Posted By:
Al CrisafulliI just saw this thread, and I'm laughing.
I'm the seller on this auction. There's actually a story behind it, as Will says.
I recently completed this 1943 MP & Co (actually Michael Pressner, and not Michael Pressman as I mistakenly state in my listings) set. So last week I wanted to toss the dupes I've accumulated in my Ebay store. Anyone familiar with this set knows that the single cards were hand-cut from strips, and so they're usually pretty well beat-up.
Unfortunately the Cronin was such a mess that when I removed it from the scanner bed, the front of the card literally fell right off the back!
So now, with a worthless card, I get the idea to put together a joke listing that basically lampoons all the auctions out there from fraudulent sellers trying to pawn off reprints as real. They use stupid headlines like "W@W!" and "L@@K!", and then they tell ridiculous stories about how they got the card, and why they're selling it. The card always came from behind a wall, or is being sold by someone because they need money to cover medical bills. They sell a fake T206 Wagner, but "don't have time" to get it graded, but claim to have had it authenticated by a local dealer. So I decided to try and make up one long story that used every Ebay auction cliche' that I could think of.
Every one of the components of my auction description I read in someone else's auction - even the thing about the "smell test."
I told a few of my friends about the listing, and they started hammering me with goofy questions. None of the questions were planted by me; they're all questions that came from actual people. At this point, it's ballooned a bit.
Like Will says, people are playing chicken with the bids, I suppose to see who gets stuck with the card at the end of the auction.
Meanwhile, I'm having a blast with it. Particularly because a few people have asked me legitimate questions about the card, or written to warn me that the card is not really worth $10K like I was told. I've responded to all the serious questions privately, and not posted the questions so as not to embarrass any bidders.
-Al