2001 Barry Bonds jersey

[kingjammy24]

REA:

http://www.robertedwardauctions.com/...2006/1071.html

2001 Barry Bonds Signed Uniform Ensemble
Starting Bid - $2,500.00, Sold For - $9,280.00

Important Notice: This lot has an addendum relating to authenticity. Please email our office to be sent this addendum. Thank you.

The jersey has been graded A10 by Mears.

[2001 "bonds authenticated" tag without any "2001" marker yet still no size or customization tags]



rudy.

[kingjammy24]

from 2006:
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Barry Bonds's Other Campaign: Fake Sports Memorabilia
Slugger Says Bats, Jerseys Aren't Authentic, Jolting a Market; FBI Arrives With Suitcases

By SAM WALKER, The Wall Street Journal

As he chases Babe Ruth on Major League Baseball's all-time home-run list, Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants is engaged in another campaign, one that has the $500-million-a-year market for high-end sports collectibles buzzing.

In recent weeks, the ballplayer and his business associates have stepped up an effort to discredit hundreds of Barry Bonds memorabilia items now in the hands of collectors or dealers -- from signatures posted on eBay to jerseys and bats he used in games that go for thousands of dollars. The effort has been under way for some time. One collector, Jeff Kranz, says that in 2003, Mr. Bonds showed up at his Melville, N.Y., home with agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation to search for items that may have been stolen, forged or sold without his consent.

Word of these challenges in the close-knit collectibles market, combined with the allegations that Mr. Bonds took steroids, has put a damper on demand for his memorabilia -- even as he approaches one of baseball's most hallowed records. Some dealers say the market price for certain items he used in games has fallen by at least 50% this year. Doug Allen, president of Mastro Auctions in Burr Ridge, Ill., says one collector who paid $25,000 for a Bonds jersey in late 2001 recently sold it for $4,400. "He just wanted to get rid of it," Mr. Allen says.

For memorabilia dealers and authenticators, Mr. Bonds's challenges have created an unusual predicament. Some auctioneers have voluntarily pulled disputed items, while one has informed the bidders of Mr. Bonds's claims and continued the sale. "There's a great cloud surrounding Bonds in the marketplace right now," says John Taube, president of JT Sports Baseball Memorabilia of Margate, N.J., a dealer and sports-memorabilia authenticator.

Mr. Bonds, through a spokeswoman, declined to comment for this article. Jeff Bernstein of Pro Access, the Miami-based company that handles the ballplayer's marketing business, says his client's goal is to prevent people from unknowingly buying fake or unauthorized items. "No other athlete wants to protect his fans and collectors more than Barry Bonds," Mr. Bernstein says.

For years, memorabilia sales have been a thorny issue for professional athletes. Although they make millions while playing, many tend to view the collectibles market as a way to generate income during retirement. And the nature of the memorabilia business, which is often conducted in cash, can lead to problems. In 1990, Pete Rose, baseball's all-time hits leader, pleaded guilty to failing to report $346,000 in income from shows, personal appearances and the sale of memorabilia -- he paid a fine and spent five months in federal prison. Fellow ballplayers Darryl Strawberry, Willie McCovey and Duke Snider also entered guilty pleas on similar charges of tax evasion involving memorabilia.

According to allegations made in the new book "Game of Shadows," by two San Francisco Chronicle reporters, Mr. Bonds used sales of memorabilia during the 2001 season to raise large sums of cash that he didn't report to the Internal Revenue Service.

To be sure, fake or unauthorized sports memorabilia isn't uncommon, and if Mr. Bonds discovered it he would have an incentive to point it out, both to preserve the value of his authentic memorabilia and protect himself from tax-evasion questions. The IRS says it doesn't comment on individual tax matters.

