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Thread: Authentication, Who to trust?
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02-07-2010, 11:53 PM #21
Re: Authentication, Who to trust?
I posted this earlier in another thread about Grading cards, but it also covers the 'authentication' and auction houses:
Read the book and you will definately come away with a sour taste in your mouth... also, as Sammy said earlier - READ AutographAlert .com . Great dirt on what is going on in the industry.
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02-08-2010, 12:39 AM #22
- Join Date
- Oct 2009
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- 2,538
Re: Authentication, Who to trust?
Since when does Steiner authenticate autographs/gu items or Beckett for that matter? I know beckett authenticates/grades cards but that is it. And do you seriously rate PSA over Steiner? Steiner sells autographs from their signings only and G/U items that they obtain from their team partnerships. PSA sometimes witnesses signings but most of their business is rendering an opinion on items that were signed previously. Here is my two cents when it comes to autographs:
Get it signed in person, mail order it from a signing if you want your item signed and have no other way of getting the autograph or buy items that originated from Steiner, Mounted Memories, Upper Deck Tristar, GTSM, Superstar Greetings or Collector's Showcase of America. Or that are MLB authenticated. Other than that don't waste your money because you can never be sure it is real. Personally after 20 years of autograph collecting I have concluded that modern autographs are like baseball cards made in the 1980's, there is an overabundance of them for every modern player and the only people who will make money off of them are the players, big signing companies and the dealers.
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02-10-2010, 03:00 PM #23
- Join Date
- Nov 2007
- Posts
- 175
Re: Authentication, Who to trust?
Count me as another person not in favor or PSA. I sent in a Dice-K autograped sweet spot ball that I personally got signed directly in front of my eyes on fathers day 2007 at Fenway Park before the gates opened and they rejected it, charged me the full price and when I asked them how they could possibly reject it their excuse was that they did not have enough of his exempliaries on file to autheticate it. I simply went off and asked them how in good faith they could advertise then that they could authenicate one for him and they had no response. So now the clowns as PSA have in their data base a real Dice K autograph that they in fact say is a fake.
Part two of the story: I brought the ball to a show where JSA was and they said it was 100 % real(of which I knew already). Like previous folks have said the only true way of knowing is getting it front of your own eyes. After that point everything is simply a "matter of opinion". By the way it really is a sweet Dice-K autograph that he took his time to sign boldly across the entire sweet spot and put his # on as well.
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02-10-2010, 03:59 PM #24
Re: Authentication, Who to trust?
OBP -
Like yourself, I sent in my Pujols ROY inscribed ball that I had personally signed in 2002 and they rejected it because they didn't have enough early examples AND, they had never seen a ROY inscription by him before.
I have been told NUMEROUS times that if you aren't one of their 'big-time' dealers, they will NOT authenticate your auto the 1st time, but if you turn it right back around, it will come back authenticated. In other words, pay twice as much and they will give it their stamp of approval.
In the book I referenced below - 'THE CARD' - it discusses how at one point in time, they 'graded' and authenticated so many items (the # is in the book) with a staff of 16 people that in order to do so, those 16 people would have had to have worked round the clock 8 hour shifts with no lunch break and only minimal bathrooms breaks in order to give as much as 5 seconds of their time to each item! In other words, they would have barely had time to move an item from one stack to another! And that does NOT include anytime for checking in items or packing and shipping items back out, much less writing the LOAs or slabbing the cards they were grading! (I may be a little off in my paraphrasing, nut you get the gist of it.)
Just another blight on the hobby IMHO...
- Chris
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02-11-2010, 08:33 PM #25
Re: Authentication, Who to trust?
Very interesting posts guys....Which Authenticators if any will authenticate game used items?
What is the process for authenticating a game used item?
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02-11-2010, 08:54 PM #26
Re: Authentication, Who to trust?
I trust and use MeiGray (MeiGray.com). Barry Meisel, one of the founders and owners, is a GUU member and regular poster here. Their authentication is based on photomatch analysis. If you don't know what photomatch analysis is, I assure you that it is easily worth 10 minutes of your time to call or email them to learn more about their service. I do a lot of photomatching on my own, but when I need a hand with a project, MeiGray is the company I call. A couple of other companies claim to do photomatching, but I can assure you that their service is nothing like MeiGray's. How do I know? Because I have dealt with these other companies directly and have been disappointed in their guesswork.
Always looking for top NBA game worn items of superstar and Hall-of-Fame-caliber players (especially Kobe, LeBron, MJ, Curry and Durant). Also looking for game worn items of all players from special events (e.g., All Star Game, NBA Finals, milestone games, etc.). Please contact me at gameusedequip2@hotmail.com. Thank you.