There have been some strange tales in the world of sports cards and memorabilia over the years.
Honus Wagner cards stolen out of restaurants.
Scammers dirtying up jerseys to make them look game used.
A fraudster who conned banks and ordinary folks out of millions of dollars.
An auctioneer earning more prison time for tipping off that same fraudster that the FBI was on its way.
A rural property alleged to be a factory for phony art and sports items.
The latest entry into the land of sports collectible intrigue involves a Michael Jordan jersey, questions about the photos used to authenticate it and a mysterious “foundation” carrying the name of the now deceased Florida photographer who took them.
On June 12, a red 1995-96 model Jordan jersey was purchased at auction for $26,896. Sold for less than you might expect because no game match could be found, questions have arisen about whether the jersey may have become the subject of a ruse meant to inflate its value…one involving a photographer who’s no longer living and a foundation created in his name that his family knows nothing about.
When new photographs surfaced that appeared to match the jersey Jordan was wearing in the 1996 Eastern Conference Finals against the Orlando Magic, it was a revelation that would have enhanced its value to a seven-figure price, creating a massive profit for the new owner.
Just a couple of weeks later, there are questions about whether those photos may have been doctored to make it look like they matched the jersey.
According to a story published Thursday by The Action Network, the photos were from “The Tony Ranze Foundation.” Ranze was a photographer for a Florida newspaper who died of cancer in 2006. He often shot Magic games at the time Jordan was playing for the Bulls.
There was a Ranze Foundation website that insinuated the photographer himself started the endeavor before he passed away.
However, his son says the family has no knowledge of it and on Friday morning, the website was no longer functioning.
“His only philanthropy was his damn kids,” Nic Ranze told Action Network’s Darren Rovell of the website’s charitable claims.
The Ranze Foundation website had been created just weeks ago, after the jersey was purchased via Grey Flannel Auctions and not long before it was awarded a photo match.
One avid game-used jersey collector in China claims the photos of Jordan submitted by the Ranze Foundation may have been altered by digitally pasting images of the newly purchased jersey onto the photos they had of Jordan from the May 1996 playoff game, creating a “match.”
MeiGray, which authenticated the item based on the photos earlier this month, has placed that backing on hold.
“MeiGray received new information today that has called into question the legitimacy of the evidence used to authenticate the jersey,” the company stated Thursday. The company says it’s investigating the photos that were presented.
It isn’t known whether the as yet unidentified buyer of the Jordan jersey at auction earlier this year is associated with the “Ranze Foundation.”
A Twitter user who identified himself as “Cardporn” and had gained a substantial following on social media by billing himself as a “hobby watchdog,” disabled his Twitter profile about the same time the Ranze Foundation website went offline on Friday. He later deleted both his Instagram and YouTube accounts.
Cardporn, who has been identified as Juan Garcia in another collectible oriented court case, had posted images of the Jordan jersey on Instagram before the authenticity of the photos used by MeiGray came into question.
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