New to the T206 club with 308 cards no Idea...

[Scott3Boy]

Afternoon All,

I used to collect cards about a decade ago, and had since quite since most the the card shops in my area had dried up.... That was until yesterday! I was minding my buisness looking around on Craigslist and came across this collection.... It was a chance of a lifetime for me and I really didnt know what I was getting into, other then that it was an old guy selling these and the price and images of the cards made me sick to my stomache!! So take a peek and let me know what you guys think. I was thinking about getting them graded, but the cost might kill me! I am not sure that I am ready to get back in the game....

~Scott

List:

Card Name First Name Pose Company Quantity
Arellanes, Boston Amer Frank Throwing - Blue Background Piedmont 9
Bescher, Cincinnati Bob Arms in Air - Yellow Background Sweet Caporal 9
Bradley, Cleveland Bill With Bat - Yellow Background Old Mill 9
Bresnahan, St. Louis Nat’l Roger Portrait - Green Background Piedmont 6
Carrigan, Boston Amer. Bill Throwing - Red Background Piedmont 10
Chase, N.Y. Amer. Hal Throwing Dark Hat Old Mill 8
Chase, N.Y. Amer. Portrait Hal Portrait Blue Background Piedmont (Blue) 1
Clymer, Columbus Bill Waste Up - Blue Background Piedmont 8
Conroy, Washington Wid With Bat - Blue Background Sweet Caporal 1
Devore, New York Nat’l Josh With Bat - Ballpark Background Piedmont 8
Donlin, N.Y. Nat’l Mike With Bat - Yellow Background Old Mill 7
Doolan, Phila. Nat’l Mickey With Bat - Blue Background Old Mill 10
Doyle, N.Y. Nat’l Larry With Bat - Blue Background Old Mill 7
F. Clarke, Pittsburg Fred With Bat - Blue Background Piedmont 9
Fiene, Chicago Amer. Lou Portrait - Orange Background Sovereign 8
Ganzel, Rochester John Catching - Red Background Piedmont (Blue) 1
Griffith, Cincinnati Clark Portrait - Orange Background Sweet Caporal 7
Grimshaw, Toronto Moose Portrait - Orange Background Piedmont 7
Howard, Savannah Ernie Waist Up - Crossed Arms Old Mill 7
Huggins, Cincinnati Miller Hand At Mouth - Yellow Background Sovereign 6
Jennings, Detroit Hughie Portrait - Yellow Background Sovereign 6
Jordan, Brooklyn Tim With Bat - Blue Background Old Mill 7
Konetchy, St. Louis Nat’l Ed Glove Near Ground Sweet Caporal 6
Latham, N.Y. Nat’l Arlie Portrait - Green Background Old Mill 8
Leifield, Pittsburg Lefty With Bat - Yellow Background Piedmont 9
Mathewson, N.Y. Nat’l Christy Pitching - Dark Cap Piedmont 6
McQuillan, Phila. Nat’l George Ball In Hand - Glove in Air Piedmont 9
Merkle, N.Y. Nat’l Fred Portrait - Red Background Piedmont 6
Moriarty, Detroit George Glove Near Ground - Ball Park Background Sweet Caporal 7
Oakes, Cincinnati Rebel Catching Ball Glove in Air - Yellow Background Old Mill 8
Overall, Chicago Nat’l Orval Throwing Ball - Hand Face Level - Ballpark Background Old Mill 7
Ritchey, Boston Nat’l Claude With Bat - Blue Background Old Mill 7
Ritter, Kansas City Lou Bent Over Waiting for Ball - Pink Sky Piedmont 9
Rucker, Brooklyn Nap Throwing - Pink Background Sweet Caporal 9
Schaefer, Detroit Germany Hands on Knees - Yellow Sky Piedmont 10
Snodgrass, N.Y. Nat’l Fred Catching - Blue Background Sovereign 8
Steinfeldt, Chicago Nat’l Harry With Bat - Yellow Background Old Mill 7
Summers, Detroit Ed Throwing - Ballpark Background Sweet Caporal 5
Titus, Phila. Nat’l John Portrait Blue Background Piedmont 6
White, Chicago Amer Doc Portrait - Yellow Background Sweet Caporal 9
Willetts, Detroit Ed (Willett) Pitching - Yellow Background Old Mill 6
Willis, St. Louis Nat’l Vic With Bat - Yellow Background Old Mill 7
Young, Clevelend (Glove) Cy Glove Shows Sweet Caporal (Blue) 1
Young, Clevelend (Portrait) Cy Portrait - Green Background Piedmont 7

308

[Howe’s Hunter]

that there would be multiples of all, especially in the quantity of some of those. Would seem more likely you might end up with 308 cards, and maybe 20 would have one or two dupes. Also all the same back on the dupes?

