was slapped into a BGS holder, and labeled the real thing.

Thanks to BGS, this dangerous card is now floating around the hobby.  They assigned it the right card number “414A” and everything.  “414A” is used for authentic examples of this card all of the time versus “414” for the standard Frank Thomas rookie which contains his name.  Checking the BGS serial number 0011017488 even further makes you believe that its real.  Someone at BGS either didn’t know what they were doing, or was completely aware of their actions.  In today’s hobby you just can’t tell anymore.

What makes this card a fake?  Authentic examples lack a large portion of the black lines that surround the empty blue box where his name should be.  A chunk of black lines are also missing from within the inner yellow border as well.  Authentic cards also don’t contain the “Topps” name on the front.  Another key feature of an authentic card is a black dot in the empty name box.  This card which BGS claims to be authentic contains all of the lines, the “Topps” name on the front, and zero black dot.  MAJOR RED FLAG!  Its important to note that some counterfeits do have the missing black lines, no “Topps” name, and black dot.  Please watch out for those.  Legitimate reprints exist which were released in various Topps products over the years.  So not only did BGS grade a counterfeit, they graded a bad counterfeit.

Authentic (left) Counterfeit (right)

Originally it popped up for sale from Probstein123.  Big surprise considering the shilling, trimming, and altering scandals they’ve been involved with.  They supposedly took the card down after being alerted to it.

That brings us to today.  On July 28, 2019 eBay user infiniumusa sold this exact card (same BGS serial number 0011017488) for $3,000.  Its unclear if the transaction went through or not, but I haven’t seen it since.

The fact is that this card is out there ready to fool anyone it can.  If you’re in the market for one, stay far away if it has BGS serial number 0011017488.  TOTALLY FAKE!

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:

Something Else I’d Like Manufacturers To Do

Continuing with the Card History theme, I have another suggestion for Topps and/or any card manufacturer.  I would like to see an insert set dedicated to educating collectors on how to spot counterfeit cards.  Topps, Panini, and Upper Deck could pick out some of their most popular cards to be counterfeited and then state what to look for when purchasing one.  They could print a reprint on the front and then place all the info on the back.

We could even take it a step further.  Think of all the information that could be placed on those plain white fillers.  Lets say your opening a product that is known for great looking patches.  Wouldn’t it be nice to have some info on those fillers informing you on how to spot fake patches from that specific product?  I think it could really help.

Looking For A Good Laugh? Check Out Coach’s Corner

Its been over a year since I wrote about Coach’s Corner auctions, but I think its my duty as a blogger to keep reminding people of all the fake crap that floods our beloved hobby.  I was just watching a video of a product being opened, and to the right I saw an ad for Coach’s Corner.  This auction site is filled with one counterfeit item after another.  I seriously don’t see how they are allowed to stay in business.  I would say that 99.9% of all the COA’s that come with their signatures are totally bogus.  Its a great place for people to pickup fake junk to take to a show and pass off as the real thing.  I just don’t understand why people don’t question things like this.  Instead they move along like mindless little robots believing whatever they’re told.

When Babe Ruth autographed baseballs are only selling for $500.00, its a major red flag.  This place just makes me so mad!!!  Someone please shut them down!!!

This is total garbage!

Pawn Stars and the Lou Gehrig Jersey

Watch this video and then read my response.

Above is a video of Tom Tresh who frequently posts videos on YouTube explaining to collectors about recent scams that have taken place within The Hobby.  Let me say that he does a great job of researching in order to prove his points.  Just like this video, most of the time the counterfeit items he talks about are in some way connected with Coach’s Corner (breeding ground for scammers), STAT Authentic (the least reputable company anyone could trust to certify their items), and various other terrible company’s that will certify anything that walks through their door.

To start off, let me say that I’m a big fan of the show Pawn Stars.  Its fun to watch what comes through the door and learn about each unique item.  I think people need to realize that reality television isn’t 100% real.  If it was, it probably wouldn’t be that entertaining.  You would have to be crazy to believe that each deal that looks to go through on that show actually does.  Nothing in life, especially in the sports collectibles business is ever that clean-cut and perfect.  The Lou Gehrig “autographed” jersey is a perfect example of that.  It sounds like this jersey is still with the original owner who brought it into the shop.  That means they never bought it on the show, probably because they don’t trust any of those COA’s either.  Most likely they needed to fill in a spot on the show where they looked like they purchased something.  Seeing that they never purchased it should show that they care whats real and whats not.  When you have a reality T.V. show, millions of details will slip through the cracks that won’t be aired to the public.  It would be nice if The History Channel followed-up on some of these transactions, but thats not going to happen.  On the show, they end each transaction with an hand shake but rarely do you ever see them do the paperwork.

If your a collector of anything, I suggest you watch the show.  Just remember that its entertainment and not everything you see on television is real.  Many episodes have featured counterfeit items and they explain why they think certain items aren’t real.  There is a lot of good information on this show, but sometimes you need to watch out for stuff like this.  This is why the blogosphere exists.  Its hear to help out collectors and make them realize they can’t take everything for face value.

