I have talked before about how many fake rookie premiere autos are out there for football. For 2007 especially, I wouldn’t even recommend buying ANY of them because the fakes actually outnumber the real ones. Because its becoming widely understood that these fakes are tainting the worth of the potential ill-gotten profits, the douchebag scammers have tried to find other ways around it.
The first is using player issue cards as a way to show that there may be a reason for the auto being off. For the 2007-2009 rookie premiere, Topps gave each player a handful of cards to sign and distribute as they wish. These “player issue” autographs can be more valuable, but that isnt the reason they are being used. For many of them, stickers were applied instead of actual signatures, and the scammers will use this as a reason that their fake is the one that is real. They arent.
This card is 100% fake, and if you know Calvin Johnson’s signature, it doesn’t look anything like the one on this bad example. There are others that are up, but this one is the most obvious.
The second way that scammers try to slip one past the goalie is to try to legitimize their fakes with a third party authenticator/grader. I have already expounded numerous reasons why grading and authentication is a money making cash cow and not worth anyone’s time, but this is case and point.
If you check out this card, you can easily see that something doesn’t look right with the autograph. Its graded a 10 by everyone’s favorite grading company, but there is one LARGE problem – ITS NOT FUCKING REAL. This card will forever be considered real by all the uninformed collectors out there, solely because of the slab it is encased in. Funny enough, this isnt the first time this has happened either. Beckett has actually stopped taking submissions on the rookie premiere autos because its hard to tell the fakes from the legit ones when you have no clue. The problem is, they are PAID to have a goddamn clue, and someone is going to get taken because of this fact.
Bottom line, unless you have an expert eye, stay away from the old rookie premiere autos. These ass hats have faked so many of these cards, that their skills have gotten good enough to fool even me. Its not worth the pain to spend money on the fakes, but if you would like to purchase one, get opinions before you do. Message board users and myself are always willing to help out.
Chris Douglas-Roberts has six RPS autos from 08-09 basketball. A single, a triple and a quad, blue ink and red ink versions. I lack only the triple red ink. The problem? His multiples are with Derrick Rose. And it’s been so long since they’ve been released that I do worry about forgeries if I can’t examine the card in person, in my hands, first. I’m confident about the other five I have – bought closer to release, and I know what to look for, both in general and with the autos. But with the sixth and final … I just don’t know yet.
Yeah, I was talking about a deal that involved 2 Matt Ryan’s. I quickly figured out that one was certainly fake and the other looked really good. I didn’t even try to work a trade for the one that looked good, knowing the other was certainly a fake. I mean, if some douchebag scribbles his signature enough times, he’s sure to get good enough at it to make his look real. It’s just too much of a gamble and, sad really.
Beckett doesn’t authenticate autographs, their grade is only the quality of the actual signature. You don’t get authentication unless you also have JSA look at it.
I agree, the rookie premiere autos, up until they started numbering them, were and are a nightmare. I dislike Beckett as well, but in this case, they (and their lawyers) have themselves covered. Just like with fake patches, they claim that they are only grading the condition of the card, patch and auto not the authenticity of them. The only authenticity that they will guarantee is if they slab it, the card is not re-manufactured or trimmed. Their greed is helping the d-bag fakers (both patch and auto) to legitimize their shitty business practices. It would be nice if they actually used some of the astronomical amounts they charge to grade cards towards helping the secondary market police the cards. One way, off the top of my head, would be to use their contacts with the card companies to put together a centralized card photo database. I don’t expect them to hit every card made, but some of the mid to high end stuff should be recorded for future reference before they leave the plant. Imagine if Beckett got a high end patch card in to be graded and was able to check a database and see if it was legit. Hell let the collectors in and the fakers wouldn’t last a week.
There are so many fake Reggie Wayne RPA’s I think people don’t know what the real signature looks like. I own two that are 100% and you can tell a huge difference if you really look. The forger tries to mimic some of his loops and circles but Reggie signs his a lot thinner and his is smooth and quick. You can tell the fakes were slow and practiced. We have to do something, I’ve watched the value of these cards keep dropping. These are supposed to be rare.
Gellman i don’t fully understand the player issue situation. Are they just recreating the whole card from ground up and labeling it Player Issue because those don’t have a hologram/sticker and are easier to fake? If so, how does that effect the cards that are not Player Issued? Is the card fake, the signature fake, or both?
The cards are real and produced by Topps. They give the players a bunch to give to family and friends. They are unsigned unless the player actually auto’s it for whoever they are giving it to. Problem is that some of these cards get into the hands of people who put a fake auto on them and sell them as the Topps authorized cards or as being auto’d by the player and given to their cousin, uncle, etc…
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i recently purchased a marshawn lynch 2007 rookie premiere player issued autograph, the auto is on card not sticker, but does not have hologram, i paid 30 dollars, how do I know if its real or not?