2006 Bowman Gold Refractors without serial numbers?

[chrisgillam]

A good friend of mine just bought a 2006 Bowman Jeremy Hellickson Gold Refractor without a serial number stamped on the back. The seller told him that it was a replacement from Topps due to the orginal one being damage. Of course the card looks real and is in great shape but I'm concerned about the serial number not being stamped on the back. Does this happen alot? For example if I was going to send a 2010 Bowman Gold refractor to Topps due to damage, would I ecieve one a replacement back without a serial number stamped on the back.....I'm confused, a little input on the subject would be great. Thanks guys.

Here's the card in question:

 

[morgoth]

Most likely a back doored sheet that was then cut up.

 

[bradical]

Backdoored cards.

These cards were never intended for general consumption. They are legit cards, but were never issued in any sport of program to consumers.

 

[zbdub808]

yeah i have a matt cain gold

 

[Jared]

As others said backdoored. I wouldn't want one without the serial numbering to be honest.

 

[TBTwinsFan]

definitely back doored

I might want a couple cheap ones just to say that I have one, but not a ton of them...

 

[Bruin7]

I remember owning (before I traded it at a show) a BGS 9.5 2006 BC Gold Ref Elvis Andrus that didn't have a stamped serial # on the back. Even BGS recognized it by stating on the label that it had no serial #. I was told by a dealer they were sent out as replacements but who knows.

Allen

 

[nyc3]

As mentioned back door. What I do find odd is the constant use of this excuse of being a replacement, can there be some truth to this? I mean an awful lot of the people selling these are saying this.

 

[JEA2880]

Every few months this thread appears, and every few months I get more and more pissed about these cards. As more time goes by, fewer people remember when a few questionable ebay sellers started listing BOATLOADS of these things (along with 2006 Bowman Sterling unnumbered Black & Gold Refractors), effectively screwing everyone who holds original, pack-issued #'d versions. As someone who spent a good amount of money amassing 16 of the 25 serially numbered Will Venable's, nothing irks me more than seeing dozens of the unnumbered variants pop up on ebay constantly. The more time that goes by, the fewer people will actually remember that these were never meant for release.

 

[mburgin]

As mentioned back door. What I do find odd is the constant use of this excuse of being a replacement, can there be some truth to this? I mean an awful lot of the people selling these are saying this.

my opinion is that someone at topps c/s found a box of cards sitting on a shelf and thought they would use them for replacements for people sending in damaged cards. they had alot of turnover the past couple years with the economy and layoffs so anything could have happened. we do know that they came from topps. we can only speculate how they got out to the public.

 

[nyc3]

As mentioned back door. What I do find odd is the constant use of this excuse of being a replacement, can there be some truth to this? I mean an awful lot of the people selling these are saying this.

my opinion is that someone at topps c/s found a box of cards sitting on a shelf and thought they would use them for replacements for people sending in damaged cards. they had alot of turnover the past couple years with the economy and layoffs so anything could have happened. we do know that they came from topps. we can only speculate how they got out to the public.

That does makes sense.

 

[JEA2880]

As mentioned back door. What I do find odd is the constant use of this excuse of being a replacement, can there be some truth to this? I mean an awful lot of the people selling these are saying this.

The problem now is people who are currently holding these cards and got screwed initially by buying them are now marketing them as "replacements". They thing they're justified selling crap because they were caught originally buying crap. No integrity by anyone involved.

 

[RZimm11]

Here's a few of the older threads about the 06 Chrome and 06 Sterling un-numbered refs. All should be numbered.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=86626&hilit=bowman+chrome+unnumbered


viewtopic.php?f=2&t=62860&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=bowman+sterling+serial+number


viewtopic.php?f=2&t=104720&p=1432177&hilit=topics#p1432177

 

[JEA2880]

As mentioned back door. What I do find odd is the constant use of this excuse of being a replacement, can there be some truth to this? I mean an awful lot of the people selling these are saying this.

my opinion is that someone at topps c/s found a box of cards sitting on a shelf and thought they would use them for replacements for people sending in damaged cards. they had alot of turnover the past couple years with the economy and layoffs so anything could have happened. we do know that they came from topps. we can only speculate how they got out to the public.

