Ever seen the 1989 Ripken FF Mystery card?

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by ajs

bnorth,
I just recently became aware of the "Mystery Card" version of this card and read the detailed information on it at Jon's billripken.com site. I also recently purchased two on ebay and they are legitimate. They are being sold on ebay by a dealer named FoundTreasureIsland (the dealer's actual name is Will Arnett and his address is in Columbia, MO). I asked him how he got the cards and he said a big Bill Ripken collector friend of his had purchased them from an antique shop near where the old Fleer factory used to be and that he is the curator to sell them. He said he has been dealing with Bill Ripken error FF cards for about ten years. His rating on ebay is very high and he also has a lot of sales. I don't know how many of these cards he has but I looked at ebay's recent "Sold/Completed" items category and he has sold about 60 in the last 3 months (I also saw three from other dealers that were advertised as Mystery cards but actually were not which seems odd because the original error sells for more than what the Mystery card is selling for. I do wonder who the buyer of the "find" was and how many are actually in collector's hands. All in all just a fascinating story about a historical card that a lot of general collectors don't seem to really know about.
ajs

I know the guy who "found" them and there are several hundred. Yes they are legit, legit counterfeit IMHO. Just send one into a grading company and see what happens. Yes sometimes one gets through but most get returned as counterfeit. They have been selling a LOT of them on eBay since the find so they are well known but like the "test issue" card more of a novelty than anything.