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Posted By: Ryan Christoff

There have been a number of fake photos of Josh Gibson and other Negro Leaguers on ebay over the past few months that being bid on by knowledgeable people I know and respect. I'm baffled that these people are being taken because these are not novices. I'm talking about long-time collectors and even well-respected experts.

The seller's name is "read-all-about-it" and he's been making a killing with this scam lately. If the seller would like to come here to dispute what I am saying, I would encourage him to do so, but I promise it will not go the way he hopes.

I'm not trying to embarrass anyone or make them feel bad and I'm not going to "out" any of the winning bidders. I just know that some of them read this board and might like to know that what they bought was a modern reproduction, in spite of the seller's claim to the contrary. Perhaps some of the bidders knew that and simply wanted a copy of the image, but $300 seems like a lot for a copy.

The seller's story about the photos belonging to a black gentleman that passed away in the 1960's whose estate was sold a few years ago is also bogus. I don't rule out the possibility that the seller was told this story when they bought the photos and maybe believed it themselves, but it seems much more likely that they are more directly involved in the scam. After all, it's up to them to do their homework on what their selling lest they unknowingly wind up ripping a bunch of people off by selling fakes they assumed were real.

In the descriptions are all the tell-tale signs of a classic ebay scam:

- "I am not sure what these pictures are"
- sold "AS IS"
- came from old guy (surprisingly not their grandfather's) estate. No, they don't know his name, so don't ask for provenance.

What's great about this scam is that they even acknowledge in their description that they have repeats of some of the photos. This sets it up perfectly if they are asked how they could have sold the same rare Josh Gibson photo 3 months ago. How, you ask? Well, it's right there in the description! Repeats, of course! Because most Negro League collectors in the 1960's (there was no such thing, by the way) would have had 3 copies of the same photo. Yes, I'm sure this was all quite normal.

Or......

Maybe these are all photos that have been published in books at one time or another and the seller has made copies directly out of these books, magically aged them by developing them on old-stock photo paper, browning them a bit, scuffing them up, adding a tiny tear here and there, and then brilliantly listing them on ebay with a great story about their grandfather's attic...oops, I mean black guy's estate from the 1960's.

There is one photo in particular that blows their cover because I know the EXACT history the original, and it is a one-of-a-kind photo. If they choose to come here and justify the crap their selling, I'll reveal the gory details.

Until then, I suggest they stop ripping off my friends.

-Ryan