I spoke with Terry Boyd of Big Boyd Sports Cards for about 30 minutes last week and we discussed my blog. I'm still amazed at how someone justifies selling probably $50,000-$100,000 of counterfeit Star Co. cards through eBay. He continued to claim he didn't know they were fakes and doesn't think they are and his primary contention with the whole issue is that "he doesn't have very many left."

Great stuff. Much of the conversation went like this:

Me: You are selling counterfeit goods, which is illegal.
Terry Boyd: How do you know they are counterfeit? PSA and Beckett don't grade them.
Me: Because I used to run a grading company that learned how to tell the difference and worked with Steve Taft to grade them. He now helps GAI. You should send a few of them to GAI because they are fakes.
Terry Boyd: I don't deal with Global.
Me: I'm telling you they are fakes and you refuse to acknowledge it.
Terry Boyd: We only have a few of them left. How do you know for sure they are fakes?
Me: I just explained that to you, plus I've posted pictures on my blog with real ones and fake ones and you have the exact same fakes that we busted two years ago.
Terry Boyd: Well why don't PSA or Beckett grade them?
Me: I have no idea because it's not that tough to tell the difference. My guess is that they don't consider it a big enough part of the market to take the time to learn. I'm telling you they are fake. I know it. Taft knows it. GAI would tell you they are fake and you know that, which is why you refuse to send them in for grading. Are you telling me you are going to keep selling them?
Terry Boyd: Uhhhhh....well.......(he knows I'm recording this)

He indiciated that he has spend "way over $20,000" on those cards, but mysteriously doesn't know who he purchased them from. I told him find out who he bought them from. It's not the end of our conversations, but it's clearly time for the Internet Task Forces in the Ohio to get involved and time for me to call my good friend in the FBI, who orchestrated Operation Bullpen and many other busts.

Here are a few random posts about bigboydsportscards3 from messages boards like PSA, Beckett and Trading Card Central.

"Great post. I must add a few comments since I am one of the more experienced SLU collectors on this board. From what I have seen from 'bigboydsportscards' on ebay, it appears only key HOF SLU cards from 1988 and 1989 were counterfeited. I actually purchased a 1989 Ripken SLU card from 'bigboydsportscards' and these folks did darn good job in reproducing the card. I knew something was up last year as these cards were being sold on a weekly basis."

"Worst thing is he is still selling them. Obviously must know they are fake."

"I sent Terry the link to the blog. He also believes his Star cards to be real. I am sending mine back to him tomorrow on the agreement that once he receives them back I will be getting a full refund."
The great thing about this one is that he takes them back because the buyer says they are fake and issues a refund, then relists them immediately and rips someone else off.

"If you have more than 46,000 feedback, you should know what you're buying and selling, no? There is no NFL logo patch in the world that's real that I've ever seen with a huge 1/1 sticker on the back like that. If you've bought and sold this many cards, you should know what you have and what you're listing and whether its real or not. Not calling him a faker or anything at all, but bigboyd has been around the block."

"I bought a box of 06 contenders from boyd, it was a resealed box also, I sent the box and the cellophane back and eventually got my money back."

"It angers me that this guy is still selling. I bought a Star Jordan from him last summer and waited 6 months to grade. Of course it came back fake. And I had no recourse from eBay and Terry pretty much told me to F off. We should start a post of everyone who's ever been burned by this guy and sue his ass."

"You've been in business for over 11 years and you dont know what a fake is and what isnt? Nor do you pay attention to large buys? Sounds completely shady to me. Bottom line is I think you should pay more attention to what you sell."

"This BigBoyd character is a Big Joke. As Blades said, anyone that refunds automatically if the buyer wants a refund, its just shady, and the fact that the cards get relisted. The Seller is continuing to sell star fakes. SCAMMER!"

"Big Boyd needs to be shut down after all of the crap he's pulled."

I used to collect Star Co. cards back in the day,and I remember the first counterfeit scare in the mid-90s. It was depressing.If you know the cards well enough,you definitely can tell the fakes,but it still became more of a hassle dealing with people and vice versa. Nice blog,and thanks for keeping us informed!"