Last week, I wrote a story about a T206 Red Portrait Ty Cobb in a fake GAI slab. I wrote that the collecting community had conflicting opinions about the card’s authenticity while clearly expressing my belief that the Global Authentication Inc. (GAI) slab was fake.
The Cobb, with a rare Piedmont Factory 42 N.C. back, turned out to be authentic. It was bought for $25,655 on eBay by Jamie Blundell, a vintage collector who, among other things, has specialized in collecting Red Portrait Cobbs from various early 20th-century sets. The man knows his stuff.
Blundell was confident that the Cobb was authentic after asking the seller for additional scans.
“I didn’t know if it was trimmed or not, but I knew it was authentic,” Blundell told me.
Blundell has his Red Portraits on one shelf in a display case.
After receiving the card in hand and inspecting it himself, he got additional assurance. Then, PSA graded and authenticated the card, but not without some drama (more on that later). PSA graded the card an EX+ 5.5, an upgrade from an SGC 3.5 that he also owned.
Mike from Junk Wax Hero made a great follow-up video explaining the saga. Mike had also tracked the eBay sale and released a video one day before last week’s article, calling out the slab and the card in question. After learning the card was authentic, Mike made the follow-up.
The video was great, but I was bothered by the conclusion that some viewers reached on his update. Several people seemed to think the card’s authenticity vindicated the seller.
Let’s be clear - the GAI slab was fake, and the seller was intentionally trying to defraud potential buyers.
Jamie Blundell Sends Cobb to PSA
Blundell assumed eBay's Authenticity Program protected him if anything was fake.
“I really did think I was protected by eBay because of the dollar amount,” he said. “I probably wouldn’t have bought it if I knew there was no guarantee.”
After Blundell received and inspected the card and the GAI slab, which he has on video, he sent it overnight to PSA as a five-day turnaround. But after 24 hours, his account wasn't updated to indicate PSA received the package. He waited another day and then another until he reached out.
Blundell has security cameras in his office. One camera captured him inspecting
the card in the GAI holder. He didn’t notice the slab was loose upon inspection. Screenshot courtesy of Jamie Blundell.
He called PSA and spoke with a few representatives for help. A few hours later, he received an email that the card was “damaged.” His heart sank. When he called back, it turned out it wasn’t the card that was damaged but the holder.
“The manager I spoke to said he could take the back part of [the slab] off with his hand,” Blundell said. “I was really concerned. I had a sleepless night. PSA could’ve not graded the card.”
According to PSA, an authentic card will still be graded if it is in a fake holder, though the majority of times a fake holder comes with a fake or altered card.
GAI
To get information on GAI slabs, I contacted former GAI head grader Mike Baker, who founded Mike Baker Authenticated (MBA). I wrote three emails to Baker asking for his help but never received a reply.
After my third email, Demian Werner of MBA and a former GAI grader, replied, "Unfortunately, we don't have any information regarding the old GAI product. However, if the card is sent to us for an authenticity review, we would be able to provide an opinion based on the card itself."
One of the conclusions I've reached from researching this story is that nobody knows much about GAI holders. The company was once considered a serious competitor to PSA. It ran into financial trouble in 2009 before going out of business for good in 2010 in a second iteration as Global Authority.
I believe that some PSA graders are not well-educated on GAI holders - not how they're trained to spot fake PSA or SGC slabs.
GAI holders come in various designs and fonts. They've become a favorite tool for scammers because eBay doesn't inspect them, and GAI doesn't have a population report or a certification lookup. Cards in GAI holders are stuck in plastic purgatory.
However, we know that nearly all GAI slabs come with a globe design divided into six sectors. The holders peddled by the eBay account in question have a globe divided into eight sectors. After scanning eBay for hours, we found other accounts selling GAI holders with globes with eight sectors.
Graphic Courtesy of Auburn35 (X handle)
But, I could track all the globes with eight sectors back to the account that sold the Cobb to Blundell. In other words, other people - or accounts - are reselling the phony GAI holders either knowingly or unknowingly.
Also, note the difference in the space between the logo and the line with Global Authentication Inc. written underneath it.
It would be great for someone to confirm this so buyers and grading companies like PSA are aware.
