"Bleached" Diamond Stars & Goudeys

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Posted By: ccmcnutt

Over the past couple years, I have purchased about a dozen Diamond Stars and Goudeys on eBay from one of the more regular vendors of these cards. They average vg-ex and in every way look like the real thing except that they smell like bleach! That unmistakable mildew smell that all my other vintage cards have is simply not there. A few have either minor stains or minor back damage (glue residue from a scrapbook?) and the white on the back seems unusually bright. Yet, I have seen many reprints over the years and most of them jump out at me. These cards appear legit in every other possible way. Is bleach used in the process of removing cards from another backing? Does anybody out there have any feedback?

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Posted By: Elliot

Do you have a scan that you can show us?, but I'm pretty sure you already know the answer from the way you have phrased it. Your cards are original but they are ungradeable as they have been bleached. A black light would answer your concerns.

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Posted By: ccmcnutt

Thanks for the feedback. I've added scans of the front and back of a '33 Goudey Guy Bush. I'm just a collector and not a dealer, so I'm not too worried about grading them. As long as I can determine if they are real, I'll probably pick up a few more. The dealer seems to have quite a supply (he's still selling them on eBay after two years; perhaps others are scared off by them) and the price is right compared to what else is out there. My collection has big aspirations and a limited budget, so I am content to own great cards with minor flaws.

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Posted By: Elliot

Looks original to me/

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Posted By: Julie

years????

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Posted By: jay behrens

Julie, you should get a whiff og Sports King Thorpe card. I have bad sinuses and cannot smell much, but I can smell this card. Good thing I can only smell it when I takeit out of its holder. Smells like a musty old book that has sat in the attic for decades.

Jay

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Posted By: Celestial Nightmares?

http://cgi6.msn.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewSellersOtherItems&userid=celestial-dreams&include=0&since=-1&sort=3&rows=50

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Posted By: Jon Canfield

Bleached - maybe... but it looks like the bigger problem is that they are fake.

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Posted By: warshawlaw

It really depends on how they have been stored and where they are from. Mildew is a function of moisture activating mold spores. As a sdweller of the desert southwest, I rarely encounter cards that are exposed to sufficient moisture to trigger a mildew bloom. I could not get over the "musty" smell so many places in Cleveland had; strictly a function of moisture and molds.

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Posted By: Rich McG

What is the give away that these are fake? He clearly is selling a ton of them and has in the past. He states "Cards are authentic, untrimmed, unaltered, and to have no bends or creases unless otherwise noted above."

Just trying to educate myself beyond the 'never buy anything that is not graded'.


Rich

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Posted By: Elliot

For one, the coloring is just off. I think this is easiest to see on the
"Red" Ruth (#149)....just compare the red color and the blue color in the cap to a real one and it should be pretty obvious. In addition to being reprints, some of these also look like they are trimmed.

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Posted By: Jon Canfield

Also, if you look at the corners, they seem (to me at least) to have weird looking bends. I have not know Goudey's to ripple like that.. they seems to fray, not turn and bend... if that makes sense.

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Posted By: Elliot

I just checked some of this seller's past auctions. If you check the link http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=31722&item=5108275536 you will see that he/she has clearly refined their sales technique to garner more dollars for their reprints. Doesn't it strike anybody else as odd that they have multiple Gehrigs/Ruths. Let's see....I'm a novice vintage card collector (from my feedback) at best, but i have a dozen Gehrigs and Ruths just lying about. Checking a person's past item history should be a part of the novice tips.

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Posted By: Dennis

The Gehrig card Elliot points out is obviously a reprint that has been weakly "aged". The creases are limited to the perimeter of the card and "bulge" too much. It's just so fake that any trained eye will detect it immediately. This evidence is more than enough to raise an eyebrow to any other cards this seller attempts to sell, especially if something is awry (i.e. it smells like bleach). If you are uncertain and/or a novice, eventually you must trust someone. The posters on this board are great allies.

Always check a sellers previous sales and "if it don't feel right it probably ain't right". BTW, the seller of the Gehrig card can't even spell "Gehrig", as they mispelled it at least twice in their ad even though the card has the correct spelling right on the back. Buy from someone else.

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Posted By: BOTN

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Posted By: Dennis

bearer of bad news. They're all reprints and worth very little.