Real Cobb?
 

I just bought this on EBAY. I assume I don't really have any risk due to the authenticity guarantee, but something looks a little off - I think it's the big border at the bottom - maybe just the blurry photo. Anybody else have any thought on it's authenticity?

Here's the Back
 

Picture

Looks like it may have been soaked in a liquid (coffee or tea or something) to artificially age it. Will be interesting to see what CSG thinks.

Beyond fake.

Guarantee
 

Anybody know what happens if CSG says it is authentic, I send it to SGC or PSA for grading and they say it isn't. Presumably EBAY (or CSG?) stands behind the guarantee?

Surely if it's not authentic they will easily catch it with card in hand?

If they miss that one they should close the doors and turn out the lights. It is quite obviously not real.

What specifically makes you think it is beyond fake?

Something looks off to me, but I can't put my finger on it.

I wouldn't have bought it without the guarantee.

I'm near certain I can determine authenticity when I have the card in hand, but not as much from just a picture.

Besides the fake aging, a main giveaway is his that all of the letters in the word "DETROIT" appear to be the same size. The "D" should be taller than the other letters. But maybe I am just not seeing your picture correctly. Maybe the "D" is slightly bigger in your picture too.

I think the Red Cobb comes in Piedmont 350 and not 150. The Green Cobb comes in 150: https://www.t206resource.com/Piedmon...Checklist.html

The seller is mysterium009. It is possible (but extremely unlike) he didn't know it was fake. But he should have done some due diligence before selling it anyway (in the off chance he didn't know it was fake).

The attempts to artificially age this card were done by a complete amateur.

Artificially rounded corners, bubble creases, and the most glaring issue to me -- a Piedmont 150 reverse.

There are many signs that we don't like to give away because it helps the fraudsters. But I will give you the glaringly obvious one, the "black dot".

The sellers of most fake etsy cobbs use the same scan and it is well known. All their back versions have it.

Here is a link to buy as many of that card as you want and there are a zillion other sellers on all platforms. -

https://www.etsy.com/listing/2461089...FBQUFBR1JlU2U4

White peaking through on bottom corner/edges, weird wrinkling all over the back, extra “burnt” edges on the front…

This is a real bad fake

130point shows that you purchased this card for $1200. Just looking at the sellers description on how the card was given to them and they cannot confirm authenticity is another red flag. I agree with everyone else here. This is a very obvious fake, one with the black dot on the back, but the wrinkling/cracking is not natural. There are ways for sellers to get around the authenticity guarantee but I dont think this listing has any of those keywords, however Im not sure. Either way, the seller has listed the card as "original" and not as a reprint so getting your money back should be easy.

Thanks
 

I appreciate all the feedback. I should know better - and I did at least subconsciously. So the Red Cobb doesn't even come in a 150 series - duly noted. Never been a back guy so I don't pay that much attention to which fronts come on which backs. But for 1200 for a Cobb I need with an authenticity guarantee, why not take a flier.

As far as I know I have not been duped yet (Except this one I guess), but I primarily buy from trusted sellers or auction houses, and any higher valued cards are usually graded. I have a blacklight and a loupe that I verify with when I get cards.

I will follow up once I hear back from authenticators.

FAKE AS BALLS. Red Cobbs do not come in series 150 backs

People, please stop buying raw cards on ebay, especially when you dont know what you are buying (like a Red Cobb that does not come in a 150 back)!!!! It never comes out good. Cancel the thing ASAP

I actually reported this item to eBay as a counterfeit, hoping they would pull the listing before somebody pulled the trigger on it, but alas.

I messaged the seller and told him to stop selling fake cards. I guess he thought I was the buyer, as his response was "New message from: mysterium009 (161TURQUOISE_STAR Star)
Sorry I’m not familiar with baseball cards, and it was given to me… I will cancel the transaction for you…"

I would strongly recommend taking him up on this offer, in the chance it doesn't go through authentication.

Ebay
 

I contacted the seller and they cancelled it immediately. Unfortunately now we don't get to see how it fared through authentication.

Please don't take this the wrong way. But why did you not come here first and ask the experts before you dropped the coin on this card?

