[metsfan41]

As a longtime advanced Todd Hundley collector, I look forward to the few times a year when a card I DON'T own of Todd pops up on the net, either at eBay or here. So when a '98 Fleer Sports illustrated First Edition 1 of 1 popped up on eBay 2 weeks ago, I was excited. I didn't bid right away, as the price was a little high for it, IMO. But I watched it, here it is for you to look at: eBay item #111643489214.
A few days later, I was equally excited to see another Todd 1 of 1 pop up from a different seller, but then realized it was the SAME EXACT CARD, both with the "only 1 of 1" stamp on the back in purple. I messaged both sellers, asking if they knew how this could be- the second one has even been graded by Beckett, here it is: ebay item #141650146099. Neither seller could explain it, but neither pulled their auctions, obviously.
So I had a problem, do I buy one on the chance it is real? So I pull out my Hundley and Mets collections to see if I had any other 1 of 1 cards from that issue to see if I could compare them, and suddenly I see it, I already OWN the same exact card in both those auctions, a first edition only 1 of 1, and it looks exactly the same, and my records indicate I bought it in 2002.

So can anyone help me understand exactly how a card that is supposed to be the "ONLY 1 of 1" can exist at least 3 times over? Is there a history of these cards being counterfeited?

[Hofcollector]

I dont know man. They are either heavily counterfeited or there was some serious production issues because the printing on the backs of those are all over the place including what would be the base cards also saying the only one true one of one on the back.

[djohn]

Here is what may have happened.
Fleer went bankrupt about 10 years ago. Fleer's assets were sold off at auction, and several unscrupulous individuals bought said assets and starting making forged cards. Because they used the same cards and process as Fleer it's nearly impossibly to tell them apart from the real cards. The card market got flooded with the Fleer assets around a decade ago. Unfortunately now that a decade has passed the assets have moved around quite a bit, making it even harder to determine when someone is selling the forged cards (and in a lot of cases the seller's don't even know). One of the easy ways to tell is when 1 person is selling a ton of Fleer 1/1s or other rare Fleer cards all at once, however even then there isn't a guarantee that they are forgeries.
This might not be the case, for the Hundley 1/1 cards you're referencing. However it certainly wouldn't surprise me if it was the case.

[Hofcollector]

Here is what may have happened.
Fleer went bankrupt about 10 years ago. Fleer's assets were sold off at auction, and several unscrupulous individuals bought said assets and starting making forged cards. Because they used the same cards and process as Fleer it's nearly impossibly to tell them apart from the real cards. The card market got flooded with the Fleer assets around a decade ago. Unfortunately now that a decade has passed the assets have moved around quite a bit, making it even harder to determine when someone is selling the forged cards (and in a lot of cases the seller's don't even know). One of the easy ways to tell is when 1 person is selling a ton of Fleer 1/1s or other rare Fleer cards all at once, however even then there isn't a guarantee that they are forgeries.
This might not be the case, for the Hundley 1/1 cards you're referencing. However it certainly wouldn't surprise me if it was the case.

I didn't really think about that. This seems to be a little more tricky though. It's not just a foil issue. There is the faint printing on the back and some of the ungradeds look identical to the encapsulated ones. I know they are suppose to, but it seems you'd need some pretty serious equipment to pull this off.

[djohn]

I didn't really think about that. This seems to be a little more tricky though. It's not just a foil issue. There is the faint printing on the back and some of the ungradeds look identical to the encapsulated ones. I know they are suppose to, but it seems you'd need some pretty serious equipment to pull this off.

Foil stamping is the easy part. If the back is actually inked into the design of the card and not just an add on, than my guess is Fleer had multiples of each card made in case of damage. I know they did this with other cards, and just added the foil later if the cards were returned due to damage. That is one reason why you see so many Fleer cards that are "missing foil" or "no serial number" for sale.

[georgecalfas]

A sheet popped up several years ago. Cards were cut from the sheet by a print company an appear similar in size. So obviously that set is a buyer be warned since there are at least 2 if not more of each 1/1 card.

[Hofcollector]

Foil stamping is the easy part. If the back is actually inked into the design of the card and not just an add on, than my guess is Fleer had multiples of each card made in case of damage. I know they did this with other cards, and just added the foil later if the cards were returned due to damage. That is one reason why you see so many Fleer cards that are "missing foil" or "no serial number" for sale.

That's pretty much what I was referring too. While I'm no expert on the machinery/technology needed to produce authentic looking fakes, I know the foiling aspect is fairly easy. Even the hack jobs will last long enough to be sold a few months down the line.

[metsfan41]

Thanks for the input, guys! I guess I'll never know for sure why we have at least three exact same copies of a supposed 1 of 1 card. I suppose it could be from extra copies printed as test runs. They could be fakes. They could be genuine, who knows? Here is one twist that concerns me- one is actually graded by Beckett (on sale on eBAy now)- is that the real one or did they make a mistake in grading it? Are the other two out there fakes then? Or is one of them the REAL one?
As to the possibility of a fake, sure, it's possible. The First Edition have the thick foil logo on the front, which would be harder to counterfeit than the 1 of only 1 stamp on the back- that isn't embossed in foil, it's just a purple stamp. I think even I could fake that with little trouble. The idea that these came from extra uncut sheets is interesting and the less evil of all the possibilities. If there was one uncut sheet, then it's easy to fathom multiple uncut sheets that were cut and have now seeped out onto the market after a number of years. I wonder what would happen if I submit the card I have to Beckett for grading- would they recognize that they have already graded a supposed 1 of 1 of the same exact card?

[Hofcollector]

Those aren't stamps in the literal sense. Its printed on the card the same way the entire card design is, digitally. Anything printed on the card after market would either indent the card or smudge easily because the ink wouldn't bond well to the surface of the card, unless you had really high end equipment.