That does makes sense.

The fact that only a few ebay sellers sold a seemingly endless supply of these things for a few months kills that theory - there's no way it was the work of a naive CS employee issuing legitimate replacements.

 

[nyc3]

The fact that only a few ebay sellers sold a seemingly endless supply of these things for a few months kills that theory - there's no way it was the work of a naive CS employee issuing legitimate replacements.

Also a great point. I wonder what the hell went down, I wonder if it was full sheets or like a rouge package sent to the wrong address?

 

[RZimm11]

As mentioned back door. What I do find odd is the constant use of this excuse of being a replacement, can there be some truth to this? I mean an awful lot of the people selling these are saying this.

They are supposed to be used as replacements. But when you send in your damaged, pack-pulled card, they were supposed to print your card's serial number on the "blank" and send it back to you, and subsequently destroy your damaged one. Thus keeping the serial numbered print run consistent. They don't send out a blank for a replacement.

 

[Leaf]

A good friend of mine just bought a 2006 Bowman Jeremy Hellickson Gold Refractor without a serial number stamped on the back. The seller told him that it was a replacement from Topps due to the orginal one being damage. Of course the card looks real and is in great shape but I'm concerned about the serial number not being stamped on the back. Does this happen alot? For example if I was going to send a 2010 Bowman Gold refractor to Topps due to damage, would I ecieve one a replacement back without a serial number stamped on the back.....I'm confused, a little input on the subject would be great. Thanks guys.

Here's the card in question:

The above is me shocked.


The above is me feeling guilty for being so cynical.

SHUT off this backdoor valve already!!!!!

BAD for the industry.

BG

 

[JEA2880]

A good friend of mine just bought a 2006 Bowman Jeremy Hellickson Gold Refractor without a serial number stamped on the back. The seller told him that it was a replacement from Topps due to the orginal one being damage. Of course the card looks real and is in great shape but I'm concerned about the serial number not being stamped on the back. Does this happen alot? For example if I was going to send a 2010 Bowman Gold refractor to Topps due to damage, would I ecieve one a replacement back without a serial number stamped on the back.....I'm confused, a little input on the subject would be great. Thanks guys.

Here's the card in question:

The above is me shocked.


The above is me feeling guilty for being so cynical.

SHUT off this backdoor valve already!!!!!

BAD for the industry.

BG

I can't agree with you more. As I said, I lost a TON of money on these things getting out. For those asking "what's the big deal, what's the difference?" - the difference is a scarce card limited to 50 or 25 or whatever the case may be versus something shiny and readily available. The point of serial numbering is to validate scarcity. When you have a readily available alternative, scarcity goes out the window.

 

[cmnkb8]

As mentioned back door. What I do find odd is the constant use of this excuse of being a replacement, can there be some truth to this? I mean an awful lot of the people selling these are saying this.

They are supposed to be used as replacements. But when you send in your damaged, pack-pulled card, they were supposed to print your card's serial number on the "blank" and send it back to you, and subsequently destroy your damaged one. Thus keeping the serial numbered print run consistent. They don't send out a blank for a replacement.

Indeed.

They were intended as replacements, but since these weren't stamped, they were backdoored by someone that then sold them off to a handful of dealers.

 

[Hollywood]

Yeah these a holes definitely killed Hellickson parallels which is why I started unloading when I did. I've tracked about 40 of the Hellickson golds, and that is without looking the last couple months. Pretty cool when there are 6 unnumbered ones up at the same time there is one numbered one. Then of course, most of the sellers at first didn't even say they weren't serial numbered. Some still don't I'm sure. What a joke, way to kill potentnially one of the hottest cards of the upcoming season. There is no excuse for this, just a giant kick in the nads to the people sitting on his stuff since 06.