Hey all, really apricate your thought. Not sure if I can provide the clarity that you need to feel one way or another. I had all these questions in my mind as well during the 2 years that i held off on purchasing one of the cards from a collector,. I can only say that If you look at the items i pickup and the research behind them, epically the Bradman match used bat, you'll have a sense of my diligence and love of research and ultimately the chase. Please view my responses as how I handed these issues, and you may or may not agree with them, and that's totally cool.
- Is this set produced by Futera Australia or after they folded and Futera UK took over?
Australian set. Wouldn't be surprised if during bankruptcy, UK Futera ended up with bunch of their stuff.
- and if these cards were produced at the start of the 96 decider series and missed the cut off date why is there mention of 13 sample cards and no mention ever off an auto?
Do you have a close up photo we could see of your card Luke with the embossing if that’s not to rude to ask off you ?
My sense from what i have heard is that the cards were produced end of 1996 (Futera File labels the card as 96/97). Futera were facing a bunch of issues by this time and were trying to move 375 individual cards without eBay and destroyed dealer relationships/ loss of licences/ bankruptcy . This is just speculation, but my general gut is that the autos were initially unplanned and that changed at some point.
As for the reference to the 13 samples, it's absolutely incorrect. There are many many more than 13. Pop over to my IG and you'll be able to see the card.
- if this Lara auto card had the gold stamp embossing auto authentic 1 normal coloured black pen and running numbers 1-15 I doubt we would even be discussing this topic but the fact that the numbers are not running 1-15 different embossing zero mention off any card must surely be enough evidence to prove that this card was not official. Much like the don Bradman 1-10 auto gold stamp it was added in maybe 96 or 97 if I’m correct when the set it came from was 93/94 now they also don’t have running numbers however the cards were made official and there’s enough documentation surrounding it to make the card official the same can’t be said about the Lara card and no offence
100% agree, why did Futera create such a mess. Couldn't even match the Border redemption #'s with the card #/50 day 1. The Bradman was auctioned off in Jan of 1996, so they were definitely using the gold emboss still. Exact dates of the signing are fuzzy to me.
- Luke but if Brian Lara own 3 off these cards himself he’s going to say what he can to make them more valuable it’s just human nature so unfortunately I don’t think we could even take Mr B. Lara word on it and no offence to the great man so how do we get a resolution on this card ?
Wasn't really a concern for me. However, he gave them to family members (brothers etc). He is a multi millionaire.
- Genuine autographed, but not autographed as part of the official release. Makes no sense that it would be signed in blue and have the odd stamp, when the other autos were black with no stamps.
Knowing Futera's History and the timing of the card, they could have made it easier for us, but it's Futera like, in that there is little rhyme or reason to anything. The other black autos of course have the stamp as well, there are examples of them. I'm guessing you're referring the the black autos that are just player signed and not released by Futera.
At the end of the day, everyone will have their own threshold for what they chase. I reached mine on this card. Everyone may have been lying to me, but can't really control for that and the stories line up too well in my eyes. Anyway, that's my 2 cents, take of it what ya will.
If you're serious about going down the rabbit hole, there are former Futera staff (employed during 1996/97) in this group 
