ALERT: NEW EBAY SCAM

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Posted By: Art Martineau 

ALERT: NEW EBAY SCAM

I have not posted on this new bulletin board, but felt this was very important to my fellow Ebay bidders and vintage collectors.

Recently a relatively new Ebay seller appeared. This seller has 2 different seller ID's:

att2706@altavista.com
tootemcon@altavista.com

Several of the recent auctions featured some very nice "T" cards, including a T207, T206, and T205.
All of the auctions have the same description, stating the cards are reprints and "remember to collect for the enjoyment of the hobby."
Well, upon further examination of the scans, some of the cards pictured are Dover reprints, but all of the "T" cards pictured are REAL!

Last week the seller sold a T207 Bauman, Detroit card. The card pictured was real:

http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1058210143

Last nite, I was the winning bidder on a T206 Butler, Rochester. The card pictured was real:

http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1060675910

Also last nite was an auction for a T205 Barger. The card pictured was real:

http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1060683453

After winning my auction for the T206 Butler ($10), I emailed the seller and received the mailing address. It was a P.O. Box, which seemed odd to me. I also inquired if the seller might have some other "baseball cigarette" cards available. He responded with a link to another current Ebay auction for a T205 Mathewson (The card pictured is REAL):

http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1061379182

Well, after thinking about this, I decided to investigate. It seemed very odd that the seller would have just one T205, one T206, and one T207. And they all were players whose last name began with "B". Since the T206 Butler I won was pretty distinctive in the printing process (the green stage is just offset enough to show some of the blue stage underneath at the shoulder and neck), I checked out the scans of the Burdick collection at the Library of Congress online:

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/bbhtml/bbcardsSets1.html

Well, its the EXACT same card.

So, then I went to the T207 Bauman at the Library of Congress:

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/bbhtml/bbcardsSets1.html

The EXACT same card, even with the "B" in pencil on the back!!

Beginning to see a disturbing trend.

I have sent a copy of this to Ebay and also contacted Scott Brockelman who purchased the T207 Bauman last week.
If anyone knows any current bidders on the T205 Mathewson auction, please advise them that this is a scam.

I will keep this bulletin board posted on Ebays response and actions.
Art Martineau