CSG’s Broome discusses rookie Brady counterfeit on ‘The Chase’

By David Yarger

‘The Chase’ Co-Host

As part of the two-guest second episode of “The Chase,” Certified Sports Guaranty’s Andy Broome joined the show to discuss an interesting find this past week.

As anybody knows in the card-collecting hobby, pulling a high-end rookie card is undoubtedly one of the greater feelings … especially when the name attached is one of Tom Brady.

There are over 40 Brady rookie hits on the market, including the 2000 Skybox Impact #27, which has sold for hundreds of dollars on eBay. In fact, that same card with a BGS 9.5 just recently sold for $715.

Recently, somebody tried to pull a fast one, by sending a counterfeit of the Brady Skybox Impact #27 card into CGS.

Broome joined the show to discuss his findings with the fake Brady rookie.

As senior grading finalizer, Broome said he develops and maintains the grading team for CSG.

In regards to the counterfeit Brady rookie card, Broome said this card wasn’t easy to point out. He added that he puts fake cards into classes, with a class three being easier to spot out. Broome classified this Brady as a class two. He also discussed how CSG detects if a card is counterfeit.

“We do see a lot of fake Brady’s. This particular card we’ve only seen a couple of fakes in the last year or so,” Broome said. “We’ll actually use some more advanced technology that we have. We have forensic machinery that we use where we can examine a card under different types of light, different wavelengths of light. … Once we were able to look at this under some different light sources and wavelengths, we could definitely see the major differences.”

Broome said CSG was able to compare a real Brady Skybox Impact #27 with the counterfeit, put both of them under the light tests and that’s where it was deciphered the card was a fake.

“This one, I wouldn’t call it an obvious one. It was obvious once we had it out of the holders and our graders were able to handle it and examine it,” Broome said.

While hearing this news, many may think counterfeit cards appear rarely, but Broome said that’s not the case, as he sees plenty on a daily basis.

“We do see more altered than we do counterfeit,” he said. “I’ve been professionally grading for 23 years and I’ve noticed in the last two to three years that counterfeiters are getting more sophisticated.”

Broome said certain fake cards are simply printed by someone at home on a computer using a conventional home printer, while others, like a class one, are more sophisticated.

“These are done on a professional scale. These cards are being printed on sheets, just like the original cards are printed. So, they’re being printed on sheets and being cut with blades, rather than hand cut. … There’s all types. We don’t see the class ones as often. But even the homemade ones where people are making one offs with home computers and whatnot, even those are getting more sophisticated,” Broome said.

As simple as it sounds, Broome said the way collectors young and old can best spot counterfeit or fake cards is simply by handling cards. With handling, you’ll gain the experience and feel of what real cards should look and feel like.

“(By) studying them under the proper loops and proper lighting, by learning how they’re made. That gives you a feel. You start to get that muscle memory of ‘OK, I recognize what a real one is and I can recognize when something’s not right,” he said.

For online purchases, Broome said it’s a little trickier, but it’s really about getting to know the seller and not the card, because you can’t see it in hand online.

Broome added, cards graded by CSG are not over-graded and they are authentic, which is part of the company’s written guarantee. He also said, the more educated people are about what’s going on, the better it is for the hobby as a whole.

“The more educated the market is and the more savvy dealers and collectors are, the stronger the hobby is,” he said.

More on “The Chase” …

“The Chase” learned early Wednesday morning that a Panini Prizm Trevor Lawrence Black Finite Auto 1 of 1 has been pulled!

The card was pulled by @dtcardhut on Instagram. In a post revealing the pull, he said “Loss of words. Biggest pull of my life to date. Yes I peeked and knew I got a black finite. Yes I slow rolled to see it was a Jag and yes I peeked there was a RC shield but what I couldn’t peek was that there is an auto to go along with it! Kaboom!”

This is the fourth known black finite to appear of a rookie QB from the 2021 football prizm collection. The others being a Trey Lance 1/1, another Trevor Lawrence rookie patch auto 1/1 and a Mac Jones 1/1, which we will have more about on Friday!

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