Questions answered about the PSA 10 1981 WTF Ripken
ripkenintheminors
Posts: 2,186 ✭✭✭
August 25, 2008
On May 18, 2007, RITM reported that PSA had slabbed a counterfeit 1981 WTF Rochester Red Wings card #1 of Cal Ripken, Jr. as authentic. In the process of writing the article, a second counterfeit slabbed authentic by PSA was discovered. Although a small sample size at the time, the discovery confirmed that counterfeits made up 8.6% of the total PSA 9 population of this card as of May 2007.
Although PSA reimbursed the 2 collectors for the fake Ripken cards, minor league collectors of Cal couldn’t help but wonder how much of the PSA population was polluted. Three months later, new concerns came after RITM interviewed Steve Kozel, who produced the cards in 1981 under the name WTF Company. In the interview, Kozel expressed concerns over the legitimacy of the PSA 10.
“It looked too good. Remember I used shrink wrap on every set. Ripken was the first card in the pack. No way any 10s are going to come from those. The set was printed at a little place with old equipment. By the time someone made me aware of it the auction was over. I never found out who won it. It blows my mind that someone counterfeited my set.” (Source: http://www.ripkenintheminors.com/intstevekozel.htm)
Over the weekend of August 22, 2008, Don Allen, Jr., a collector of Ripken memorabilia, contacted RITM with concerns over the legitimacy of a 1981 WTF Rochester Red Wings card #1 of Cal Ripken, Jr. In the process of confirming the authenticity of his card, a discussion took place over the concerns of the possibility of the PSA 10 being a fake. Fortunately for the collecting community, Don has been able to put a year old concern to rest. In the process of archiving past sales of Ripken memorabilia, Don archived the sale and image of the PSA 10 Ripken. In an auction that included 33 bids the card sold at auction (Ebay 1011172701) for $4,025 on October 7, 2001.
Sleep well, PSA (and fellow collectors); the card appears to be authentic.
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Comments
Have you any time frame as to when the counterfeits were produced? The only thing that made me think this was that this PSA 10 WTF was purchased in 2001....
It seemed as if the counterfeits you discovered were sold within the last couple years.
Just curious if you had any thoughts on this.
As usual, good work!
Bill
<< <i>Chris...
Have you any time frame as to when the counterfeits were produced? The only thing that made me think this was that this PSA 10 WTF was purchased in 2001....
It seemed as if the counterfeits you discovered were sold within the last couple years.
Just curious if you had any thoughts on this.
As usual, good work!
Bill >>
Thanks for the feedback.
BGS first picked up on the counterfeits in 2001 at the latest. Granted, that doesn't mean that they reported their findings immediately. Then again, I couldn't tell you how long BGS has been grading.
The 6 year period that BGS knew something that PSA did not is troubling.
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Thanks....Based on what the manufacturer of the WTF set stated as far as the possibility of getting a 10 , (not to open a can of worms) but do you think there is any possibility that the 2001 PSA 10 originated from one of the uncut sheets that have been in the hobby?
Bill
<< <i>Chris...
Thanks....Based on what the manufacturer of the WTF set stated as far as the possibility of getting a 10 , (not to open a can of worms) but do you think there is any possibility that the 2001 PSA 10 originated from one of the uncut sheets that have been in the hobby?
Bill >>
Funny that you should mention that. I dropped this through the e-mail before posting it live and someone had a message waiting for me this morning asking if the card may have come from a sheet.
I'll be honest in that I do not know the PSA policy when it comes to sheet cut cards. With that being said, I'm going to have to rely on the knowledge of others reading this thread. In some cases I am sure that PSA is looking for cards that may have been sheet cut. Then again, they may not have known sheets existed when the card was graded.
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This segment of the card market is mostly unknown to most collectors and if you buy, you better do your
homework.
With technology and ease of access to printing tools, I suspect other cases will come up or is already
being perpetuated.
In fact, do we know if Boggs, Gwynn, Elway, Maddux, and others have been counterfeited to date?
I am not saying they have, but just posing the question here. We know counterfeits were produced for
the 1984 Pawtucket Clemens.
The 1982 Elway is an easy target in my mind. I love to own one for sure.
<< <i>In fact, do we know if Boggs, Gwynn, Elway, Maddux, and others have been counterfeited to date?
I am not saying they have, but just posing the question here. We know counterfeits were produced for
the 1984 Pawtucket Clemens. >>
I honestly couldn't tell you as I've focused the majority of my research on Cal's cards only.
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Steve