eBay seller bristolcollectibles selling trimmed PSA graded cards. Details Here.

[superdan49]

~~This is a long post with large image inserts, but it needs to be to present all the evidence~~

With all the discussion around the erasing of the autograph and possible trimming of the PSA 10 Bowman Chrome Juan Soto Superfractor, I have decided the time is right to present my evidence of a trimming operation at work. These cards have been sold by eBay seller bristolcollectiblesand have been certified and graded by PSA.

I collect Derek Jeter and LeBron James cards, as do thousands of others. For rare cards, I always sought out examples graded by PSA or BGS. Recently I noticed eBay seller bristolcollectibles has been selling quite a few examples of extremely condition sensitive Jeter rookie issues graded PSA 10. Having pulled many of these cards myself back in the day, I know that you just don’t find gem mint copies out of packs. These cards have all been graded recently, as evidenced by the PSA Lighthouse holder.
One card in particular caught by attention. A 1996 Studio Gold Press Proof card of Derek Jeter, graded PSA 10 and sold for $521.75 on August 28:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1996-Studio...vip=true&rt=nc


I collected 1996 Studio as a kid. I had never seen one with such pristine borders. I decided to search the completed items. Low and behold, I found this raw example, sold for $60 on July 2:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1996-Leaf-S...ip=true&rt=nc&


Having owned multiple ’96 Studio Press Proofs of Yankee players, I knew that virtually all of the Bronze, Silver, and Gold Press Proof cards had minor foil wear on the Yankees logo. It is a flaw intrinsic to that set. That wear formed a distinct pattern on each card (almost like a fingerprint; circled in blue). Notice that the bristolcollectibles PSA 10 and the raw example sold on eBay are the exact same card, based on the foil wear pattern:





(Please note that bristolcollectibles later sold a second PSA 10 Jeter Gold Press Proof on September 12. You can see the Yankees foil logo wear is different on that one than on the PSA 10 and raw card).
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1996-Studio...vip=true&rt=nc

So now I established that they are the same card. How then did the raw example, with a dinged upper left corner (circled in green on the above images) become a PSA 10 with a perfect corner? The answer was obvious: it was trimmed and PSA missed it. The question for me now was: Is this a pattern for this seller’s PSA cards or a one-time crime?

I dug deeper. On August 21, bristolcollectibles sold a 2000 Pacific Gold Tom Brady Rookie, graded PSA 10 and serial numbered 013/199.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2000-Pacifi...vip=true&rt=nc
Item details:
http://vi.vipr.ebaydesc.com/ws/eBayI...1&secureDesc=0

Here I found the same 013/199 before it was graded on Worthpoint, which was sold on February 3:
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthoped...199-1912801417

In the fourth image of the Worthpoint link, the seller set the Brady card against a dark background. You can clearly see white wear in both the upper left and lower left corners (circled in pink):


This card is clearly a PSA 8 at best. However it earned a PSA 10 and was sold by bristolcollectibles. How did these two corners become so perfect? (circled in pink again):


We now have multiple cards sold by bristolcollectibles which were 100% trimmed. I have more to say, which I am writing now, but I wanted to post this given the circumstances with the Soto Super. My next post will contain more pertinent details, including another trimmed card.

[LCM1223]

Any indication of a connection between bristolcollectibles and the Soto Super?

[ThoseBackPages]

Nice!

[superdan49]

Originally Posted by LCM1223

Any indication of a connection between bristolcollectibles and the Soto Super?

No. Only that both are instances of PSA missing the boat on altered modern era cards.

[mmier118]

Popcorn ready this should be great

[ThoseBackPages]

Dan, how many Silver Jeters do you have? (send me one)

[gosstapo]

*Quickly checks to see if I've ever bought from this seller*

Phew...

[Hollywood42]

Some small, sadistic part of me hoping it was someone more notable like PWCC or Probstein, just for the drama it would bring. Nice eye, OP

[Archangel1775]

Looks like the perfect Near Mint RAW card is one that can be trimmed with one cut. Take out two birds(or corners in this case) with one stone.

[justrun7]

This will be interesting to see how this develops. I just want to add that you can't go by just the lighthouse logo to see if a card has been graded recently. Lots of people are getting their cards reholdered with the new logo. You have to go by serial number which is more accurate to the time frame of the original grading.

[superdan49]

Originally Posted by ThoseBackPages

Dan, how many Silver Jeters do you have? (send me one)

Silver is the one I still need.

Originally Posted by Archangel1775

Looks like the perfect Near Mint RAW card is one that can be trimmed with one cut. Take out two birds(or corners in this case) with one stone.

Correct. That is why the Brady card was the ideal mark for a trimmer.

[ThoseBackPages]

Originally Posted by superdan49

Silver is the one I still need.

ahhh damnit!

[Bassplayah101]

More altered brady cards.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[Davis]

Does Bristol consign?

[superdan49]

Originally Posted by Davis

Does Bristol consign?

