04-17-2015, 09:50 PM Bought another Jordan RC - 1986-87 Fleer this time
So I spent the day running down Craigslist leads for 2 1986-87 Fleer Jordan RC's today. Both were located in Louisiana - one in Bossier City and the other in Alexandria.
I drove to Bossier City this morning (2.5 hour easy cruise) and checked it out. It was raw, but I went through all the identification steps and it was legit. Bought it for $300 cash money at a Pawn Shop. I think it will probably grade out around a 7.5 which appear to be going for around $800 on eBay right now.
Drove another 1.5 hours to Alexandria and that one was fake. The guy was pretty upset when I told him. It had several tell-tale signs: flag color was wrong, Bulls head wasn't a solid line across, no pupils in the eyes, basketball was solid, etc.
I showed him the real one and he immediately realized it. I hate bursting people's bubble and I would have loved to have scored another one as it looked to be in really good condition, but it was just too good to be true.
I know most people are afraid to buy this card raw, but if you follow the correct steps, you can spot a fake pretty quickly.
I'm in Shreveport right now so I will have to post pics of the card when I get home in a few hours, but I'd say it was a pretty successful day and a little road trip to get me out and about for a day.
04-18-2015, 01:31 AM RE: Bought another Jordan RC - 1986-87 Fleer this time
(04-17-2015, 10:25 PM)altz11 Wrote: Your on a roll. I think I'm going to start checking Craig's list also. Thanks for the idea!
Thanks.
I've been scouring Craigslist for things and I've had pretty solid luck in finding what I want/know will sell and I can make a decent profit on.
These are out there, but you have to look for them and jump on them quick. I wanted to drive and buy it last night, but the place closed at 6pm and didn't open back up until 9am this morning. I was pissed at myself for not getting out of bed early enough to get there when their doors opened and instead I got there at 11:30am. I was thinking in my mind someone else was going to snag it before I got there and I'd be SOL on the card, my time, gas, etc.
I just got home and the lightning sucks from my ceiling fan, but pics are below. Again, I know it's not a high-grade specimen, but it was relatively cheap ($300) and it took minimal effort on my part to go get it. It's hard to ***** when you have a 100% guarantee of doubling or maybe even tripling your investment.
My suggestion to you, or anyone else for that matter, who is thinking about doing what I've been doing here these past few weeks - INVEST IN A MAGNIFYING GLASS. I went to Office Depot and bought a 2x power regular lens with a 4.5x power spot lens and it's already saved my ***** twice over. For my $10 investment I probably saved myself at least $800 within the past 2 days.
I was going to buy a 1970 Topps - Nolan Ryan - #712 from a guy I had bought a 1968 Topps Nolan/Koosman rookie from previously. This card appeared to be in IMMACULATE condition to the naked eye. Centered up near perfect, sharp corners, etc. I put it under the lens and find a mark/scratch/line right under the two hanging laces on his glove that I know BGS would have nailed the card on for surface wear and killed any chance this card had of being a 9 or better. He wanted $300 for the card. There is no way I could have even broke even had I not seen that and probably would have lost my ***** on the card. Same goes for today with finding out the 2nd card I was trying to buy was a fake. I spotted all of the discrepancies with ease with the magnifying glass within seconds. I was going to pay the guy anywhere from $400-$600 for the card depending on condition and he would have taken it too. Without it, I would have had no real way of telling it was a fake and been out all that money for a card I might be lucky to get $20 for selling on eBay as a reprint.
04-18-2015, 02:02 AM RE: Bought another Jordan RC - 1986-87 Fleer this time
(04-18-2015, 01:31 AM)NateNichols Wrote: Thanks.
I've been scouring Craigslist for things and I've had pretty solid luck in finding what I want/know will sell and I can make a decent profit on.
These are out there, but you have to look for them and jump on them quick. I wanted to drive and buy it last night, but the place closed at 6pm and didn't open back up until 9am this morning. I was pissed at myself for not getting out of bed early enough to get there when their doors opened and instead I got there at 11:30am. I was thinking in my mind someone else was going to snag it before I got there and I'd be SOL on the card, my time, gas, etc.
