[a761506]

I've got a bunch of these fake 72's all in PSA holders... I was initially duped by the fakes, greedy really- often the case when a man is stolen from with him willingly handing over his own money...

The story began with a Yastrzemski, whose condition seemed exceptional, unlike any other card I had ever seen from that set. I submitted it, it was graded PSA 5. The seller now had more listed, and I honestly believed a find of pack fresh 72 stamps had been discovered, which seemed plausible considering other finds I have made over the years. Thinking I had a nice find on my hands, I proceeded to buy up several more of them from a seller in Venezuela, Gilberto Gil (to this day, I do not know whether he was in on it or just an unwitting shill). PSA graded them all - Ryan 3, Kaline 6, Carew 8, Carew IA 5, B. Robinson 5, F. Robinson 5, Killebrew 3, Marichal 3, Concepcion 1, Concepcion IA 2... that's 11 total.

Some time later, a thread surfaced on CU (I believe) claiming the cards were all fakes. My first reaction, in my youth, was to ignorantly talk out my behind. I initially defended the legitimacy of the cards, honestly believing they were real, PSA had graded them, while also thinking, who in their right mind would counterfeit this set, and where would they even find the originals to copy them from? Respectfully, whoever did it, all considering, did a really impressive job and choosing this particular set was a pretty smart decision (based on their criminal intentions). I'm guessing I was one of the leading suckers who paid them off, as I sent them over $3,000 for the 11 cards mentioned, a monster payday for someone in Venezuela who probably invested 40-100 hours into creating the counterfeits (I believe they may have counterfeited every single card in the set, certainly most of them if not all, a smart move for the added credibility it gave when selling off the stars).

I took the cards with me to a National (I don't recall the year), showed them to PSA along with documented prices I paid and requested they buy them back and compensate me for the grading and shipping fees as well. Instead, the cards were returned to me in the holders, PSA claimed they cannot prove or disprove their authenticity (even though I also gave them a couple exemplars of 72 stamps which were clearly authentic and a complete description of exactly every aspect of the cards which proved they were not from the original 72 issue), and I've been stuck with them ever since, as I would never attempt to sell off cards I know to be counterfeits.

Now, I don't know what to do with them, and I do think PSA should be on the hook, for if they wouldn't have graded that first one, I'd certainly not have purchased any of the others.