I do not know if these cards were trimmed by bristol or consigned to bristol.

[nate608]

Originally Posted by Archangel1775

Looks like the perfect Near Mint RAW card is one that can be trimmed with one cut. Take out two birds(or corners in this case) with one stone.

It appears the Brady is actually trimmed on the top too.
There looks to be a mark above his helmet in the original picture, and the distance between helmet and the border looks to be smaller in the trimmed card....but of course I'm not 100%.

[Davis]

Boda: go to work on this one. https://m.ebay.com/itm/2000-E-X-Esse...&ul_noapp=true

[Davis]

Originally Posted by superdan49

I do not know if these cards were trimmed by bristol or consigned to bristol.

It makes a big difference to me if they consign or not. If they consign, it would be tough to place much blame on them as you can’t expect a consignor to research the history of cards that are in legit holders from the perceived top grading companies.

[Wiseguy917]

Grading is a sham. Everyone that buys graded cards or grades cards has thrown away 10s of thousands of dollars, if not more. When will you guys learn?!?!?

[ih8ca]

Originally Posted by Davis

Does Bristol consign?

I know for a fact that they have taken consignments and taken trades from other dealers. I have also seen them buy graded cards to flip.

[superdan49]

Originally Posted by Davis

It makes a big difference to me if they consign or not. If they consign, it would be tough to place much blame on them as you can’t expect a consignor to research the history of cards that are in legit holders from the perceived top grading companies.

Here is how we can tell if they were consigned or not: 1) contact the sellers of these raw cards. If BODA wants to contact greenie1918al7q who sold the raw 1996 Studio Jeter Gold Press Proof, then he/she can provide a name of the buyer. I'm sure bristol buys under an eBay alt username, so the actual name and address of the buyer will be needed. Bristol sells out of Encinitas, CA. So if the buyer is in or within a few miles of Encinitas, then you know it is him.

2) PSA will not be happy that someone fooled them so badly. They will know who submitted these cards simply based on serial numbers. I'm sure there will be covert action taken based on this thread.

[ThoseBackPages]

Originally Posted by Wiseguy917

Grading is a sham. Everyone that buys graded cards or grades cards has thrown away 10s of thousands of dollars, if not more. When will you guys learn?!?!?

bingo!

[ThoseBackPages]

Originally Posted by superdan49

Here is how we can tell if they were consigned or not: 1) contact the sellers of these raw cards. If BODA wants to contact greenie1918al7q who sold the raw 1996 Studio Jeter Gold Press Proof, then he/she can provide a name of the buyer. I'm sure bristol buys under an eBay alt username, so the actual name and address of the buyer will be needed. Bristol sells out of Encinitas, CA. So if the buyer is in or within a few miles of Encinitas, then you know it is him.

2) PSA will not be happy that someone fooled them so badly. They will know who submitted these cards simply based on serial numbers. I'm sure there will be covert action taken based on this thread.

if a card is within proper measurements, should it not be slabbed?

[superdan49]

Back for Part 2. Next we have a 2003 LeBron James Skybox LE rookie, serial numbered 16/99 and graded PSA 9. It was sold by bristolcollectibles on August 28 for $3,250:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2003-Skybox...vip=true&rt=nc





Here is the same card on Worthpoint, also numbered 16/99, and sold on eBay back on January 17.
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthoped...kie-1910381014




Notice in the PSA 9 holder, as sold by bristolcollectibles, the two bottom corners are free of wear (see blue circles):



However, in its raw form on Worthpoint, the wear is evident:



I have one more LeBron James card to show that bears evidence of trimming. On September 12, 2018, bristolcollectibles sold a James 2003 Topps Black RC #093/500 for $2,900.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2003-Topps-...vip=true&rt=nc


This card was first sold on May 4 as a BGS 8 (Raw Card Review) as found on Worthpoint.
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthoped...-93-1926578222


The evidence on this one is a bit harder to see, but it is clear to me that the upper left corner in the Worthpoint BGS 8 shows some wear on the black border (see pink circles):



On bristol’s PSA 9, the upper left corner of the same card appears perfect:




I know I have only scratched the surface of the trimming issues here with bristolcollectibles cards. There are many more I suspect are trimmed in his current and sold inventory, but it is difficult to find evidence on them all.

One tell-tale sign though, in my mind, is his or his consignor’s access to a high-end computer guided cutting machine (read up on these on Google if you are unfamiliar). This is evidenced by the amount of super-high grade hand-cut cards in his inventory:
https://www.ebay.com/sch/m.html?_ssn...w=hand&_sop=16


Look at this gorgeous Ted Williams he sold for example. On these, of course, cutting is okay, but this is professional quality for sure:




So the remaining question is: who cut these cards and then submitted them for grading? The answer can be found either by contacting the sellers of the raw cards or by PSA if they run the serial numbers. I’ll leave it to BODA to take over from here.

[ThoseBackPages]

that topps black Lebron is beautiful!