HBO Real Sports Fake Autograph Show
I know it aired a while ago, but this HBO Real Sports show regarding sports memorabilia seems like it is creating a buzz in the industry. One of the producers from the show found our blog and contacted us 3-4 months ago for some information on the industry (although they didn't really use anything we provided). That does show that this blog is making a difference, especially due to all of the loyal readers we have. You make this blog important on the search engines by referring it to others and we appreciate it!
Feel free to comment, we want to hear what you think.
Thanks
12 Comments:
do forsenic coa's truly mean anything? do those hold any value as if the item is authentica or not. i have seen many on ebay and other places and with old autographs or ones used with scoreboard investigation.etc.
I saw the HBO Real Sports special for the first time on this little replay option on my Comcast service. My question to you is... did you see the part at the end where there was Babe Ruth card with some other old signatures on it that was sold by Upper Deck that the Forgery Ring guy said was a piece that they produced? Upper Deck only said it stands by the item it sells. Hmmm.
In my opinion when I break it all down to what I have saw there and to my own experience with companies we should trust like PSA/DNA "The so called best authenticator in the business", Nobody knows for sure whats real and what isnt. PSA called my All Authentic Jerry Rice jersey Likely not genuine. I knew better because Allauthentic does signings with Jerry All the time. So because PSA say its not likely genuine does that mean it isn't Of course not. I posted this when it happened but I guess my post was not allowed to be up. But I believe this has to be talked about.
There are many fakes out on the market. Some of these like the Kobe Shaq ball the Magic Johnson auto and others listed on this blog dont need an expert to tell us they are fakes. Those should be no brainers. when I look at PSAs fine print they say these are their opinions that are not guaranteed with 100% accuracy. So I guess I pay them $100 to give me a 50/50 opinion. Because really thats what is. My post may be not allowed or deleted again but... I had to say this. I will continue to buy items from sellers I trust. Sellers I am suspect of I wont buy from. Simple as that. Whoever I buy from, still I know I can only trust 100% an item I saw signed with my own eyes.
As far as the forensic thing goes the best forensic handwriting expert on the planet couldnt say if Patsy Ramsey did or didnt write the ransome note in the Jon Benet Ramsey case. So what does that tell you about so called forensics?? Maybe they should have hired PSA/DNA....
Just my thoughts.
Forensic COAs are not very reliable. "Forensic Specialists" were a major part of the fake autograph scheme a few years ago.
Even PSA admits that the art of trying to authenticate autographs after the fact is very subjective and hit and miss.
I think the best autograph to purchase is from a company who conducts known private signings with athletes and they are putting their name on the item. Then you have someone to go back to if the item you gets turns out to be questionable.
Regarding the Upper Deck scandal, I am sure that they did not knowingly obtain fake autographs and because of their stature would be willing to take care of the problem.
psa/dna,g.a.i. and any third party authenticator is only a base to use when purchasing a autograph when not being there to see the athlete or celebrity actually sign the item. if i know the athletes or celebrities signature well, i feel no harm in buying items that carry no c.o.a. the piece about human error is true and even the best make mistakes. do not give up on the belief that there is goodness in man,but on the other hand be aware that there are many predators that would love to seperate you from your hard earned dollars.
What is the scoreboard investigation?
scoreboard investigation is the companies owners splitting up and went to court over it. coa's and autographs were brought to court.
It is important to note that Scoreboard COAs are very easy to duplicate and a lot of fake sellers will make copies of these and distribute them with their products. Back in the Scoreboard days, there wasn't much of a need to make the COA's complicated. So watch out for photocopied Scoreboard COA's.
also watch out for the old mounted memories coa's...they look just like the scoreboard coas and can be used very easy.....mounted has been using a hologram and coa card for years but i saw a few old coas with very questionable sig's
Kelly, the gracious owner of this blog , has always been kind enough to allow me to contribute to this blog. He also knows that I've been conducting a personal investigation of the fake autograph memorabilia industry for the past 18 months. During October 2005 Kelly and I were contacted by one of the producers of HBO Sports about doing a show about fraud in the autograph memorabilia industry. I, Chris Williams, ended up going to New York to talk to the producer about doing such a show and I provided them with a ton of both verbal and paper information that I had gathered over a period of about 15 months. In December 2005 I was actually interviewed by Armen Keteyian for the show. Due to time constraints my interview was not used on the show and while disappointing, that's the way it goes. But the information that Kelly and I provided helped to prep the show. I wish the show could have been shown to a wider audience as it did provide solid information about fraud in the autograph industry as the people who should have been watching it probably didn't. One of the points I made during my interview was that I blamed the buyers of fake autographs as much as I do the sellers. If the buyers don't purchase then the sellers do not stay in business, it really is as simple as that. You have to understand that there are four types of buyers. First there are the "true" collectors. We are the ones who collect to own and don't buy any of the garbage that is out there. A lot of it is simply common sense. Second, there are those who know they are buying a fake, but they buy the cheap, fake autographs for "bragging rights." They like having that fake autographed Peyton Manning football helment sitting on their desk at work. One of the points I brought up during my interview