The origin of the Star basketball reprint rumor

highballer

Sportscard Counterfeit Detector 3rd Ed. 1994 excerpt

PSA won't grade these cards, and here's why. In particular, the last paragraph of this excerpt, written by Bob Lemke. This is from the final 3rd edition of Sportscard Counterfeit Detector (great book by the way), and I have never seen anything else by Bob Lemke printed on the subject.

What is also interesting is Star basketball card expert, Steve Taft, is listed as one of many in an acknowledgements forward who provided assistance with this book. And as we know, Steve has gone on record multiple times refuting the Star reprinting rumors, including (presumably) the ones spearheaded here by Bob Lemke.

Does anyone have further information on Bob Lemke's Star reprint opinions as memorialized in the Sportscard Counterfeit Detector? Is Bob a member of this forum? It would be nice to finally get some resolution on this subject, particularly since PSA won't grade Star Basketball because of the reprinting concern. The reprinting allegations are only supported by unnamed "reliable sources" with official results pending, and which only confirm that certain cards believed to be counterfeit are not -- rather, they were "either the same rejects seen earlier or reprints from genuine plates." I don't see how that necessarily means any particular Star basketball cards were reprinted in a manner that renders them indistinguishable from originals.

Thanks in advance from a fan of 1980s basketball and Star cards.

jackstraw

Bob Lemke is a member here. I don't know if he is all that active but he does post.
The damage is done and I doubt PSA will ever change their mind on this?

initialD

Star thread

AUPT

It's been more than 20 years since I wrote the Sportscard Counterfeit Detector, so my recollection on details is no longer sharp.

I do believe, however, that prior to, and perhaps after, the material was prepared for the book, there were several related articles published in SCD.

I no longer have access to back issues of SCD, so I cannot confirm what additional information, including original sources, may have been printed back then.

highballer

Bob,

Thanks for responding. I used to take your book with me to card shows back in the mid-1990s and whenever a dealer looked annoyed I knew to take my business elsewhere. It's a very interesting read to this day.

Do you recall anything about which series of Star basketball were the subject of your investigation (if it was so limited)?

StanTheManMusial

I can understand PSA's position on the STAR cards, but still, I would love to see them grading the STAR cards in the future.

highballer

AUPT

Sorry, I don't recall any of the specifics.

highballer

Well, that concludes my gumshoe investigation. I doubt anyone would take Robert Levin, founder of Star, at his word, but this is an interesting point he raises about reprinting allegations:

``It really angers me that people are spreading rumors saying we`re going to reprint a card. We`re one of the few companies around who gives out press-run figures. We`ll never reprint anything.``

Robert Levin article

Open a Beckett Basketball Price Guide and you can find stated print runs for Star Basketball. If anything, it caps what reprinting Robert Levin could have reasonably gotten away with. This would explain why he tried to cash in on the basketball card craze by back-dating new Star cards for shop and home instead of selling "recently discovered" 1984 Bulls team bags from his inventory. And the pop reports on BGS are still, after 6+ years of grading, very low despite being the only worthwhile Star grading option.

Overall, I think the evidence supports buyer confidence in Star Basketball. But I agree with the above comment that PSA is unlikely to change its mind.