1952 Wheaties Need Help Verifying Authenticity

[Volod]

Thanks for your input, Fred. I'm still open to some convincing evidence of counterfeiting from the 2002 report, but as of now, based on the comments above, I'm skeptical about that.

[Bob Lemke]

I no longer have access to the issues of SCD in which the details of the 1952 Wheaties counterfeits were presented. My recollection is that they were tied in with some fly by night grading company, as well as counterfeit 1963 Bazookas. There was an East Coast dealer who had his hands in all of it, but disclainmed responsibility.

It was my opinion then, and now, that the snow white Wheaties are modern counterfeits. I seem to remember the weight of the card stock differed from the originals, but again, that was 10+ years ago. Because the Wheaties art was line art, rather than photos, it was very easy to make convincing fakes.

Since known genuine examples are so inexpensive, why take the risk by buying a white-bordered card?

[GoldenAge50s]

In view of what Bob says, and taking another good look at the Ultra white Stan, I'm convinced it is a fake.

Study the contrast between the blue & white area on the hat right of STL--white dots show up and the white bleeds too brightly thru the blue on the neck, face & hat brim. In other words, the white dominates & the blue is weak.
Same goes for the wide uni stripe on Stan's right shoulder (lower left corner)--the white shows thru on the ultra white, but is solid blue on the original.

On all my originals, the blue dominates over the white---no washed out feeling when you look at an original.

I also don't buy that there were varying grades of cardboard used for Wheaties boxes. Mine came off an array of boxes bought at different times & every one is the same stock.

[steve B]

Here's a few links showing some of what I was looking at.

The first is a full 52 box, family size and very light. Hard to tell if it's white or just not toned from age.

The second is a 52 panel from a different size, obviously the normal color.

And the third is a 51 single serving box clearly showing the white, which wasn't used on any of the parts of the box that wouldn't be seen.

http://legendaryauctions.com/LotDeta...and-Campanella

http://www.auctionscc.com/archive/200711/day2/397/#a

http://www.wheatiesking.com/wp-conte...ny-Lujack1.jpg

I'm still on the fence about the very white Musial, it has some differences in the actual printing from mine, but shows a few similarities. Oddly the blue seems nearly perfect, and that would be the hardest part to copy. It's a bit more crisp than the one I have, but still looks good. The orange is bugging me for a few reasons. The one I have has very clear and straight borders, the white one looks slightly wavy and a bit sloppy on the inking. It's still hard to tell if it's typographed for sure, but sometimes a crisp print will be like that.

Usually you can see the ink darker or thicker at the edges of a letter or object. It's called squeezeout literally an ege of ink that gets squeezed out from between the print block and the paper. Lightly inked and/or lightly impressed and it might not show.

If the white one is fake, it's very impressive.

And I'll probably start looking for Wheaties more actively now. Another good puzzle you guys have got me into

Steve B

[Volod]

Anyone know where I can get hold of a scale that measures in micrograms? I've studied the white Musial against several other cards in the set that are obviously genuine, and can't detect any difference in the weight or thickness or back tone of the cardstock.
Above, Bob observed: "Since known genuine examples are so inexpensive, why take the risk by buying a white-bordered card?" My question is: "Since known genuine examples are so inexpensive, why bother counterfeiting them?" Did the scam artists plan to reap enormous profits from buyers of this set? I paid $22 for the Musial on ebay a few years ago, so if it is fake, didn't get taken for much, I guess.

[brett 75]

Maybe it was one of two possibilities as to why it was reproduced. Easy to copy and most likely cheap. Making a couple bucks off of each card would add up over the course of a year or two traveling to shows with unsuspecting collectors not knowing they were buying fakes. Or how about reproduction similar to Broder style cards that weren't original intended to deceive but to be cheap copies of the originals? If you like the card then enjoy it for what it is .... A baseball card . Brett

[Volod]

Originally Posted by brett 75

Maybe it was one of two possibilities as to why it was reproduced. Easy to copy and most likely cheap. Making a couple bucks off of each card would add up over the course of a year or two traveling to shows with unsuspecting collectors not knowing they were buying fakes. Or how about reproduction similar to Broder style cards that weren't original intended to deceive but to be cheap copies of the originals? If you like the card then enjoy it for what it is .... A baseball card . Brett

but don't know that it would be cheap and easy to produce a counterfeit of the quality of the white Musial. As SteveB pointed out, it would require a new print block and commercial quality printing press - a simple digital scan would not suffice. Unless someone can come up with documented evidence of the counterfeiting, I'll enjoy the card as a carefully preserved genuine article, thanks very much.