Back in June an astute collector on NonSportCardForum.com posted asking some probing questions about counterfeit non-sport card collecting. He had just received a card that didn’t look quite right.

Not wanting to be an alarmist he set out simply asking questions and slowly revealing more information about the card he purchased. Once I figured out which card he purchased (a James Franco Spider-Man 3 autograph) I took to eBay to see if I could figure out the seller. As (bad) luck would have it — I recently bought an Elizabeth Banks autograph card from the same seller, and after examining the card I was in total agreement — it was a fake.

I contacted eBay, who immediately refunded my money on the auction no questions asked (It had only been a couple of weeks since I won), and I was also in touch with Rittenhouse who had already been in touch with the other collector so they could immediately confirm the cards were ‘bogus’ and requested I return the card to them so they could investigate.

Before sending the card off I took a good scan of it along with a Spider-Man 3 autograph I know to be legitimate:

While it is a little difficult to see in the scan if you look at the buildings along the bottom and right of the card you will notice the shading is much different on the Banks card than the Briscoe card — also the Spider-Man 3 logo at the left of the card has letters that are a bit different in thickness, which is especially noticeable in the small enclosed areas like the ‘A’ and the ‘S’. These are two differences among a host of others.

The seller of these cards told Steve (the other collector) they purchased these autographs at the Philly Non-Sport Show. Perhaps they did and the seller could be as innocent a victim as anyone. My card came from eBay seller: loveandnewyork, and the invoice came from
Philip Chi, Fresh Meadows, NY 11365 United States. It looks as though the loveandnewyork ID is no longer selling cards on eBay — listings abruptly stopped when Steve and I posted negative feedback.

During their relatively short selling days loveandnewyork sold some of the biggest and best names in non-sport autographs — and while we know at least some of these Spider-Man 3 autographs are counterfeit many other questionable cards from many manufacturer were also sold.

I went through eBay feedback as far back as I could (through late April). Here is a VERY partial list of cards sold by loveandnewyork since April:

