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Okay everyone, it's time to play Beat The Authenticator.
On May 1st, I got an email from a very reputable dealer- one of the best in the business, saying they had a great Chargers item available.
I am not including their name because they have acted completely professionally here, they were as upset and confused as I was, and I don't want their name to get dragged into this.
It was a Kellen Winslow game used helmet from the 1980s.
I wrote back for photos, price, and provenance. Good news they said, the bought it straight from the collection of Lou Lampson and comes with a letter from Lou.
Let me emphasize this- "IT CAME STRAIGHT FROM THE COLLECTION OF LOU LAMPSON"
Here are the photos
Find what's wrong with this helmet and Beat The Authenticator!
I started doing my homework and was looking at the details, color of the tag on the front, facemask design, number size on the back etc. Meanwhile, I sent the photos to a fellow collector for his opinion. He pointed out a major, obvious flaw. Not a small detail, a gigantic mistake.
I pointed the flaw out to the dealer, who couldn't believe it. All of a sudden it was obvious. But it wasn't obvious how Lampson missed it.
They were embarrassed and attempted to contact Lou. It took them weeks to get a response from him. When they did, Lou stood by the authenticity of the item.
Lou said the Chargers did wear helmets like this. I am a Chargers fanatic and have never seen an example of this in game play or otherwise. Lou has not provided any proof. Just his word. No photos, no links, no video, nothing. It has been two and a half months, I am tired of the dance, so that is no longer good enough.
For the record, last week, the dealer sent the helmet back to Lou for a refund. And, if I'm wrong here and someone can show me the proof that Lou is right, I will be the first to acknowledge it, but I am tired of hearing "Lou said it's real, so it's real" without any proof. I want to see the proof.
This reminded me of a similar problem I had with Mr. Lampson. In my earlier days of collecting, I bought a Doug Flutie USFL game used New Jersey Generals jersey with a letter from Lou.
It was white and did not have TV numbers on the sleeves. This bothered me, so I contacted people who run USFL fan sites who confirmed what I thought- it was a practice jersey. At the time, I presented all of the information to American Memorabilia, who had sold me the jersey and they passed it to Lou. The response passed back to me was that the Generals used jerseys with and without TV shoulder numbers in games and he had photo record of it. I kept asking AMI for the photos but Lou would not provide it. AMI gave me my money back.
Back to the Winslow helmet, I can tell you there's a major problem here. You don't even have to be a Chargers expert to see it.
Whoever can Beat The Authenticator not only gets the respect of the forum, you get to look like a genius!
Go nuts people!!
Eric
On May 1st, I got an email from a very reputable dealer- one of the best in the business, saying they had a great Chargers item available.
I am not including their name because they have acted completely professionally here, they were as upset and confused as I was, and I don't want their name to get dragged into this.
It was a Kellen Winslow game used helmet from the 1980s.
I wrote back for photos, price, and provenance. Good news they said, the bought it straight from the collection of Lou Lampson and comes with a letter from Lou.
Let me emphasize this- "IT CAME STRAIGHT FROM THE COLLECTION OF LOU LAMPSON"
Here are the photos
Find what's wrong with this helmet and Beat The Authenticator!
I started doing my homework and was looking at the details, color of the tag on the front, facemask design, number size on the back etc. Meanwhile, I sent the photos to a fellow collector for his opinion. He pointed out a major, obvious flaw. Not a small detail, a gigantic mistake.
I pointed the flaw out to the dealer, who couldn't believe it. All of a sudden it was obvious. But it wasn't obvious how Lampson missed it.
They were embarrassed and attempted to contact Lou. It took them weeks to get a response from him. When they did, Lou stood by the authenticity of the item.
Lou said the Chargers did wear helmets like this. I am a Chargers fanatic and have never seen an example of this in game play or otherwise. Lou has not provided any proof. Just his word. No photos, no links, no video, nothing. It has been two and a half months, I am tired of the dance, so that is no longer good enough.
For the record, last week, the dealer sent the helmet back to Lou for a refund. And, if I'm wrong here and someone can show me the proof that Lou is right, I will be the first to acknowledge it, but I am tired of hearing "Lou said it's real, so it's real" without any proof. I want to see the proof.
This reminded me of a similar problem I had with Mr. Lampson. In my earlier days of collecting, I bought a Doug Flutie USFL game used New Jersey Generals jersey with a letter from Lou.
It was white and did not have TV numbers on the sleeves. This bothered me, so I contacted people who run USFL fan sites who confirmed what I thought- it was a practice jersey. At the time, I presented all of the information to American Memorabilia, who had sold me the jersey and they passed it to Lou. The response passed back to me was that the Generals used jerseys with and without TV shoulder numbers in games and he had photo record of it. I kept asking AMI for the photos but Lou would not provide it. AMI gave me my money back.
Back to the Winslow helmet, I can tell you there's a major problem here. You don't even have to be a Chargers expert to see it.
Whoever can Beat The Authenticator not only gets the respect of the forum, you get to look like a genius!
Go nuts people!!
Eric
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