Ahhhh! Some of these dealers are such damned idiots!

[Brianruns10]

I've written two ebay sellers now, alerting them to the fake '52 Mantles they are currently selling.

I explain to them all the reasons their card cannot be fake, and I explain the scam (crack a holder, insert a bogus card with a fake PSA slip and a legit ID number), yet they are like children, seemingly unaware anyone could possibly be so devious. Both of them responded by saying (paraphrase), "It doesn't look cracked. I trust the PSA graders. I checked the ID number, and it says it's legit."

And I have to patiently explain again that it is not a question of saying the PSA fellows got it wrong. It's that you've got a case of identity theft, with a card paired with a forged slip and a stolen ID. They just don't get that all one need to do is copy the number from any auction (such as theirs!).

Can people really be so stupid and naive, to spend such money trusting a piece of plastic, and not bothering to educate themselves? It takes me two seconds to spot a forged Mantle, yet these damned idiots trust the plastic, and keep these forgeries in circulation.

Or is it they are the ones pulling the con?

One auction just got pulled. The other is still up. We gotta stop these guys who are ruining our hobby!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/PSA-5-Mickey...item19d1ab53cd

[ALR-bishop]

Maybe keeping it them in circulation..at a yet higher price... is what the buyers have in mind too. It's hard to sort out the good guys, bad guys and misled guys in these things. But I applaud your efforts. I have two Mantles, both variations, and elected to get them both from Levi just to be sure

[Volod]

I tend to think they are not as naive as they try to appear. They probably know that the items are questionable at best, but still want to profit from them, and feel can do so with impugnity, perhaps by posing as innocent bystanders.