[Merovius]

So I feel like Ive had some relatively good luck with LCS, Beckett and Check Out My Cards but there are a few cards that I just havent been able to find in these places.

Im getting ready to pull the trigger on some rather expensive items for my pc and Im a little wary of buying from sites like eBay...

Some of the cards Ill be buying are Nolan Ryan & Tom Seaver RC and '69, Rod Carew RC, Jose Reyes RC, Gretzky RC etc. and really it seems like these would be rahter easy to fake.

So my question is what are the tell tale signs of a fake? What are the usual tactics? How can the common collector protect themselves from these fraudulent transactions?

Any feedback is appreciated, thanks.

[bonds20001]

One way is to buy graded cards..not 100 %, but better than raw cards.

Like the Reggie Jackson RC, until you compare the fake to the real card, even the "experts" can miss some fakes.

There are tons of info on the web concerning fakes..

Paper stock, color, glare, magnify to see printer dots. etc etc etc..

Good luck

[tigershot]

One way is to buy graded cards..not 100 %, but better than raw cards.

Pretty much what I was going to say. If you are going to purchase a high end RC, might as well buy a graded high end RC.

[alfredoleal2001]

I buy graded RCs hoping to avoid any fakes......

[meachma1]

Fakes are definitely out there. I purchased a Nolan Ryan RC off of eBay a couple of years ago and it turned out to be fake, and not a particularly good one either. The card stock was wrong - i.e. it was printed on a much thinner, white card stock, not the thicker brown card stock that was used at the time. The printer used also left significant dots, especially noticeable on the back of the card on the black lines that surrounds the stats and words on the back. The card was also too glossy for a card that old - it felt kind of slippery like many of the newer cards. I did get my money back from the seller after pointing out that it was a fake, but certainly beware, and probably stick with a graded card, even if it isn't the grade that you might want.