Anyone Ever Encountered Repro/Fake Old Baseball Board Games?

[cbcbcb]

Those fake advertising pieces are all over the place, both on eBay and at estate auctions. I have not heard about fake board games, like the early 20th century ones that can be worth a lot of money, but it seems like these games pop up with pretty good frequency at auctions and elsewhere. Is there any evidence these have been reproduced? It seems like a natural step from advertising pieces to games.

[Jay Wolt]

Here's a repro 1920's Football board game on eBay that I just found.
So rest assure, there are others out there too!

http://cgi.ebay.com/BIG-GAME-FOOTBAL...item19c2c5cfaa

[Butch7999]

Only a handful of notable games have been reproduced, and pretty much openly and well-publicized, like Schylling's 2007 repro of the 1920s Frantz/Hustler game in Jay's post above (they redid the similar Great American baseball game as well). The only really pricey baseball game to beware of as a repro is the 1884 Lawson's card game, republished by a legitimate Australian outfit in 2006.

Games are just harder and more expensive to fake than cards or autographs, and with relatively few notable exceptions don't command the same kind of money from collectors, so it's generally not worth the effort on the part of scammers.

Just the slightest bit of experience and/or research should enable most people to distinguish original games from reproductions. The Schylling repros (they also redid the circa 1960 Marx Baseball Game tabletop pinball) and the Lawson's repro are nearly identical to the originals, but they're all clearly marked with the new manufacturer's name. Other repros include obvious miniaturized versions in tin "collector" boxes, like Channel Craft's 2000s version of McLoughlin Brothers' circa 1900 Home Base Ball Game, and repros with significant and obvious changes to the graphics, like Sports Game Publishing's 2003 reissue of the 1930 National Pastime. The only repro that seems indistinguishable from the original is Harry's Grand Slam Baseball Game, originally produced in 1962 by Olympic Card Company, and redone in every exact detail by Heirloom Games / Out Of The Box Publishing in 2005. But even the original Harry's was typically only about a $10. item.

There have been a few attempts at peddling outright fakes, as distinguished from commercial reproductions, but those have been rare. All (we've counted three) were obvious -- all were cheaply produced gameboards, all shared some graphics in common, and all were quite clumsily executed, so our guess is that they were done as a middle-school art project, got away in a yard sale, and were being sold naively by honest and unsuspecting eBay vendors.

If you're eyeing a game and need some insight on whether or not it's an original, ask us here or visit our own Forum!

[stone193]

Hi Butch

I totally agree with you - the return is just not worth the trouble.

But, I have always wondered if someone would take the time to fake this game:



Take the generic version:



I believe there may be some subtle differences between the two games - I don't own the "indoor" version - have the generic version.

I did pick up the "indoor" version sans the cover which was removed - which had the red boxes for the parts - the generic version I have doesn't have the boxes.

It does seem to be a lot of trouble - but ya never know - someone could take a relatively inexpensive board game and sell it to some unsuspecting buyer on ebay?

[cbcbcb]

Thanks for the info. There was a very rare and expensive game that just didn't seem to fit the place it was being sold, but I am now sure that it was definitely the real deal.

[jbsports33]

I agree there are a few games out there, but it would be very expensive to make reproductions of the very early games including the one above that I did see in the Cooperstown area a few summers ago. The football game and the similar baseball game are a little easier to reproduce because of the tin it was made from. The spare parts from low condition games or repro parts can be found to make one look real nice like the picture earlier in this post, below is real vintage version with box. The more original pieces and games you buy or find, the more familiar you can be about the material it was made of so you know what to look for in a reproduction.

Jimmy

[Butch7999]

Mike, good call -- sorry, four fakes. Typically overlooking the obvious, we forgot about this hilarious piece of garbage that was up on eBay a couple of months ago and can still be seen:
http://snipurl.com/1zu01e
We've long thought that game really is dangerous, though, since there's a difference in price of maybe a few thou' between the common $75.-$200. "green box" edition and the very pricey illustrated-cover Indoor edition. It would take only a decent laser printer to copy a good image of the Indoor cover, and minimal effort to slip it into the frame of the "green box" edition, in order to produce a far better fraud than the one we linked above. Be hands-on with the game and have a loupe with ya if you're considering buying the expensive edition.

One other thing, or group of things, that could potentially be a worry among games is any of the "WG" sets. Those represent a significant proportion of the relatively few really expensive games out there. Cards would be the cheapest and easiest of all to fake, a far simpler matter than shaped and lithographed tin, and of course with a potentially much higher return for the scammer. Have the card collectors on board run into fakes (as opposed to clearly marked commercial repros) of any game cards? We'd be very interested to hear, while hoping there's nothing to report...

[stone193]

Thanx Butch.

I agree on the "card" games with photos. One has to always be on the lookout.

I remember someone - I think it was in the early 90s - selling a bunch of Fan Craze cards that were fake.

[gnaz01]

Originally Posted by stone193

Hi Butch

I totally agree with you - the return is just not worth the trouble.

But, I have always wondered if someone would take the time to fake this game:



Take the generic version:



I believe there may be some subtle differences between the two games - I don't own the "indoor" version - have the generic version.

I did pick up the "indoor" version sans the cover which was removed - which had the red boxes for the parts - the generic version I have doesn't have the boxes.

It does seem to be a lot of trouble - but ya never know - someone could take a relatively inexpensive board game and sell it to some unsuspecting buyer on ebay?

Mike,

I have both of these games, as a matter of fact the Indoor version is my Avatar

I know that a "generic" version of the Indoor version exists, but it is still expensive. Maybe Dr. Mark Cooper could chime in here, he is probably the best known expert on these games, and his book that he wrote in INCREDIBLY informative!!

I love mine, and was the high bidder on the one on REA last night, and I could have bought it with a $100 bump but decided mine is in probably 90% shape range, whereas the one in REA was probably 60%-70% range and mine is in much better shape, just got auction frenzy though

IMHO, not sure if anyone would be able to get the Horner portraits to counterfeit this game, at least the Indoor version.

[Hot Springs Bathers]

Greg & Mike- One question I have had for years is how many team card sets were issued for the game? I have seen several years including Federal League team cards. Also, how long was the player photo edition offered?

[stone193]

Originally Posted by Hot Springs Bathers

Greg & Mike- One question I have had for years is how many team card sets were issued for the game? I have seen several years including Federal League team cards. Also, how long was the player photo edition offered?

Hi Mike

My answer would be based on two games that I own - you should have the AL, NL, FedL and the IntL. I have both 1913 and 1914 cards. The range of production for the generic game was from about 1913 to 1925 or 6? Don't know for the better version - may have been more limited?

But, I would like to defer to the vast knowledge and friendly replies - accompanied by a wealth of information that Butch and the guys at the Baseball Games Forum possess.

[Hot Springs Bathers]

Thanks Mike! Did each year's edition come with the rosters for all four leagues possible with of course the Feds only being two years?

I have always considered this the Cadillac for the post 1900 games with the player's edition of course the top of the ladder.

[stone193]

Originally Posted by Hot Springs Bathers

Thanks Mike! Did each year's edition come with the rosters for all four leagues possible with of course the Feds only being two years?

I have always considered this the Cadillac for the post 1900 games with the player's edition of course the top of the ladder.

Hi Mike

This is a tough one - again - I would defer to Butch on this one.

My knowledge is personal - two sets - one with a date - 1913 and one sans the date. Both have the same amount of leagues but one has 1913 rosters and the other has 1913 and 1914 players.

I think I heard one could get updates from the company? Not sure on that one.

The one thing we can all agree - if ya got the "player" version of the game?

You've got one of the best games out there!