1995 Alta Loma Cigar cards

[Doerrcollector]

I just did some quick digging. Seems this seller is the only one in the world who has these Alta cards and in mass quantities. They are making a pretty penny off them too!

https://stores.ebay.com/grouchyoldman...p2047675.l2563

Oddly enough, they also have all kinds of other "custom" cards that look somewhat "legit" made by Miller Press, Monarch Corona Printing, Superior Card Co., etc.

These MAY have actually been printed to be distributed in cigar packages, but the whole thing just seems fishy.

In the end though, it's worth what someone will pay and with the rise in ACEO and other custom cards, there IS a market for them.

Hmmmm... The original background website I listed in the OP has info on those exact same branded cards...I am now more concerned and suspect of my cigar shop buddy who told me he remember these happening back in the day. Time to play detective...

Thanks,
Jeff

[Doerrcollector]

110% incorrect......if this were true , beckett would have almost no oddball issues , promos , stadium giveaways , etc listed..

Sorry typing on my phone at work and didn't elaborate...I know that's not the only requirement for being cataloged, but it's one that always helps. I am aware that many other factors play a role as well.

Thanks,
Jeff

[gamecockfanatic]

Sorry typing on my phone at work and didn't elaborate...I know that's not the only requirement for being cataloged, but it's one that always helps. I am aware that many other factors play a role as well.

Thanks,
Jeff

aww man...i just noticed in your post above that when someone quotes me the censors bleep my user name.....

that's just wrong .....

[Doerrcollector]

Well after all of the comments I wanted to go back and be sure nothing was fishy with the website I used to verify it before buying it. Portasite.com has extensive info on these Alta Loma cards, and was my source to verify before buying it up. Well I'm eating crow now for defending these....let's take a look at the domain info for portasite.com


So it's based out of Houston, Texas. Okay alright, in what is no surprise the domain registrant is private but now let's look to see where my card was shipped from. Grouchy Old Man Cards ships from Dickinson, Texas. Okay so where the hell is Dickinson, Texas you may ask?! Well funny you should ask because it just so happens to be a suburb of HOUSTON!


Coincidence? You be the judge. I think it's time to call up my cigar shop and ask him what he was smoking the day I asked him to verify these were real because I think I've been conned. Pretty sure they are being made and sold by Grouchy Old Man Cards and that he even went so far to create this portasite.com website to make them look real. Gotta give props to the guy for going the extra mile to justify the cards, but still very frustrating as hell as it all appears to be just as fishy as you guys thought. Ugh

Thanks,
Jeff

[tpeichel]

Well after all of the comments I wanted to go back and be sure nothing was fishy with the website I used to verify it before buying it. Portasite.com has extensive info on these Alta Loma cards, and was my source to verify before buying it up. Well I'm eating crow now for defending these....let's take a look at the domain info for portasite.com


So it's based out of Houston, Texas. Okay alright, in what is no surprise the domain registrant is private but now let's look to see where my card was shipped from. Grouchy Old Man Cards ships from Dickinson, Texas. Okay so where the hell is Dickinson, Texas you may ask?! Well funny you should ask because it just so happens to be a suburb of HOUSTON!


Coincidence? You be the judge. I think it's time to call up my cigar shop and ask him what he was smoking the day I asked him to verify these were real because I think I've been conned. Pretty sure they are being made and sold by Grouchy Old Man Cards and that he even went so far to create this portasite.com website to make them look real. Gotta give props to the guy for going the extra mile to justify the cards, but still very frustrating as hell as it all appears to be just as fishy as you guys thought. Ugh

Thanks,
Jeff

That's solid POlice work, McNulty and Freeman would be proud.

[youseekyoda421]

Edit: I see while I was writing that Doerrcollector has figured it out! Excellent detective work! (end edit)

First, [MENTION=1987]Doerrcollector[/MENTION]. You have an amazing collection and I'm always intrigued by the unique items that you find. I sent Mr. Doerr a 1950 Bowman card through the mail that he graciously signed. Its definitely a favorite item in my collection.

Second, the Alta Loma Cigar cards and all the other cards that g8tx is selling are unlicensed, homemade cards. It would appear that g8tx created portasite.com to legitimize and promote his cards. Just read the homepage, "How Much is My Card Worth." There are multiple categories of cards namely "Home made and inkjet," "Offset litho limited editions," "Vintage Bowman, etc. All the cards g8tx is selling are "Offset litho limited editions." Once you know that the website is a carefully constructed advertisement, reading (for example)...

"There is a greater demand for offset-litho printed cards, and in most cases they are more carefully designed than homemade cards – probably because they cost so much more to make. These factors are enough to give them an intrinsic retail value."

...is frustrating, as clearly website's purpose is to (1) deceive collectors into thinking they're purchasing legitimate cards and (2) make collectors think the fake cards they're purchasing are somehow more valuable because of the cost and type of printing.

1995 Alta Loma Cigar cards? Total BS. (1) Clearly not from 1995. Look at the other cards being sold. My favorite example is this Hank Aaron card. It's listed as being from 1952 when the Roman numerals on the back of the card show its from 2013. It's also supposedly issued by the WWBG or World's Worst Bubble Gum Company. (2) Alta Loma is in California, not Tampa, Florida. (3) Alta Loma cigars are not among the 43,965 different cigars listed on the Cigar Geek cigar database.

