I was immediately drawn to this card because I remembered the hype surrounding the 1st overall pick in the 1991 Major League Baseball Draft and his subsequent downfall. Taylor is one of just two players taken number one overall to never make it to the big leagues.
I bought the card for $7.20. It was marked at $8, but everything in that case was 10% off. I don't know how much this card would have been selling for back in 1992, but I would imagine it would have been several times what I paid for it.
As I started this post I scanned the card and then put it in a magnetic but noticed that it was a little smaller than a typical card. It had previously been in a top loader so I didn't realize it was a tad bit smaller.
So I went to the internet to see if this was typical of these cards. I didn't find anything about the size of the cards, but I did find a couple of other things that are disturbing.
First off, the Brien Taylor autographs are hand numbered out of 3,100 and you can see that my card is numbered out of 3,000. What the...?
Next up was the difference in the signature on the card I bought and the other signatures I see for Taylor online. They look nothing alike.
Here are the two cards next to each other so you can take a better look.
Boy, do I feel dumb. Any thoughts on the fake that I bought? Have you ever been duped like this before?
I hate crooks. Why would anyone take the time to fake the auto-sure in 1992 it may have made a difference-but in your defense how would you have known? It isn't a Babe Ruth you thought was a "steal"-makes a great conversation subject.
ReplyDeleteThe fake is so bad, but I just had no idea. I didn't think that there would be a fake out there.
Deletethat sucks. it looks like they used his base card front and auto card back to create the fake - note that 'fort' is spelled out on his base card, but it is abbreviated as 'ft' on the auto version. not that you should have known that going in. as for me and being duped, the 1963 topps pete rose/ken mcmullen rookie card i have in my collection is probably a fake, despite the adamant proclamations to the contrary made by the guy i bought it from.
ReplyDeleteGood catch on the "Fort" vs. "Ft". I didn't see that before. Sorry about your Rose RC.
DeleteBummer! I assume it was made years ago when he was still a prospect.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I can't imagine someone doing it recently to sell it for $7-$8. Makes me more curious to know about this particular card's history. How much were they going for that it would cause someone to fake the card?
DeleteCrazy that someone would fake this.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I was shocked and severely disappointed to find out it was a fake.
DeleteSeeing a Brien Taylor post brought a smile to my face. Years ago when I started my blog, one of my favorite things to collect were sports busts. I still have that collection and Taylor is part of it. Here's a link to my 1992 Classic card and what I had to say about him...
ReplyDeletehttp://sanjosefuji.blogspot.com/2010/06/pc-addition-sports-card-bust-13-brien.html
As for your card, it doesn't surprise me that someone went out of their way to create a counterfeit of Taylor. He was one of the biggest names in the hobby for a brief period and there's always people out there looking for an easy buck. I'm sure there are more than a handful of counterfeit autographs in my collection as well. One of my readers pointed out that my two signed 1987 Topps Ozzie Smith cards were actually stamped. I was so bummed out. On a positive note, it's better to know than not to know (well... at least it is for me).
Great post that you had. You're right about finding out sooner rather than later.
ReplyDeleteI picked up his signed 1992 Topps Gold from my street vendor recently - basically for free or I wouldn't have bothered, since I figured it could be fake. Turns out it was real, his real autograph really is pretty bad. Not nearly as nice the one on your fake. Sorry you got taken - I assume you don't think your card shop knew.
ReplyDeleteWhy would anyone wanna fake a Brien Taylor lol
ReplyDelete