Cashing In On Spain's Historic Dominance

Little less than a week ago Spain were crowned 2012 European champions in impressive fashion after defeating Italy with a resounding 4-0 scoreline. After their latest conquest there's now even talk of this Spain team being the greatest national side of all time and at the center of Spain's historic success has been the UEFA Player of the Tournament, 'Don' Andrés Iniesta.

Recently I came accross this auction for an extremely scarce Iniesta Panini autograph. This is one of only two certified autos he has out there, mind you I'm not counting any dubious Futera autos he may have. Apparently the card ended up selling for ¥74,500 (see below) which at the current conversion rate from yen to dollars, comes out to nearly $1,000 USD!

Beware Of Fake Autographs On eBay

Check out this horrible, 2010 Upper Deck World of Sports fake David Beckham auto I came accross on eBay. There's so many things wrong with this shitty attempt at Beckham's signature that it's not even funny. First of all the signature is nowhere near a genuine Becks sig, see below for the authentic UD Man Utd example.

Second of all notice how the "World of Sports" lettering is red on these un-signed base cards pictured below of Beckham and Thierry Henry. There were autographed parallels of these base cards but those had a guarantee of authenticity on the back and the visible difference of "World of Sports" text in blue, as can be seen further down.

The actual certified parallel autos from this set have the aforementioned blue lettering and the sticker auto such as Pablo Mastroeni and Beckham himself who does have an autographed parallel although it does not feature his signature on the sticker but rather that of former MLSer Luciano Emílio. See this link for more info on that error auto.

Sadly it appears some bidders have fallen for the fast one this seller is trying to pull.

Shocking Price For Messi 1/1 Futera Auto

This Messi Futera 1 of 1 autograph card recently sold for a whopping $4,500.00.

I'm not convinced either way regarding this particular autograph's authenticity but it never ceases to amaze me that someone is willing to pay this much for a Futera auto considering the questions surrounding that shady company...

This Is Why I Don't Collect Futera Autos...

Aside from the typical crap Futera design this card has a serious problem, the signature on the back is clearly a horrible fake. Shockingly, someone bought this turd for $620.00 on eBay. At these kind of prices it looks like Futera has a nice little racket going.

Pictured below is an authentic sample of a pre-printed Ribéry auto on an officially licensed Bayern card from Panini. Notice how the signature is nothing like the Futera autograph.

Checking on the web there's no shortage of discussion questioning the authenticity of Futera's products. Futera themselves do little to dispel collector's concerns as there's no explanation to be found on their site about how they obtain the signatures or any guarantees as to their authenticity. In fact this is all I could find on Futera's official website regarding their 'signed' cards.

"AUTOGRAPHED CARDS: Some card publishers get players to sign pieces of clear tape and stick them on to a card to create their ‘Autographed’ cards, but whilst there is a nice uniformity in that method, we prefer for the players to sign direct on the card surface. This means that the players will sign where and as they want to sign - sometimes over the design or their own image - but from a collector’s viewpoint we feel that’s a good thing, as it adds character and gives each card a unique touch from the next."

These people are unbelievable...

My Thoughts On 2012 Futera Unique

Well the latest Futera Unique high end product was released earlier this month and from the images I've seen I have to say I'm not very impressed. Apparently Futera was going for a retro/vintage look but it just doesn't work due to the poor design, especially considering that the product retails for around $70.00 per pack.

The autographs are lazy and unimaginative, not that it really matters to me since I now avoid them due to questions over the authenticity of the signatures. The memorabilia cards are quite simple which is something I don't mind. The 'Legends' cards however are especially horribly designed, check out what I mean: 'Legends' inserts.

One of the bright spots of the collection, at least in terms of secondary market value, is the super short printed 'Mythicals' insert set.

These cards have been selling for absolutely CRAZY money. The one I posted above sold for a whopping $1699.99! I don't really know what makes these so valuable, they're very powerful cards in the Futera World Football online game and are serial numbered to only /10 each so I suppose that helps but it still seems a bit ridiculous to me. Apparently they're also encrusted with 5 diamonds but I doubt these are legit...

Sadly when it comes to high end international football cards Futera is pretty much the only option out there. I would normally be inclined to buy some of the more interesting singles such as a Lionel Messi jersey but the authenticity issues that continue to plague Futera products (more on this subject in future blog entries) will prevent me from picking them up for my PC. Overall I would say this product is a typical Futera disappointment.