Special Holograms
According to dealers and collectors, Mr. Bonds started taking a more active interest in selling his game-used equipment in 2000 as he began to hit home runs with greater frequency. In 2001, the season when Mr. Bonds broke baseball's single-season home-run record, sports dealers say they saw a noticeable influx of his used equipment, including jerseys and bats. "They were aggressively being sold by the Bonds camp," says Mr. Allen of Mastro Auctions.
A key player in the Bonds memorabilia business is Steve Hoskins, who was in charge of selling the ballplayer's game-used equipment in 2001. Mr. Hoskins, a childhood friend of Mr. Bonds, also served as his assistant. In an interview on Oprah Winfrey's show in October 2001, Mr. Bonds called Mr. Hoskins "my best friend." Mr. Hoskins worked from an office in San Carlos, Calif., where he sold memorabilia through an entity known as Barry Bonds Authenticated. By the standards of the time, Mr. Bonds had gone to great lengths to give collectors a level of insurance against fakes by attaching specially designed holograms and by sewing patches to his game-used jerseys. He also included his own letters of authenticity.
Before the 2001 season, according to Mr. Hoskins, Mr. Bonds had an ambitious plan: He agreed to sell 50 game-worn jerseys from the coming season to a major dealer whom Mr. Hoskins declines to name. Mr. Hoskins says the deal provided that Mr. Bonds be paid before the season began.

What followed, dealers say, was the most prolific disbursement of Barry Bonds collectibles anyone could remember. Brad Horne, a South Carolina memorabilia dealer, says he visited Mr. Hoskins in the spring of 2001 at his office in San Carlos. When he arrived, Mr. Horne says the office was packed with game-used equipment -- from elbow guards and cleats to uniform pieces stuffed in duffel bags and dozens of bats resting against the walls. At one point, he says, Mr. Bonds came in and talked with Mr. Hoskins about matters unrelated to the memorabilia sales. Mr. Hoskins confirms that Mr. Horne visited the office and purchased "numerous things." In total, Mr. Horne says he made about 12 transactions with Mr. Hoskins over three years that ranged from $10,000 to $50,000. While he never negotiated with Mr. Bonds or handed him money, Mr. Horne says the relationship between the two and the volume of material in the San Carlos office left him with no doubt the items were being sold with Mr. Bonds's consent. "Barry knew Steve was selling game-used items for premium dollars," he says. "Barry was not oblivious to anything Steve was doing."
By 2003, according to Mr. Hoskins, his friendship with Mr. Bonds had deteriorated for personal reasons and by the middle of that year he was no longer working for the ballplayer. Mr. Bernstein from Pro Access says Mr. Hoskins was fired. Mr. Hoskins declines to comment on the circumstances of his departure.

A Visit by the FBI
According to dealers who have spoken with his representatives, Mr. Bonds believes that Mr. Hoskins had sold memorabilia without authorization from Mr. Bonds and, in some cases, forged the ballplayer's signature on the merchandise. Mr. Hoskins denies this and says Mr. Bonds was paid for all the items sold.

When Mr. Bonds made the agreement to sell 50 jerseys before the 2001 season, Mr. Hoskins says, nobody knew he would break baseball's home-run record and the value of these items would skyrocket. When jerseys he had already agreed to sell began trading in auctions for more than he had been paid, Mr. Hoskins says the ballplayer was furious because he wasn't sharing in the proceeds. In addition, Mr. Hoskins says he believes Mr. Bonds may be trying to discredit items they sold together in order to avoid tax problems. "That's just Barry trying to cover his tracks," Mr. Hoskins says, adding that he doesn't know what Mr. Bonds put on his tax returns.
In 2003, according to Michael Cardoza, Mr. Hoskins's lawyer, the Bonds camp contacted the FBI and asked the agency to investigate Mr. Hoskins.
Mr. Kranz, the memorabilia collector in Melville, N.Y., says that in August 2003, Mr. Bonds arranged to visit the collector's home accompanied by two FBI agents. Mr. Kranz, a former bond broker, says he spent at least $250,000 on game-used Bond items since 1988 -- buying about 30% of them directly from Mr. Hoskins. During the visit, Mr. Kranz says, the ballplayer led the agents through his collection room and pointed out dozens of items he said had been forged, stolen or sold without his consent by Mr. Hoskins. "It was an upsetting situation," Mr. Kranz says.
Eight months later, in April 2004, Mr. Kranz says FBI agents returned to the house with suitcases and carried off 14 items, leaving him with a detailed receipt and a file number on Justice Department letterhead.
After holding this memorabilia for two years, Mr. Kranz says the FBI returned the items to him earlier this month without comment. Mr. Cardoza, the attorney who represents Mr. Hoskins, says his client was cleared by federal investigators.

