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Joann1. It's not necessary for someone to identify WHO reprinted something to say it's a reprint. If I get a Mona Lisa for $8 at a starving artists sale, I can pretty much say it's not a DaVinci even though I have no clue who painted the reproduction.
2. Obviously the grading companies use some methods to confirm at least broad ranges of age. But there are also visual cues used to detect alterations and other reasons why old ink and old paper can be combined to make new, but fake, cards.
3. Hall of Fame exhibits generally have pretty good provenance, and no one is trying to sell them for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Also, if the same visual cues were present to suggest that the HOF cards were reprints, that discussion would be the longest thread in the forum. It's not the lack of grading, it's the physical appearance of the card. Lack of grading falls more in the challenge category.
4. One of the posts in the other thread suggested that someone put skinned a real T206, and put the genuine Piedmont back onto a reprint front. You wouldn't be the first person that's happened to. It would explain the correct color easily.
5. The Gretzky PSA 8 Wagner is actually the subject of huge, huge controversy. Do a search in this forum for Bill Heitman, or William Heitman (might be Heitmann?) and check out the thread and the controversy surrounding exactly that card.
6. Personally, I'm with you on this one. Not that I wouldn't let it get graded, but I guarantee if I'm ever in possession of a million dollar piece of paper, it's not leaving my sight without someone handing me a million dollar deposit first. Not sure if that's the true motive here, but I can't debate the logic. I'd think the grading companies would HAVE to have some way to accommodate an owner's natural desire to keep a mega-card in sight.
7. Who cares who printed the originals?
8. I couldn't care less what color you are. If you were white and in this position I wouldn't have a single change in my opinion or stance. I'm not an expert by a long shot. But from the scans posted and the appearance of the font used in the front caption, I wouldn't spend $10 on any such T206 on ebay, no matter what race or creed the seller was.
Just my two cents worth. And I wasn't 100% on the WMD from the start, and now that's just a sad joke.
Joann