FYI... I have the real '86 Topps Traded #11 Barry Bonds XRC here and looked at the comparison carefully and noticed the differences. The biggest two were in the lighting on the front photo and the font size of Bonds' name at the bottom.
If anyone was actually interested in acquiring that Bonds card, please let me know.
http://www.beckett.com/news/index2.asp?
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Counterfeit Alert: 1986 Topps Traded Barry Bonds XRC
3/3/2005 11:11:54 AM
The 1986 Topps Traded Barry Bonds XRC is the most popular Bonds card graded by BGS. With nearly 11,000 of them graded by BGS already, it is hard to believe we are just now seeing the first counterfeits of this card.
This fake, while probably not able to fool the hobby veteran, may be good enough to fool a novice collector. At first glance the card shows some characteristics of the real card, such as the centering being slightly off both top to bottom and left to right. The imposter is printed on a thicker card stock than the original, and has a weight of 1.70 grams compared to a weight of 1.42 grams on the real card.
When comparing the edges of both cards, looking straight down on the edge, the fake has a bright white stock compared to the off white, almost yellowed color of the real card. The fake also has a smooth edge with no visible striations compared to the choppier edge of the real card.
Some signs to look for on the front of the counterfeit include the font of the "Topps" logo in the upper right corner being noticeably smaller than the font on the genuine card. The trademark "R", located just above the word Topps, touches the "S" in Topps on the fake, while there is a noticeable space between them on the real card. Also on the front, the font size of the name "Barry Bonds", at the bottom of the card, is visibly smaller on the fake than the genuine card. The overall fuzziness of the photo of the fake compared to the real card is another sign to look for. A good place to look to help spot the counterfeit is in the blue sky background just to the left of Barry Bonds head. On the real card the sky is made up of blue and white print dots, while on the fake the background has blue, white, red and black print dots. The fake is easy to spot if you look in this area using a 10x loupe.
The back of this counterfeit is very well done, with the dark pink color on the counterfeit looking very close to that of the genuine card. If you are not sure what to look for, you could be fooled by this fake. One sign giving away the counterfeit is the bright white look of the white card stock on the back, which looks almost bleached. The real card has more of an off white color as opposed to the white card stock on the back. You will notice the card number "11T" has a diamond shaped box around it. On the real card, the corners of this diamond are rounded, while on the fake they come to a point. The diamond around the "Topps" logo on the back shares this same characteristic. Also, the font size of the card number "11T" is noticeably thinner on the fake than on the real card. One last sign on the back to help spot the counterfeit is to look on the back inside the white box which says "Talkin' Baseball". On each of the four corners in this box, there is a black line located just inside the corners. On the real card the lines are straight, while on the counterfeit card the lines are rounded.
With Barry Bonds about to pass Babe Ruth's home run mark this season, and his sights set clearly on Hank Aaron's home run record, his 1986 Topps Traded card is sure to be more popular than ever. If you are in the market for one, be sure you know what to look for to make sure you are getting the real deal.
Edited by Derek21, 04 March 2005 - 12:13 AM.