with Mr. Keteyian (a true gentlemen and professional) was a seller I found on one of the auction sites who sold 35 various Peyton Manning autograph items during a two month period and every one of them were fake (I had many of them checked with PSA/DNA's "Quick Opinion" service). There's a red flag right there that any buyer can check. Go through a seller's past history and if you notice they are selling a ton of autograph items from every major athlete and none of the items are from UDA, Steiner Sports, MM, etc., then I suggest you don't buy. If that doesn't raise a red flag with you then you deserve to be stuck with a fake and I have no sympathy for you. Third, there is the buyer who simply believes anything they read, or they think that just because it is on a auction site that it must be authentic, and nothing could be further from the truth. And four there are the copy-cat sellers. When they see what these bad sellers are getting away with, they figure they can do the same thing. As we all know Ebay is the major internet auction site, and I have to tell you that Ebay has made tremendous strides in getting rid of the bad sellers and they also know that there's a lot more work to do. But it's also up to buyers to start using a some common sense. If you want an autograph of your favorite athlete then buy one that is issued from one of the card companies. Almost every ballplayer signs for the card companies. If I went to a Yankees game and got Derek Jeter's autograph on a baseball and then went to sell it on Ebay why would you believe me? Would it be because I printed an impressive-looking COA from my PC? Anyone can print a COA from their PC these days. Right before the Christmas holiday ( a great time to sell fake autograph items) I went through the feedback of sellers that I knew that sold fake autograph items and it didn't surprise me the number of girlfriends/wives/mothers who wanted to give their boyfriend/husband/children with a autograph item from their favorite athlete and each one of those gifts are fake autographs. Most collectors today are very aware of the problems Upper Deck is having with some of its "cut autographs" from deceased ballplayers. Ironically, I own one of these fake cut autos. I still have in my possession a "2005 Legendary Cuts Connie Mack" cut auto numbered "6/6." Unfortunately it is not Connie Mack's signature. Although I am disappointed with Upper Deck allowing this card (and others) to be released with the product, I am (as others are) more disappointed with Upper Deck's handling of the situation, which is why I still have the card. I can't imagine what the owner of the "Quad Cut (Babe Ruth, Walter Johnson, Ty Cobb and Honus Wagner)" card is going through. He paid $85,0000 for that "Quad Cut" and two of the autographs are very questionable. I don't understand why Upper Deck didn't simply buy these cards back from us immediately and settle this issue and then investigate what went wrong. Mistakes happen and everyone understands that, it's how Upper Deck has been handling this situation that has upset collectors. I will eventually send the card back to Upper Deck for a authentic Connie Mack cut auto. When I first contacted Upper Deck about my card they insisted it was authentic. I wanted to handle this situation with Upper Deck quietly. Then they realized they had a "problem" and asked me what I wanted in exchange for it. So I gave Upper Deck a list of about 20 cut autos I wanted. It wasn't a serious exchange offer but I did want to test how serious they took this issue, which at the time they didn't. Like the owner of the "Quad Cut" they have not dealt with me on a professional level either. Upper Deck will get my card back eventually but not until I find out who supplied Upper Deck with my Connie Mack cut auto. To end this article I will write this, it is not only "buyer beware" but common sense and logic that will help you tremendously.
I love how everyone is now an expert. I know there are alot of forgeries out there but to have CHRIS (WILLIAMS), somehow in every post, just attack everyone that has a jeter autograph and how he is reporting them to safe harbor. This guy lives in a trailer park in Neptune City New Jersey and sells under Perch712. I am glad allauthentic.com uses experts from the trailer park industry to authenticate items and for expert opinions. Yes ebay needs to be cleaned up but not this way. I am sure Allauthentics.com will erase this post even though it is only an opinion.
First, we welcome any comments to this blog as long as they do not attack anyone personally. We have erased previous posts that have posted personal information of people which is a violation of their personal rights and could have serious legal ramifications for the person who posted.
Second, Chris Williams at least has the guts to post under his name. We feel that if you want to oppose Mr. Williams, than you should at least do it with your valid name and contact information instead of posting anonymously.
Third, you spammed our blog with this exact same comment over 10 times.
Mr. Williams does not work for ALLAuthentic, he is a collector who posts his opinions on this autograph blog just as several other collectors do.
ALLAuthentic.com also rarely posts an opinion because this is just a way to let collectors talk and point out things that we see in the industry.
When people begin to attack me personally then I know I'm doing the right thing. Just because I live in a mobile home (by the way my mobile home is huge, has central AC and a fireplace with a wood-burning stove, a very comfy place to live) that I inherited from mom means nothing one way or another. Those crooks who have been attacking me for years do not deter me. During the time I've been doing this I've had two things in mind: One is to help those who don't know any better, and two, to rid the industry of the bad guys. And believe me, the BAD GUYS know who they are and what they do. I've spent over $2,000.00 of my own money peforming this ongoing investigation. And I want to "Thank" Kelly for allowing me to help out. And like one of the comments read, I have no problem putting my name in front of my opinions while the bad guys hide behind "Mail Forwarding Addresses." It doesn't take a lot of smarts to see how the Bad Guys do it, you just have to take the time to use some common sense.
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