Artificially Aged Reprints Terrorize Arizona

[iggyman]

Oh the humanity!!! "Boy finds fortune in baseball cards."



Ahh, the allure of hitting the jackpot with old baseball cards. It's as American as apple pie.


http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news...-off-12-8-2010


If you watch the video, it's nice for a change to see a face behind those wacky eBay reprint purchases. So Kenneth was conned out of $150 by one of "rarerookies" friends, I sure hope the seller is proud of himself and chokes loses that $150. On another note, how on heaven's green earth did that reporter get his freaking job??? In the future, a little common sense could go a long way in your chosen field. I can't wait for tonight's follow-up report. And on yet another note, perhaps it would be wise for the Treasure Hunters staff to only concentrate on beanie babies and not bother with the baseball stuff. Research does take time and requires some degree of levelheadedness.

Lovely Day...

[dstraate]

Seems the kid's got an affinity for fake PSA flips.

[mintacular]

I hope that punk-ass kid can get enough $ for those reprints to get himself a damn haircut.

[richieb315]

This seller has same Fake PSA looking flips

http://shop.ebay.com/vintagegoudeyau..._from=&_ipg=25

[scooter729]

What "expert" needs to stay up overnight to research if those cards are real? Can't be too much of an expert if they're spending more than a half second to make that determination...

[ctownboy]

Treasure Hunters Auction sounds like one of those "businesses" that set up in a hotel for a weekend and advertise in the local newspaper that they are "there to buy" and have a list of items they are looking for - silver and gold coins, Rolex and other high end watches, etc.

I have gone to a couple of those things and taken some items that I either knew the value of based on eBay sales OR had a firm offer from a jewelry or coin store. It is safe to say the offer I was given for my items was FAR less than what they were selling for on eBay or what I was offered by the stores.

The sad part was, I saw old people there selling things and I KNEW they were getting ripped off but could not do anything about it. I would have liked to have set up outside the hotel with a sign that said "seller beware - low ball offers ahead" but was sure the people running the "business" would have the hotel management kick me off the premises.

So, in this instance, I hope Treasure Hunters Auction deems the cards real and extremely valuable and gives the kid a low ball offer ($10,000 dollars). Then they get surprised when they find out the cards are fake.

David

[RobertGT]

Originally Posted by mintacular

I hope that punk-ass kid can get enough $ for those reprints to get himself a damn haircut.

This is a sad story. That kid just got conned. That's a kid who doesn't know what a fake flip is. That's one more kid who drops out of the hobby. In case you haven't noticed, there aren't too many kids collecting cards these days.

[4815162342]

Originally Posted by RobertGT

This is a sad story. That kid just got conned. That's a kid who doesn't know what a fake flip is. That's one more kid who drops out of the hobby. In case you haven't noticed, there aren't too many kids collecting cards these days.

The saddest part was when he said that none of the other kids at school believed he had all these great cards. Can you imagine how much ridicule he's going to get now?

[Vol]

Originally Posted by 4815162342

The saddest part was when he said that none of the other kids at school believed he had all these great cards. Can you imagine how much ridicule he's going to get now?

Was exactly my line of thinking. All of the attention, and it is all going to be a big let down. Everybody likes a feel good story.

[ctownboy]

This is the EXACT reason why guys like rarerookies should NOT be selling reprinted cards. An unknowing person spends a large amount of money (for them) buying cards and think they have a gold mine. Then when they find out they have been taken and can NOT sell the cards for nearly as much as they paid for them (large financial loss for them) they get discouraged and STOP collecting cards.

This not only happens to young people buying cards for themsleves, but for women buying cards for their guys, parents and grand parents buying cards for their children and grand children. When these people get taken enough times or for large sums of money (for them) they get frustrated and LEAVE the hobby/business.

This is why I NEVER buy reprinted cards. I don't feel like wasting my money on a fake when I COULD be saving/spending that money on a REAL card, no matter what the condition. Also, if I did buy a fake (like a T206 Wagner or 1952 Topps Mantle, for example), I would always look at it and be reminded that I didn't have the money for the real thing and might NEVER have it and I do not want to have that staring me in the face every time I look at that card.

