Honestly, who falls for this?

mudflap02 · May 16, 2004 9:21PM

Who on earth would bid on this?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=55917&item=4131140251&rd=1

And if you're trying to rip somebody off with 1 feedback, I would at least pick a different name. I just emailed him and asked if I could see it in person - actually I said I would "race my accord over there whenever is convenient for him".

Vargha · May 16, 2004 9:38PM

It's the rare "1952 BOWMEN" version. Stop being so skeptical.

WinPitcher · May 16, 2004 9:55PM

the conors and in tip top condidtion

this guy is back again?

bill7549 · May 16, 2004 10:35PM

Yeah right, a PSA 10 '52 Bowman Mantle from a guy with a "1" feedback. These scams are starting to irritate me.

Here's another one.... And this dude just changed his user ID today.

Scam City

MorrellMan · May 16, 2004 10:54PM

51/48 centering - this guy's a penny short of a buck....

coachh · May 16, 2004 10:57PM

But at least nobody can argue over his shipping charges. $8 for insured shipping is a bargin.

interchanges · May 17, 2004 12:39AM

Almost comical to us.
Although enough people take it seriously.
As an ebay newbie years ago, I got burned on a 59 PSA9 Clemente from a 12 feedback jackass that bought (12) $1.00 postcards.

I always go for the email to seller asking if I can pick-up the card, since we live in the same area.

Lets see what mister Bowmen says, since I now live in Philly......

jrdolan · May 17, 2004 1:17AM

The "tip-top conors" hooked me. Plus the rare "Bowmen" variation. Plus he blocked out the reg. # ... obviously a very careful guy who hates the thought of stealing other people's scans. Nobody get in my way... this card is MINE!

As for the other Mantle con that bill7459 pointed to, anybody who falls for "I don't have a picture of my 52 Topps Mantle, but send me many thousands of dollars anyway" has got to be as dumb as the guy perpetrating it.

1967topps · May 17, 2004 8:45PM

Here's the missing info: (his reply to my question "is it a bowman or bowmen?")

"its a bowmen card, sorry for the misprint the psa number is 07000809"

Darn I forgot to put a bid in. I'll just wait until some other genius puts
up a Mickey "Mantel" card then.

DCICEMAN · May 17, 2004 10:26PM

Just sent the seller this message:

Hi:
I live in the Phila suburbs, and wonder if we could meet somewhere so I could inspect the card you are selling, prior to bidding.
Thanks.
Dave

Betcha I get no response!

Thegradinator · May 18, 2004 6:22AM

apprently Danielscores does

ctsoxfan · May 18, 2004 9:14AM

<< <i>The centering of this card is really,really good >>

And, the high bidder on this (over $2000 now) is really, really gullible.

DCICEMAN · May 20, 2004 10:18PM

Three days and no reply to my email.

Not surprised, though. Is anyone else?

MorrellMan · May 20, 2004 11:38PM

Somebody oughta register on eBay with the user id "eBaypolice" and bid these jokers up - see how long before the auction is pulled for "...an error in the listing..."

CON40 · May 20, 2004 11:55PM

MorrellMan;

That is the best idea I've heard today! It probably would scare off a few of these turds peddling their stinking excrement... I emailed Mr. Bowmen to see if he will meet in person to exchange card for cash... no reply so far. Not surprised!

DCICEMAN · May 21, 2004 2:01AM

Just sent this message to seller:

Thought this information might help you re-consider continuing this auction:

WHEN THE F.B.I. COMES CALLING...

You may be charged with:

MAIL FRAUD (18 U.S.C. 1341)

In layman's terms the definition of MAIL FRAUD is as follows:

It is a crime for anyone to use the U.S. mail, or any private or commercial interstate carrier (e.g. FedEx, U.P.S.), to carry out a scheme or plan to defraud (trick or lie) an individual or group.

In many jurisdictions to be convicted of mail fraud the Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt the following items:

1. The person, conducted or attempted to conduct, a scheme or plan to defraud;
2. with the intent to commit fraud;
3. the person, directly or through another, used the U. S. Mail or private/commercial interstate carrier to carry out the fraud; and
4. the scheme involved false material representations.

Some actual cases:

1. Sending false financial statements through mails in order to secure credit, knowing that such statements are false, constitutes violation of 18 USC§ 1341.
Dranow v United States (1962, CA8 Minn)

2. Scheme whereby defendant sold certificates with promise to pay at maturity twice amount paid in, where defendant did not invest money received and had no income other than that paid by purchasers of certificates, was scheme to defraud.
Walker v United States (1907, CA9 Wash)

3. Mailing of any letter or writing by way of carrying out scheme is sufficient, although letter or writing itself may have been harmless.
Byron v United States (1921, CA9 Wash)

PUNISHMENT:
One may be found guilty of a felony, imprisoned up to 5 years, and fined up to $250,000. If a financial institution is involved, one may be imprisoned up to 30 years and fined up to $1,000,000. The punishment is per transaction. For example, if 8 letters are sent through the U.S. Mail and 10 packages are sent through FedEx, the potential punishment above is multiplied by 18.

