Kudos to LOTG - discovered counterfeit #311 1952 Mantle PSA 1 in latest auction

[Rookiemonster]

Originally Posted by Al C.risafulli

I figure I'll get out in front of this one.

Indeed, we had in our auction a display piece that included a '52 Mantle in a PSA holder with an authentic certification number.

On auction closing weekend I had a bidder ask a question about the piece, which led me to take a harder look at the card. Ultimately on Monday morning I sent an email to PSA to ask them if they'd kindly take a look at the card for me, and then I sent the entire display piece to them by FedEx.

I sent an email to Micah, advising him of the situation and asking him not to pay his invoice until I received a final word from PSA.

Wednesday night, I received the email from PSA that the card was, indeed, counterfeit. The fraudsters (not my consignor, but the person from whom he bought the display piece years ago) seem to have cracked an authentic Mantle out, inserted a fake, and then put the entire holder into what looked like a very nice framed display. Behind a sheet of glass and then the plastic holder, it was pretty convincing. Thankfully, we caught it before money exchanged hands, but offered Micah an account credit for the inconvenience.

Unfortunate for Micah, who felt he'd gotten a good price on a card, but very fortunate for Micah, who didn't wind up paying nearly $6K for a counterfeit.

-Al

Great business model Al ! Sorry to everyone involved that it was a fake .

[frankbmd]

If one was running an auction house with a fine reputation and a glossy catalog, and if you only had "time" to carefully examine the higher end consignments, isn't a 52 Mantle perhaps the first (or second) card you should look at carefully.

Yeah, mistakes happen, but really.......................................

[Bicem]

A Frank post I understood! Yes, we screwed up and didn't catch it when we should have.

[iowadoc77]

The measure of a person or persons in this case is not if they make a mistake. Because we ALL do. The measure of those people is in how they react once the mistake has beeen made. And the reaction here was above reproach.
Al and Jeff are 2 of the best in the business. And no permanent damage was done.
And in the words of Forest Gump, “That’s all I have to say about that.”

Eric Recker

[perezfan]

Well said!

[jgmp123]

Originally Posted by iowadoc77

The measure of a person or persons in this case is not if they make a mistake. Because we ALL do. The measure of those people is in how they react once the mistake has beeen made. And the reaction here was above reproach.
Al and Jeff are 2 of the best in the business. And no permanent damage was done.
And in the words of Forest Gump, “That’s all I have to say about that.”

Eric Recker

+1!!

[drcy]

It was handled before the winner paid and was fixed when the issue was pointed out to them. It would have been ideal if it wasn't put in the auction, but I think there's some nitpicking here.

[pokerplyr80]

Originally Posted by drcy

It was handled before the winner paid and was fixed when the issue was pointed out to them. It would have been ideal if it wasn't put in the auction, but I think there's some nitpicking here.

If you think we're nitpicking I'd suggest taking another look at that scan. If this were any other AH I doubt the responses would be so positive. I can only imagine what they'd look like if pwcc had let this card slip through the cracks. That is the worst fake 52 Mantle I can ever remember seeing.

[Rookiemonster]

Originally Posted by iowadoc77

The measure of a person or persons in this case is not if they make a mistake. Because we ALL do. The measure of those people is in how they react once the mistake has beeen made. And the reaction here was above reproach.
Al and Jeff are 2 of the best in the business. And no permanent damage was done.
And in the words of Forest Gump, “That’s all I have to say about that.”

Eric Recker

Agreed with this.
Just a simple mistake that should be forgiven right?

[Hankphenom]

I wonder if the consignor has done anything, like try to get his money back or call the cops.

[pokerplyr80]

I would like to know who wrote the description for the 52 Mantle for this auction. Because obviously that person looked at the card but somehow missed the fact that it was an obvious fake. I have nothing against Al of lotg personally, but way too many members are giving them a pass for putting a terrible card into their auction. Doing the right thing after it was pointed out to them does not excuse including this card in their auction.