Your Collectible Is 100% Authentic...

[aeneas01]

not only is your collectible 100% authentic, but american memorabilia gives you their "100% guarantee" that it is authentic. or as they put it it, while misspelling "collectible" and "us" along the way on the first page of their "100% authentic" website...

"Our authenticator, Lou Lampson, has more than 30 years of expertise in authentication. So if your unsure about the authenticity of your collectable let use give you our 100% guarantee that your collectible is 100% authentic."

from the get-go it's obvious that this outfit specializes in attention to detail, no? anyway, i'm wondering how american memorabilia can continue to make such lofty guarantees - especially considering that they seem to even struggle with items said to have been worn by some of the most famous, most photographed and most filmed athletes in the game. take this "1995 emmitt smith dallas cowboys record-breaking gamed used helmet" for example - a helmet that fetched $3,500++ at one of their 2004 auctions.


http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y238/aeneas1/sub/ami5.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y238/aeneas1/sub/ami6.jpg


the ad states (underlined) that the dymo tape with e.s.'s name is present, that the back bumper is "appropriately" blank and that the interior is fitted with a vsr4 padding system "which were made for wd helmets.

the problem is a) there is nothing "appropriate" about the back bumper being blank - in 1995 the cowboys applied a "cowboys" decal to the rear bumper making it, well, far from blank b) emmitt smith wore an af2 helmet for many years, including the 1995 season - so either the helmet that sold was an af2 correctly fitted with an af2 padding system which american memorabilia's crack team mistook for vsr4 padding or the helmet that sold was a custom job that smith never wore and c) while it's true that the 'boys are well known for using blue dymo tape, the size of this tape can often vary from season to season as it is replaced - in 1995 emmitt smith's lid was dressed with a much longer tape than what is shown in the auction. further, where's the front bumper decal? in short, good grief....



here's a look at the front and back of e.s.'s 1995 lid - note the bumper decals and dymo tape...

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y238/aeneas1/sub/ami4.jpg



and here's a look at the inside of e.s.'s lid over the years - clearly an af2 with af2 padding...

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y238/aeneas1/sub/ami3.jpg


let me end by apologizing to the forum in advance for this post - i realize that this sort of thing is bad for the hobby and i will try to toe the line the next time around. as a matter of fact, i now see that i could have framed this post differently, more positively, which ultimately would have been much better for the hobby - for example, rather than criticize and "out" american memorabilia and their authenticators in the manner that i did, i could have simply used the above information to illustrate the enormous amount of pressure auction houses and their authenticators are under, the enormous amount of pressure they face each and every auction period, which invariably leads to oversights. yeah, that would have been much better....

[ironmanfan]

This sounds like a good topic for an upcoming Chris Nerat "Gavel Chat" blog, unless there is breaking news in the Ken Griffey Jr. POG market...

[otismalibu]

"Our authenticator, Lou Lampson, has more than 30 years of expertise in authentication. So if your unsure about the authenticity of your collectable let use give you our 100% guarantee that your collectible is 100% authentic."

Butt whoos kounting.

[Vintagedeputy]

"Our authenticator, Lou Lampson, has more than 30 years of expertise in authentication. So if your unsure about the authenticity of your collectable let use give you our 100% guarantee that your collectible is 100% authentic."

Butt whoos kounting.



I dunt cee wat da big deel iz.......yous guys arr too nitpickity

[mvandor]

So, based on the guarantee, buyer should be clamoring for return & refund if he sees this thread. What is AMI's record on making good when busted for misrepresenting and moving garbage (which they do in truckloads)? Curious.

[Eric]

They can guarantee it up and down the street, but check #16 in the auction rules.

