bought a Schmidt rookie.. turned out to be counterfeit

Since recently hitting 90% complete on 1973 Topps, I figured I would make a push to knock it out here sooner rather than later. I bid on some Mike Schmidt RCs and ended up winning one for a good price. It just showed up.

Something looked off about it right out of the package. My first thought was it had been trimmed, as the borders looked tight and the corners/edges seemed a bit too sharp, but I checked it out and it measured fine against a standard card.

Once I got it out of the toploader, it was clear to me this was a fake. Maybe someone who rarely dabbles in vintage would be fooled, but I've been in deep with 1973 Topps for a good while now, and I'm very familiar with the look and feel of these cards. This was an impostor, no doubt about it.

Here it is trying to hide in a stack of real 73s...

It's the one on bright, new card stock. And no, it's not Oh-Pee-Chee or anything like that. Just a fake.

Crap. Now I gotta go through the hassle of getting a refund. I'll give the guy the benefit of the doubt and not accuse him of being aware of it. Hopefully he just lets me keep it so I don't have to throw away $2.50 on return postage.

Grrr.