The Seller
The Cobb seller has been tied to various eBay accounts that put lower-condition cards into higher-grade slabs. The seller has also been accused of using fake PSA slabs. They are notorious on Blowout Forums, where there’s a thread following their actions over the past two years.
Please note that all the credit for this information goes to online detectives who painstakingly track and monitor accounts known for committing fraud. They are like archaeologists, examining unique features on cards and tracking their movements when they appear in new holders and new auctions. One of the most involved in this case is a Blowout Forum member known as Auburn35.
It's suspected that the seller has multiple accounts for different activities and different types of items. They've been known to sell sports cards and "sealed" video games. They might also use some accounts to buy and others to sell.
What's more, the seller has a fondness for John Stockton. When Blundell was messaging the seller about his concerns about the Cobb card, he offered a few more cards to help ease Blundell's mind.
“He asked me if I was a fan of Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, or John Stockton,” Blundell said. “It was odd because [Woods] and [Jordan] are all-time greats. Stockton was great but not on the same level as those guys.”
Along with the Cobb, the seller also included a PSA 10 1990 Fleer Michael Jordan and a PSA 10 2001 Upper Deck Tiger Woods rookie.
The seller included these cards in Blundell’s package. The Jordan checks out,
but the PSA site doesn’t have scans of the Woods slab. Both numbers are active.
The seller has been known to switch Gem Mint Stockton rookies with near-mint cards into fake or cracked slabs. The seller can then sell the Near Mint cards for a Gem Mint premium and then resubmit the Gem Mint raw cards to PSA or put them in a fake slab.
The certification number on this Stockton card has
been deactivated for its use on a known counterfeit in the market.
It was sold by the account that sold the Cobb.
The seller has also had some PSA certification numbers of Tiger Woods, George Brett, Carl Yastrzemski, and Michael Jordan deactivated, among others.
It appears the seller buys raw cards, puts them in fake GAI holders, and then shill bids his own auctions. Note the winning bidder accounts on both sales.
Research and graphic courtesy of Auburn35.
A book can be written about the seller, but we won't go there. The Blowout thread referenced above is a good starting point for understanding how they operate. They are one of the most prolific and versatile eBay scammers out there.
The Red Portrait Cobb Collection
Ultimately, what should be celebrated is that Blundell, a true collector, was able to add to his collection and avoid a messy situation. There are 31 different Red Portrait Cobbs, including back variations, and he wants to collect them all. He currently owns 26 of them.
Of the 31 Cobbs, one is a T214, four are T213s, and 26 are T206s. Blundell owned 30 of the known Red Portraits at one point, but a recent discovery of a T206 Broad Leaf 350 back (9th-highest scarcity) brought the total to 31.
Blundell’s display case includes the Red Portraits and
some of the most rare cigarette card variations in existence.
It may be years until his collection is complete, but the chase motivates him.
The newly-graded Factory 42 PSA 5.5 (bottom right), stands next to a Sweet Caporal and a Piedmont 350.
But what if PSA had decided not to grade the Cobb card because it was either a) in a loose slab or b) in a fake slab? Then, the card would've been returned to Blundell without eBay's backing.
With the card being authentic, he could've re-submitted to PSA or SGC, but would it have been flagged by their scanning system as having been previously submitted in a fake holder?
There are theories on how the seller came into possession of the Cobb and why they would slab it in a fake GAI holder. We can't know a scammer's thought process, and I won't go into the theories because they are speculative.
But when Blundell asked the seller about a raw T206 Cobb with a Piedmont 350-460 Factory 42 back that he was trying to sell from an older listing, the seller replied that he had two copies - one of which was in a GAI holder. Never mind that the Piedmont Factory 42 back is the 12th rarest in the T206 set, according to t206resource.com, just behind the very rare Carolina Brights back.
“It’s tough to believe,” Blundell said of the seller’s claims. “But it’s not impossible.”
The Cobb Factory 42 sits proudly in one of Blundell's display cases among other Red Portrait Cobbs, where it will remain for years. It's a good story because the card is now in the right hands. As the saying goes, "All's well that ends well."
But let’s hope the same won’t be said for the seller. He has ripped off numerous people, so we can only hope that hobby giants like PSA and eBay are paying attention (and if they are, would they be willing to do anything?). At the same time, online sleuths go quietly about their business, doing the work to protect the community.
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