Counterfeit Mantle card being auctioned as PSA 5

[SetBuilder]

You can bet he's going to sell that card to someone...somewhere.

[RobertGT]

Originally Posted by SetBuilder

You can bet he's going to sell that card to someone...somewhere.

Coming soon to a Craigslist near you. Beware.

That's probably where he got it, thinking he could flip it for a cool $10K on eBay. Oops.

[Volod]

It's disturbing that there are apparently so many with thousands to spend who have so little concern for authentication of an expensive item that is commonly counterfeited. Are well-heeled neophyte collectors - or dealers - suffering from the delusion that anything in a graded slab must be genuine? If so, it reveals one of the biggest problems with the grading industry. Or, is it just a case of PT Barnum grinning at us from his grave?

[GasHouseGang]

Do you think there is a solution? I'm sure a slab can be made that is nearly impossible to tamper with, but what about something that would be on the slab that would be nearly impossible to counterfeit? A hologram maybe, or something else? The newer slabs have the hologram now. Perhaps a thread could be molded inside the plastic of the slab like the U.S. government is doing for the new currency. The special thread imbedded in the plastic could run down the side of the slab in the clear area and say PSA/SGC/Beckett or whatever over and over. Would that make it harder to fake? We need something, because these fakes are getting tougher to spot all the time.

[thetruthisoutthere]

The seller ended his listing.

Wanna-1.jpg

[Volod]

Originally Posted by GasHouseGang

Do you think there is a solution? I'm sure a slab can be made that is nearly impossible to tamper with, but what about something that would be on the slab that would be nearly impossible to counterfeit? A hologram maybe, or something else?....

I wonder what the cost/benefit analysis of PSA improving the security versus elimination of fraudulent sales profits would show, Dave?

[vintagetoppsguy]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/WARNING-1952...item4aba5c3446

[Volod]

A sad cautionary tale there - too much emptor, not enough caveat.

[GasHouseGang]

The guy is probably honest and got taken like he said. However, the PSA label was actually just as fake as the card. I doubt it was cracked and a fake inserted into the case. I think the whole thing was a fake from the beginning. I hope they catch the guy that pulled this scam.

[Brianruns10]

Originally Posted by Volod

It's disturbing that there are apparently so many with thousands to spend who have so little concern for authentication of an expensive item that is commonly counterfeited. Are well-heeled neophyte collectors - or dealers - suffering from the delusion that anything in a graded slab must be genuine? If so, it reveals one of the biggest problems with the grading industry. Or, is it just a case of PT Barnum grinning at us from his grave?

Precisely! I've confronted dealers on ebay in the past about selling fake Mantles, and they all respond the same way, that it's been authenticated and slabbed. It must be real. It doesn't enter into their minds that you can crack a slab and steal a real ID number. It's a classic case of buying the plastic not the card. I mean, these fakes aren't that good. The team logo is totally wrong, and far too good...it resembles a '54 Topps logo really. I've never owned or even seen a real '52 Topps mantle, yet I can spot these fakes in two seconds, because I've bothered to study the real ones online.

[mantlefan2010]

this same guy has the Mantle on the scf boards selling

http://www.sportscardforum.com/threa...-FS-Great-Card!

[t206fix]

It bugs me when people put the dollar sign after the number: 26,000$.

I mean, there are dollar signs every where! You would think that they would realize/recognize that it looks like this: $26,000!

[GasHouseGang]

Originally Posted by mantlefan2010

this same guy has the Mantle on the scf boards selling

http://www.sportscardforum.com/threa...-FS-Great-Card!

I don't know if he changed the pictures since you saw it and posted this link, but that's a different card than we were talking about on this thread. It is a different grade and a different certification number. It could be real.