David

[RobertGT]

Also, I agree with the original poster. What a terrible, lazy and shoddy reporting job by this TV station. Sadly, this is indicative of most television news reporting these days.

Did the reporters contact a single hobby expert before running an absurd story like this? No, they just report as fact that the boy has a fortune in cards, when in reality he has a bunch of reprints made to look old and popped into cheap, fake holders. It's actually a sad story about an innocent boy who was conned out of $150 by the lowest scum of the Earth.

Do the reporters at this station honestly believe a kid with $150 was able to buy the Top 5 rarest cards in history? Clearly the story doesn't add up at all -and yet there are zero follow-up questions. The reporters were conned just as easily with this story as the young boy was out of his $150. Pathetic.

[iggyman]

The kid mentioned he had three days to get a refund (which sounds like something out of eBay). "If" in fact he purchased the cards on eBay, Kenneth actually has 45 days to return them. Of course, if the cards came from Craiglist, then forget about it.....

Lovely Day...

[Tsaiko]

"business-savvy 7th grader"

"He bought set after set of thousands of cards"

"I spent about $150 on them"

If he didn't set the whole thing up himself, he's out, what, a few cents a card?

Now, for a few cents a card he has fakes to study so when he gets older and gets some real money, he'll have an educated eye. That's an extremely cheap education.

[bcornell]

A favorite line of fraudsters, repeated by this kid: "I brought the card to a shop and they thought it might be real". Is there a shop left on this planet that has anyone qualified to know whether, for example, a D304 Cobb is real?

Now we have a better idea who buys some of the counterfeit dreck on eBay, i.e., gullible 12-year-olds. That guy who started the "aged reprints" thread has earned himself a lifetime of bad karma.

[ChiefBenderForever]

I hear he's already working on an infomercial.

[Vintagedegu]

-

[FUBAR]

All that hoopla and they are not even good fakes..... Hold on to that rainbow kid, we will Send over Rarerookies and Chris Morales to authenticate things for you!

[Exhibitman]

Maybe Roach's Corner can auction them for the kid?

[prewarsports]

If he is an innocent buyer (the kid) then I really feel bad for him. When I was 12 someone could have easily taken advantage of me in a situation like that because of youth and ignorance and for what, $150? Sounds like about $5 per card which seems to be the going rate.

[rarerookies]

All right all right. You guys are a bunch of butthead's but you have convinced me. It's not worth making $5.00 to see stories like that. Even knowing the absurdity of seeing a mint Mantle rookie a Wagner a Robinson and an Aaron rookie a 12 year old bought that has people believing that he hit the jackpot. I do quote Ron White by saying you can't fix stupid but I no longer want to contribute to it.

I can offer some in site to those cards though. First things first. I don't sell on ebay. Everytime i listed reprints on ebay they shut me down even though I brought up the fact that 100 other people were selling reprints and the reprints I was selling on ebay I bought from people on ebay.

The Wagner wasn't mine. Personally I think mine looks better than that one but that wasn't me. The Aaron and the Robinson were reprints. How I know is that I have reprints with the same characteristics that those cards had. The front of the Robinson is faded in the same spots as the ones that I buy. The Aaron card has the same faded line that starts at the bill of his cap and goes through his forehead. I have the same reprints. These are all the same reprints that you can purchase on sites as I did. They all have the same characteristics in printing. The Mantle I couldn't tell but if its real he's the luckiest kid in America.

The PSA looking flips I've scene before on another auction site. All they are is Pro-tech slabs with a printed sticker over them. I have a few of the slabs I keep some cards I am waiting to send off to be graded in. Its a good product to keep your cards protected but someone took it too far. As someone pointed out on my post i did try my own to sell but quickly stopped selling them because that was just a little too much.

I am glad I saw this story. Personally I still don't see anything wrong with selling reprints but after seeing that story I have changed my mind about contributing to the unscrupulous people that took advantage of the kid. It's like the arms dealer selling the guns to another country. Its just business until he see's in person the harm that it's doing as a result of his actions.

