Modern card faker nailed

f2tornado

I thought this was quite funny (yet a painful reminder of cronyism in the hobby) on the Beckett board. Apparently one of the members has far too much time on his hands and keeps track of all the Upper Deck SPA Jersey/Patch cards. The rise of jersey and patch cards has led to a rapidly growing number of fake patch cards on the market. Another member posted how ticked he was with Upper Deck since the firm had his eBay auction yanked for being a fake. Turns out the other mamber had an image of the same card on file and posted the original image, same serial number and all. Nailed to the wall and Beckett locked the thread to preserve the evidence. I suspect slabbed patch cards will eventually carry significant premiums once more folks are aware of how common fakes are becoming. Fake patch cards are to modern collectors what trimmed and recolored cards are to the vintage folks.

BunchOBull

I learned something today. Thanks.

rube26105

interesting, is the one in the pic fake on the thread?
randy

BunchOBull

If you scroll halfway down the threat, the SPA detective "Newfie" displays the cards original design and history. Pretty cool story. I'm "new" to the hobby in its modern state, I didn't realize these things were happening with such voracity.

EagleEyeKid

I read about fake patches a lot, but one thing (if anyone can answer) that still has me confused is how are they removing/switching patches without damaging the card itself? Is it removed from the side, the top, etc.? I have no interest in patch cards; I'm just curious.

cohocorp

what is his ebay id?

MeteoriteGuy

"I read about fake patches a lot, but one thing (if anyone can answer) that still has me confused is how are they removing/switching patches without damaging the card itself? Is it removed from the side, the top, etc.? I have no interest in patch cards; I'm just curious."

I don't think removing the patch would be difficult but rather the inserting a new patch. Sometimes you will see a raised edge on the patch window where they pried it open...sometimes not. It is something to watch out for.

Mark

cohocorp

about 2-3 years ago i nailed a guy printing up fake 1986 topps traded bonds rookie cards. this moron actually sent me them directly from the printing company he worked for. i called the guy out on it and he instantly gave me a refund and told me to send the cards back. i told him that i cannot do that since the detectives will want the evidence. i kept the shipping package and the counterfeits and within about 3 weeks the state police showed up at my home. i gave them the counterfeits and the packaging. they had everything they need to prosecute at that point. the guy ended up getting convicted. i dont know the particulars after that, but i know he was conviced. the sad part is that he used his daughter's paypal acct so he dragged her into it. its unreal the lengths some people will go and the people they will put at risk for some money. its disgusting.

msassin

<< <i>I learned something today. Thanks. >>



Same here.

mtcards

I checked ebay and "ecwraven" and it returned an account that had been suspended, probably the same guy. But as usual, he probably has another screen name going by now.

Allen

I was told that rather than removing the patch, they cut the entire card in half from the edge. A thick patch is a bunch of layers of paper sandwiched together, they cut one layer and seperate the card, then they can easily doctor the patch. Then they glue and heavily press the card back together. No evicende of tampering around the edges of the card that borders the patch since that part was not touced. Most buyers do not think to take the card out of the holder and look at it from the sides, even then it is still hard to tell.

ripkenintheminors

The modern fake patch cards is a really sad aspect of the hobby. A year or so ago I saw an auction for a Ripken GU patch card with the Ripken face from a piece of the retirement patch. The only problem was that the card was produced some 2-3 years before the retirement. Still, it sold for a ton.

lostdart58

I guess I am stupid and missing the point here....

Suppose I have a Babe Ruth patch card......I take out the patch from the card and replace it, sell the card for a nice bit of money and still have the original patch.....................


Isn't the original patch now a worthless piece of material? Since there is no way to prove what it is.

mreuter

I think what they do is take out a solid color patch and replace it with a premium piece, like multi color or part of a number or something that will get more money.