Perry's Sports Collectibles

Sports cards used to be for children. They would buy packs for the gum, tape the cards to their walls and throw them in shoeboxes when they were done with them. Not too many people ever thought they would be valuable one day and probably wish they would have held on to their cards.

In the early 80s, card collecting became a very profitable hobby. Collectors were willing to pay big bucks for vintage cards and some dishonest individuals decided to capitalize on the demand for these cards. They started producing fake cards and selling them as the real thing. Today, that practice is still being used and with new technology available it can be real hard to identify the fakes from the real deal.

To protect against purchasing fake cards, look for the following red flags. First, the card stock is very important. Vintage cards have a particular feel and smell to them. This is due to the type of paper used to manufacture the cards. If the paper is not consistent with other cards from the era it is probably fake. This goes for newer cards as well. If the paper is too thin or not glossy enough on newer cards, it is probably fake.

You can also exam the printing patterns on a card to identify whether or not it is fake. Early counterfeit cards were produced with lower quality printers when compared to those in card factories. This caused inconsistencies in the ink and if examined with a magnifying glass the differences between real and fake are very noticeable.

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