Unbelievable (?) Buy at Athens Flea Market

[bobbyw8469]

Originally Posted by yanks87

Any time that you see a Leaf card with true white in the name that doesn't match the border, it is the sure sign of a fake. What cracks me up is that we used to "age" reprints when I was a kid, took a lot of pride in it, and I think some of those might be better than the ones in the pictures.

That said, fakes are getting REALLY good now. I took a flyer on a Ramly that I found at an antique shop and it is 100% fake. My spidey-sense was screaming that the T204 and a Sports King were both fake based on the stock and weight, but for $20 a piece I thought I would take a flyer. As soon as I got home and took another look at them I realized that I had burned $40. Bring a loop, go with your gut. If it looks like a duck, and walks like a duck...

I've gotten real good at spotting fake Sports Kings as that was the first set I completed. I got to know what to look for as far as the real ones.

[yanks87]

Originally Posted by bobbyw8469

I've gotten real good at spotting fake Sports Kings as that was the first set I completed. I got to know what to look for as far as the real ones.

I should have phoned the board for a consult. Instead I am out $20 and feel dirty for getting duped on them.

[Gorditadogg]

$500 for reprints of 100 of the top all time baseball cards is not really a bad deal though. Most of those cards, you are never going to have a chance to get the real thing.

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[4815162342]

Originally Posted by Gorditadogg

$500 for reprints of 100 of the top all time baseball cards is not really a bad deal though. Most of those cards, you are never going to have a chance to get the real thing.

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I’m sure the OP’s buddy will gladly sell them to you.

[bmattioli]

Known counterfeit/fake cards should be destroyed so the next " Flea Market buyer" is not taken.. There are so many new collectors at the random Fleas that are just not too knowledgeable about Vintage cards..

[RICHIEHARRIS]

edited as I don't know what I am doing....signed - me

[JollyElm]

No longer pertinent. And now we return you to your regularly scheduled thread....

[TAFKADixie]

Originally Posted by bmattioli

Known counterfeit/fake cards should be destroyed so the next " Flea Market buyer" is not taken.. There are so many new collectors at the random Fleas that are just not too knowledgeable about Vintage cards..

That's exactly what I'm asking him to do. Just chalk it up to lesson learned.

[joshleon]

The Ty Cobb back is real. The rest are fake.

What a shame

[Exhibitman]

In many years of hitting every flea market, antique fair, swap meet, paper fair, postcard show, etc., I've found exactly four prewar baseball cards, two T206 and two Pinkerton scorecards. One T206 was at the bottom of a box of other stuff, so the seller and I did not even know it was there. The other one, the seller knew generally what it was and priced it accordingly but it was priced as a Piedmont back when it was an Old Mill, so I bought it for my collection. The Pinkertons were at my very first paper fair, about 15 years ago, and they were priced at 10% of market. Other than that, nada. Lots of laughable fakes, though.

[bryun]

I would saunter back by their booth in the near future and see if they have any more "treasures" for sale... If so... bet they are some of the same ones...

[irv]

I got taken for these umpteen years ago. Thankfully I only paid a couple bucks each for them.

[JustinD]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

In many years of hitting every flea market, antique fair, swap meet, paper fair, postcard show, etc., I've found exactly four prewar baseball cards, two T206 and two Pinkerton scorecards. One T206 was at the bottom of a box of other stuff, so the seller and I did not even know it was there. The other one, the seller knew generally what it was and priced it accordingly but it was priced as a Piedmont back when it was an Old Mill, so I bought it for my collection. The Pinkertons were at my very first paper fair, about 15 years ago, and they were priced at 10% of market. Other than that, nada. Lots of laughable fakes, though.

I love to walk fleas and antique shows whenever possible and completely agree, baseball items are impossible at less than double the value in most circumstances. I’ve found several things at outlandish prices, I pass 99% of the time. I actually have done well in other sports at times and vintage non sport items. One of my better days was asking vendors if they had any vintage sports items.

One vendor said that he had bought a large autograph collection but didn’t know a lot about them and slid out a large box. I was with my son and I just poked around the papers. I am not fantastic on autographs but just better than a hack, lol. I look at everything side-eyed and use clues.

Maybe just 4 minutes into the box I pulled out a perfect Lincoln Mercury Jesse Owens 5”x8” piece signed beautifully in the sweet spot and no personalization. I knew that piece well because it was on my want list. There was no doubt it was real and I asked for a price to see what I was getting into with this dealer. He looked at it and said twenty bucks in a questioning way. I tampered my excitement and said that was fair and kept digging out winners. Every thing was good in his stuff and I was overjoyed but mad I didn’t bring more cash. I spent the 300 in my pocket and still have most of it 5 years later.