This topic was actually brought to my attention by Wax Heaven <link>, after Mario reported on it, I saw a steady decrease in the number of fake patches on eBay. But lately I have been finding more and more of them. If you are wondering what I am talking about take a look at this auction <link>, the photo of the patch card in question is below:
This one was actually very easy to spot. First of all, unless the product is extremely high end, you won’t get a swatch of an entire logo and if you do it actually says, that this is a game used logo. Typically the patch card has a piece of jersey and a stiching of a patch as seen below:
Also notice that it actually says it is a patch card. Unless the card says it’s a patch card, it is probably not a real patch card. The people that doctor these cards us are so good, it’s almost impossible to tell. Here is another example of a fake patch card:
This one is also currently for sale on eBay <link> in someone’s store. As you can imagine to the untrained eye, that would be a hell of a patch card right? I mean he is selling it for $50 (down from the $75 he originally wanted before I told him it was a fake patch). To ensure that I am right, do a search on 2001 Topps Reserve patches on eBay . . . go ahead . . . I’ll wait . . . nothing comes up, because Topps didn’t make patches in that set. Here is what the card looked like pre-alteration:
I could go one forever, just with fake patches I can find on eBay right now. I’ll end my slideshow with this beauty of Barry Sanders which is being autioned right now <link>. As you can see the patch has no attached jersey. That was my first clue. Second, the card says game used jersey and not patch. Here is the offender:
To be fair this is the gold version, hence it is only numbered to 25. The real jersey card, pictured below, is the silver version numbered to 99, but you get the idea.
Now National Treasures did have a patch card from that year, but it also had a signature on it. The patch card can be seen below. Unfortunately I couldn’t find a Barry Sanders patch.
This one is tricky though because it says prime jersey, but after checking with other patch cards from the set, that is how they list it. In short, protect yourself with the following information:
- If the patch looks to good to be true it is.
- Does the card say it’s a patch or a jersey?
- Is there some jersey showing, or is it all a very recognizable part of a logo?
- Check the serial numbering, patches are always numbered to less than jerseys.
- See a patch card on eBay you like? Search for a similar one, or that card with just jersey as a search term.
- Check out the website Fake Patch Report <link>
If you are really stuck <email> me, and I will do my best to help you determine if it is real or fake. There are literally hundreds of fake patches on eBay right now. Protect yourself armed with this information the next time you go shopping for a patch card. Also, be kind when letting a seller know the card may have been altered, he may not even know himself.
I could go on about this all day. It is amazing what people will do to cards, and what people will ignore to believe in them.
I ALWAYS ask the seller if they pulled the card. It gives you a read on their intentions.
I wrote and article about it here:
http://cardboardreflux.blogspot.com/2009/03/things-that-make-you-go-hmmm-part-deux.html
Great article. It’s amazing how far this idiots will go to make an extra buck off some crappy relic card they pulled or bought at a flea market. I love that the guy dropped his price by 1/3 after you pointed out his obvious fake, but still wants $50 for it. What an ass.
Awesome advice, Mike. I thank you as a collector re-entering the market. Voluntar, you as well. Together you provide quite a bit of valuable information that needs to be out there.
This is something I have covered about a million times, glad to see the word is getting out. Hell, I saw someone bust up an Adrian Peterson Exquisite RC Auto for this reason. ITS A 1500 DOLLAR CARD!
Basically, there are three red flags I always look for:
1. It is a private auction. Even though eBay prevents the bidder names from being shown now, its just habit for these douchebags who think they can prevent people from emailing the high bidder to tell them they are buying a fake.
2. Chipping along the window, or in some cases, complete window destruction. Most of the time, the people cant remove the patches without doing some sort of damage to the card. Getting the fake back in does similar things.
3. Complete or partial logos from non-team affiliated patches. All star games, commemorative patches, super bowls, these patches always make it into the fakes because they are so easy to get on eBay. Most of the time, the people dont do their research and end up putting wrong patches into the cards from games the players were never in.
4. Complete logo patches without accompanying jersey parts in it. Most of the time, when you have a nice patch, there is a part of the jersey included too. When they fake it, they are unable to replicate that.
Just because these arent a factor in the auction you are looking at, does not mean its real. People are REALLY good these days, and have really started to fuck with people who think they have it all figured out.
i meant four red flags…
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