SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME – Official Trailer

SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME – Official Teaser Trailer

Card of the Day: Rob Manfred 2020 Topps Series 1 – No Number

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!

Card of the Day: Stan Lopata 1958 Hires Root Beer Test Set – No Tab

“Pin-Up” of the Week: NFL Referees Speak No Evil, See No Evil, Hear No Evil Pin

Maybe you didn’t hear about it, but Russell Wilson became the first quarterback to throw a game winning interception when the replacement referees made one of the worst calls in NFL history.  Even after reviewing the play they still called it a touchdown.  Referees aren’t perfect, but there is no excuse for this type of call.  For the past three weeks replacement referees have been making one bad call after another.  The one made on Monday night was the straw that broke the camel’s back.  The NFL conveniently reached an agreement with the regular referees after they realized the replacements were useless.

Some people think that the NFL’s ratings would have taken a beating for the rest of the season if an agreement wouldn’t have been met.  I disagree.  I believe more people would have watched to see the screw-ups.  If there is anything people like to do in America, its get together and point out other people’s mistakes.

Card of the Day: Frank Thomas 1990 Topps No Name On Front Error #414

No! No! No! ITG

In The Game has slowly been releasing photos of their first baseball set, and I have to say I hope it gets better than this:

First off I’d like to say that cut signatures should only be made for deceased players.  Not of prospects who are most likely younger than me.  Second, are these checks even real?  Or are they manufactured?  Either way I don’t think it looks well.  I’ve seen companies use manufactured checks before, and they aren’t very popular.  For ITG’s sake, I hope the rest of the set yields some better looking stuff.  I’m still looking forward to seeing more of this product.

No Relics For Raul

Its going to be hard finding someone that doesn’t think baseball veteran Raul Ibanez is having a good year.  As of this writing he is batting .344 with 8 HR’s and 21 RBI’s.  Manufacturers have been pumping out cards of him starting in the early 90’s all the way up until now.  I find it interesting that he has NO relic cards made yet.  In a time when it seems like there is a jersey, bat, pants, patch, and helmet card made of every single athlete on the planet, this is one player that has been left out in the cold.  Ibanez does have a few autographed cards on the secondary market from products such as 2004 Upper Deck Etchings and 2005 Donruss Signature Series.  It just surprises me that for someone that has their face on close to 1,000 baseball cards not one of them contains a relic.  Maybe Upper Deck should have forgotten about Rey Ordonez in 1997 and made a jersey card of Ibanez.

 

“No Auto”

“No Auto”, these are two words that surround the sports card category on eBay and can get really annoying.  Have you ever noticed them?  The sellers claim that they put those words on the title to better describe the card, but I think they have a different reason.  They are hoping that when you search for a card with the keyword “auto” in it, their card will popup and therefore receive more bids.  It is a loophole that has been around for awhile.  Recently there was a Felix Jones 2008 Upper Deck Icons RC up for sale which was not autographed, it was just the base rookie.  That card usually sells for a few dollars, not very much at all, but the seller put the words “no auto” in the title, and the card ended up selling for over $10.00.  I don’t know why anyone would spend more on a card just because of the keywords used in the title.  There were tons of other Upper Deck Icons rookie cards of Felix Jones that were up for sale at the same time and didn’t sell for that much.  I really wish somebody could explain why people do this?  Maybe its just a strange phenomenon that will never go away.