Mantle reprints-the bane of card collecting

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

I had reprints of all the Bowman sets 48 to 55 until I decided to just do those sets. They were from Fritsch and all clearly labeled reprint. I am doing only one pre war set, 1923 Fleer, but have a T 206 reprint set from Fritsch. Clearly marked as reprint

I am keeping very good care of those 48-54 Bowman reprint sets Al. Never seen a 55 Bowman reprint set before.

I have easily 20 reprint sets and love them. I get to see a similar card to the original that I would never buy and probably couldn't afford.

Like savedfrommyspokes stated there is a BIG difference between real reprint sets and the counterfeit crap.

[JollyElm]

****TRIGGER ALERT: I haven't contacted the seller and I'm not casting aspersions if the card is in fact legitimate.****

Upon hearing about today's 15% off coupon code, I started scouring ebay for cards and this 1961 high number Mantle hit me square in the face. The offer was expiring within minutes, so there was no time to contact the seller (who has 100% feedback, BTW) and ask any questions. It just looks way off to me, with those unbelievably pure white (and completely unblemished and, therefore, unnatural) borders, the perfect corners, the overly pink/red skin tones and what not, all inside what looks to be an extremely old flip. Doesn't this card look like it came from the 1996 Topps insert set? Is this sucker legit? Am I wrong and just falling for a photoshop job reminiscent of Battlefield's work?? (I did check PSA's website, and the cert. number is/was real.) And, no, I didn't pull the trigger.

(Link to auction edited out.)

s-l500.jpg

Here's a screenshot of a clearly legitimate one from ebay for comparison...

Screen Shot 2018-07-11 at 11.23.26 PM copy.jpg

Edited to add: I guess I answered my own questions. Here's the above card after only about 3 seconds of photoshop work. Yowza...

Screen Shot 2018-07-11 at 11.23.26 PM copy2.jpg

So, I guess nevermind.

[jchcollins]

Yeah crappy cards can be made to look brilliant with a little photo editing work, and perfectly fine high grade cards can look like crap in a scan when people either don't know what they are doing or are careless. If the seller is reputable, and I don't have serious questions about the authenticity or integrity of the slab, I will usually ignore what I perceive as minor scan issues with color or tone. Never been burned by anything like that.