Ever seen the 1989 Ripken FF Mystery card?

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by jp1216

Great pickup Sean! These 'Mystery' cards pop up about once a year. I look for the upper right Orioles logo and the trademark symbol (R) next to it. The bigger (R) catches the eye.

LINK

Thanks to Ben N. for trading me another PSA graded example last year.

You are welcome Jon.

I have spent a lot of time researching this card. There are approximately 14 know copies of this variation. There are 5 graded by PSA with two 9's, two 8's and this latest 7. There is also one in a GEM Elite slab.

[JustinD]

I have always been in the party of those that think they are fakes printed at the height of the craze. However, PSA grading them makes it a interesting piece of collecting history, I like it!

[JoeDfan]

The first one I ever sent to PSA, I specifically made a point to make sure they understood that this was the "Mystery Card."
They still liked it!

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by JustinD

I have always been in the party of those that think they are fakes printed at the height of the craze. However, PSA grading them makes it a interesting piece of collecting history, I like it!

Have you ever owned one or seen one in hand?

[JustinD]

I will certainly admit to not holding one.

This is a card I would like to have at one point as I do enjoy errors, oddballs and test issues. This definitely falls under that category to me.

The cropping with the photo and the MLB logo on the back cause me concern. Mind you, I have gained my knowledge only from scans and net research. So not holding in hand I can say nothing of paper stock or the cut.

[ALR-bishop]

I have not studied all the variants of this card in depth, but have gathered a few of them for my set. Given the notoriety the card received and the fierce competition for sales in those days I agree with Justin we will likely never know how many of the different cards that have surfaced over time were after the fact creations by Fleer or even others . To me they are all still fascinating and collectible as a hobby phenomena, no matter what their origin. Thanks to OP for pointing this one out

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by JustinD

I will certainly admit to not holding one.

This is a card I would like to have at one point as I do enjoy errors, oddballs and test issues. This definitely falls under that category to me.

The cropping with the photo and the MLB logo on the back cause me concern. Mind you, I have gained my knowledge only from scans and net research. So not holding in hand I can say nothing of paper stock or the cut.

I was not questioning your opinion. I have expressed mine on here several times and also on Jons awesome web site.

I still look for rare Bill Ripken cards but not as much as before. I made a list of all known copies of this version. It shows who owns them, how many, and where they bought them. Wanted to keep my list updated if you owned one.

Without digging through folders I believe there are 14-15 known copies. I know of 5 Net54 members that account for 7 of the known copies. They have all originated within about a 200 mile area of the north eastern US and I have never seen 2 from the same seller.

This is a very rare and cool card and if anybody has any info they would like to share please do. If anybody has any questions I would do my best to help.

bnorth,
I just recently became aware of the "Mystery Card" version of this card and read the detailed information on it at Jon's billripken.com site. I also recently purchased two on ebay and they are legitimate. They are being sold on ebay by a dealer named FoundTreasureIsland. I asked him how he got the cards and he said a big Bill Ripken collector friend of his had purchased them from an antique shop near where the old Fleer factory used to be and that he is the curator to sell them. He said he has been dealing with Bill Ripken error FF cards for about ten years. His rating on ebay is very high and he also has a lot of sales. I don't know how many of these cards he has but I looked at ebay's recent "Sold/Completed" items category and he has sold about 60 in the last 3 months (I also saw three from other dealers that were advertised as Mystery cards but actually were not which seems odd because the original error sells for more than what the Mystery card is selling for. I do wonder who the buyer of the "find" was and how many are actually in collector's hands. All in all just a fascinating story about a historical card that a lot of general collectors don't seem to really know about.
ajs

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by ajs

bnorth,
I just recently became aware of the "Mystery Card" version of this card and read the detailed information on it at Jon's billripken.com site. I also recently purchased two on ebay and they are legitimate. They are being sold on ebay by a dealer named FoundTreasureIsland (the dealer's actual name is Will Arnett and his address is in Columbia, MO). I asked him how he got the cards and he said a big Bill Ripken collector friend of his had purchased them from an antique shop near where the old Fleer factory used to be and that he is the curator to sell them. He said he has been dealing with Bill Ripken error FF cards for about ten years. His rating on ebay is very high and he also has a lot of sales. I don't know how many of these cards he has but I looked at ebay's recent "Sold/Completed" items category and he has sold about 60 in the last 3 months (I also saw three from other dealers that were advertised as Mystery cards but actually were not which seems odd because the original error sells for more than what the Mystery card is selling for. I do wonder who the buyer of the "find" was and how many are actually in collector's hands. All in all just a fascinating story about a historical card that a lot of general collectors don't seem to really know about.
ajs

I know the guy who "found" them and there are several hundred. Yes they are legit, legit counterfeit IMHO. Just send one into a grading company and see what happens. Yes sometimes one gets through but most get returned as counterfeit. They have been selling a LOT of them on eBay since the find so they are well known but like the "test issue" card more of a novelty than anything.