[ctownboy]

Let's see,

Poor spelling + Craig's List + old man + multiple cards of T206 Hall of Famers = scam?

David

[vintagetoppsguy]

looking around on Craigslist and came across this collection....

If this is a serious post, RUN! And run away fast!

that there would be multiples of all, especially in the quantity of some of those. Would seem more likely you might end up with 308 cards, and maybe 20 would have one or two dupes. Also all the same back on the dupes?

Reprints - that's hilarious!

[Matthew H]

Dude, don't buy that.

[Vintagecatcher]

I'm guessing this poster lives in Ohio.

Patrick

[barrysloate]

Seven Cy Young portraits, every one in pristine condition...and every other card looks pristine too. I don't think so.

[slipk1068]

those borders look awfully white to me. wouls love to see a close up of the players name and team designation

[ChiefBenderForever]

Get them graded by PRO and retire !

[Scott3Boy]

I never expected to be pounced on like this... DAMN.... way to be skeptics!! I am just looking for some help identifying these... I got them yesterday and my wife and I spent HOURS listing and taking photos of them.... Trust me I was praying the Wagner would be in there.... These cards are not it great shape.... I expected a little more respect, even being new here, but you guys treat everyone like this? I have taken scans of these here... I am sorry about the lack of proper grammar and spelling, I am just a little too excited!!

Here is a link to my scans of the Cy Young

http://gallery.me.com/baker.scott#100124&bgcolor=black&view=grid

[milkit1]

when did sweet caporal have blue backs?

[rdixon1208]

I am just looking for some help identifying these...

Reprints

[iggyman]

Scott,

The T206 Cy Young cards are all reprints. Sorry about that..........hopefully you can somehow get your money back.

[ChiefBenderForever]

If you bought those go get your money back asap they are not real.

[vintagetoppsguy]

when did sweet caporal have blue backs?

Beat me to it!

[e107collector]

The scans of the Cy Youngs prove they are all fakes.

Problem #1 - No such thing as a blue back sweet caporal.

Problem #2 - All the Cy Young portraits have the exact same centering on the front & back of the cards.

Red flags all over. I hope you didn't purchase these.

Tony

[Scott3Boy]

I am uploading the rest of the pics... If they are reprints I am not out much... what are the biggest indicators for future ref?

[vintagetoppsguy]

I am uploading the rest of the pics... If they are reprints I am not out much... what are the biggest indicators for future ref?

I saw the rest of your pics. All fakes. Likewise, Sovereigns do not have blue backs either.

I believe your story. I really don't think a scammer is going to take time to scan all those cards, front and back.

[Leon]

I absolutely believe the original poster was just posting to show his great find. Unfortunately, they are all fakes. Forget that they were on Craigslist (ok, so that is about 99.9% proof enough...but there was still a .01% chance they were real)....and see the explanations why they are not real. Some of them are just wrong color, some are obvious (well, up close all will be obvious) and some might actually look real but won't be. The paper will be wrong, the printing will be wrong, the feel will be wrong....and so forth. best regards

[Matthew H]

Don't take the comments posted personally. Every one here is just a little burnt out on all the fraud plaguing the hobby. Stick around and I promise you'll find friends here.

BTW, it is a great time to get back into the hobby. You will find a lot of great deals out there in this buyers market. I'd just advise against craigslist.

[ctownboy]

Just from the first pictures posted in this thread, I was suspicious.

The Cy Young cards in the sleeves looked thin and wavy. Taking into account these cards were ALL of the SAME players with the SAME backs, plus the thin, wavy stock AND Craig's List plus "old man selling these" story, my guess is these were cut out of a book. Something like a Scholastic elementary school book about old baseball cards.

So, no matter HOW much you paid for them, take the cards back to the seller, demand a refund and then report this person to Craig's List and the local police department. Fakes are fakes and every time a seller gets away with profiting from selling them, it just makes them want to try it again.

Thus, every time a new person to the hobby gets burned, it means one less possible collector in the future and it means REAL cards are devalued because no one wants to take a chance on buying them, even IF they are real.

