Willie Mays Dispute between Topps and Beckett

Hi All,

I'm posting this for a friend. I'm perplexed, as is he. He purchased this Topps signed Willie Mays card from Pristine Auctions. The card states the signature was witnessed by a Topps representative. My friend sent the card to Beckett and asked that they grade it. Beckett emailed this morning to tell him they couldn't because they can't verify the authenticity of the autograph.

My mind immediately went to the card being a forgery...but the fact it has the silver foiling, and that Pristine had it in their hands and didn't question it, gives me pause.

Any thoughts here? My friend emailed Beckett to ask more questions but has yet to hear back. It seems to me that there is a dispute between Beckett and Topps. Beckett charged his $85 for the rejection.

Thanks all!

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on January 13, 2024 at 3:15pm

Tell your friend to contact Pristine. Did it come with a COA?

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Permalink Reply by Ryan Sloss on January 13, 2024 at 4:05pm

Hi Steve. No, other than the back of the card that states Topps witnessed the signing.

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Permalink Reply by BallroomDays67 on January 13, 2024 at 4:34pm

Contact Pristine, but without giving too much weight to Beckett’s opinion. I once contacted an auction house and made a fuss based on a TPA rejection and the item turned out to be authentic.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on January 13, 2024 at 5:35pm

True. Just tell them what happened. Actually, let's get some opinions on authenticity here first.

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Permalink Reply by BallroomDays67 on January 13, 2024 at 5:39pm

Totally agree. Wait for some opinions.

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Permalink Reply by terrier8HOF on January 13, 2024 at 5:41pm

horrible signature. and I believe that the card is a fake. look at the spacing of the stars in the bottom row. I think Beckett got it right

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Permalink Reply by Ryan Sloss on January 13, 2024 at 6:53pm

Thank you. Great eye!

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on January 13, 2024 at 6:36pm

On the back, note how the lower text in the black box runs right into the border of the box. Sloppy. I agree with Terrier that this is likely a counterfeit card with a fake signature.

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Permalink Reply by Ryan Sloss on January 13, 2024 at 6:57pm

Thank you Steve. I appreciate everyone's trained eye. I'm a little shocked pristine allowed this to be auctioned. I thought purchasing from Pristine added an extra layer of protection over sites where the item comes directly from the seller. Appears they missed on this one. Will let my friend know to get a refund for the purchase...and tack on the beckett charge as well.

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Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on January 14, 2024 at 7:03am

I know this card is bogus but every other example I looked at has the same text issue on the Reverse with the "T" in "Topps" running into the border. However, look at the font used for the name "Willie Mays"! Shown below:

The Obverse foil text observation appears to be a more solid ID IMO - but look at the font for the name:

OP:

Authentic example:

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Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on January 14, 2024 at 7:25am

Does anyone have any other info re Obverse name font(s) as shown above? The foil "Autograph Issue" seems a poor copy - the "A" appears to lean the wrong direction as well.