I'll try to make this long story short....just looking for some advice on how to proceed next.
My 12yr old son is a huge baseball fan...and a huge fan of Babe Ruth. And let me say that at the time, I was not up to speed on Ruth autos.
Last October, I purchased a Babe Ruth/Charlie Root cut auto card...a legit 1/1, as a Christmas present. It was the chase card, and featured on the cover of each box (Tri-Star Signa Cut)
Ruth auto 44.jpg
The fact that this was the cover card, and still advertised on the Tri-Star website, I felt that it significantly added to the value of the card, and to the excitement level of my son opening the box with the cover card inside.
After receiving and studying the card in depth, I developed some serious concerns about the authenticity of the Ruth. I contacted Tri-Star with my concerns, and they assured me that it was authentic.
After doing further research I found out that this particular auto (prior to it being inserted into the 1/1 chase card) was featured on the Hauls of Shame website as one of the most suspected forgeries (and I believe the tip was provided by Net54...which is how I originally found this forum). The cut auto itself is known as the "Blarney Stone" Ruth.
After raising all my specific concerns, in addition to the Hauls of Shame posting, I again contacted Tri-Star. This time, they seemed to take me more serious. Although the auto was JSA certed (which was shown on the Haul of Shame website), I was still very skeptical. I told Tri-Star that I would like to send the card to PSA/DNA (at my expense) and if they deemed it authentic, I would be completely satisfied. They said they would look into it a get back to me.
In the meantime, I submitted it to for a "quick opinion" on (2) occasions, and both times it came back as "unable to render".
A short time later, I received a call back from Tri-Star saying that they would be happy to issue me a replacement card, saying that they wanted to get this Blarney Stone card "off the market" and to alleviate my concerns.
As asked, I shipped the card back to Tri-Star. A week later, I received a call saying that it would be about (4) months before I received the replacement card. With this being a Xmas gift, I wasn't thrilled with the lengthy delay.
After explaining my displeasure and concern about the quality of the replacement auto, they agreed to send me photos of the auto prior to me agreeing to it as a replacement.
Fast forward a few months, I receive a photo of the replacement Ruth auto. With the help of Net54 members, this supposed replacement auto was an exact match to an auto featured on an collector's forum website as a forged Ruth auto.
babe-ruth-side-by-side-comparison.jpg And on this website, the collector's unanimously agreed this to be a forgery.
I ended up telling Tri-Star the same thing: If both JSA and PSA sign off on this auto (at my expense) then I'm happy with it. They indicated that they would replace it with a different Ruth auto, but they have been extremely slow responding to me.
Sorry for the length, but hoping that someone can point me in the right direction. Bit skeptical about two highly suspicious Ruth autos.
Thanks.