[johnxgodfree]

I actually am extra weary of cards on ebay for the same reason...I can't count the number of maddux patch swatches I've passed on...because I just simply don't know enough about the sets they came from and they are too nice looking of patches for me to trust that they really are the original piece and not something someone just hacked in there to look way better than a plain white swatch

it might be a bit paranoid, but it isn't like this hobby hasn't always sorta been a crooks paradise. ebay is just a shady flea market online far as I see it

[waynetalger]

I will say this
I have pulled cards that say patch on its just a jersey and a jersey card that is actually a patch. Sad I know but true. And if you been around and bought packs I bet you came across the same thing once or twice

[themaskedhood]

I will say this
I have pulled cards that say patch on its just a jersey and a jersey card that is actually a patch. Sad I know but true. And if you been around and bought packs I bet you came across the same thing once or twice

I havent bought a pack of cards since 2001 when I spent 20 bucks on nba cards and pulled 2 jersey cards! I like to gamble at the casino... not the LCS!

[rare unreleased]

I only trust certain patches in certain brands. Too many altered cards out there. Case in point:



Patch worn in 1997 (Jackie Robinson 50th Anniversary)
Jose Reyes wasn't a rookie til 2003, which means he couldn't have worn that patch.

[baseballcollector18]

I pulled a Stephen McGee patch card out of a pack of Press Pass Legends (football). Why is this significant? Well, it said on it "Game-worn jersey" and was numbered to the game-worn jersey set. I know this was press pass, but someone put a patch swatch where a jersey swatch should be.
Now, this is a rare occurrence for sure, but still. I certainly didn't fake putting a piece of the nameplate on the card, and even if I did it wouldn't have been a two-color swatch.
Conversely, most patches that are faked are obvious; well-centered, multiple colors, and usually a piece of the logo without the jersey. Strictly from a strategical, crooked sense, you can buy special patches for, say, $10 that are meant to be sewn on jerseys, and instead cut them up and glue them on jersey cards, which is what most people do. So if a patch is say, of the edge or corner, it's probably legitimate.

I should also mention that Donruss used to take pictures of the items they were inserting and put them on the back of the cards they were on. I guess, much like the way of the on-card auto, that's sort of a thing of the past. Sticker autos and not authenticating things is just cheaper.
What's really scary is that now, there's really nothing on the card that says it was worn by this player at all. IMO, if you're after game-used of any player that was active then, anything from 2005 or before is a better bet.

But that's just my $0.02.