E100s on the bay

[Leon]

I don't usually out ongoing auctions on ebay but some of these from this seller concern me. The graded E100s look fine. The ungraded ones not so much. I emailed the seller telling them that the type 2s don't come in blue and they didn't respond to me (from several days ago). I would be careful bidding on the ungraded ones.....(actually, I wouldn't bid on them). They look really fuzzy from the scans and not like the graded ones.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/m.html?_odkw...at=0&_from=R40



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[MMarvelli]

The two cards the seller lists as Type 2 are actually Type 1. The blue Thomas couldnt be a Type 2 due to color, as Leon points out, it is also a Type 1 crop. The Burrell is a Type 1 crop as well.

The graded cards are fairly in focus and well lit. The raw cards are very fuzzy and tightly over-cropped. The Zeenuts are barely visible due to lack of light and poor focus. Some might be legit, but not presented in a fashion that maximizes confidence, or maximizes bidding/prices for the seller.

Hard to be confident buying the first ever Type 2 blue background and uncatalogued Thomas with a fuzzy focused cropped scan.

Feedback for seller, from a reputable ebay seller, sez TRADE WITH CONFIDENCE. FAST PAYMENT, GOOD COMMUNICATION. HIGHLY RECOMMEND. I would take that to be a reference to this seller being a buyer, rather than a seller.

As always, when in doubt, I prefer to touch it and smell it before I purchase it.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by MMarvelli

As always, when in doubt, I prefer to touch it and smell it before I purchase it.

Words to live by.

[ethicsprof]

I'm really grateful that you 'outed' this one. I don't usually peruse ebay.
I've been needing an e100 for ages and was pleased to pick up
the red steen graded for a great price.
many thanks.
since the seller had a number of graded e100s as well as the ungraded ones in question, it was difficult to decide about the ungraded ones. And as mentioned earlier, the seller did have great comments from David and
100% positive feedback.
still, I'm happy for the graded one that I won.

best,
barry

[shammus]

I think that there's still a decent chance all those ungraded cards are legit despite the bad scans, but that doesn't explain why the graded cards had good scans and the ungraded ones were blurry.

I did notice that he had some really beat zeenuts as well with blurry scans. Those are maybe 20-30 in value in that condition...not really worth the effort to create a reprint of something so invaluable. So the ungraded cards had bad scans consistently at least.

He also has nearly 3000 feedback and a 14 day return policy so those are both good signs too. Perhaps he's just guilty of not knowing the difference between a type 1 and type 2?

[Leon]

Originally Posted by shammus

I think that there's still a decent chance all those ungraded cards are legit despite the bad scans, but that doesn't explain why the graded cards had good scans and the ungraded ones were blurry.

I did notice that he had some really beat zeenuts as well with blurry scans. Those are maybe 20-30 in value in that condition...not really worth the effort to create a reprint of something so invaluable. So the ungraded cards had bad scans consistently at least.

He also has nearly 3000 feedback and a 14 day return policy so those are both good signs too. Perhaps he's just guilty of not knowing the difference between a type 1 and type 2?

I agree they looked sort of good but really blurry. I am not saying he was doing anything dishonest but I still wonder why he had a blue one listed as a type 2 and only the fake looking ones weren't graded? Two important questions. Not to mention he never answered my legitimate question either. But the return policy is good......so who knows?

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

It comes back to smell.

[auggiedoggy]

Originally Posted by I Only Smoke 4 the Cards

It comes back to smell.

[shammus]

The Burrell is sort of interesting. No, it's not a Type 2 since a Type 2 would be facing the opposite direction that the Type 1s do. But it is a blank back (unless skinned), which IS a characteristic of Type 2 e100s. Type 1s only come with a checklist back.

I put a few low bids in on type 1s but didn't win any. The scans do look fuzzy, I agree. But it could also be a case of a bad scanner. Looks like the same individual won most of the cards though...

[dstudeba]

Just to clarify what Brian said above since it is a little misleading. The two Thomas and the Burrell are not type 2s simply both because of the wrong color as Mark mentioned (Type IIs only come in dark green and orange, not blue or regular green) plus the font is different. It would be really tough to skin an e100 as they are so thin. My guess is that they are pasted on another piece of paper.

[Leon]

As much as I tried to theorize what the ungraded e100s were, they always came back to being bogus to me. I thought the type 2s they were selling were maybe some kind of one offs (as these white ones are).....but the blurriness of them coupled with the good ones being graded, and looking different, made me shy away. These 2 white "scraps" were found in an original collection with several real type 2s. They are the only kind of these I have seen...I think they were pre-production types or test e100s.