Frequently, the Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) will secure a Federal Indictment from a Federal Grand Jury and charge a defendant not only with mail fraud, but also with wire fraud, bank fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy to commit the aforementioned crimes. One should also be aware that since 1987 parole has been abolished in the Federal System. Expungement (removal of conviction from public records) is also not available.

This information was found at:
http://www.federalcrimes.com/mailfraud.htm

DCICEMAN · May 23, 2004 11:25PM

I finally received a reply to my emails to this guy, after the auction ended. He says his name is Mike Meglino. Here they are:

#1

do you realize i had baught this card from somone on ebay. who was a power seller? and did u take the time to look the psa number on psa.com 07000809 thank you very much!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Domains - Claim yours for only $14.70/year

#2 (10 minutes later)

hi this is the person who put the card on ebay. I just listed this card for my friend on ebay, how do you know its a fraud if he has a psa serial number and all? i dont get how this ebay works? How can you say somone is doing something wrong? Can you please let me know because i dont want to get into a mess because of him. Please respond

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Domains - Claim yours for only $14.70/year

And my response:

I asked if I could inspect it prior to bidding. No response from you. Major red flag.

Now, after the auction, I get a response from you. Second red flag.

The PSA number you refer to just means the card exists; it has nothing to do with who actually owns it.

You say you "baught" this card from an ebay power seller. Care to give me their ebay name, so I can verify that?

In addition, you are a 1 feedback ebay seller, selling only one card, a very rare one, that's worth $40,000, if not more. Secondly, your english is atrocious, which lends one to believe that you could be some kid looking to rip someone off. It certainly has happened on ebay many times.

This is a card that would normally be sold at Lelands or Mastronet auctions, not ebay. This is a card that people would want to hold and look at prior to bidding, which in turn would maximize the price realized for the card's "owner."

So you tell me, what would you think if you were in my shoes?

1967topps · May 28, 2004 1:23PM

Maybe one of us, so the guy doesn't feel overwhelmed, ought to ask the winning bidder
if he received the card, and if it was really a Gem Mint 10

(and whether it was a Bowman or Bowmen and if the centering was really 51/48)

Bighurt4 · May 28, 2004 1:37PM

The "winner", danielscores, received a positive feedback from the Jeff Gordon of Accords. I hope he can do the same for the seller.

Brent

mudflap02 · May 28, 2004 1:44PM

Man this whole thing is going over like a fart in church.

Bighurt4 · May 28, 2004 1:47PM

Well then, let us pray... for noseplugs.

Brent

PS- Jeff, you are matching every move I make on NRMS. I may have to take out a second mortgage.

mudflap02 · May 28, 2004 2:11PM

I'm going to have to cut back for a little while on most of the graded stuff (I say that now...). I saw you picked up a bunch of cards fom Keith and Scott - I'm telling you, the stuff is out there and all you have to do is ask! Seriously though I am really going to have to limit myself this summer- I just keep telling myself that if I suck it up and now and able to waste my money on tuition, rent, and car payment, then this time next year I will be wasting it on cards tenfold. For now I'm going to stop buying raw Ryans, only 10's and MSA discs (how this is cutting back, I have no idea). I've got more cards in my "gotta submit ASAP" stack than I can count, and the raw stuff will always be out there. For the most part I will just be trying to pick stuff up I don't think will come along every day- the one area I'm going to try to work on right now is the MSA discs.

It sucks cutting back, but such is life in the big city. You will probably be at 5th place by July, but things are so close together right now and I really don't want to start looking at it as a race or a competition. That's how it seemed when I first started my registry - but in the past few months as I have dealt with others who are also working on the set, the goal of my registry has definitely changed from trying to move up the charts to simply enjoying the cards that I do have and figuring out which direction to go next.

Kind of random, but here's some other stuff I will start working on as time permits - I really want to start a 93 Finest Refractor set - definitely not the best option for the wallet, but they are just so appealing to me. They were the granddaddy of insert cards before companies resorted to desperate measures to sell cards. I like the fact that their value is created by the collectors who want them, not a serial number on the back of the card or a piece of cloth taped to the front. Plus they're so shiny. I actually picked one up the other day for $20 - a Reggie Sanders that looks to be in decent shape. I figure I can get a lot of the commons out of the way if I'm just smart about it, and I will be going for those on rare occasions. I just wanted to get one to hold in my hand to see what all the fuss is about. The next one I get will probably a minor star whose card is the green all-star version (ie Doc Gooden). I just want to see what those look like as well, in preparation for "what will one day find me".

I know I'm just kind of rambling right now, but 1) it's friday night, 2) I just got off work, 3)I'm in a college town whose population went from 50,000 to 7,000 as soon as finals ended, 4) My lady friend is back home in New Orleans, and 5)I just sat down with a cold frosty and dammit I just feel like typing, which I'm going to do until I bore even myself.