A Change in Approach
In the past two years, Mr. Bonds has changed his approach to memorabilia. According to his Web site, items he signs now come with a hologram from Major League Baseball's authentication program and a new numbered, "tamper proof" Bonds hologram. Every signing is witnessed by a notary public and a league representative from Deloitte & Touche.
Dealers and authenticators say Mr. Bonds has dramatically cut down sales of memorabilia he used in games, though he continues to offer unused items. He has changed his signature to a more attractive script and is guarded about signing items for the public. When an Air Force airman caught one of his recent home-run balls in the stands, Mr. Bonds declined to sign it.

But the authenticity challenges he has made have created a stir. The most recent one began early last month when Robert Lifson, president of Robert Edward Auctions in Watchung, N.J., offered a uniform worn by Mr. Bonds during the 2001 season. The lot, which had been purchased by a New York investment executive for $20,000, included a Giants home jersey, pants, hat, cleats, team jacket and wrist bands. Some items had signatures from Mr. Bonds and carried the special Bonds patch and hologram. The lot came with a letter of authenticity from Mr. Horne, the South Carolina memorabilia dealer, which stated they had come from Bonds Authenticated.

Before placing the lot on sale, Mr. Lifson contacted two of the top authenticating companies in the baseball field to examine them. One said the signatures were real, and the other gave the jersey its highest possible authenticity grade.

But on April 25, four days before the online auction was scheduled to close, Mr. Lifson received an email from Mr. Bernstein of Pro Access that said: "This entire uniform is counterfeit. I have this confirmation not only from Barry himself, but I have also seen the real items in his possession in storage."

After receiving the note, Mr. Lifson traced the uniform back to Mr. Hoskins. He relayed this information to Mr. Bernstein and asked if there was any chance Mr. Bonds could be mistaken. In a letter emailed to Mr. Lifson on April 28 and copied to Mr. Bonds, Mr. Bernstein wrote: "I showed the auction that you are featuring to Barry again, and he is comfortable saying with 100% certainty that these items are fakes. He is in possession of all of [sic] 2001 game used uniforms, and we have this confirmed through the clubhouse equipment manager and the jersey supplier."
Mr. Bernstein added that Mr. Bonds had been "totally shocked" to hear these items had been purchased from Mr. Hoskins. "In his entire relationship with Mr. Hoskins, he never authorized or allowed him to sell an entire uniform from any season, much less 2001." In a separate phone conversation, Mr. Lifson says, Mr. Bernstein offered to have Mr. Bonds call him personally to discuss the issue. After informing all bidders of the challenge from the Bonds camp, Mr. Lifson decided to let the auction run its course and the uniform sold for $9,280. "It was all a bit surreal," Mr. Lifson says.

Mr. Bonds recently told reporters he has no interest in the ball he hits to surpass Babe Ruth on baseball's career home-run list. On an episode of his ESPN show, "Bonds on Bonds," he gave a tour of his stockpile of game-used equipment, which some dealers interpreted as a not-too-subtle advertisement to future collectors. But Mr. Bernstein says his client may not sell any of the items. He says Mr. Bonds will probably give some of them to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and keep the rest for himself. "I'm not sure that Barry is in memorabilia for money," he says.
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rudy.

[kingjammy24]

i think the main question for me isn't where this stuff came from but rather how mears could grade it all A10. even if you completely ignore all of the hoskins/bonds noise and also ignore the lack of customization tags, all of these things are still missing basic size tags! look, here's a 2001 jason schmidt jersey:

http://www.americanmemorabilia.com/A...ction_ID=30400

surprise surprise it comes with a size tag. i'm willing to bet the overwhelming majority of 2001 giants common player gamers had size tags. a size tag would be expected on most 2001 russell shirts. yet none of these have size tags and yet they all got an A10. perfect shirts! perfect shirts missing size and customization tags. unbelievable. how many of those certs have bushing's signature on them? how many of these shirts have been bought back by mears?

i understanding that the kinunen/bushing "for sale" section on mears is somehow a separate, non-mears, kinunen/bushing venture. the president of mears privately buying items and having them evaulated by his own firm (with his own signature on the LOAs) and then selling them on his firms website yet it's somehow all separate. but not. i also understand that's where troy..or mears..or whatever..makes most of his..or their money. but i'm guessing that's troy's money not mears' money. so..i'm hoping that whatever mears makes from authenticating is enough to cover buybacks of this magnitude. anyway, good thing dave grob has vowed to not read the forum. i'm sure it will behoove the clients of one of the largest authentication firms and "research centers" for one of their main figureheads not to read a forum where so much information is pumped out constantly. sort of like a stockbroker refusing to read the wall street journal.

rudy.

