Star Pics « Webjon.com — Now with more blog!

January 22, 2011

Another Farley. . .

Filed under: counterfeit and questionable cards,Star Pics — webjon @ 10:45 am

I used to love Star Pics autographs. They were my thing. . . they are tough to find so I enjoyed the hunt, and there are some spectacular signatures in the SNL set — among the best is Chris Farley.

I got lucky when I bought my Chris Farley. Mark Macaluso had one I had been eyeballing for several months back in 1997 — the year Farley passed. When I heard the news that one of my favorite comedians was no longer with us one of the first things I did was call Mark and buy that card. I haven’t seen another legitimate one since.

Times were different in 1997, of course. Counterfeits were barely ever spoken of — if anything there were reprint sets of classic cards, but if there were counterfeit autographs I never heard it. Anytime I see a Farley I compare with mine. . . of course it’s possible that my card is questionable, but given that it came from Mark Macaluso in 1997 I’m confident it’s the real deal.

That brings us to the card pictured here — eBay item 260724097721. This card popped up on my radar after two Webjon readers inquired about my opinion of its authenticity.

Unfortunately today isn’t 1997, and while I still love Star Pics autographs my days of hunting ‘em have passed because they are among the easiest and cheapest cards to fake. The autograph cards are on commons, which are readily available and are authenticated with stickers which are also readily available and inexpensive on sports cards.

If you are going to buy a Star Pics autograph you probably should become an expert in Star Pics autographs, and you should probably ask a lot of questions before buying ‘em. Provenance is important with these cards.

I have no idea what the provenance of this card is, so I can only go on what I see. . . I’ve been reluctant to post about this card in many ways because it’s not obviously real or fake, but people have been asking my opinion — and if two people are asking several others are likely wondering.

The first thing that I don’t like about the Farley is there is wear on the edge of the sticker at about 10:00. That wear could be from where someone peeled this sticker from another card. I wouldn’t buy a Star Pics autograph unless the sticker on it is perfect. Additionally the sticker is upside down. When looking at the signature this one doesn’t look very similar to the Farley autograph on my card, but even more than that the loop in the ‘h’ in Chris is shaky, and “Chris” seems thicker than “Farley,” which could be an illusion due to the way the photo was taken, but I don’t think so. I personally wouldn’t buy this card.

Jon

BTW — I hope you all know who Mark Macaluso was — at one point he was probably the biggest non-sport card dealer in the world, he also started the Fantasy Trading Card Company and manufactured several sets. Mark’s untimely death came many years ago leaving a void in the hobby that has yet to be filled.

Comments (2)

December 5, 2010

Mike Myers SNL Auto. . .

Filed under: counterfeit and questionable cards,Star Pics — webjon @ 3:55 pm

Just pulled this scan off eBay.

SNL and other Star Pics autographs aren’t for the faint of heart. The autographs are on regular cards that are signed with an authenticity sticker. Star Pics’ non-sport autographs are quite rare and tend to have some value, unfortunately they are easy to fake, and even worse there are a ton of very cheap Star Pics sports autographs. . . so folks have been known to take a real SNL common, and a real $1 Star Pics sport autograph, peel off the authenticity sticker grab a blue pen and create a fake SNL autograph.

So what do we have here?

There is no apparent feathering in the autograph, and there are dots and the end of the signature. . . bad signs, for sure. . . is it enough to call it fake — I dunno. The thing that bothers me most though is the authenticity sticker. First the sticker is upside down. . . not a little bit off center, but directly upside down, and second the authenticity sticker has ‘scratches’ on it, which could be a sign of removal from another source. . . I’m staying away from this one. . .

Jon

Comments (5)

March 6, 2010

Counterfeit Notes. . .

