Is this W554 real?
 

I recently picked up a W554 Lefty Grove on ebay (see the listing here) In discussing W554's with bigfanNY, he suggested that the card is a reprint. As someone new to strip card collecting, I've probably been a muppet. So I thought I'd post some photos to validate the status and hopefully learn from the collective wisdom of Net54 as to why my card is a fake/reprint so that I don't make the same mistake again.

I've uploaded a number of photos of the Lefty Grove including one taken through a jeweller's loupe. I also took a comparable photo of my Douglass McWeeney through a jeweller's loupe to compare against.

Thoughts and opinions are welcome.

Did bigfanNY say why he thought the card was a reprint? I don't recall ever seeing a fake W554 that wasn't completely obvious and from your scans, the card looks good to me. However, i can see where the color looks off on the original Ebay listing. The dot pattern surrounding the signature looks good, the solid signature looks good. The front should feel smooth while the back has a slight texture and a slightly grainy/wavy look. The card stock should be stiff. If you pinch the card at the top or bottom and hold it horizontally, there should be almost no deflection (see additional comment below). Pictured is my Grove for comparison.

One thing to keep a look out for is there are at least 2 versions of the cards. The cards are either sepia or B&W and to varying degrees. In addition, they come with either the name printed at the bottom or not printed at the bottom. Generally, the thought is that the B&W don't have the name and the sepia have the name, however I'm not 100% sure that is always the case. The B&W ones also are on a thinner card stock that will hang down when pinched as described above. Also W554s should not be confused with the Kashin premiums which are completely different and much brighter. And if you want a real challenge, there are also back prints such as the Bonemery and a few different printed in red ink that are quite a bit more difficult to find, especially the red ones.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...de022d0b_b.jpghttps://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...44da3823_b.jpg

Thanks for the info. That's really helpful.

bigfanNY thought that the color of the card stock looked off. That was based on the eBay listing - so maybe it was just bad photos in the listing.

I can confirm that

• the front is smooth and the back has a bit of a texture. I've added a photo of the back.
• The card also has a musty smell that I expect from an old card.
• The card stock is stiff. When I pinch the card there's no deflection.

I'm aware of the B&W/Sepia variations. I made a choice to collect the Sepia W554's with the names printed on the bottom. I just think they display a little better.

I've seen listings for the W554's with the back prints. I don't thik I'm ambitious enough for those. I'll just save my budget to pay for the Ruth and Gehrig cards instead.

I've sold a bunch of these in the last year. Looks fine to me.

I agree from the photos you post it looks much better than the Ebay photos. The white at the bottom of the Ebay photo is not what you would expect with a W554 which is why I said I did not like the card stock. As you can see from handling the Grove the stock is a cream or sepia color. And As I mentioned a Grove will generally sell better than $53 as many Grove fans have this card on their want lists. So the bad photos helped.
J.

+1

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

The condition isn't fantastic but I didn't pay much either. Nice to get a little bit of a bargain.