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Replica Babe Ruth signed baseball sells for $3201 on eBay

I know, I know...it's shocking that there would be an unscrupulous, deceptive seller on eBay. But that's the sad situation here. Earlier yesterday, a signed Babe Ruth baseball that I believe is clearly a replica, yet was advertised as being an authentic example, sold for $3201 with 5 bidders going at it to win this $50 baseball. Surprisingly, the top bidder appears to be an experienced eBay member with over 1600 transactions.

And there's more to the story. The seller of the ball claims that it was a garage sale dream find and that he acquired the ball from an older gentleman whose father received it directly from the Sultan of Swat himself. And it's verifiable that the seller made up the story because if one digs just a little deeper into past ebay sales, you will see that gentleman who sold the ball for $3201 actually won the ball form another ebay seller who noted that it was purchased from a second-hand hobby dealer. That seller even advertised it as a replica since he didn't have a COA.

So the second seller was clearly lying about his story. After winning the ball for $1575, the second seller got the great (tongue-in-cheek) FP Garo Authentication to issue an LOA. You might already know that Frank Garo is one of those "noted" "forensic document examiners". And Mr. Garo has ties to Coaches Corner. Essentially Garo will authenticate anything. So for $40, (as opposed to the $300 PSA fee) this lying seller got papers saying this Ruth ball is real.

Just for clarification, one can tell that the second seller was, in fact, the winner of the original auction, as both the winner of the original auction amd the second seller have 88 transactions on eBay. Anyway...tell me what you think. Is this ball in fact a replica...or might it be real? There are pics below as well two links. The first link is to the second sale, and the second link is to the first sale. Did I confuse you enough?




https://www.ebay.com/itm/BABE-RUTH-signed-1910-039-s-Draper-amp-May...


https://www.ebay.com/itm/Babe-Ruth-Single-Signed-Draper-And-Maynard...

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by RC on January 15, 2018 at 9:02am

Hi James,

Just wanted to extend a thank you for logging this information about the Babe Ruth Baseball Replica story here.. You see I was the winner of that bid or should say loser.. after 28 days of the original purchase went by i saw your post. My heart dropped and panic set in!!!LOL.. I immediately contacted the seller and requested a refund, of course the seller did not agree and I had to go through the proper procedures and channels through ebay. Eventually after a few weeks and providing documentation to ebay  that this ball was steel stamped and or a facsimile of the signature i received my refund. However I had to return the baseball back to the seller, where i now see its back up for sale. But with a different story on how the ball was attained. Thank you James for your help!!! I am no longer a naive believer in stories about Babe Ruth baseballs. 

Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on January 15, 2018 at 10:34am

Ray, very happy to hear that you got your $3,201 refund! We love to hear that.

Good job, James. It shows that member efforts here can make a big difference. Thank you.

Permalink Reply by CJCollector on January 15, 2018 at 2:59pm

I love hearing stories like that!!!

Great job, James.

Permalink Reply by James on January 17, 2018 at 1:38am

Thank you, Christopher.  I appreciate that, especially since you're the best at uncovering these bums and bringing them to our attention!

Permalink Reply by James on January 17, 2018 at 1:35am

Thank you, Steve, for having a site like this that makes this possible.

Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on January 17, 2018 at 2:23am

Members like you make it a pleasure. 

Permalink Reply by James on January 17, 2018 at 1:32am

Hi, Ray.  I am so glad you saw my post and that it helped you realize that you got scammed by another eBay lowlife!  I just knew that ball wasn't real, and after putting it altogether, I confronted the second seller about it and about how he clearly made up his entire story of how he acquired the ball.  He just replied sarcastically to me and said that the ball was "authenticated".  I'm glad you saw the post in 28 days as opposed to more than 45 days because I think you have to open a case within 45 days if I remember correctly.  Anyway, I'm so glad you got your refund.  That's a lot of money to throw away, and most of us can't afford that! Now how in the hell can ebay allow that ball to be re-listed after they know for sure it's a fake?   Maybe eBay isn't yet aware of its relisting ..or maybe they're just greedy.  It's likely the latter, unfortunately.

Permalink Reply by James on January 17, 2018 at 1:44am

I see that at least now this seller is stating that there's a good chance the ball is not authentic (jeez...you think?!) and that Garo is not as reputable as he originally thought!

Permalink Reply by Fuddjcal on January 17, 2018 at 9:37am

Yeah that Frank Garo kidder's name again. He's still around? ... It all comes back to me now.

There was a discussion of another Ruth ball like this one on Net54 on another Ruth replica. So I think it's based on a an "original signature" , it's hard to tell in pictures. There was a guy on E-bay selling these replicas in QTY 2-3 years ago as Replicas. They were a few hundred bucks each and the possibilities were endless with the Gehrigs, ruths, Clemente's they were nice replicas too like this one.

Great job getting your money back on that one Ray!! Continue to do a ton of research on Ruth balls before you take the plunge next time, if this hasn't soured you like it does me. If I was going in for a Ruth these days, I'd pay a little more and buy it from a reputable dealer like Richard Simon or someone of that quality. There are very few left out there and he's a good one. There is a gentleman on the Net 54 site that is a fantastic Yankees collector and his advice on Ruth would be most helpful as well. 

Permalink Reply by RC on January 17, 2018 at 10:40am

Just have to say , Thank God for this site and the people here that contribute in so many positive ways..Thank you for the advice and yes after that episode on ebay , my eyes are wide open. I'm enjoying the site and listening and learning!! I also threw some money into the kitty for the defense fund and recommend everybody to chip in as much as they can afford..Every little bit helps.

Thanks again.. a very humble and grateful soul for this site!! Obviously one person can definitely make a difference...

Permalink Reply by RC on January 18, 2018 at 6:21pm

Hi James,

just an update on the Replica Ruth Ball on eBay that was relisted...the bid is up to $2550..i guess anything is possible in this world..

Permalink Reply by James on January 18, 2018 at 11:06pm

That is absolutely crazy!  They've even forewarned that there is a strong possibility that the ball is not authentic!  Well...it will be hard to feel sorry for anyone who wins this time.  It would be a great ball if it were real.  I guess it must be a case of wishful thinking.   And maybe  they think that a Letter of Authenticity regardless of where it's from will protect their investment.  I'm amazed...and not in a good way.

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