Counterfeits coming from Italy

[samosa4u]

Originally Posted by Arazi4442

Pretty sure I got beat on a couple Panini Tyson's about 2-3 months ago.

I think Paypal gives you 180 days to file a claim.

[Exhibitman]

There are also fake Miras coming from eBay Italy. Be very, very wary of sellers offering large blocks of clean cards.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Can you show an example of a Mira you think was fake? When I've looked on ebay Italy for Miras I see a bunch of $4 cards and a bunch recovered from albums.

[Copa7]

I was going to post about this as well. But I think it was so well put, not much to add.

I will emphasise that graded cards are NOT safe as they have less knowledge than collectors.

[thelimey]

I got taken with a Cruyff & Platini a few months ago. I was able to get a refund through ebay by showing the pixelisation of the text on the back & arguing it was a modern method, comparing it to some authentic copies. Unfortunately some of these have made it through PSA (I have recently picked up a PSA Platini only to find out it is one of these copies), which will make it trickier for people to point out / prove the fakes. These seem to be coming from several selling ID's that are either working together or the same person. When I raised my suspicions with my seller all the listings from other sellers got immediately pulled (something I also pointed out to ebay).

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by thelimey

I got taken with a Cruyff & Platini a few months ago. I was able to get a refund through ebay by showing the pixelisation of the text on the back & arguing it was a modern method, comparing it to some authentic copies. Unfortunately some of these have made it through PSA (I have recently picked up a PSA Platini only to find out it is one of these copies), which will make it trickier for people to point out / prove the fakes. These seem to be coming from several selling ID's that are either working together or the same person. When I raised my suspicions with my seller all the listings from other sellers got immediately pulled (something I also pointed out to ebay).

Could you please let us know the IDs?

[samosa4u]

solare53

topazziostickers

I believe they are the same person.

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Can you show an example of a Mira you think was fake? When I've looked on ebay Italy for Miras I see a bunch of $4 cards and a bunch recovered from albums.

A listing by eBay seller "comeravamo17" for a 1968 Mira album and stickers (item #302784423461) described as "Album figurine tuttosport imira completo con figurine da attaccare no panini lampo", which translates as a Mira Tuttosport album complete with stickers to attach not Panini or Lampo. The title added the word "anastatico".

I was underbidder on the lot. The buyer left negative feedback stating "Everything was reprints. Seller refused refund. Don't fall for the anastatic BS". The seller's response to the negative was "I specified several times that it was anastatic at the end but it did not return it"

Anastatic printing is a printing method but this ass-clown was using that word as code for reprint. I narrowly dodged getting cheated only because I was too cheap to top an E278 (about $300) bid.

What is scary isn't that the seller is a scumbag, it is that the cards and album themselves looked damned good on eBay. Scary good.

[Arazi4442]

Corason78 has now changed user ID to topazziostickers and still has several items for sale.

[samosa4u]

Originally Posted by Arazi4442

Corason78 has now changed user ID to topazziostickers and still has several items for sale.

Yeah, it looks like it's the same person. I negged his other account (twice) and now he has to sell all his Platini and Cruyff fakes through his topazziostickers account.

[Collect Equity]

Great thread!!! As I mentioned in another thread, I was taken by a seller in Mexico who sent me a bunch of fake Mexican soccer cards. It really took the wind out of my collecting sales for a few months. It’s so important to be educated and wary.

A few questions on the topics in this thread:

1) Can someone show some examples of the different types of printing to look for with a loupe? Specifically, if I am buying cards from the 60s or 70s what kind of patterns should I see or not see compared to home made reprints? (Note: I don’t care about the specific card, just general examples). It’s hard for me to know what type of printing was and was not around in the 1970s, to be able to compare against.

2) Toppaziostickers is offering a Pele Sicker Verlag with back damage due to being taken from an album. I have always trusted back-damaged cards that appear album removed as a sign of authenticity. Can anyone confirm if they have seen counterfeiters fake back damage?

3) if you do buy a fake PSA card, isn’t there buyer protection of some kind?

[Arazi4442]

Originally Posted by samosa4u

I think Paypal gives you 180 days to file a claim.

Thanks! I’ll get in contact with PayPal ASAP.