Here's another beauty...

[perezfan]

Well, this one just ended at $480.88 (with 28 Bids). Who here believes the winning bidder has good intentions, and just wanted a Ball that looks authentic (which he could never otherwise afford).

And who thinks this Ball will end up somewhere else (Major Auction, Local Auction, Craig's List, Coach's Corner, Charity Auction?) Sorry... couldn't resist that last one!

Granted, the ebay seller disclosed the fact that it's a replica. But this one is so well executed that I wonder if PSA's Quick Opinion service would pass it. My guess is that you have to examine it in person, to tell that it's bogus...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWAX:IT

[RichardSimon]

Why does ebay allow this to continue?
This is such a dangerous practice,,,
There is certainly a chance that the winner of this (and thanks to ebay, that person remains a secret) will try to pass it off as legit.

--

[Fuddjcal]

wait till I list my fake Mantle on e-bay next week. "Drunken Clubhouse version with Scoreboard COA". Get an authentic Shakey Shantle, very rare drunken clubhouse version replica in mint condition" They have done nothing to stop it and 9 for every ten mantle, dimaggio, and Williams is fake. The GAI Global fake stuff is rampant and idiots think that stuff is real because they are still on their authenication list. They are criminals just like Coaches corner and thay need to be investigated too.

It is sickening, but apparently, it will continue on e-bay because they need the listings.

[henson1855]

Tough to pass off a modern Rawlings 9-11 baseball,as a vintage ball,I personally think the balls this guy does look amazing,you can speculate on the intentions of the buyer but c'mon not everyone is out to ruin the hobby or get over on someone maybe the buyer doesn't have 20k laying around to buy a real one,on the other hand if someone tried to pass this off as authentic it's a rawlings baseball the sigs are stamped not real hard to figure out.I have been searching for an Addie Joss and a Willie Keeler autograph for many years,my problem is not the cost of thes pieces it's the availability,to my knowledge a total of two Joss autographs have surfaced and are now in private collections,Keeler is nearly as scarce,I had this guy do one of each for me on baseballs,they look amazing,and display nice among my authentic baseballs,does that mean I am not a true collector or I am damaging the hobby,hardly,the purist might frown upon this but so what you should be able to buy and collect what you want. I think people who sell reprints and pass them off to people as anything but,are doing great damage to our hobby and we should keep calling them out,just as I am a true believer in buyer beware, a little bit of basic knowledge about what you are buying doesn't hurt either.

[FUBAR]

is this what you call an "Immaculate inscription" ??

Whats next a Ruth auto from the UD Ruth Heroes cards??

[GrayGhost]

Originally Posted by henson1855

Tough to pass off a modern Rawlings 9-11 baseball,as a vintage ball,I personally think the balls this guy does look amazing,you can speculate on the intentions of the buyer but c'mon not everyone is out to ruin the hobby or get over on someone maybe the buyer doesn't have 20k laying around to buy a real one,on the other hand if someone tried to pass this off as authentic it's a rawlings baseball the sigs are stamped not real hard to figure out.I have been searching for an Addie Joss and a Willie Keeler autograph for many years,my problem is not the cost of thes pieces it's the availability,to my knowledge a total of two Joss autographs have surfaced and are now in private collections,Keeler is nearly as scarce,I had this guy do one of each for me on baseballs,they look amazing,and display nice among my authentic baseballs,does that mean I am not a true collector or I am damaging the hobby,hardly,the purist might frown upon this but so what you should be able to buy and collect what you want. I think people who sell reprints and pass them off to people as anything but,are doing great damage to our hobby and we should keep calling them out,just as I am a true believer in buyer beware, a little bit of basic knowledge about what you are buying doesn't hurt either.

But Mike, you are a guy who is a collector, and will not pass the stuff into the hobby. The issue is that many people out there ARE the type to pass it off as real, esp such a convincing item. The type of ball, yeah, but we see a lot of "unknown balls" in the Hobby. Am I too cynical? Maybe, but with all of the negative stuff in the hobby, and in this case, so many bidders for a "replica Ruth", Id say at least some of them who bid had evil intentions.

Id rather wait for a cheap Ruth cut or a lesser condition ball w top shelf authentication like JSA or PSA, than buy that if I was a collector. Again tho, finances are an issue, and availability in your case w Joss and Keeler. Very difficult issue indeed, just means even more vigilance is needed when buying rare and/or expensive signatures.

[RichardSimon]

Mike - here is a quote from the guys ad on ebay:
"Signatures and logos are transferred onto the ball made from original images of Babe Ruth & Lou Gehrig signatures"
Where did he get the original images of Joss and Keeler?
With so few authentic ones around, and more forgeries of them out there than authentic ones, do you know for sure that the baseballs you have are replicas of authentic signatures?
Did you supply him with authentic images?
--

[Scott Garner]

BTW- On the topic of Addie Joss signatures, I have a question for all of the members. Does anyone have what they believe is a legitimate exemplar of Joss's sig? I collect the signatures of ALL pitchers that threw a no-hitter. I was just wondering if anyone could even produce an exemplar as a reference point since the likelihood of owning one is not only cost prohibitive, but in all likelyhood a near impossibility. Thanks!