Another Great Hauls of Shame Article

[karamaxjoe]

Another blow to Barry Halper and his alleged great jersey collection. This time Dave Grob shares his work on the matter. I can't get enough of these articles that bring to light these ellaborate forgeries.

http://haulsofshame.com/

[R. C. Walker]

Re: Another Great Hauls of Shame Article

I am amazed how this one individual has duped all of us with his "collection". Growing up I was in awe of his drycleaner rack full of jerseys and envisioned myself to one day have that same set up. The stories of how he hunted down these items from family members around the country. Amazing! Those stories were too good to be true I find out 30 years later. What amazes me more is that there really is no outcry from the hobby circle to the extent individuals have toward, say, a Lou Lampson, insofar as reading that Peter Nash has a "hard on" for Halper.
What's even more astonishing is the collectors putting so much emphasis on the holograms, LOA, COA, bells & whistles thinking that is the end all of authentication. Furthermore, having a player sign an item game used or even thinking "I'll ask the player about this 1973 jersey next weekend so he can tell me he wore it" as if the player really cared about the item or us. Obviously Mickey Mantle and Reggie Jackson didn't, as they both signed items, Game Used or My Rookie Jersey for Barry Halper. What other items were honestly signed to Barry from players stating they were "Game Used"?
Thank god I knew the Randy Jones in his collection was bogus. I feel sorry for the collector who has it now.
JMHO . . . .

[sox83cubs84]

Re: Another Great Hauls of Shame Article

I was aware first-hand, from my time at MEARS, of problems with a number of items in the Halper collection...and not just the 5 and 6-figure items. I personally examined, and rejected, two minor league White Sox flannels that were signed by, and attributed to Smoky Burgess and Early Wynn. Also gave the thumbsdown to a legitimate 1968 Tigers road flannel of Dennis Ribant that was doctored to represent a 1964 Tigers road of Jim Bunning (odd, because Bunning was a Phillie in 1964).


Problem was, the hobby media (and collectors) gave Halper the same kind of unabashed worship over the 1980s and 90s that most of the mainstream political media gives President Obama today. An old hobby paper, Baseball Hobby News, seemed to do a 2-page feature on Halper if he so much as blew his nose in public. SCD was no better in digging for the truth (no surprise there) and neither was the Beckett family of publications.

I honestly don't believe that Halper was trying to put one over on the the hobby...I think he merely was cursed with the arrogance that a lot of us would be if we were consider the king of collectors. I believe criminal types likley took advantage of him by selling him bad stuff (the items were bad, but no past coverage ever broached the subject of how much hobby expertise Halper actually had). If any authenticators saw a fake in his stash, the fact that he was BARRY HALPER, and not just Barry Halper likely intimidated them into keeping quiet...they didn't want to be the one who told the emperor he had no clothes.

It's a sad situation, but I think too many collectors and hobby media types were so dazzled by this mega collection that they didn't want to be the one to even try and attempt to upset the apple cart. It took a true, unbiased, examination of some items, without fear of retribution, by Troy, Dave Bushing, the rest of us who were with MEARS at the time, and other well schooled hobbyists to reveal the truth.

Dave Miedema

[Number9]

Re: Another Great Hauls of Shame Article

Fascinating reading at that site. Thanks for sharing.

I just read about the 1951 Mantle jersey: "from relic to replica."

Have the DVD at home where it was being shown off as part of the collection.