1951 Bowman Mickey Mantle

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Posted By: madtimes

I bought a 1951 Bowman Mickey Mantle on EBay from treasureislandsports AKA Garth Feldmen. He said all my cards are real by email and by phone. As soon as I recieved the card I new It was counterfeit. I sent it to PSA and it came back Questionable Authentication. I emailed Garth and this is what he wrote. that's weird. send it to another grading company. Has anyone else had the pleasure of meeting this conman.

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Posted By: dennis

type in his name in the "search posts" and i'm sure something will come up.

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Posted By: Jeff

Think that anyone with that feedback rating and style of auction would deliver an authentic card?

If you don't know already these are the following warning signs in that persons auctions.

1. User ID kept private
2. I only accept Money orders and cashiers checks as payment
3. treasureislandsports (private) Keeping feedback private is a thing that all scammers do.
4. And speaking of feedback Member since: Mar-28-05 92.3%
5. All high dollar high demand cards UNGRADED. You simply can not buy these on eBay and not for one second think that they are real from people running this type of auction.

Is this the card here?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=60479&item=5186046963

Now with all that said I can't say that all of his cards are fake but there is no way that I would risk hard earned money on auctions like that.



Jeff

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Posted By: Adam J. Moraine

DAMN! $660.00 for a reprint valued like at 25- 50 cents! NOT a bad profit at all!

Best regards,

Adam J. Moraine

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Posted By: davidcycleback

A strange but common statement to be aware of in these types of scams is:

"Take a look at the scan, as that is the card you will receive."

It's such a nonsensical statement in its complete obviousness, but I assume they use this in an attempt to cover their butts. "You chose bid after looking at the card in the scan, and you received that card in the scan. What are you complaining about?"

Every once in a while it's worthwhile to link to "Essential Tips for Beginning Collectors"

http://www.cycleback.com/beginnerstips.html

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Posted By: David Vargha

I sure hate to be a cold-blooded hard-ass about this, but why would anyone set a reserve of far less than $1,000 on a card that would sell for $2,000 -$3,000 if he took $30 and 5 days to get it graded? At least your lesson only cost you $660. Remember, if it seems to good to be true THEN IT IS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE.

DavidVargha@hotmail.com

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Posted By: Madtimes

As soon as I recevied the card and looked at the back I new it was fake from the lettering at the bottom is different than the one in the scan or a stock 1951 Bowman. If I had a scanner I would post it so you can look at it so you can see its a forgery. Do any of you know any one else how have been ripped off by Garth? I found this website by putting his name in google.

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Posted By: Jeff

"type in his name in the "search posts" and i'm sure something will come up."

And guess what??

He was right. Lots and lots on that person so once again type his name in the "search posts" and have fun reading.



Jeff

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Posted By: Madtimes

Garth sugested going to a differnt grading co. Think its worth a try I read their are variations on the 51 Bowmans. And if so what grading Co. Thanks David for the Tips.

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Posted By: davidcycleback

Any of the reputable grading companies can tell the difference between a genuine and a fake 1951 Bowman. They have handled thousands and thousands of 51 Bowmans. There may be differences of opinion about grade or trimming, but one grader should be enough to check authenticity on a 51 Bowman Mantle.

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Posted By: Paul

David is right that "you get the card shown" is a huge warning sign of a scam. But this scammer went further. The card shown looks real, and the buyer didn't get the card shown.

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Posted By: Josh K.

I recommend telling garth you will be contacting the local police in whatever city he lives in as well as any other authorities you can think of (FBI Internet Fraud Unit comes to mind) unless you get a refund and if he refuses, follow through with the threat.

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Posted By: Aaron

"Garth sugested going to a differnt grading co. Think its worth a try I read their are variations on the 51 Bowmans. And if so what grading Co."

No offense, but it's guys like you that support scammers like him. I mean you ignore conutless warning signs and let the guy rip you off for almost $700.