16. Please bid with confidence. Third party authenticators have professionally examined all items in this auction. Please do not bid on the lot if you are uncomfortable with the authenticator. ALL SALES ARE FINAL.

http://www.americanmemorabilia.com/Auction_Rules.asp

[nyjetsfan14]

Many continue to point out mistakes and misrepresentations by auction houses (in this case AMI) but yet AMI and others continue to rake in astonishing and inflated prices! Where are these bidders coming from? I bet that many who post here and bash them are also bidding in their auctions, paying their insane hammer fees (fees I thought were mainly reasoned by them being able to authenticate items), and making them very rich people. In AMI's last auction a recent Chrebet jersey fetched 8,000. At first I thought I was seeing it wrong but nope...8 grand! I personally do not use auction houses because of everything we chastise them for but it is obvious many do and many are willing to patronize places with the than stellar business practices. As a collector is it possible to still build a sizeable and enjoyable GU collection without auction houses? In my case it has been possible and even more enjoyable because dealing directly with fellow collectors is half the fun, sharing info/knowledge/anecdotes and developing friendships sure beats the cold impersonal finance depleting bidding in auction house lots. But with that said, they don't miss me obviously because despite poor authenticating, poor treatment of consigners, ridiculous prices and hammer fees they have a ton of bidders willing to pay the insane prices and hammer fees. It really doesn't make any sense to me but then again...who am I.

GO JETS!

[cohibasmoker]

Eric,

You really need to put a muzzle on that Aeneas01 guy. Once again, he is sitting behind his computer ranting, raving and instigating. He really does need to calm down because he is very bad for the hobby indeed.

I for one am going to email Mr. Nerat and SCD and point out that Mr. Aeneas01 is at it again.

But that's just my opinion.

[both-teams-played-hard]

Maybe someone can forward this message to Lou Lampson.
I urge Mr. Lampson to join this forum. Admit your mistakes and pledge to never let them happen again. Take the criticism and ridicule, then the dust will settle and the smoke will clear, and you will smell rosey. Folks dig others who admit their errors. Lampson has apologists. These apologists will help with the confession. Show this forum examples of research you've done in the past, and how you've helped the hobby. Also, ask questions to this forum. I know that forum members can help with your research. Regardless of what you've been told: YOU DON'T KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT EVERY TEAM, FROM EVERY SPORT, FROM EVERY YEAR. Forum members will bash you, but take your lumps and move on!
And also, Oswald acted alone.

[nyjetsfan14]

Maybe someone can forward this message to Lou Lampson.
I urge Mr. Lampson to join this forum. Admit your mistakes and pledge to never let them happen again. Take the criticism and ridicule, then the dust will settle and the smoke will clear, and you will smell rosey. Folks dig others who admit their errors. Lampson has apologists. These apologists will help with the confession. Show this forum examples of research you've done in the past, and how you've helped the hobby. Also, ask questions to this forum. I know that forum members can help with your research. Regardless of what you've been told: YOU DON'T KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT EVERY TEAM, FROM EVERY SPORT, FROM EVERY YEAR. Forum members will bash you, but take your lumps and move on!
And also, Oswald acted alone.

I absolutely agree...in my opinion it is almost hard to even be an expert for just one particular sport. I much prefer "experts" (or authenticators) for a particular team considering how many equipment anomolies from past years there are for each team. When I have a question regarding something Jets and I have exhausted all my reference books, cards, programs, videos, yearbooks, etc... I reach out to another Jets collector in hopes we can retrace and figure something out. I am in no way saying that a collector cannot know a lot about several if not all teams in a particular sport but it can be overwhelming.

[aeneas01]

They can guarantee it up and down the street, but check #16 in the auction rules.

16. Please bid with confidence. Third party authenticators have professionally examined all items in this auction. Please do not bid on the lot if you are uncomfortable with the authenticator. ALL SALES ARE FINAL.

http://www.americanmemorabilia.com/Auction_Rules.asp


yeah, i saw that too eric. what's interesting is that the "100% guarantee" i quoted is actually from ami's "100% authentic" website, not their auction website. so out of one side of their mouth ami is telling collectors and auction houses that, through their authentication service website, if "unsure about the authenticity of your collectable let use give you our 100% guarantee that your collectible is 100% authentic." and out of the other side of their mouth they are telling collectors at their auction website that they won't stand behind their own "100% guarantee", that they consider themselves third party authenticators.....



