Spotting fake T206 cards??

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Posted By: JBBAMA

Hey guys, was wondering if you could offer any tips on what to look for when buying ungraded T206 cards? Or tell me where to get some more info on what to look for. The only T206 i own now is graded (bought that way).....as well as all of my vintage. With all the bogus cards floating around i am trying to better educate myself about this topic. Thanks as always, JB

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Posted By: Jim VB

Click on the link at the top of the page "Detecting Alterations and Reprints". Lots of good info there.

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Posted By: leon

I am sure some folks will chime in. One of the best ways to spot fakes is to handle a lot of real ones.....without slabs of course. Get to know the feel of the paper and the general characteristics by close examination and under a magnifying glass. Also, we have a section dedicated to spotting fakes and alterations. David Rudd, as well as many other folks, have some excellent info in there as well .....Lastly, this board's members are really good about helping out on specific cards and issues when threads are posted. take care

http://www.network54.com/Index/85511

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Posted By: Scott Levy

I agree with Leon. However, there are some tell tale signs of many of the common fakes....here are a few:

1) The name of the player and team should be brown ink. Many fakes simply print the name/team in black and this is an easy way to tell a reprint immediately.

2) The paper has a certain look/feel to it. Thicker or glossier issues are almost certainly fake.

3) There are known back variations and ones that do not meet these known variations are 99.99% likely to be fake. For example, the Old Mill back never has "Old Mill" printed in red (but several fakes do). Piedmont always has a factory number (some fakes don't). Also some cards aren't found with certain backs....Demmitt and O'Hara St. Louis are only printed with Polar Bear for instance.

4) In addition to looking for fakes, you should keep your eye our for trimmed cards. These are much harder to detect in scans, but in person the edges will look a certain way...showing the natural 'roll' of the paper from a machine cut.

My best recommendation is to purchase 5-10 low grade raw cards from someone on the board (or a local card dealer you trust). For %50-$100 you can start to learn first hand how they feel, look and sometimes even smell.

Regards,
Scott

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Posted By: davidcycleback

For any issue-- whether it's T206, 1933 Goudey or 1978 Topps-- if you have some genuine cards in hand, including commons, you will have little trouble identifying reprints and counterfeits. A reprint T206 is noticeably differ than an original, due to different card stock, gloss, thickness, graphics quality, other. If spread out on a table with real cards, the reprint will often stand out like a sore thumb.

Also, by handling genuine cards, you will be better at identifying reprints online. Again, many reprints look bad or otherwise suspect even in online images.

Even looking at the online images of a reputable auction house, like REA and Barry Sloate helps. After all, these auction houses are showing you what the real versions look like.

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Posted By: Anthony S.

JB,

Do yourself a favor and buy a few very low grade real T206's as well as a couple reprints. When you see them side by side, you'll see how easy it is to tell the difference.

The font on the bottom front is usually the dead giveaway. As Scott mentioned, the font color for the player's name and team on real T206's is brown, whereas it's black on most reprints. In addition the letters in the name and team are always more tightly bunched on reprint sets. And finally, the first letter of the team name is slightly larger than the rest of the letters in the team name on real T206's. On fakes, all the letters are the exact same size.

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Posted By: David Smith

JBBAMA,

Do you live in Alabama and, if so, what part?


David

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Posted By: JBBAMA

I do........Trussville.........Wow! Guys thanks for all the tips, it will be harder to tell if authentic just from scans, however you guys have given me several ideas and solid advice. Thanks!

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Posted By: David Smith

BAMA,

I REALLY hope you are NOT using this board by trying to get info on how to scam people with FAKE cards. In the last couple of years, there has been a couple of scam artists from around your area (George Hudson and friends from Anniston and Gadsden, etc).

For those who don't remember these scams just go and use the search function and look up George Hudson, Anniston and Alabama.

If you are on the up and up, I apologize. HOWEVER, anytime I hear about that area of the country and old baseball cards, I IMMEDIATELY think "SCAM ARTIST" and "FAKE CARDS".

David

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Posted By: JBBAMA

Dont know any of those people you named, i am only interested because i just recently obtained my first t206 (graded) and was thinking of collecting some of the HOF players a little cheaper (raw)(graded are more obviously). If i were trying to be deceptive i certainly would have tried harder........ ps i have over 1280 transactions on ebay and 100% feedback. Just FYI........Gadsden/Anniston are 40-50 miles away.

JB