Maybe you did not want competition, ok, I get that. But you can always PM someone and ask them. I think you would get an honest reply and save you the headaches too.

JMHO.

Regards,

Butch Turner

Cobb
 

I 100% would not have done it absent the guarantee. I knew something didn't look right, but couldn't quite place it. No excuse on my part for not knowing that red Cobb's don't come in 150 series (except the backs don't matter much to me). Other issues could have been due to poor photography, weird aging, etc. The exact same version of these cards will present considerably different to me depending on what they were exposed to -lots of stuff can happen over 110+ years. I felt like I had zero risk for the potential of getting a Cobb for less than half of what I anticipated. I guess the real risk was/is how good are the authenticators and how good is Ebay's guarantee?

I have been collecting these cards for 30 years, so I am not a total rube (no offense to Marquard, Waddell or Manning). I fully relied on the authenticity guarantee from Ebay, and the price was too good to pass up, just in case it was real.

For the most part I have collected low grade (A to 2) cards with common backs, so I haven't really had to be real vigilant about fakes(I do hit em with a black light when I get them). Of the higher dollar cards I have bought they have come from auctions or very high quality sellers and are generally graded. My Green cobb is raw but it came from Probstein. All my Mattys and Youngs came from auction houses as did my Cobb bat on and they are all graded. My Demmitt & O'Hara StL came from BST here.

In hand to me a fake is pretty obvious - not so much from pictures, so live and learn.

That's what the forger/seller wanted you to think. Funny how so many terrible fakes are sold with terrible photography. If you were selling an expensive item that you actually thought was real, wouldn't you make certain you offered better photos/scans than this, or ask someone for help if you were unable to do it nicely yourself?


Again, that's what the seller/forger wants you to think. While deals can be had on the rarest of occasions, poor photography combined with the verbiage in the listing should have been enough to scare you away. Unfortunately, if you can't spot such an elementary fake (let alone the 150 back), please don't roll the dice until you learn a lot more. I don't mean to be harsh in saying this and I don't want you to think any of this is said with an air of condescension. I just want you not to waste your time, even if you felt that your money was secure due to the eBay guarantee. I mean, it's your money and life, but enough occasions like this can tend to dampen even the most enthusiastic collector, and we don't want that to happen to you!

This is one of the worst forgeries I have ever seen. Ray Charles would have failed this thing.

.

Cory, I meant no offense if my post prompted at least some of your last post.

I guess I am just getting so sick of people getting scammed when its clearly a scam and/or they are buying (or asking about) clearly bad cards, sellers, etc. It’s really not hard to spot a rat (using your head or gut) and this site is a massive resource available to help.

General rules:
1. Do not buy raw stuff on ebay unless you are 100% sure
2. Do not buy anything from anyone on BST if they have not contacted you by PM (rather than email) and if they seem off
3. Never buy from anyone, on any media, that has no history -- zero feedback on ebay or zero posts and/or just joined here on net54 (cant speak to Facebook, etc but I expect the same would apply)
4. Go with your gut. If its seems wrong, it is almost certainly wrong. Pass and go for something that seems right

No offense taken
 

Was this a trick to keep an idiot in suspense, because I'm waiting -

General rules:
1.

I will tell you all that I am a skeptic at heart - about nearly everything. And I was skeptical of this card, BUT I relied on the Ebay guarantee - even though the deal looked too good to be true - but I'm like Jim Carey in Dumb & Dumber - "So you're telling me there's a chance" .

Does anyone know how good the guarantee actually is?

Probably getting a little desperate at this point, too - 5 away from 520 - Red Cobb, Cobb bat off, WaJo port, Young port, and Molesworth.

The eBay guarantee is great. We had a member that used it regularly when buying extremely obviously bad items. Then complained about the sellers being scammers. It was fun to read.

I am glad you were able to back out of the transaction. Good luck in your quest, the finish line is certainly in sight for you.

Cheers,

Butch

Legit
 

Looks legit to me...Jerry

We have two low grade Red Cobbs in our upcoming auction that starts Wednesday. Pretty sure a guy or two here might vouch for me. :D Good luck!

I have never met him :cool: ..........BUT, he runs a great auction. :D

Cheers