Maybe someone can forward this message to Lou Lampson. I urge Mr. Lampson to join this forum. Admit your mistakes and pledge to never let them happen again. Take the criticism and ridicule, then the dust will settle and the smoke will clear, and you will smell rosey. Folks dig others who admit their errors. Lampson has apologists. These apologists will help with the confession. Show this forum examples of research you've done in the past, and how you've helped the hobby. Also, ask questions to this forum. I know that forum members can help with your research. Regardless of what you've been told: YOU DON'T KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT EVERY TEAM, FROM EVERY SPORT, FROM EVERY YEAR. Forum members will bash you, but take your lumps and move on! And also, Oswald acted alone.


unfortunately, as we all know, there is absolutely no incentive whatsoever for lampson to do what you suggest, even though it's a great suggestion. and while the notion of lampson or any other professional authenticator asking forum members for help seems logical and mutually beneficial, can you imagine how that would play out in the real world? it would take about a new york second for a frustrated collector to respond to a question with... "are you kidding me? you actually have to come here to ask if that's a '98 or '99 gamer? what the h#@ are you getting paid for..." - can you imagine what the comments would begin to look like after the third or fourth plea for help?

and whether we like it or not, loas/coas, are not worthless - they add a definite value to an item regardless if they should or not, imho that is. i can't imagine a collector selling an item from his collection, that came with a lou lampson coa, without the paper - for obvious reasons. further, i can't believe too many collectors would toss a lampson coa, especially if he nailed the item.


I for one am going to email Mr. Nerat and SCD and point out that Mr. Aeneas01 is at it again.

please do! and since you are going to go through the trouble you might as well ask young nerat to explain how ami and their crack team could have missed something as obvious as the rear bumper padding. the photos on the left show the smaller (narrower) rear bumper pad found on more contemporary helmets - the bottom photo on left is the "smith helmet" ami sold which shows the same small bumper. the photos on the right show the older, wider rear bumper pad which is what smith clearly sported on his helmet in 1995 - compare the top corners of the bumper pad to the center line of the helmet...

guess it's too late for some sports publications to tell the guy that dropped $3,500++ on this lid that ami's authenticators will catch these problems, and many more not even mentioned, once they fly in to physically inspect the items...


http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y238/aeneas1/sub/ami2.jpg



Many continue to point out mistakes and misrepresentations by auction houses (in this case AMI) but yet AMI and others continue to rake in astonishing and inflated prices! Where are these bidders coming from? I bet that many who post here and bash them are also bidding in their auctions, paying their insane hammer fees (fees I thought were mainly reasoned by them being able to authenticate items), and making them very rich people.

i think the game-used collectors here at the forum make up a very, very small percentage of those that collect game-used items. further, i believe that the vast majority of game-used collectors have never heard of this wonderful resource, guu (although i'm certain guu is on the radar of just about every sports memorabilia auction house). as such, auction houses will continue to thrive and so will loas/coas. as far as guu members that continue to buy at these auction houses are concerned, a deal is a deal and you can still get lucky at a big auction house, even after hammer fees.

[cohibasmoker]

Is it just me or has anyone else noticed the absence of the "Voice of the Hobby" a.k.a. SCD from all of the Aeneas01 threads?

Aenesa01 has made some very valid points which in turn raises some serious issues involving some high ticket items yet the "Voice of the Hobby" is nowhere to be found!!!

Are we to assume that all of the concerns posted on this forum are not credible enough for SCD to get their crack investigative teams together for the "good" of the hobby?

But that's just my opinion.

[aeneas01]

Are we to assume that all of the concerns posted on this forum are not credible enough for SCD to get their crack investigative teams together for the "good" of the hobby?

that's an interesting question - and it will become even more interesting as guu continues to gain more and more attention through their auctions.

[helmets]

You would think that the 100% Authentic team could at least remove and correctly re-install the side clips on that E. Smith helmet.

Geez.