Signed T206 Bender

[cdonne]

A lot looks off here...
The date corresponds to the Classic auction, yet is titled MastroNet Auction which was held in April. The lot does not match anywhere on the website...
Moreover, the letter does not look correct and I believe items in the Feb.(Classic) were still Spence/PSA and then in April the final transition was made and JSA formed its own entity.

Lastly, the signature just does not look right and seems more likely to come from a CCSA auction than Mastro...
I'd like to give Brandon the benefit of the doubt and think he was not out to sting anybody...based on previous items he has sold, they look legit...perhaps he got stung on this one.

[jb217676]

The seller should get this card slabbed before he offers it for sale. It would make him more money and provide peace of mind to both the buyer and seller. Also, how would a buyer know this LOA is for this particular card? Being a graphic designer, I could make one of those certificates in a few minutes on my computer.

[chaddurbin]

doesn't spence usually scan the item he authenticates and prints it right on the loa? not too familiar with the whole process, but the letter does give off an amateurish vibe even if it's real.

[erstevens]

This maybe means nothing, but the signature was put on the card after it had been heavily creased. The ink goes smoothly across the areas of broken cardboard. I don't pay much attention to signed cards, but I think most are in better shape that this. At least they were in better shape at the time they were signed.

Given the fishy LOA, my guess is that somebody bought the cheapest Bender he could find and put a signature on it. This card has at least three strikes against it.

[bbcard1]

FWIW, I had a lot of conversations with the seller on another item he had for sale. While we never made a deal, he seemed unfishy, if such is a word. That doesn't mean that unfishy people don't end up with fishy items sometimes.

The Chief lived until 1954, which would have given the T206 plenty of time to get ratty...so I would not make that a damning characteristic.

I'm not saying it is real, but I am saying it is up in the air from my perspective.

[Ease]

Pls everyone, give him a chance to respond again before jumping to conclusions, he hasn't ducked anything and has been open so far...

[tinkereversandme]

I do not understand why JSA hasn't commented on this matter. There name is attached to this item (if it has been certified by them) and the LOA doesn't look right to me and this looks like a phantom auction.

The seller wanted a $1,000 for this, but doesn't that seem a tad low considering it would probably be the only example in signed form, he passed away in the 1950's and Rube Marquard even brings $300-400? Where did the seller get this item, anyone know?

Not to mention that I have a pretty keen memory and would have remembered this item (probably would have circled it in the catalog) as I am interested, like many, in signed T206's and the proud owner of three.

Regards,

Larry

[drc]

A genuine JSA LOA should have a JSA watermark in the paper. Even the auction house LOAs have the watermark. You often can see the watermark in a digital image-- and I don't see it here.

For the description, the auction house letters simply cut and paste the auction catalog description. Having read about 30 Mastro/Legendary catalogs and sometimes complained about their writing style, the description doesn't read like a Mastro description. They are almost never if ever as brief as here. Everyone here knows Mastro/Legendary likes their lengthy, evocative, sometimes poetic descriptions.

"Authentication: NM" What the Hell is that? That makes no sense. Neither Mastro or JSA would say that.

Ball point pen came out for use after Mr. Bender died. They were only available in black and blue for many yrs. Then red came out according to some searches. Not sure if it is ball point but it looks like it. Sure hope its not a nice felt tip And yes Chad I have not seen a Spence LOA without the accompanying picture of the item ever. Maybe a memorabilia guy could chime in about this. Also the bender auto's I had posted and others I have seen had some questionable anomalies. Not saying this is not real but I think most of us have our doubts.

Wish we had a poll on this thread

#1 Real

#2 Fake

#3 Questionable

Guess we could vote in our post headline/title.

[Matt]

What is the cert#?

[t206hound]

Isn't the simplest solution (at this point) for a prospective buyer to call up JSA to inquire about this letter and the corresponding item?

Originally Posted by t206hound

Isn't the simplest solution (at this point) for a prospective buyer to call up JSA to inquire about this letter and the corresponding item?

in the BST post there was someone who said they had called Spence's office about this but was awaiting a return call.

[conor912]

Originally Posted by bbcard1

FWIW, I had a lot of conversations with the seller on another item he had for sale. While we never made a deal, he seemed unfishy, if such is a word. That doesn't mean that unfishy people don't end up with fishy items sometimes.

The Chief lived until 1954, which would have given the T206 plenty of time to get ratty...so I would not make that a damning characteristic.

I'm not saying it is real, but I am saying it is up in the air from my perspective.

look at the history of the ball point pen. The black ball point pen didn't hit the mainstream until the late 40s. Is it possible that they introduced red ink and Chief got his hands on one before he died, sure. Likely? Idk.

[Powell]

But what about this?
http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewi...d=290839347762