Working through all this cardboard is time consuming, but sure is fun. It is nice to be able to sit back and look at all the freebies and such you have after all is said and done. I'll probably be posting pictures at some point in the next few weeks what was found, so stay tuned!
Ok, so the question in the title: When is a Topps Certified Autograph NOT a Certified Autograph?
A few days back, someone texted me and asked if I was interested in a 2012 Bowman Chrome Rookie Autographed Refractor of Yu Darvish.
Ummm ... yes please!
He said it booked for $350, and would take $200 for it. I wasn't a buyer at $200, but if he could be talked down, I'd sure be happy to consider it! I asked where he got it from, and he said he traded a guy for it with his PS3.
I asked for a picture ... here it is!
Preeeeeettttyyyyy |
Then I continued on my research.
I found a number of these "Topps Certified Autograph" Darvish cards (that is what it says on the card itself!) without an autograph! Apparently, a number of these were made as "proofs". They could be approved by the higher ups at Topps before going into production.
"So why was this one autographed?" I thought to myself.
Click on the image, and compare the signature to what else you see online. See any problems?
Part of me wanted to go back to the guy and say Yu didn't sign this ... You signed this!
But part of me was worried that maybe he was just an unknowing person in all this, so I didn't quite know what to do.
And then I remembered his text from him a few days ago.
"Why would a card say 'Topps Certified Auto' on it and not have an autograph on it?"
There is the smoking gun.
Look out everyone - you have no idea how many scammers there are out there! You never can be too careful with autographs!
Wow - that is a horrible forgery.
ReplyDeleteThere's a ton of them on ebay. If you search for "Test Auto" or "Artist Proof Auto" you can find an entire store full from the same seller (300+ different cards worth). It's sad.
ReplyDeleteCorrection: Meant to say an entire store full of UNSIGNED ones. It's like a DIY forgery shop.
DeleteWOW - that would be interesting to see how they came about. I wonder if there are any third parties that have gotten slick enough to forge cards like this.
ReplyDelete