UPDATE:

I’m now getting reports that the jersey is still in the shop.  I can’t believe they would trust STAT Authentic if they bought it.  I’m not sure what to believe now 🙂  What do you think?

’67 Topps Pete Rose On Pawn Stars

One of my favorite T.V. shows to watch is Pawn Stars, which you can find on the History Channel, Monday nights at 10:00 p.m.  I find it really entertaining and educational.  Last week a guy walked into the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop and tried to sell five Pete Rose 1967 Topps baseball cards.  As soon as I saw these things I knew they weren’t real.  The guy who brought them in was pretty upset when he couldn’t sell them.  After this show aired last week, it sparked some interesting conversations over on FCB and other sports card forums.

Chrome Proofs Are Garbage

Last night I received a question about these so called “Chrome Proofs” you see up for sale.  They wanted to know if these are authentic 1/1 proofs from the manufacturer.  The answer to that question in no.  These were once base cards from a Bowman Chrome set, and then someone dissolved away the cardboard and what was left is the chrome front.  When cleaned up it looks like a proof that came from a manufacturer, but in reality its nothing more than an altered base card made to fool collectors.

These cards fit nicely into the same category as those 1/1 proofs containing the multi-colored bars.  Those cards come from an uncut sheet that should have been discarded by the manufacturer but somehow found their way into the hands of a scammer who thought it would be a good idea to cut them up and try to pass them off as proofs.  Manufacturers really need to find a better way of discarding the leftovers of past products so they stay out of the hands of scammers.

While doing a little research for this post, one of the biggest sellers of these counterfeit proofs is none other than ljbiggestfan2, who also is a huge seller of NSA “game-used” cards.  For those people who defend NSA because you can’t admit you got scammed, just look at what else this person is selling.  It sure doesn’t add to the credibility of NSA.  Be sure to check out my other posts about NSA which have attracted a lot of attention from the collecting community.

Worst Attempt At A Fake NFL Logo Patch

I just had to laugh when I came across this little beauty today.  At first glance this Maroney 2006 Press Pass patch looks really cool, but there is just one problem.  PRESS PASS DOESN’T HAVE A LICENSE TO PRODUCE CARDS USING THE NFL LOGO.  Press Pass has never made a trading card product having anything to do with the NFL.  All of their football products deal with college teams and their logos.  This has got to be one of the worst attempts at faking an NFL logo patch I’ve ever seen.  I’m not sure if the seller manufactured the card or not.  They say it came it a big lot they purchased at a card show, but you never know for sure.  Whoever did alter the card even made a hologram like background around the fake patch that says “Authentic”.  You can check out the auction here.  I’ll try and report it to eBay, but that doesn’t always mean they’ll close the auction.  They gotta eat too.

Biggest Joke In The Hobby: Coach’s Corner

If you ever need a good laugh, I suggest heading over to Coach’s Corner.  This auction site is nothing but a breeding ground for scammers and counterfeiters.  I know for a fact I’m not the first person to discuss them, but I thought I would still share my thoughts on it.

Coach’s Corner always seems to have extremely high-end memorabilia up for sale.  Rarely do any of their items come with a COA from a “worthy” third-party authenticator.  Usually their autographs come certified by Chris Morales or STAT Authentic.  I think COAs from Big Bird or Batman hold more credibility than Morales or STAT Authentic 🙂  Items like a Ty Cobb or Honus Wagner autographed baseball are worth many thousands of dollars if they are determined to be authentic, but when something like that shows up on the Coach’s Corner it usually only goes for a few hundred dollars.  Do all these people get really good deals?  No, because many people know the autographs are counterfeit.  Many people that bid on this stuff clearly know its fake but think they can flip it somewhere else to make a profit.

The funniest part about Coach’s Corner is reading the item descriptions.  Here is what they say about this Terry Bradshaw 1971 Topps RC graded a Pristine 10:

This ROOKIE card #156 of the Steeler Great & Hall of Famer, Terry Bradshaw comes Slabbed and Graded a Perfect “PRISTINE 10”. The PSA Online book value of this beauty is near $25,000, and a great card for the collector who wants ONLY the BEST.

GEM Elite gives every card that comes through their front door a 10, and its crazy to compare this type of 10 to a PSA 10.  It wouldn’t surprise me if this card was trimmed.

There have been many discussions/videos posted about Coach’s Corner and the soon to be out of business Sports Collectors Digest.  It seems as if the two are “in bed” together because Coach’s Corner advertises in SCD.  Coach’s Corner is one of the biggest jokes in the hobby and should only be visited if you need a laugh.

Pujols Patch Prank

This Albert Pujols card was brought to my attention over at Card Informant.  Take a look at this Pujols patch.

 

Looks pretty cool doesn’t it?  There is just one problem.  The patch isn’t an authentic patch worn by Pujols.  The stitching is totally different from that of a real one.  These patches can be purchased by anyone.

 

The red on this patch has the tight little sewing circles that you normally would see on a Cardinals patch.

I have reported the auction and I guess we’ll see if eBay takes it down.