thoughts on this frank thomas card
 

Another net54 member pointed this card out to me a few hours before the auction closed, but I chose not to bid. My thought was that the auto is obviously real, but the card is not a real NNOF. The PSA case doesn't mention the card being NNOF, and when you look up the PSA cert online it actually says "1990 TOPPS 414 FRANK THOMAS NAME ON FRONT"

The auction closing price seems to say at least 2 collectors felt it was a real NNOF card. Any thoughts, or can anyone tell for sure if it was real or not?

Link: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Frank-Thomas...p2047675.l2557

The card is 100% not a real NNOF. The card is either an altered correct version or a reprint. The easiest give away (and I can't believe anyone would spend $1300 on this card an not know it) is the complete black border around the frame of the card. The cause of the true NNOF version was something (likely rogue cardboard or paper) blocking the printing press. The obstruction actually affected 8-10 cards in total - although most prominently Thomas's name. Here is a link to a true Frank Thomas NNOF and note not only his name, but the broken black border surrounding the name box and the image on the card: http://www.ebay.com/itm/1990-Topps-F...cAAOSwTapV4O9c

What we have here is a combination of opportunity (the fact blue flips express nothing in terms of the card's authenticity) and lack of education. The winner got taken. It's a cool novelty and I'd actually like to have one, but for about $1270 less than that closing price.

Chiming in here...i asked Jesse about this, as i knew he posted about it being a white whale thread.
But while looking, i compared it to the PSA 8 on Ebay as well and quickly noticed the differences....like mentioned the incomplete black borders and color differences.
Jesse did the work on the serial number lookup and told me.
We both came to terms, indeed the card had to be fake, but the auto real.
In fact, the PSA8 with a best offer is a very nice card on Ebay. PWCC sold one recently and SGC 88/8 went for i think near 1,826 and sold another PSA 8 for 1,926.
The winner of that NNO AUtO last night for 1,325.67 got taken
I thought the bids were something, one guy had 12 bids in a row. And then the next guy had 8 in a row. When are the old days of 1 max bid, the snipers are having all the fun, if their bids go thru.

For the record, I brought up the card in a thread on CU last night. Had some good discussion about the card. Today it was poofed. Makes sense...

Yea I see what you guys mean about the border. When Chris emailed me the bid was at about $250 and I didn't bid because I figured it was fake. I actually emailed the seller and asked him. He said he was selling it for a friend, offered no guarantee it was a real NNOF, and asked me not to bid if I was assuming it was anything other than what the picture showed. I took that as a pretty clear sign to stay away. I can't believe someone was willing to spend $1,000 more than that without doing any homework first.