David

[Scott3Boy]

Thanks for all the insight guys! I figured this would be the place to ask. I was really curious about the tobacco or funky musky smell they have... So I guess if they are reprints, does anyone track where "official" reprints are made? Like Scholastics that were mentioned... The old guy was on oxygen and had the nice no smoking sign on his door... he claimed that he was given this from is mother... He seemed kinda "slow" too... So I assume he got the better of me... Would anyone recommend that I even have any of these physically checked? The Cy Young with the Blue back threw my wife and I too as we couldn't find one for the life of us, but we did see comments were new backs were still being discovered so I was optimistic! Thanks again!

[barrysloate]

I wouldn't put any more time into this project except to get your money back.

And no new T206 backs have ever been found. What have been found are new front/back combinations.

[chaddurbin]

don't bother wasting anymore bandwith uploading these pics.

i have to commend you taking this so well...the cost of 309 cards with multiple youngs/mattys and spending hours taking pics and uploading only to find out they're fake. i would've ran back and traded the fakes for the oxygen tank.

edit: A+ on the worn and aged notebook cover...

[iggyman]

Tracking reprints is next to impossible (you can thank Al Gore and his invention of the personal color printer). Every Tom, Dick, and Potter can create their own reprints (albeit, most can easily be detected). With that said, the reprints you have are easy to spot because of the font used on the front and the color of the text (should be brown as opposed to black). Of course, the back sides are also a dead give-way.....oh, and the glare (T206's are usually not shinny).

The best defense for a new collector like yourself is a black light. I would learn how to use one before purchasing any more cards on Craiglist. Hang in there and chalk this one up as a lesson learned. Although, if I were you, I would really really really try to get the money back (just a hunch, but without recovery of the funds, I don't think your wife will let you make anymore purchases :eek:).

Lovely Day...

[Scott3Boy]

Well it is official. My too good to be true deal is toast... I got home broke out the cards and took a big sniff of them and they have been soaked in coffee!!! Aged to fakeness.... I only paid $125 for the album and took the chance... And looking back on it the guy that was selling them never claimed that they were original. Lesson learned... So to destroy or sell as reprints? I am thinking of getting a stamp that says "duplicate" or "reprint" to stamp on the back before I do. I am sure as it seems you guys HATE fakes as do I now! But someone might enjoy these for some reason I guess... I wanna make sure no one gets duped on these again... Thanks for all you help guys and best of luck in your collections!

[Kawika]

Welcome to the Hobby. It's a dark and dirty place. Have fun but be careful.

Juan Hunose.

[iggyman]

Welcome to the Hobby. It's a dark and dirty place. Have fun but be careful.

Juan Hunose.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2QApwtE8zQ

Lovely Day...

[egbeachley]

What's the world coming to when you can't even get away with paying $125 to an old "slow" man on oxygen for cards thought to be worth $50,000.

[Orioles1954]

Interestingly, I bought a group of (12) real, bona fide T206 cards from a lady on Craigslist who found them in her attic. It does happen. Just not often though.

[Vintagecatcher]

Don't worry about the old man. The story was bullsh!t from start to finish.

Reminds me of the old saying, " Don't pee on me, and tell me it's raining."

Patrick

[scottglevy]

First,

I happen to believe your story entirely. And in the long-run $125 is not a lot of money to lose on a scam --- I've certainly gotten burnt worse than that.

There's no need to destroy reprints....in fact, if you're looking to build a set, they can be neat placeholders until you get the 'real thing'. You could either stamp them as reprints or if not, just mention them as reprints in any sale you make...if disclosed, there's nothing wrong with selling a reprinted card.

When I first got really into the hobby, I started with a bunch of lower grade, raw (unslabbed) T206 cards. These don't have to cost a lot of money ... you can probably find 10 sorta beat up cards for around $80-$100. Buy them, look at them closely, study their color and typography, feel their texture, sniff them, look at the way that the edges and borders are cut, measure them..... just really understand what they are.

After you have thoroughly studied them ... compare them against your reprints. Notice the difference in paper stock, gloss, etc. The reprints will probably have black names on the bottom ... the real cards will be a dark brown and the typeface will likely differ.....subtleties like that enable you to learn for the next time.

Best,
Scott

[dstraate]

Interestingly, I bought a group of (12) real, bona fide T206 cards from a lady on Craigslist who found them in her attic. It does happen. Just not often though.

I hope she didn't have a slow husband with a respirator