Are these fakes too good?

[jason.1969]

While shopping for a 1936 Diamond Stars Rogers Hornsby, I came across this site, featuring 52 Topps Mantle, 33 Goudey Ruth, and dozens of other top cards--all fake:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/julianmayle

I'm not at all an expert in judging fakes, but it was still scary to me to see cards that looked this real, including artificial aging.

It bothered me that the name of the store front was "Vintage Cards" even though every single card for sale was a counterfeit. And it bothered me even more that the cards didn't include a "reprint" stamp (or alternatively, excluded the Topps copyright) to protect future buyers in the secondary market.

The Hornsby itself looked like the corner wear was a little to even to be credible, but some of the "newer" cards like the 1957 Mantle looked really legit to me.

I'm curious if pros like you are able to tell these cards are all fakes just by looking. I will feel better if the answer is yes! And separately, I'm surprised that making and selling such cards is even legal--is it that the copyrights are all so old as to have expired?

Fake Hornsby front.jpgFake Hornsby back.jpg

fake mantle front.jpgfake mantle back.jpg

[Zach Wheat]

Frankly the colors on most of them just don't look quite right. They are "off" from the originals. I am most familiar with the Mantles...and would be wary at first glance. However, some of the fakes are pretty well done.

One of the tell tale giveaways to a fake card that has been aged is almost always the brown coloring on the edges of the card that sometimes bleeds to the top of the card. I know this has been attributed to the compound that makes the cards looked 'aged" - which soaks in more on the edges than the top or bottom.

Z Wheat

[iwantitiwinit]

The Mantle clearly looks fake, what sticks out most is the borders are too wide.

[steve B]

Originally Posted by iwantitiwinit

The Mantle clearly looks fake, what sticks out most is the borders are too wide.

And too big.