Authentic Autographed 1996 Leaf Charity Card/Set

Please note: I have intentionally blurred elements of the 'Thank You' insert in order to prevent image theft and possible fraud.

There have been conflicting reports regarding the autograph version from this set. While these are genuine Frank sigs, its authenticity has been muddied because of one particular bankrupt card company: Score Board, along with it's former loudmouth chief salesperson.

Unfortunate, because while this is the genuine article, provided by Frank for his own charitable efforts thru Leaf, everyone commonly assumes it's a Score Board production. A damn curse on that company and its former owners. They stained a lot of good name brands, like Leaf, by reselling after-market additions onto the products from innocent manufacturers.

Questions of authenticity surfaced when SB started "re-selling" the cards from other manufacturers as "after-market additions". It's an illegal, but popular, business of piggybacking onto another product line. Basically working like this: Take a well-known brand name product then add something extra to it - additional foiling, an autograph, whatever - then repackaging the product under your own company label.

Score Board was infamous for doing this to Donruss and Leaf products. They never did this crap to Upper Deck; likely due to the fact that UD was, and continues to be, an unforgiving manufacturer when it comes to trademark infringement. But SB was an aggressive company which would take advantage of any perceived weakness in either the hobby or other manufacturers. It took a while, but eventually the Leaf Company did take legal action against Score Board. But by that time the product was already in the marketplace and could not be recalled. That's why you still see people trying to sell so-called "1993/94/95 Leaf/Donruss Frank Thomas Autographs" but unable to locate them in the guides in order to establish a price point. Because they're considered illegal products, no authoratative guide lists them.

And because there's this dark cloud of suspicion hovering over many SB products, much of their stock was branded questionable, despite the likelihood that at least a fair portion was in fact genuine. That same ugly Score Board name spread across a lot valid products from the same period - eventually staining something wonderful like the '96 Leaf Thomas Charity Autograph set.

Regular 1996 Leaf Charity Non-Auto Set 'Thank You' Note

From my personal experience: Back in '96, when I purchased my set directly from Donruss/Leaf, it came with a simple 'thank you' note xeroxed onto a small plain white bond sheet. A nice addition to any serious Frank Thomas collection in and of itself, but notice that the autographed version was issued with a yellow thank you note. (see top of page)

While you could argue that a simple xerox with a generic message can easily be forged - I would argue that the design includes a rare 'Big Heart' Charitable Foundation Logo - not something easily found today. And more importantly: The autograph is, based on my experience and observation, genuine. Fitting the penmanship style, stroke, and weight (given the type of pen) of Frank's signature during this period. (circa 1996)

I'm providing you with my opinion - its up to you to decide what is and is not authentic.

Collector's Note: Based on what I've read and what I've seen - I believe that the autographs were limited to the first 100 sets. Fairly rare considering the total print run was 3,500 numbered & matched sets. My own set, seen at the top of the page is: #0089/3500.

Additional Info: Only one card out of the four in the set is autographed: Card #1 - also seen at the top of the page.

« Back to 10 Near-Toughest

« Back to Charity Cards | « Back to You Asked Page 2