2023 Topps Baseball Cards That Were Backdoored and/or Altered

Some cards from Topps’ 2023 issues have been identified as being possibly stolen from the factory and/or altered with the inclusion of forged autographs. Here’s a list of what’s known to exist from this batch:

CardStatus
Nelson Rada 2023 Bowman Chrome Prospect Autographs #CPA-NR Gold Refractor /50Forged Autograph
Nelson Rada 2023 Bowman Chrome Prospect Autographs #CPA-NR Orange Refractor /25Forged Autograph
Nelson Rada 2023 Bowman Chrome Prospect Autographs #CPA-NR Orange Refractor /25Never Autographed
Yeiner Fernandez 2023 Bowman Chrome Prospect Autographs #CPA-YF Orange Shimmer Refractor /25Forged Autograph
Livan Soto 2023 Topps Chrome Rookie Autographs #RA-LSO Purple Speckle Refractor /299Leaked to Market
Spencer Steer 2023 Topps Chrome Rookie Autographs #RA-SS Blue Refractor /150Leaked to Market
Backdoored 2023 Topps Cards

2023 Topps Chrome Rookie Autographs

2023 Topps Chrome hasn’t yet been release and here we are with two autographed cards from that set hitting the market: Livan Soto and Spencer Steer.

Livan Soto 2023 Topps Chrome Rookie Autographs #RA-LSO Purple Speckle Refractor /299
Livan Soto 2023 Topps Chrome Rookie Autographs #RA-LSO Purple Speckle Refractor /299
Spencer Steer 2023 Topps Chrome Rookie Autographs #RA-SS Blue Refractor /150
Spencer Steer 2023 Topps Chrome Rookie Autographs #RA-SS Blue Refractor /150

Nelson Rada 2023 Bowman Chrome Prospect Autographs

The Nelson Rada 2023 Bowman Chrome Prospect Autographs Gold and Orange Refractors have been confirmed to have been stolen from the Topps factory and sold on the secondary market after forged autographs were added to some of them. Here’s a side-by-side comparison of what many feel is a fake autograph on the Gold /50 and the authentic autograph on the Speckle /299 for the Nelson Rada 2023 Bowman Chrome Prospects card. The ink thickness and flow of the autograph on the Gold are much different than those featured on the pack-issued Speckle. The following Nelson Rada 2023 Bowman Chrome Prospects Autographs Orange Refractor wasn’t pack-issued because it doesn’t feature an autograph.

Nelson Rada 2023 Bowman Chrome Prospect Autographs #CPA-NR Gold Refractor /50 | Forged Autograph (Assumed)
Nelson Rada 2023 Bowman Chrome Prospect Autographs #CPA-NR Gold Refractor /50 | Forged Autograph (Assumed)
Nelson Rada 2023 Bowman Chrome Prospect Autographs #CPA-NR Speckle Refractor /299
Nelson Rada 2023 Bowman Chrome Prospect Autographs #CPA-NR Speckle Refractor /299 | Authentic, Pack-Issued
Nelson Rada 2023 Bowman Chrome Prospect Autographs #CPA-NR Orange Refractor /25 | Unsigned
Nelson Rada 2023 Bowman Chrome Prospect Autographs #CPA-NR Orange Refractor /25 | Unsigned
Nelson Rada 2023 Bowman Chrome Prospect Autographs #CPA-NR Gold Refractor /50 | Forged Autograph (Confirmed)
Nelson Rada 2023 Bowman Chrome Prospect Autographs #CPA-NR Gold Refractor /50 | Forged Autograph (Confirmed)
Nelson Rada 2023 Bowman Chrome Prospect Autographs #CPA-NR Orange Refractor /25 | Forged Autograph (Confirmed)
Nelson Rada 2023 Bowman Chrome Prospect Autographs #CPA-NR Orange Refractor /25 | Forged Autograph (Confirmed)

Someone sent images of the above toploaded cards to Nelson Rada via social media and he confirmed the autographs on them are, in fact, forgeries.

Nelson Rada 2023 Bowman Chrome Prospect Autographs #CPA-NR Orange & Gold Refractors | Confirmation
Nelson Rada 2023 Bowman Chrome Prospect Autographs #CPA-NR Orange & Gold Refractors | Confirmation

Update 7/7/2023:

The Nelson Rada 2023 Bowman Chrome Prospect Autographs Gold Refractor (07/50) as shown above that’s assumed to contain a forged autograph has been graded by BGS.

Nelson Rada 2023 Bowman Chrome Prospect Autographs #CPA-NR Gold Refractor /50 | Forged Autograph (Assumed)
Nelson Rada 2023 Bowman Chrome Prospect Autographs #CPA-NR Gold Refractor /50 | Forged Autograph (Assumed)

Yeiner Fernandez 2023 Bowman Chrome Prospect Autographs

Again, we see the same thing with the Orange Shimmer /25 in the Yeiner Fernandez 2023 Bowman Chrome Prospect Autographs run. The autograph on the Orange is drastically different in appearance to that of the autograph on the legitimate pack-issued Refractor. Thickness and flow are easy giveaways; they’re just too different.

Yeiner Fernandez 2023 Bowman Chrome Prospect Autographs #CPA-YF Orange Shimmer Refractor /25
Yeiner Fernandez 2023 Bowman Chrome Prospect Autographs #CPA-YF Orange Shimmer Refractor /25 | Forged Autograph (Assumed)
Yeiner Fernandez 2023 Bowman Chrome Prospect Autographs #CPA-YF Refractor /499
Yeiner Fernandez 2023 Bowman Chrome Prospect Autographs #CPA-YF Refractor /499 | Authentic, Pack-Issued

Most of these cards were sold through burner accounts on eBay, which further supports the notion that these were stolen. We know the 2023 Topps Chrome cards were backdoored since that release hasn’t yet even been released. As for the others, the suspicious autographs or the complete lack thereof are giveaways of fraudulent behavior. Know what you buy.

To see what’s currently on eBay from 2023 Bowman Chrome, click here.

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