Then you get the card and finally get wise, and do some overdo Internet searches and find loads of information on what a scam artist this guy is.

Your response to all this is to still hold out hope and believe this guy that the grading company made a mistake and your card is real???

You are a scammer's dream come true.

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Posted By: lawenforcmentman

Madtimes sorry to here about your loss but I am sad to tell you it is buyer beware. Really nothing you can do. You will just get the runaround.

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Posted By: John J. Grillo

I can't believe the complacency around here. Some are just content in being ripped off. The comments around here of "sorry you got ripped off," "you learned a valuable lesson," "there's nothing you can do," etc., etc. Forget all that horse----, tell the seller you want an immediate refund, tell seller you'll give 3 days for the money to arrive. Let him know, you'll file a complaint with e-bay (I believe e-bay will cover up to 250.00 so you'll recover some of it), and also, let the seller know you'll file a mail fraud complaint with the US Post Office. Finally, inform the seller you'll contact the authorities (including postal authorities) in his area to let them know what's going on.

I know it stinks, but be a demanding a--h--e about the situation. Put the seller on a very short leash and there's a good chance you'll get all your money back.

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Posted By: Josh K.

I agree with John 100%. And dont feel bad hounding the local lawenforcementmen to do s/t about it if they give you the runaround. Your individual case may be small, but this guy is a big time scammer.

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Posted By: madtimes

The suggestion of getting the card regraded was only Question to you guys and women if any.
This is part of a e-mail I sent Feldman before I knew for sure he was a con man.
The 2 day inspection was $35.00 plus I had it insured for a $1000. on the shipping just in case it came back good. I am not going to send it to another grading company like you suggested in your e-mail. PSA is by far the largest and I don't want to occur any more extra cost into this fake card. If we don't settle EBay will become involved and with Treasureislandsports just getting 5 negative feedbacks, is not going to help your case. If you want to keep selling on EBay you need to be a honest person. Let's work this out.

The interesting thing is When I purchsed the card Treasureislandsports had no negitive feedbacks. Then after a few days 5. Right after I sent him this e-mail it went to zero then the next day to 1. It was like he was manipulating the feedback before my eyes.

E-bay has told me to go to the police. I gave him till today to refund my money.

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Posted By: tbob

Didn't he win the Alan Hager award for outstanding contributions to the hobby in 2003? Runner-up was Broadway Rick.

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Posted By: Bottom of the Ninth

It you do not file complaints then he is sure to continue.

https://www.usps.com/postalinspectors/fraud/MailFraudComplaint.htm

http://www.ifccfbi.gov/index.asp

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Posted By: lawenforcmentman

You Guys need to realize that when you buy something on the interent it is buyer beware. Filing complants will just be a wast of time. You are going to have to just face it that you are out money and learned a lession. This kind of mail fraud is almost impossible to prove sometimes. These scammers are good at what they do. GOOD LUCK TO YOU MADTIMES

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Posted By: Scott Forrest

Garth has a history and madtimes has his address, phone number, and proof of fraud. Garth started off selling forgeries as forgeries, to con artists who then reaped the rewards of Garth's "work". Now Garth has decided to cut out the middle man.

It's time for Garth to get used to being traded for cheap cigarettes.

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Posted By: Anonymous

What is the Alan Hager award?

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Posted By: Madtimes

There was a total of 13 cards up for bid on Ebay from treasureislandsports all the actions ended at the same time. Here are a few.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=5186058388&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=5185889003&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=5186019370&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT

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Posted By: Bottom of the Ninth

It's time for Garth to get used to being traded for cheap cigarettes.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

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Posted By: steve k

"Crime doesn't pay" is an old saying that is true. But not on ebay. "Crime does pay" on ebay.

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Posted By: Scott Forrest

that what goes around comes around. Perhaps Garth won't get his until he's laying on his death-bed, but nonetheless he WILL get it.