As much trash as I have talked about modern cards, I will admit that I am warming up to them. I really like the Ryan Reprint set that Topps put out in '99, and I think they would look great in a binder. I actually picked up a set of the base version for not too too much a little while ago and am kind of looking forward to putting together tihe finest and refractors of the same cards - just have the same card 3 across on the same page. It's just neat to be able to hold an old school topps card (even if it is a reprint) that looks like it just came off the presses. There is way too much modern Ryan stuff out there, but I can see myself eventually collecting the stuff Topps puts out. As you can tell, I'm a sucker for the shiny things.

I'm going to go ahead and post this and maybe even keep typing. Who knows.

mudflap02 · May 28, 2004 2:12PM

Holy crap I am a pathetic little man - that last one was a cry for help. And on with the typing...

mudflap02 · May 28, 2004 2:15PM

The only other modern stuff that appeals to me right now is the Topps Heritage sets. I'd kind of like to start building those as my non graded collection, and it's close enough to the set's debut that you could catch up pretty easily and then build your own set every year. I know a lot of the guys on here collect heritage, and I might pick up a box just to rip for fun. It would cost about as much as a decent Ryan, and would provide a little more entertainment. Pretty much like a 70 dollar scratcher lotto ticket, but oh well. I guess I'm done ranting for now, and I'll turn it over to the peanut gallery.

Bighurt4 · May 28, 2004 2:21PM

I know what you mean Jeff. I am also working on a Master of Master sets for '04 Heritage and '04 Cracker Jack (picked up 2 more autos tonight). I really like these sets. I am trying to get the minis in all Blue, that will be a long term challenge considering what they are going for right now. I have both sets in binders and they look great. I also love sliding the new acquisitions into the empty slots.

I have a modern bulk submission in right now and am putting another one together. I will probably submit that after bonus time. Anyway, it is great working with all of the NRMS guys and I look forward to a 17 way tie eventually.

Brent

Bighurt4 · May 28, 2004 2:23PM

Jeff,
I have sold off or traded away all of my extra Heritage SP's but if you need any of the regular issue cards, LMK. I can cut a NRMS special price for you.

Brent

Bighurt4 · May 28, 2004 2:27PM

Hey Jeff

How often do you get to New Orleans. I love going there for concerts and, well, whatever comes up. I have tickets for Metallica/Godsmack in NO in November. Maybe we can have a Southern NRMS meeting. Tax deductable, right Don Con?

Brent

mudflap02 · May 28, 2004 2:40PM

I make it to NO about once a year right now. My lady friend also has a beach house in Pensacola that we go to about once a year as well (her parents actually, and it's more of a shed than a house, but it sounds so classy). I'll actually be moving to PCola in a little over a year to start flight school for a year or two. Rumor has it we hit up pretty much every town in northern FL, Alabama, and Georgia. I'm assuming you're an Auburn fan?

Bighurt4 · May 28, 2004 2:43PM

You bet Jeff, War D$%n Eagle!

I live in Mobile, about 2 hrs from NO and 45 min from P'cola. LMK when you are in the area.

Brent

mudflap02 · May 28, 2004 3:16PM

Yeah, we had our way with the Alabama fans when Coach Fran came to College Station. The best was "Phyliss on a Cell Phone" - some radio station with an irate "Bama Fan". Basically just the most redneckish voice you can think of repeating "Bama done took their lickins!" (referring to their probation), but it sounded like "Habayama din tek thar likkins". The way I see it, even after Fran (and his triumphant 4-6 debut season) they still owe us big for stealing Bear Bryant.

mudflap02 · May 28, 2004 3:18PM

And I thought you guys were Tigers???

Bighurt4 · May 28, 2004 3:22PM

She is awesome. She calls the Paul Finebaum radio show almost every day. She is the stereotypical Alabamian. I do love to listen to her though.

Paul Finebaum Radio Network

Click on Audio, humorous clips, and then Phyllis from Mulga.

Brent

Bighurt4 · May 28, 2004 3:23PM

It is the Tigers, War Eagle is the battle cry and Plainsmen is a more historical nickname.

Brent

mudflap02 · May 28, 2004 3:24PM

Finebaum - thats the one! I couldn't find a link anywhere.

BAMA DONE TOOK THEIR LICKINS

mudflap02 · May 28, 2004 3:27PM

Goo - my Maloney XJ-9000 computer isn't working so hot, but I'm pretty sure it's the "Phyllis goes off on BAMA" clip. Do yourself a favor and check it out, everyone.

Bighurt4 · May 28, 2004 3:34PM

I think the one you want is Phyllis on Fran. Finebaum...free, college ticket...$30, Phyllis...priceless.

Brent

PS- Phyllis goes nuts is the funniest one ever. I was driving home from work when I heard it the first time. Check it out.

DCICEMAN · May 28, 2004 9:26PM

Got an email from the buyer, stating that the seller told him, after the auction closed, that he had sold the card 3 days earlier. However, he could offer him the same card in a PSA 7, if he would be interested.

He told me he declined, and referred to the seller as a jerk.

Honestly, who falls for this?

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