[whatupyos]

Thats why you've got to love this forum. Protects the little guys and informs them of red flags. Some of us have way more knowledge than others. I'm still learning day in and day out, but there are others on here, such as Rudy who knows tons more than I could ever dream of. I hope to one day reach that area of memorabilia knowledge but I'm willing to bet there are new members here who, like I was in the beginning are a little wet behind the ears and don't know as much. The Mears question on authenticating scares me. If all this information that Rudy posted is readily available to any and all collectors which I assume it is....then how can someone grade a shirt an A10 with the questions surrounding the authenticity of some of Bonds memorabilia. I mean, it seems even Bonds himself questions this stuff, but yet Mears rates an A10.

[kingjammy24]

i imagine mears could possibly accept hoskins' side on it and say bonds was lying about selling this stuff in order to hide memorabilia revenue from the IRS, etc.
aside from the whole provenance mess, i just don't see how numerous jerseys lacking the proper tagging get A10s. secondly, if "bondsgloves" is correct and these jerseys don't even measure out to the size that bonds was taking in 2001, a 50 i believe, then how does that garner an A10? did mears measure these things? i assume they must've given that they don't even have size tags. these shirts have numerous red flags and yet an A10 is not only supposed to be a jersey with no red flags, but a jersey that's flawless. a shirt missing the proper tags is flawless? of course, the curious side of me wouldn't mind knowing if troy/dave had any investment in these things.

rudy.

[David]

What about the examples signed and noted with homer run # date. If the handwriting (including notation) is shown to be by Barry Bonds' hand, it would be hard for him to escape all culpability for that item (whether the item is genuine or fake).

[kingjammy24]

What about the examples signed and noted with homer run # date. If the handwriting (including notation) is shown to be by Barry Bonds' hand, it would be hard for him to escape all culpability for that item (whether the item is genuine or fake).

agreed. you'd think mears would still objectively evaluate a shirt regardless of the provenance and any red flags would still be taken into consideration. look at all of those favre shirts with favre certs/holograms/matching photos. do you take an athlete at their word or do you require that a jersey, regardless of provenance, stand on its own?
mears has publically stated that provenance isn't a guarantee of an A10. the implication being that the shirt still has to stand on its own. how do these tagless bonds shirts stand on their own?

a 2001 sf giants gamer, sold by GUU, with team LOA. size tag is present:

http://www.gameuseduniverse.com/auction/lot.php?id=307

rudy.

[Bondsgloves]

arenas 01 this is an example of a gamer from 2000 thats authentic. Its the 2001 that are all Bad.



The 2001 Jerseys are all fakes. Hoskins had Barry sign them and the home run jerseys are a joke. The authentic Bonds 2001 Jerseys must have the extra tags, the right size, and the Bonds authenticated patch, end of story. The Jerseys that are being sold as Game Used 2001 Jersey are simply store bought authentic jerseys and the Bonds authenticated patch was added. LIke I said I have never seen photos of Barry wearing any of these Jerseys without the extra tagging. If you look at the photos I posted with the jerseys untucked they aren't even close to these fakes. Its not a coincindence that all the photo's of 2001 Bonds untucked photos don't match up.
This was all about money and Barry and his agent made a killing on these Jerseys. Barry claims to have all his own 2001 Home Jerseys, why have we seen dozens auctioned or for sale? As a Bonds collector I have studied these jerseys and have seen the real gamers before in his locker. I will post photos of the only real 2001 I have ever seen for sale.

Fellow forum member Bondsfan is absolutely right, we both have compiled large Bonds collections and have discussed this before and are not surprised. We have known this was going on for quite some time!

[gameused]

Have you guys seen Barry Bonds lately? Here he is, off the "juice" posing with his 715th HR bat!

[Phil316]

bump