Memorabilia Forging

[iowa49erfan]

Saw this video posted on the site thought I'd put a copy of it here as well.

Very good video to watch on all of the risks of memorabilia collecting.

http://www.youtube.com/v/L2gPS50-Wfs..._embedded&fs=1

Discuss how this whole thing makes you feel that some of our more "reputable" companies allowed things to slip by them, especially the card at the end, you'll see when you watch it.

[howardpwr06]

well it seems GAI is doing a good job bc they rejected all the fakes especially the card at the end

[BigBerserker]

Wow that video blew my mind. Thanks for the post! Everyone who collects memorabilia needs to watch this.

[indycolts900]

Very interesting video. People have to know what a reputable authenticator is. I would never buy if it wasn't PSA or GAI authenticated.

[iowa49erfan]

I know I'm not immune to these types of things but I'm glad that I have alot of items that are the "no-namers" on the teams, not the ones someone can make a quick buck off of and run.

It's sad but it's almost hard to trust anyone anymore unless you know them personally.

I'm also a bit shocked with the UD card that sold for $85,000 and three of the other companies came back and said it was fake but UD "stands" by it. I'm sorry if there were even the SLIGHTEST chance that it was fake and I dropped that kind of money on it, I would be irate and would be speaking with someone immediately.

I know it's sometimes hard to determine a fake or not because some athletes change their signatures over time, but make sure you do your research thoroughly before dropping a lot of money on an item, especially on EBAY.

Check feedback, items the seller has sold in the past, the legitimacy of the company that the COA is from and if there is any other doubt check out their PSA/DNA option, it might help settle the deal.

With so many of that guys fakes on the market even going to a memorabilia store to purchase an item has it's drawbacks. If an "expert" has a problem identifying, how are us "average joes"?

[xpress34]

Chuck -

Just a follow up on the UD Quad card in the story... the video is at least a few years old now because UD wasn't able to just 'stand by' their card. In fact, they lost a chunk of change over it, as the buyer asked for his money back and the seller pointed the finger at UD, so the seller named BOTH parties in a lawsuit. Then, the seller named UD in a lawsuit to cover his @$$.

Originally, UD offered simply to make all parties whole by offering to cover the guys bid and giving the seller some sort of 'replacement', but the damage had been done by their arrogance and it did end up in court. If memory serves, UD ended up paying out OVER a million to these two guys because the lawyers hit them with TORT laws etc which only require the plaintiffs prove negligence on the part of the defendant. I believe the jury found UD GROSSLY Negligent in that it did NOT do it's due diligence in regards to verifying the autos before it put the card together.

NONE of the so called 'Industry Leaders' in Auto Authenticating are any better than most of us on the board - that's why if you read their fine print (JSA, PSA/DNA. GAI, etc) they do not GUARANTEE any auto they authenticate and because of the fine print, they have a legal loophole to stand behind - they simply render an OPINION... which as you and I both know, like @-holes, everybody has one.

I've siad it before, and I'll say it again - DO YOUR HOMEWORK!!! And for the sake of argument, I will post here AGAIN my own story of doing my homework...

About a year ago, I saw a Clark Griffith AU ball on eBay. Listed as a Secretarial Signature. For those of you who are going 'Huh?', I'll explain...

1st, Clark Griffith was a player in the 1800's who ended up owning the Washington Senators (Griffith Stadium ring a bell?). He made the HOF as an owner and is a fairly rare and scarce HOF auto.

2nd, a Secretarial Signature (which MANY Ruth autos are) is kind of liek a 'clubhouse' sig, where a player use to pay someone to sign all of their stuff (letters, cards, balls, etc) in the clubhouse. Well, many players had secretaries who handle their mail and correspondence and sign everything.

So, the price is VERY right - $12.99 and $12.00 S/H - so I start checking. EVERY Griffith Auto exemplar I can find is a cut or index card - ALL 'authenticated' by PSA or JSA and NONE match the auto on the ball, but they all match each other. I'm now pretty convinced that it's a secretarial sig on the ball, then I find the one piece that changed everything... a 1920's Contract for a Washington Senator's Player - signed by the OWNER, Clark Griffith. Well, common sense should tell you that Griffith had to be there to sign his player's contract, so this sig was legit - and it matched the ball!

Which also tells me all of the cuts and index cards are probably truly the 'secretarial' sigs that came through the mail.

I bought the ball (shipped) for UNDER $25... check out Clark Griffith signed ball sometime in Tuff Stuff or SCD... it is a $2,000 to $3,200 HOF auto!

So, as I said before, DO YOUR HOMEWORK and don't just 'Follow the Leader' as UD and PSA say - become a leader yourself and trust your instincts!

Happy Holidays!!!

- Chris

[CRJSr9]

i had a gai authenticated signed lebron james,kobe bryant dual signed photo-i took it to the nationals and tried to get it authenticated from jsa-they told me that it was fake-that a lot of stuff that is gai authenticated -comes from the philliapiens.so i would watch out with buying gai stuff-also go look on ebay, just at kobe stuff that is gai-look at some of the graphs-it looks like a 4 year old signed them-but gai still passed them.

[barnsz]

what a way to ruin the hobby of collecting

[chajones]

I agree with Chris for the most part. Do your own research. Trust your instincts as well. But I do trust PSA. Yes, PSA does have clauses in their contracts that precent them from being sued, but they also are staking their entire business, so they don't take their decisions lightly.

I collect mini helmets and for most of the lower end stuff, I feel fairly confident. I mean, who shells out $15 or more for a helmet to sell a fake for $25? It doesn't make a whole lot of sense financially. Now for the big guys, you need some sort of verification, so PSA and your own eyes - comparing it with known legit autos is your best bet.

[xpress34]

I agree with Chris for the most part. Do your own research. Trust your instincts as well. But I do trust PSA. Yes, PSA does have clauses in their contracts that precent them from being sued, but they also are staking their entire business, so they don't take their decisions lightly.

I collect mini helmets and for most of the lower end stuff, I feel fairly confident. I mean, who shells out $15 or more for a helmet to sell a fake for $25? It doesn't make a whole lot of sense financially. Now for the big guys, you need some sort of verification, so PSA and your own eyes - comparing it with known legit autos is your best bet.

Chajones -

What you are saying is a rule of thumb I advise everyone to consider... unless you're dealing in MAJOR bulk, making $5 to $10 per item is no way to get rich and forgers are ususally looking for the BIG score.

- Chris