Genuine 1972 Venezuelan?

[Jim65]

I know there are tons of fake 1972 Venezuelan stickers, are the common players counterfeited as well or just the stars?

How do these look?

[Cliff Bowman]

If they are from Gilberto of Venezuelancards on eBay they are counterfeit. All of his 1959-1968 Topps Venezuelans are legit (at least I hope so, I have been buying expensive 1959 Cubs from him), but his 1972's are no good. Whether he knows they are counterfeit or not is the question. ETA: Yes, commons were among the 1972 Venezuelan fakes.

[Jim65]

Originally Posted by Cliff Bowman

If they are from Gilberto of Venezuelancards on eBay they are counterfeit. All of his 1959-1968 Topps Venezuelans are legit (at least I hope so, I have been buying expensive 1959 Cubs from him), but his 1972's are no good. Whether he knows they are counterfeit or not is the question. ETA: Yes, commons were among the 1972 Venezuelan fakes.

Thanks, they are his.

I avoided buying '72 Venezuelans because its too hard for me to tell fakes, I think I am going put them on the "permamently avoid" list.

[sschauer]

Best way to tell is with a loupe the green under 10x will be dots on fakes and solid if real. Plus the fatter fonts are fakes.

[mrmopar]

Sudakis has no number. Is this a tell tale sign or were they all like that for his stamp?

[Cliff Bowman]

Originally Posted by mrmopar

Sudakis has no number. Is this a tell tale sign or were they all like that for his stamp?

Good eye, here is a photo of an authentic 1972 Topps Venezuelan#169 Bill Sudakis. I know the fake Ron Santo is numbered #38, and the authentic Ron Santo is numbered #41.

[Cliff Bowman]

The 1972 Topps Venezuelan Pete Rose on the left is a fake that just went for $518 on eBay, for comparision the 1972 Topps Venezuelan Pete Rose on the right is genuine. The one on the left has fatter letters, is darker green, and has a lower quality photo than the real one on the right. Hopefully, PSA has stopped grading the fake 1972 Venezuelans.

[mrmopar]

I asked TCMA to scan the Garvey for me when he shared the album so I could see one that should be nearly indisputable, but alas he did not.

Originally Posted by Cliff Bowman

Good eye, here is a photo of an authentic 1972 Topps Venezuelan#169 Bill Sudakis. I know the fake Ron Santo is numbered #38, and the authentic Ron Santo is numbered #41.

[TCMA]

Originally Posted by mrmopar

I asked TCMA to scan the Garvey for me when he shared the album

Here is a close up shot of the Garvey from one of the pics I took before selling the album. It's a bit pixelated because I had to zoom in quite a bit:

[mrmopar]

Thank you!

Originally Posted by TCMA

Here is a close up shot of the Garvey from one of the pics I took before selling the album. It's a bit pixelated because I had to zoom in quite a bit:

The coloring of the TCMA album is much crisper and the letters seem bolder on my copy and I have always assumed the worst since I learned of the potential counterfeit stamps. I would have to pull out my copy to be sure that the scan isn't appearing a bit different than the actual item too.

[Cliff Bowman]

A bunch of 1972 Venezuelan Stamps of high end players just showed up on eBay from a certain consignment seller. Just my opinion, but I don't believe they are legitimate, they look like the fakes that have shown up in the last few years. Authentic examples are on the left, the questionable ones are on the right. Hopefully PSA has stopped grading those.

[TCMA]

Yeah, that Ryan looks extremely fishy.

[Shoebox]

Thanks for the heads up Cliff. Was looking at those earlier this morning.

[h2oya311]

Originally Posted by Shoebox

Thanks for the heads up Cliff. Was looking at those earlier this morning.

Thanks for saving me the headache! I had my eye on them as well!

[paul]

Those graded 72 Venezuelans sure sold for a lot. I hope for the buyers' sake that they are real.

[Cliff Bowman]

Originally Posted by paul

Those graded 72 Venezuelans sure sold for a lot. I hope for the buyers' sake that they are real.

Not a single one of them is authentic. Someone in Venezuela made forgeries within the past ten years of the star players and also surprisingly of many of the commons. They are all found with no glue residue on the back, the blank backs are a brilliant white, the green on the front is much darker, the photos are blurry, and the most obvious thing is that the fonts of the letters are completely different when compared side by side. Authentic ones are always found with glue residue on the back from being in a booklet, are yellowing from being forty five years old, have a much lighter green color, have sharper photos, and have a much thinner font of letters. I am guessing that the people that paid the outrageous prices for the Rose, Garvey, Brooks, Gibson, Ryan, and the Yaz wanted them for their registry set because they were graded by PSA. I only collect the Cubs in the set so I only got burned about $200 by originally buying the fake ones. I have nearly replaced them all with authentic ones.

[Cliff Bowman]

Here are a couple of examples to show the differences. The Cubs are easy to tell because the "R's" in CACHORROS are thin and don't match the other letters and really stand out on an authentic card, the "R's" are normal on the fake cards and blend right in. The most obvious evidence is the font on the Santo name, completely different.

[Cliff Bowman]

The Killebrew also has striking differences. Compare the 7 in 171 and the font on his name between the authentic card on the left and the fake card on the right, completely different.

[mrmopar]

PSA says they are authentic, and therefore it is so! I was shocked at the price the Garvey went for. I don't recognize the buyer's feedback score, so not a regular rare Garvey item bidder. It was well above any prices I have ever seen for one, but all the others were raw and likely the same "fakes".

Originally Posted by Cliff Bowman

I am guessing that the people that paid the outrageous prices for the Rose, Garvey, Brooks, Gibson, Ryan, and the Yaz wanted them for their registry set because they were graded by PSA.