Lizard's Rant

This thread on Beckett from last week is probably my favorite of all-time. Here’s how it went:

1. Guy posts fake Ciatrick Fason logo patch card on eBay numbered 322/699
2. Card gets pulled off eBay because Upper Deck says it’s a fake
3. Guy complains on Beckett forum, hoping to sell it there.
4. Hard core collector who has a photo of the real 322/699 Fason patch card exposes him for a liar,cheater,fraud, etc. The real card, of course, doesn’t have a logo patch…just a purple piece of jersey.

This was the fake logo patch card he was trying to pass as real:

And here’s the real one:

Forum member Newfie was the one who shed light on this scam artist. He clearly knows what he’s talking about:

Here’s a little history with this particular card.The Fason SPA #322/699 with an all purple patch first appeared on Ebay on January 3, 2006, 13 days after the 2005 SPA series debut. On September 26, 2006 it showed up on Ebay with the “new & improved” patch, only to be removed the next day by Upper Deck. I don’t recall who listed it a year ago, UD keeps that info..It hadn’t been seen on Ebay since, until the other day.

Aside from the amusement, here’s what I get out of this: card companies in conjunction with the collecting community on the web are the best way to identify fakes and rid the hobby of them. Card companies know what they produce (and are obviously monitoring the auctions on eBay), and hard-core collecting communities like the ones on Beckett are educated and know exactly what to look for. Education, not authentication, is the best way to clean up the hobby. The result is probably better and everyone saves time and money sending cards in to be graded.