Is it too risky to buy an ungraded Ruth or other high value strip card from ebay?

[swarmee]

Very risky, yes. There was actually a tremendous shock this summer when it was found that a seller who had hundreds of strip cards including Gehrigs and they were actually real. He was slowly selling off an original collection. I'll see if I can dig up the thread. Most of the cards on eBay are reprints, and you should buy graded if you cannot tell the difference (or buy from trustworthy vintage sellers).

Thread: http://www.net54baseball.com/showthr...ighlight=strip

[Mungo Hungo]

Thanks swarmee, really appreciate that. While I'm I'm a little bummed at the answer, it's much better to hear this before spending the money.

[Rhotchkiss]

If you even have to ask in the first place......

[Rookiemonster]

Pretty risky to buy a graded one at this point .....

[steve B]

Of the two in the original post, one I think is real, the other fake. The differences are pretty obvious.


Like any other card, study pics of real ones and if possible known fakes. (Which is almost 100% possible with Ruth, but not always with commons)

Even on stuff that wasn't printed with any real quality in mind. W551s are pretty good for strip cards, some other sets the original quality was really low making it harder to tell.

[glchen]

First one seems real. Second one is definitely fake. If the W551 has blue lettering, it’s fake.

[HawkFan70]

I've had luck buying ungraded strip cards from major auction houses but I wouldn't take a chance on the Bay.

[BuckiGuy]

Originally Posted by Rookiemonster

Pretty risky to buy a graded one at this point .....

+1

[frankh8147]

As others have said, I think the first one is real and the second one is fake.

[Mungo Hungo]

Thanks to everyone for chiming in. There will still be plenty of people who fall for counterfeits, but you all at least make it a bit harder for the scammers.