Are Any of These Cardboard Signs Legimate? Help, Please

[ctownboy]

Jeff,

My experiences were back in the late 1980's and early 1990's. There were shady characters at the card shows but nothing NEAR like the ones at the flea markets.

Of course now, the card shows have all but disappeared and the SHADY characters at the flea markets have gone high tech and are peddling their wares to unsuspecting people on Craigslist and eBay.

David

[barrysloate]

They're all bad. 99+% of the early baseball signs you find at flea markets or small antique shows are reproductions.

[Joe Hunter]

Thanks for all the good comments concerning the signs. I went back to the flea market today and broke the news to the dealer that all of his baseball signs were reproductions (there were two others that I didn't take pictures of, and one that he had already sold). I explained to him many of the points you guys made. He took it pretty well, but I could tell he was disappointed. I think he had paid some pretty good money for them and I am convinced he thought they were real. I did not stick around to see if he pulled the items or left them on his table. I was pretty sure the Ruth Fro Joy was a repro from the beginning, but the other two I was not sure of. Again, thanks for all the great comments.

[murphusa]

at the repro warehouses in PA you can buy them for about $3 each

as soon as a real one gets auctioned off and there is a nice photo of one in an auction catalog they will soon be out there

[ctownboy]

Knowing flea market people who sell fake and reproduction items, I imagine the disappointment was NOT from finding out the items were fake (I bet he already knew that) but was disappointed he didn't sucker you into buying these pieces.

You were interested enough to take the time to look at them, ask about them, take pictures of them and then come back. I imagine when he saw you approaching his booth the next day, he had $$ signs in his eyes.

If I were you, I would go back and see if this guy STILL has the signs out for sale and at the same prices (I bet he still does). If so, then I would find the owner or manager of the flea market and complain to them.

If they don't do anything then I would know that this flea market is OK with harboring dealers who are out to fleece prospective buyers.

David

[Joe Hunter]

Well, your're probably right. Didn't have time to go back to his table, and the market ended early this afternoon. As far as going to the manager, I considered that, but figured he would just say it is my word against his. After all, he is just out to sell spaces, and I doubt that he would know a fake from vintage piece, anyway. I think it is just one of the pitfalls of flea market picking.

[thebigtrain]

I see that Ted Williams hunk o' dung at a lot of NJ flea markets too, often with a price of $250. I was looking at one a couple weeks ago and the seller right off the bat offered to "come down" to $175 since I was wearing a NY Yankees hat lol.

All the Ted Williams "Moxies" are usually fake. This was a small soda company local to the New England market and Ted only signed a deal with them in 1957, yet a lot of them claim to be either pre-war or late 1940s. The chances that so many of these items survived to enter the collector market nearly 60 years later is absurd.

The Ruth Fro-Joy is a complete joke, and the Gerigh looks to have been printed on old paper and then stained with bacon grease and such to make it look old.

[ctownboy]

Joe,

What you do is copy this thread and then take it to the manager or owner the next time the flea market is open. If the dealer is there with the same pieces at the same prices, you show him the copy of this thread.

That way they BOTH know that YOU know his pieces are fake and worthless. If the dealer doesn't remove the pieces or reduce the prices and list them as repros then you know the dealer is not to be trusted.

If the owner or manager doesn't make sure the dealer removes the pieces or sees that he marks them as repros then you know THEY are also not to be trusted.

In the early 1990's, I was at a flea market and there was a guy who was selling boxes of football cards for less than what you would expect them to sell for. I had some stuff (nothing great) that I was looking to sell or trade and he was VERY interested. He looked at my stuff and offered me a couple of these unopened boxes of football cards in trade.

Now, these football cards weren't that great BUT they at least gave me a chance to possibly get a rookie or insert card or whatever that MIGHT be something valuable that I could sell. So, I made the trade.

I took the boxes home and started opening the packs. Lo and behold, there were NO star players (or rookies or inserts) in these packs. Also, some of the packs didn't have as many cards in them as they were supposed to.

When I looked closer at these "unopened" packs, I saw that there was glue at the areas where they were originally sealed. Also, they smelled like model glue. So, I knew right then and there that the guy had opened these packs, took the good cards out and was selling them individually and then was pawning off the boxes of "unopened" packs (which were full of nothing but commons) for whatever he could get.

Even though it was a long drive back to the flea market, I went back the next day. I confronted the dealer and told him what I knew and that I was going to give him his boxes back and that I wanted my cards that I had traded him.

He denied doing anything wrong and said that he didn't have the cards I traded him. So I made a HUGE scene. I was yelling that this guy ripped me off and that you could still see and smell the glue on the packs that I hadn't opened.

The manager of the flea market (with security) came over to see what was going on. I explained the situation to him and he asked the dealer if this was true. The dealer himmed and hawed around. So, with that, the manager told him to pack up his stuff and get out. He then apologized to me and told me that that guy was not going to be allowed back at his flea market.

I don't know if that happened because I never went back to that flea market. But, at least, I caused a scene and that dealer was exposed as a scam artist and was booted out that day and lost whatever sales he might have had.

David