So ok. You guys are semi right on that issue. I will give you that. And any reprint I sell from now on will be marked on the card reprint. My gosh I can't believe those cards duped all those people. Maybe they should stick to those beenie babies. Keep us posted on what happens.

BTW: as far as the reprints I sold goes. I wasn't selling 100's a week. I was just selling enough to pay for internet and netflix but after seeing that I'll just pick up a few extra hours at work.

[Abravefan11]

Here's the follow up everyone was expecting. Click on the link for the video.

http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news...ecked-12092010

MESA, Ariz. - A 12-year-old boy from Ahwatukee found out his collection of old baseball cards is not authentic.

Kenneth Moser has cards of Hall of Famers such as Mickey Mantle and Jackie Robinson.

Staff from television show "Treasure Hunters" checked out the cards, but found they were not authentic.

If they were real, the cards could have been worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

[rarerookies]

On a side note. I really didn't believe that people were that stupid or naive. A Wagner card, a mantle rookie. A 12yr old maybe but even at 12 I had enough common sense to know that there were like 60 wagner cards and my chances of ever "finding" one of those was as good as winning the lottery. But the adult's that actually believe that a kid spent $150 and bought the ultimate collection of baseball cards is unbelievable. These are probably the same adults the lease cards and max out credit cards to pay for furniture in there house they borrowed 120% loan to value on. Goodness. That blows my mind

[rarerookies]

Hmmmmm.............
Crappy fly by night hotel scavengers.......
Kid come's in with cards that will make the local news......
Free Advertising.....
More people will come that we can low-ball prices one and make more money.......


just a thought guys

[kcohen]

Well, I guess the silver lining is that the kid paid, although he doesn't know it now, a relatively cheap tuition for a valuable life lesson that will last him for the rest of his days.

[Robextend]

Originally Posted by rarerookies

On a side note. I really didn't believe that people were that stupid or naive. A Wagner card, a mantle rookie. A 12yr old maybe but even at 12 I had enough common sense to know that there were like 60 wagner cards and my chances of ever "finding" one of those was as good as winning the lottery.

I'd venture to say that the majority of 12 year olds wouldn't have a clue, just like this kid didn't. When I was 12 I had enough money to buy a wax pack of 1993 Topps per week, so I never ran into that problem.

[rarerookies]

Yeah I could buy a pack of UP trying to get the griffey rookie. But I knew that a wagner card was rare and the luck of getting those cards, unheard of. I think the hair gel fried his brain.

[hunterdutchess]

I am calling B.S. on this kids story. I see those things sell on ebay for $10 or $20 all the time and that is where he bought them. He is not some poor duped kid but a future scammer trying to sell fakes as unknown or originals.

Kennith Moser ebay account "kmoser111" look at all the reprints he has bought.

http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAP...eedbackAsBuyer

Dont feel sorry for this kid. Feel sorry for the future cards he sells as unknown or original to others.

PUNK!

p.s. don't you have to be older than 12 to have a paypal or ebay account?

[RobertGT]

[QUOTE=rarerookies;854183]
"So ok. You guys are semi right on that issue. I will give you that. And any reprint I sell from now on will be marked on the card reprint. My gosh I can't believe those cards duped all those people. Maybe they should stick to those beenie babies. Keep us posted on what happens."

I read the previous train-wreck thread without commenting. I had a feeling that perhaps a story like this would lede to a change of heart with rarerookies. Once you see the face of those hurt, either directly or indirectly, by something you are doing it does hit home, especially when it's a kid. So let me be the first to commend rarerookies for doing the right thing.

I think his next step should be to burn his pile of altered reprints and post the photos on this forum. Then, since he clearly has expertise in this area, he can lede the charge in reporting these fakes all over eBay and help the hobby get rid of them. This is your penance.

[esd10]

so sad that this kid was conned out of that money. thats why you just dont buy anything you dont know but so sad.

