We received 121 entries correctly identifying the Fake Ad on page 58 of the February Observer.
“The Fake ad is for Prescient Precious Metals,” writes Dave Bicknell. “The connection to last month’s winner is the basketball card of former U-M basketball stand-out Roy Tarpley (same last name as the winner). I checked and his rookie card with the Dallas Mavericks usually only goes for between $1–$4, so maybe the sports memorabilia market has taken a dip.”
“I overlapped with Roy as undergraduates at U-M and was saddened by his death in 2015,” writes Tom Weeks. “That said, he was an electric basketball player who I thought of immediately when reading about last month’s Fake Ad. Thank you.”
Bentley Johnson wrote, “When I was collecting sports cards as a youngster I swore I was going to be sitting on a gold mine one day but this ad reminded me that my strategy did not pay off! I hope we all find the treasure at the end of our rainbows.”
And the last word goes to Jacqueline Courteau. “One of my favorite parts of these Fake Ads is the fake addresses you come up with. ‘Sowfront’ cleverly flips ‘Hogback’—we both burst out laughing. Thank you.”
Our winner was Bob Kaspark. He’s taking his gift certificate to Zingerman’s.