Posts

Showing posts with the label Counterfeits

Garbage Pail Kids - The Gross, Weird, and Wonderful Cards That Took Over the 80s

Image
Garbage Pail Kids - The Gross, Weird, and Wonderful Cards That Took Over the 80s In the mid-1980s, while kids were trading baseball cards and begging for Cabbage Patch Kids dolls, Topps decided to stir the pot. The result? Garbage Pail Kids  - a set of hilariously gross, satirical trading cards that became both a playground sensation and a cultural controversy. Adam Bomb – The most iconic Garbage Pail Kid of them all Where it all began First released in 1985 by Topps, Garbage Pail Kids were designed as a parody of the wildly popular Cabbage Patch Kids dolls. Each card featured a grotesque yet funny character with pun-filled names like Adam Bomb , Leaky Lindsay , or Up Chuck . Kids loved them. Parents… not so much. Artwork came from comic legends like Art Spiegelman (later Pulitzer Prize winner for Maus ) and John Pound, who turned gross-out humor into collectible gold. Every sticker card had two versions: an “A” and “B” name, but with the same artwork — ...

Frank Thomas 1990 Topps “No Name On Front” Rookie

Image
Frank Thomas 1990 Topps “No Name On Front” Rookie What It Is, How To Spot Fakes, and a Live Listing Disclosure: This article may contain affiliate links. If you buy through them, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Some errors are funny, some are pricey, and a few are hobby legends. The 1990 Topps Frank Thomas “No Name On Front” rookie (collectors call it NNOF ) checks all three boxes. It is a genuine printing mistake that dropped the black ink from his name plate, it is hard to find in clean shape, and it is one of the most talked-about modern error cards. If you collect 90s baseball or you just love a good hobby mystery, this one belongs on your radar. Quick facts Card: 1990 Topps #414 Frank Thomas, “No Name On Front” error (NNOF) What happened: a black ink pass went missing in part of an early print run, wiping out the name on the front along with other black details Scarcity: authentic copies are limited and tightly held; graded po...

How Forged PSA Labels Fueled a $2M Trading Card Scam: A Collector’s Guide

Image
Collectors were stunned when prosecutors charged two Washington men with a multi-year scam built on forged PSA labels. The playbook was simple and scary: take ordinary sports or Pokémon cards, fake the PSA flip and grade, put the card in a convincing holder, then sell it like a gem. One headline sale involved a 1986 Fleer Michael Jordan rookie presented as a PSA 10 that fetched $171,700 . It is a reminder that a plastic slab adds confidence, not certainty. The case file: who, what, where Prosecutors say the operation ran from 2022 through May 2024. The defendants, identified in filings as Anthony Curcio and Iosif Bondarchuk , allegedly moved altered slabs through card shops, shows, auctions, online marketplaces, and private deals. Investigators put the total at more than $2 million in fraudulent and attempted sales. When buyers occasionally caught on, refunds sometimes went out, then the same doctored slabs reappeared for sale to new victims. ...