[kcohen]

Originally Posted by hunterdutchess

I am calling B.S. on this kids story. I see those things sell on ebay for $10 or $20 all the time and that is where he bought them. He is not some poor duped kid but a future scammer trying to sell fakes as unknown or originals.

Kennith Moser ebay account "kmoser111" look at all the reprints he has bought.

http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAP...eedbackAsBuyer

Dont feel sorry for this kid. Feel sorry for the future cards he sells as unknown or original to others.

PUNK!

p.s. don't you have to be older than 12 to have a paypal or ebay account?

Wow! The kid's good! He scammed me into feeling bad for him.

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by kcohen

Wow! The kid's good! He scammed me into feeling bad for him.

Yeah, it's a sad day when we have to become so cynical we can't even let 12 year-olds fly under the radar.

Kid had a lot of people briefly conned and even got himself on TV.

He's the Susan Smith / Balloon Boy of baseball cards.

[D. Bergin]

So I guess when he said he combed through thousands of baseball cards to pull these gems out of the pile............he was speaking metaphorically of scrolling his mouse through thousands of listings on Ebay to find just the right counterfeits to fool a traveling antiques roadshow.

[Orioles1954]

I was setting up at shows by age 12 and my parents would have NEVER let me wear my hair like that! It was always shirt, tie, "yes sir" and "thank you so much".

[iggyman]

Whoa! In an ironic twist of fate, "rarerookies" comes out of this smelling like potpourri.

I sometimes wonder if humanity would be better off without baseball cards. That way, some of the prewar collectors on this site might have some free time available to work on unsolved crimes. The detective work on this board is always amazing! Note to self, never trust 12 year-olds with spike hair and paypal accounts......check.

Lovely Day...

[rarerookies]

So the kid got on tv, the traveling antique rip off roadshow got free advertising. Pretty good for both of 'em Id say. I think you guys are right. A future juvenile delinquent right here you guys. So sad.

[Ladder7]

it's like dejavu all over again. -Yogi

[tbob]

I bet this kid never played an inning of organized baseball in his life. What a miniature Al Capone, as my grandpa used to say.

[sandmountainslim]

Just read this thread thru.
I believe the kid himself is the scam artist. He bought them on ebay and knew what they were and it was simple to get some half-wit TV reporter to do a story so he would look like a bigshot to his friends at school.
I am surprised the TV station did a follow up.
Wp

[ctownboy]

I am really tempted to call the TV station and expose this kid.

That way, they could use him as an example of how scam artists on eBay work and do a public service story. Then maybe SOME of the public would be a little more educated about something and some good can come out of this mess.

David

[barrysloate]

I don't trust anyone with that haircut.

[4815162342]

Did anyone notice this on that feedback page: "Member since: Jun-04-04"

Are you positive this account belongs to that kid?

[FUBAR]

Maybe he is Kennith Moser Jr. !

[sandmountainslim]

Originally Posted by FUBAR

Maybe he is Kennith Moser Jr. !

Yeah, I bet his DAD bought all those cards for him in order to make him look silly on TV and teach a life lesson Sorta like an episode of a sitcom.
Wp

[Scottsdalecards]

My wife saved this for me when I got home that night from the 9pm news (We live in AZ) She thought the cards were bad and she knows NOTHING about cards and she sees them everyday!

I know so people at Fox 10 News and will relay this thread to them. I doubt they will do anything about it. They got a 2 minute story, kids got his 15 seconds of fame, and the Roadshow ripoff fest got the best advertising they could ever ask for.

[teetwoohsix]

Originally Posted by 4815162342

Did anyone notice this on that feedback page: "Member since: Jun-04-04"

Are you positive this account belongs to that kid?

There's something strange about all of this. A 12 year old kid with an ebay account since June 4th 2004? Does this 12 year old also have a credit card with a paypal account? The mother acted so suprised by all of this ( she claimed she had to research the cards herself, or something to that effect).

At any rate, fake bogus reprints suck all the way around. The real ones make great gifts too.

Clayton