ADAIR TISHLER/ MOLLY WALKER TOPPS HEROES VOLUME 2 AUTO (#280340545071)
ALYSON HANNIGAN 1999 INKWORKS BUFFY VAMPIRE SLAYER AUTO (#280335295761)
ALYSSA MILANO PHOEBE HALLIWELL CHARMED AUTO/AUTOGRAPH (#280342400357)
ASHLEY CROW/ SANDRA BENNET 2008 TOPPS HEROES AUTOGRAPH (#280340545138)
AVI ARAD 2007 SPIDER-MAN SPIDERMAN 3 AUTO/AUTOGRAPH (#280338928144)
BEN AFFLECK 2002 TOPPS DAREDEVIL MOVIE AUTO/AUTOGRAPH (#280338928782)
BRUCE CAMPBELL 2007 SPIDER-MAN SPIDERMAN AUTO/AUTOGRAPH (#280343165606)
CAREY LOWELL 007 LICENCE TO KILL AUTO/AUTOGRAPH (#280342400380)
CHARISMA CARPENTER 2001 ANGEL SEASON 1 AUTO/AUTOGRAPH (#280342400406)
CHARISMA CARPENTER VERIONICA MARS A-19 AUTO/AUTOGRAPH (#280342400431)
CRISTINE ROSE/ANGELA PETRELLI HEROES VOLUME 2 AUTO (#280340545165)
DAVID ANDERS/ADAM MONROE TOPPS HEROES VOLUME 2 AUTO (#280340545221)
DAVID BOREANAZ 2001 ANGEL SEASON 1 ONE AUTO/AUTOGRAPH (#280342400463)
DAVID BOREANAZ 2001 ANGEL SEASON 1 ONE AUTO/AUTOGRAPH (#280343165652)
DENISE RICHARDS THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH 007 AUTOGRAPH (#280343165721)
ELIZABETH BANKS SPIDER-MAN SPIDERMAN 3 AUTO/AUTOGRAPH (#280338928207)
ELIZABETH BANKS SPIDER-MAN SPIDERMAN 3 AUTO/AUTOGRAPH (#280343165760)
ERICA DURANCE/LOIS LANE SMALLVILLE AUTO/AUTOGRAPH (#280335295769)
GILLIAN ANDERSON/DANA SCULLY 2005 INKWORKS X-FILES AUTO (#280335295791)
GILLIAN ANDERSON/DANA SCULLY 2005 INKWORKS X-FILES AUTO (#280343165799)
HOLLY MARIE COMBS 2000 CHARMED AUTO/AUTOGRAPH (#280342400495)
JAMES FRANCO 2007 SPIDER-MAN SPIDERMAN 3 AUTO/AUTOGRAPH (#280343165829)
JAMES KYSON LEE/ANDO TOPPS VOLUME 2 HEROES AUTOGRAPH (#280340545241)
JANE SEYMOUR SERINA BATTLESTAR GALACTICA AUTO/AUTOGRAPH (#280342400521)
JENNIFER GARNER BRISTOW 2002 ALIAS A1 AUTO/AUTOGRAPH (#280343165916)
JIMMY JEAN-LOUIS/THE HAITIAN HEROES TOPPS VOLUME 2 AUTO (#280340545262)
JOSH HOLLOWAY 2006 LOST SEANSON 3 AUTO/AUTOGRAPH (#280343165971)
JULIE BENZ 2005 BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER AUTO/AUTOGRAPH (#280342400550)
LEE MAJORS/LINDSAY WAGNER SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN AUTO (#280335295807)
LILI TAYLOR 2004 HBO SIX FEET UNDER AUTO/AUTOGRAPH (#280335295820)
LILI TAYLOR 2004 HBO SIX FEET UNDER AUTO/AUTOGRAPH (#280343165987)
LUCY LAWLESS 2007 SPIDER-MAN SPIDERMAN AUTO/AUTOGRAPH (#280338928381)
MERCEDES MCNAB 2005 BUFFY VAMPIRE SLAYER AUTO/AUTOGRAPH (#280342400609)
REBECCA DE MORNAY THE OUTER LIMITS A12 AUTO/AUTOGRAPH (#280335295833)
REBECCA DE MORNAY THE OUTER LIMITS A12 AUTO/AUTOGRAPH (#280343166062)
ROSE MCGOWAN PAIGE MATTHEWS CHARMED AUTO/AUTOGRAPH (#280343166094)
STAN LEE 2007 SPIDER-MAN SPIDERMAN 3 AUTO/AUTOGRAPH (#280338928418)
TOBEY MAGUIRE 2007 SPIDER-MAN SPIDERMAN AUTO/AUTOGRAPH (#280338928463)
TRICIA HELFER JAMES CALLIS BATTLESTAR GALACTICA AUTO (#280343166142)
WILLEM DAFOE 2007 SPIDER-MAN SPIDERMAN 3 AUTO/AUTOGRAPH (#280338928500)
WILLEM DAFOE 2007 SPIDER-MAN SPIDERMAN 3 AUTO/AUTOGRAPH (#280343166178)
YUNJIN KIM SHU-HWA KWON 2006 LOST A-1 AUTO/AUTOGRAPH (#280342400724)

The ‘enlarged’ scans of all of the cards taken from those eBay auctions can be found at
http://webjon.com/blog/?page_id=151. If you are aware of other cards sold by this seller please let me know so I can post it here!

If you think you have a counterfeit card you have several potential options for recourse. I would recommend contacting: the seller, eBay, Paypal and your credit card if you happened to pay with one. Your best recourse may be your credit card, however if you do a ‘chargeback’ on something you purchased with PayPal you probably will lose your PayPal account. If the card was shipped to you via the US Post Office you can file a mail fraud complaint, which may not directly be a benefit to you, but mail fraud is a federal crime. You may also be able to file a complaint with the seller’s local police department, and of course there are other legal actions you could take as well.

Keep your eyes out for these cards — even though you may not have directly bought from this seller other collectors may be selling or trading cards they bought from him on eBay and have no idea there may be an issue!

If you happen to have known legitimate copies of the cards listed above please take a minute to compare your card to the scan and email me, or post a comment with what you think.

Good luck to everyone, including Rittenhouse who is still looking into this.

Jon