I just got home and the lightning sucks from my ceiling fan, but pics are below. Again, I know it's not a high-grade specimen, but it was relatively cheap ($300) and it took minimal effort on my part to go get it. It's hard to ***** when you have a 100% guarantee of doubling or maybe even tripling your investment.
My suggestion to you, or anyone else for that matter, who is thinking about doing what I've been doing here these past few weeks - INVEST IN A MAGNIFYING GLASS. I went to Office Depot and bought a 2x power regular lens with a 4.5x power spot lens and it's already saved my ***** twice over. For my $10 investment I probably saved myself at least $800 within the past 2 days.
I was going to buy a 1970 Topps - Nolan Ryan - #712 from a guy I had bought a 1968 Topps Nolan/Koosman rookie from previously. This card appeared to be in IMMACULATE condition to the naked eye. Centered up near perfect, sharp corners, etc. I put it under the lens and find a mark/scratch/line right under the two hanging laces on his glove that I know BGS would have nailed the card on for surface wear and killed any chance this card had of being a 9 or better. He wanted $300 for the card. There is no way I could have even broke even had I not seen that and probably would have lost my ***** on the card. Same goes for today with finding out the 2nd card I was trying to buy was a fake. I spotted all of the discrepancies with ease with the magnifying glass within seconds. I was going to pay the guy anywhere from $400-$600 for the card depending on condition and he would have taken it too. Without it, I would have had no real way of telling it was a fake and been out all that money for a card I might be lucky to get $20 for selling on eBay as a reprint.
It's real ! Not a 7.5 but it's another great score. I never have any luck like that.
04-18-2015, 02:15 AM RE: Bought another Jordan RC - 1986-87 Fleer this time
(04-18-2015, 02:02 AM)KobeJames Wrote: It's real ! Not a 7.5 but it's another great score. I never have any luck like that.
We'll see. Obviously it's off-centered, but I knew it was off-centered before I purchased it when I was looking at the picture of it in the posting.
It has some edge-wear and wear on the bottom left corner, but the other 3 corners appear to be pretty good under magnification.
Again, I'm using a 4.5x lens and going off of my recent submissions. I had the grade on my 1984-85 Star nailed outside of the surface wear which I had no idea where they were going to go with that, but I knew it was present.
04-18-2015, 03:19 PM RE: Bought another Jordan RC - 1986-87 Fleer this time
Bought another one this morning. Maybe I should have waited, LOL. Drove 15 minutes and bought it from a guy trying to sell it to one of the dealers at the card show.
Obviously the dealer was trying to rape him and didn't buy it. I pulled him to the side, checked it out just like I did with the other one under magnification and it checked out. This one was in a little better condition so I paid an extra $100 over the other one, but I already knew I was in the green no matter what because I have someone local who has a standing offer with me for any of 86-87 Fleers I find.
I honestly thought it was going to be pretty hard to find this card raw around here, but obviously I've had pretty good luck within the past 24 hours. 2 out of the 3 I've looked at have been legit and I was able to get for a reasonable price and will make a decent profit on.
04-19-2015, 08:36 PM RE: Bought another Jordan RC - 1986-87 Fleer this time
(04-19-2015, 07:32 PM)jonathani Wrote: Being knowledgable is the best way to be.
Absolutely, especially when you're dealing with a card of this caliber and the money they command, raw or graded, but especially raw.
I nearly got burned one time and I learned my lesson. I made sure I looked at several online resources about the card and how to detect a reproduction/fake along with my previous experience.
Again, anyone trying to buy this card raw without a good magnifying glass and knowing what to look for is just asking for trouble and it's basically impossible to spot with the naked eye.
Obviously there is always some risk involved when buying raw, but you can take a vast majority out by knowing what to look for, having a magnifying glass with you, and also price negotiation.
