I have often said that in a hobby where almost everything is worth SOMETHING, there will be a whole group of douchebags who try to take advantage of the situation. Because no mainstream hobby news source or any company has taken any steps to educate the public on what is going on, it is as easy as throwing a touchdown pass against the Vikings pass defense.
I was searching eBay today, and I couldnt help but laugh at some of the ways that people have chosen to scam others. This Tom Brady Printing Plate is one of the funniest fakes I saw. Not only is the sticker fake, but it is so utterly ridiculous that maybe education wouldnt even help the collector that falls for one as obvious as this.
This batch of fake stickers is from the people who take the giveaway cards that Topps did for their anniversary set back in 2004 or 2005, and try to turn them into “rare inscription autos” that were “inserted” into the giveaway packs. Not even close to the truth as no cards exist. That’s why this sticker says “happy 50th Topps” even though the card is from 2007. Secondly, there were no autographed printing plates in 2007 Topps, all were just inserted into the packs. Of course, this discussion would only be necessary if the autograph even looked remotely real.
Basically, its going to take people realizing that not all is what it seems in this hobby, and that for every real auto on eBay there are as many fakes as well. I mean, how else could a fake as obvious as this sell for even the cost of the unsigned football?
I think it’s just that there are some ignorant people in the hobby. I remember when I was a 17 year old kid I came in to some money, and I got ripped off from that dickhead ken golden at shopathome. He got around 430 bucks off me, and all I have is an autoed Miguel Cabrera rc worth 30 bucks. Now I’m 26, and I laugh at the fake shit I see on ebay. That idiot that bought that Brady ball got fucked hard, but I guess sometimes in life the best way to learn is the hard way.
I agree that some maistream news source could help, but with Ebay you have to be real lazy to get ripped off. I mean look at the best tool: sellers other transactions. If he just looked that that pricked sold a Manning/Brady ball for 74 bucks he would’ve saved his 140. I love that you keep us abreast of all the fakes in the hobby, I guess Beckett could make a difference instead of just licking Paninis ass.
That football can’t be fake because he took 4 pictures of it (sarcasm)! Of course none of them are of the “numbered hologram”, but that is beside the point, right?