Anyway, you should return your card. $43 is way too much to pay for a print-on-demand fake with a falsified story about its issue. Besides, you were shilled. The two highest underbidders are s***b 2162 with 102 bids, 51 items bid on, 86% with g8tx and k***r 239 with 168 bids, 120 items bid on, 96% with g8tx.

I'll get off my soapbox now. I just can't stand all these "custom" cards.

[gamecockfanatic]

pretty much what i expected , but truly sorry you had to pay a hefty price for the lesson....it may be worth your time to contact the seller and see if you can get him to admit they are custom cards and possibly work out a deal directly with him or possibly even report him to ebay for selling fraudulent items since he clearly says they are authentic when it seems they are not....

[gamecockfanatic]

1995 Alta Loma Cigar cards? Total BS. (1) Clearly not from 1995. Look at the other cards being sold. My favorite example is this Hank Aaron card. It's listed as being from 1952 when the Roman numerals on the back of the card show its from 2013. It's also supposedly issued by the WWBG or World's Worst Bubble Gum Company.
.

i hate all the custom cards being sold too but i will give him credit for ONE thing (and ONLY one thing)...

in the description of the aaron card you reference , you can find this :

first there is this in the fine print that so few people actually even seem to read anymore :

Only 200 of this card exist
limited edition tribute card, in near-mint or better condition
Old-style litho printing on thick glossy card stock.
See item specifics above for date and number printed, manufacturer, dimensions, etc

if you go back up and check the item specifics , it actually DOES say printed in 2013 (yes , it would be nice if the TITLE actually included that info along with the fact it's homemade)


and then a bit further down (in the much FINER print) there's this :

King cards are produced by hobbyist & offset litho printer Ricardo Reyes.


below that line he does have this as well , though i'm not sure how trusting i'd be :

100% money back guarantee if not completely satisfied

i for one would see if he honors it.....

[Doerrcollector]

Anyway, you should return your card. $43 is way too much to pay for a print-on-demand fake with a falsified story about its issue. Besides, you were shilled. The two highest underbidders are s***b 2162 with 102 bids, 51 items bid on, 86% with g8tx and k***r 239 with 168 bids, 120 items bid on, 96% with g8tx.

😳😳😳😳😳😡😡😡😡😡

Okay now I'm steaming hot. Thanks for looking into all that. But that SOB...

Thanks,
Jeff

[Doerrcollector]

Just sent him this message on eBay

"Good evening,
If I can ask, where did you find your information that you included in the listing on this card and the others you are selling. I'm trying to verify the info through contacts here in Tampa and I am wondering if you could provide more info about these Alta Loma cards, and especially the Alta Loma cigar company, as my contacts here in the cigar industry are having a tough time verifying some things. I'm hoping they have just smoked one too many since 1995 and will remember with a few more details! I am trying to eventually to submit these cards to Beckett to be cataloged as official cards, so any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Jeff"

I'll be waiting with bated breath...

Thanks,
Jeff

[Dilferules]

I think it's funny that on his phony website he goes the extra mile to call those Helmar cards garbage. So he's not only creating a fake backstory for his various homemade Broder cards, he's talking crap about other people's homemade Broder cards. This guy needs to be kicked off ebay even harder than all those other people making their own cards without paying licensing fees.

[mrmopar]

Again though, I would not feel bad if you feel the price you paid is fair for what you got. I probably wouldn't pay quite that much for one, but then again, hard to say. I did win one of those homemade cards that have the coins embedded in them that look like drawings. I won one each of the penny and nickel versions (between $5-10 each after waiting for the prices to dip), but I also won the 1/1 PROOF version w/o the coin that was marked as such. I paid more for that one and although I knew they were homemade, I felt it was worth what I paid for it.

[DeliciousBacon]

Anyway, you should return your card. $43 is way too much to pay for a print-on-demand fake with a falsified story about its issue. Besides, you were shilled. The two highest underbidders are s***b 2162 with 102 bids, 51 items bid on, 86% with g8tx and k***r 239 with 168 bids, 120 items bid on, 96% with g8tx.

I'll get off my soapbox now. I just can't stand all these "custom" cards.

The seller will just say that those bidders are his really good customers who buy a ton of cards off of him, and it's not at all suspicious that they managed to not win this card despite bidding it up to an obnoxious amount.

[Doerrcollector]

Again though, I would not feel bad if you feel the price you paid is fair for what you got. I probably wouldn't pay quite that much for one, but then again, hard to say. I did win one of those homemade cards that have the coins embedded in them that look like drawings. I won one each of the penny and nickel versions (between $5-10 each after waiting for the prices to dip), but I also won the 1/1 PROOF version w/o the coin that was marked as such. I paid more for that one and although I knew they were homemade, I felt it was worth what I paid for it.

I haven't decided what to do yet between asking for money back or returning the card etc. waiting to see what he says first. It's not so kin the price as I would be comfortable with it as long as others don't appear, but the shilling that really infuriates me right now. To not only create a fake website to promote your fake cards, but to then have to artificially inflate the price, that's just grinds my gears.

Thanks,
Jeff

[Doerrcollector]

In another weird twist-here's the return label for the package I received.



Using a po box obviously still let's him be anonymous which only proves he knows what he is doing is shady. But also notice it's from Galveston-so he's based on Houston, says he ships from Dickinson, but his return addy is in Galveston. All are in the same metro area technically. Trying to cover his tracks or just coincidence again? Who knows?

Thanks,
Jeff