1991 and 1992 Pro Line FB autos....

CDsNuts

Anybody collect these? I'm thinking about putting together a set but I don't know how many of the players signed. Anybody have a checklist handy?

Also, is it known that all of the autos are legit? Look at this auction for a complete set of Chris Doleman autos- Link.

They all look like they have the seal on the bottom right b=corner, but the autos aren't consistent.

Allen

There is a great article about them in the new Beckett (The Tuff Stuff clone with all sports). There are over 500 cards in the set. It would be cool to put together, but the counterfeiters have made it almost impossible. They make some pretty good seals in Asia and they are hard to detect the legit from the forged. That part was no in the article, but just my personal experience.

drewsef

I have a 92 pro line of Derrick Thomas that has the seal but I don't think it is legit. Not sure of the others, but I have saw the same inconsistency as you on these.

CDsNuts

I didn't realize they were counterfeited. I don't feel like dealing with hassle of determining which ones are real.

yankeeno7

Dont remember where I read this but have read things where some were autopen and some may have been signed by players family members.

Rogermnj

I think about 40% of the ones that are out there are real.
Proline had a TON of stamped non auto'd cards backdoored that were signed by whoever. Plus as mentioned above family members etc signing.
Also, most of the signatures are on the back of the card which is less appealing imo.

Rogermnj

Also, forgot to mention that in 1998 in NJ at the garden state exhibit show which use to be pretty big.. There was a guy that came to my table that had about 30 elway auto's... Obvious fakes. He also had about 200 fleer ultra karl malone autos and tony gwynn autos that I think were real but backdoored.

Allen

I really want the Muhammad Ali, but even if it is graded it could still be a fake. Some players are priced as "Auto" and "Autopen" versions. The stamps for this set, the Hoops Magic/Bird, the Ultra player set autos and the "Scoreboard" autos have had some very good fakes. I have no idea how they stopped the scoreboard stamped autos, but they went from about 200+ per week to maybe 1 or 2. Many were Mantles, Chamberlains, Russells, etc. Some were signed and stamped cards from after the players death. Crazy little asians and their fake stuff.

CDsNuts

That sucks. I never really collected auto cards but thoguht it would be fun to pick up the ones that were impossible to pull back in the day. Along with the Pro Line, I had my eye on the Ultra and Fleer stamped ones, plus the Magic/Bird, Stockton and Ewing Hoops.

yankeeno7

I think the old Hoops would be good to get. I also like the old Proline football...the HOFers anyway.

Stay away from Classic. I dont trust them ever since I saw a buddy of mine pull 2 autos of the same player that were COMPLETELY different. He contacted Classic and their response was...."His girlfriend signed a few for him, so what?" Yup, true story.

NickM

1992 Pro Line advertised as having 1 auto per box. Based on my experience, it was more like 3 autos per every 2 boxes.

I would look around for the cheapest source of unopened boxes for that set.

1991 Pro Line had 1 auto per 10 boxes.

Beckett Almanac has a list of which ones are known to have been autopenned or signed at the time by someone other than the player.

Nick

MooseDog

There were several autopens in that set (ones you pulled out of packs with the seal) most notably Joe Montana and Jack Kemp. Montana was at the height of popularity at the time and Kemp was a high ranking member of Congress so I imagine they had better things to do with their time.

Interestingly, Joe's wife Jennifer was also in the set (and a very popular card at the time) and hers were signed legit.