Filed under: bad eBay experiences,counterfeit and questionable cards,General,Star Pics — webjon @ 10:51 pm

I’m a little light on updates right now — sorry about that. . . I’d love to do a review on Voltron, and a story about 5FINITY’s latest release — P’UPS, that sold out 1500 packs in 10 hours… Unfortunately some real life events are eating up all time time. For better or worse there hasn’t been a lot of news on the counterfeit front, but there are a few things I’d like to mention. . .

The Inkworks Watermark

As Michael points out in his comment on the Alyssa Milano post the Inkworks watermark appears on the back of his counterfeit Milano autograph. This confirms that the watermark is useless in determining authenticity.

For those who don’t know the Inkworks watermark is a series of Inkworks logos that appears running diagonally across the back of some autographs they’ve produced (as well as some counterfeits).

Star Pics Autographs. . .

All of the sudden there are a bunch of Star Pics Twin Peaks autographs hitting the market. Sadly a bunch of them are likely forgeries. More than any other card set out there you really need to do research and know what you are buying before picking up Star Pics autographs. Thankfully buyers out there seem to be able to tell the difference between the good and the bad. . .

How do you tell the difference? The only real way is to know the cards and know the signature — One day I’ll do a detailed report on Twin Peaks autographs, but for some quick tips, pay close attention to the seal of authenticity. . . if it doesn’t look perfect don’t buy the card. Make sure the signature matches known signatures of the actor, and make sure the pen is a perfect match for known good copies of the authentic autograph cards.

Tips for spotting counterfeits. . .

The question I get emailed the most is “What is the simple way to tell if a card is counterfeit,” as if there is a magic secret way to tell that applies to all cards and is being kept secret. We’ve seen counterfeits created in many ways so there is no one way to determine if a card is counterfeit. The only way to know for sure is to know the card.

A few good places to start when looking at a card is to first pull the card out of the toploader and compare the size, card stock, edge color and fine printing details to another card. That isn’t always possible, especially online. . .

For scans you can do a few things that will help, but again, these are just starting points — know the cards!

1. Use Mishu’s Signature tests:
a. Are there ‘dots’ at the ends of the pen strokes? If so the card is likely fake.
b. Does the thickness of the signature vary? Many fake signatures have the same line thickness for the entire signature. Some real signatures do as well.

2. Use Steve’s Inkworks Authentic Stamp test
If the Inkworks Authentic Stamp appears to be in a different place (typically further left and down) from where most of them are in a given series the card is likely fake.

3. Compare to other copies of the same card. Look for similarities and differences in the signature, also if you can find a card with an identical signature avoid those cards!

Good luck!

Jon

Comments (0)

January 6, 2010

Another Star Pics Buyer Beware.

Filed under: Star Pics — webjon @ 12:29 am

I recently noticed a couple of Star Pics All My Children Autographs on eBay. The listing is ambiguous at best stating, for example: ” AUTOGRAPH STAR PICS FOR ALL MY CHILDREN ARE RARE.”

I contacted the seller, who was very friendly in their response, in which they said “these are the official Star Pics card from the packs of All My Children and of course they were taken out of the pack and the stars personally autographed them.” It is unclear if the seller is aware that there is a difference between a pack pulled autograph and a card signed by the celebrity — people outside of the hobby can have a difficult time understanding what the difference is. Obviously All My Children Star Pics cards are anything but rare (you can easily find factory sets for under two bucks). Clearly these are signed AMC cards, but they are not pack pulled autographs:

As I was unsure what the seller meant in their response I explained why I didn’t think these were pack inserted cards — mainly they are missing the Star Pics Authentic sticker and they aren’t signed in the marker that every other autograph from the set is signed in. The bottom line is — buyer beware, and know what you are buying. . . I certainly don’t get the impression that the seller is trying to fleece anyone with these listings, it seems as though they just aren’t familiar with the intricacies of trading cards.

The cards are items 250525911630 and 250525920585 and are listed at $119.99 Buy It Now — nearly ten times more than the equivalent pack pulled autographs would sell for. . . Star Pics autographs are hard to find, but aren’t in demand.

Jon

Comments (3)