Hines Ward Game Cut/Game Worn in Vintage Authentics

[otismalibu]

The A5 letter is provided to state the jersey is a game used or game ready jersey.

Can a jersey be game ready w/o numbers?

Am I understanding this correctly? Was this a blank Steelers jerseys that had numbers (one signed) added?

[hblakewolf]

Letter of Authenticity, Letter of Opinion, Certificate of Authenticity, Certificate of Opinion, Game Used, Game Worn, Team Issued, Game Issued, Game Ready, Photo-shoot worn, Impeccable letter of Provenance, All the correct tags, or the ever popular "typical Quarterback use", A4, A3, A5.
Am I forgeting something?

FANTASTIC! Glad to see others are aware of the SEMANTICS and total sham we are discussing. As for Joel's quote,

What is the point? When you open your own auction house you'll see how important your LOAs are to your final bid prices.

Joel, I could not agree with you more, however, I'm not aware of any plans to open my own auction house. If I ever open one, however, the only LOA's I would ever allow to be included with an item are those provided with an item from a team with a team issued LOA, or possibly a LOA from the player or family member. As for the MEARS/LAMPSON/GREY FLANNEL LOA's-you'll never see one coming from H. Blake Wolf Auctions International unless for some strange reason I included a bag of dog droppings with your item and the paper I used to pick up the soiled mess (in this case, the LOA from the above).

Howard Wolf
hblakewolf@patmedia.net

[encinorick]

You guys are driving me to a Mel Gibson meltdown with regard to the A5 Mears rate designation. Mastros' current auction has 4 Laker GU jerseys, 3 Abdul Jabbar and one Magic. Two Jabbar's are rate A5, as is the Magic, and the other Jabbar is rated A9.5. It is my understanding that the A5 designation is given because the jersey was made and worn after 1985, with no conclusive documentation from the player or team that it was acutally worn. It is my further understanding that the authenticator verifies that the is jersey was exclusively made for the player, and that the jersey could not be store bought or come from some other source, and that the only issue is whether it can be conclusively proven that the player ever wore it in a NBA game. I realize that the manufacture of the jersey may make about 50 of these jerseys for a player for the season, and that some are used and others not, but it its also my understanding that all jerseys are given to the player, or the team and are not distributed to others without permission from the team or player. In othe words, if I bid on the Magic jersey I can be confident that it was a jersey made for him exclusively, that there aren't alot out there, and that depending on the "apparent use" of the jersey, the jersey could have been worn by the player in an NBA game. Correct?

[trsent]

Ok, so this discussion is settled, right?

I believe the point you are trying to make is that you think all LOAs from anyone you mentioned above is worthless. This is your point, right?

Now we can conduct business as usual since we know where you stand.

As for the Malibu question, I do not know, I do not write these letters. I bet if you emailed Dave Grob he would answer your question. I do not know his email address off the top of my head, but you can reach him on the MEARS web site at www.mearsonline.com.

[Eric]

Seems to me like an A5 designation puts the auction house in the position of still having to determine themselves or find another expert to determine if a piece is game worn or game issued. Otherwise, how will they know how to accurately list it?

I did say it was a non-commital grade in my opinion, and I think auction houses might agree. Because of the wide range accepted within an a5, auction houses risk accidentally misrepresenting an item.

I wanted to again applaud Steve Jensen and Vintage Authentics for doing the right thing here.
Eric

[hblakewolf]

Eric-
Thank the Lord! Amen! My original question, once again, "WHAT's THE POINT OF THE LOA IN THE FIRST PLACE, LET ALONE IF THE ITEM IN QUESTION CAN'T ACCURATELY BE DETERMINEDTO EVEN BE REAL??????"

Eric, now once a wining bidder gets the item with the MEARS A5 LOA, they should try to locate yet another authenticator to write yet another LOA in hopes of determining if the item is real? Should the second LOA also receive a grade of A5, should a third "Expert Authenticator" be located in hopes of providing a LOA with a higher rating, maybe a A6 or A7?



Howard Wolf
hblakewolf@patmedia.net

Seems to me like an A5 designation puts the auction house in the position of still having to determine themselves or find another expert to determine if a piece is game worn or game issued. Otherwise, how will they know how to accurately list it?

I did say it was a non-commital grade in my opinion, and I think auction houses might agree. Because of the wide range accepted within an a5, auction houses risk accidentally misrepresenting an item.

I wanted to again applaud Steve Jensen and Vintage Authentics for doing the right thing here.
Eric

[trsent]

Eric-
Thank the Lord! Amen! My original question, once again, "WHAT's THE POINT OF THE LOA IN THE FIRST PLACE, LET ALONE IF THE ITEM IN QUESTION CAN'T ACCURATELY BE DETERMINEDTO EVEN BE REAL??????"

Eric, now once a wining bidder gets the item with the MEARS A5 LOA, they should try to locate yet another authenticator to write yet another LOA in hopes of determining if the item is real? Should the second LOA also receive a grade of A5, should a third "Expert Authenticator" be located in hopes of providing a LOA with a higher rating, maybe a A6 or A7?



Howard Wolf
hblakewolf@patmedia.net

Howard, so, what do you want because you are not going to get it so stop wasting time with your continued putting everything down in the industry because it is not up to your standard?

MEARS has a nice system, but for modern items they cannot offer more than they do. You want them to write everything is game used when it just isn't going to happen because there is no way to be sure. They came up with the A5 grade for modern jerseys that show the same characteristics as game used jerseys - Hats off to them for this system because it is far better than anything else out there in this industry.

Howard, if you care so much, open your own fool-proof service and let us find your mistakes.

[trsent]

http://www.gameuseduniverse.com/vb_f...6962#post16962

Revisiting the A5 Grade - From MEARS

I would find it safe to say this is your response from MEARS.

This company goes out of their way to keep up with the industry and then a select few keep getting on their case.

[sportscentury]

Howard, if you care so much, open your own fool-proof service and let us find your mistakes.

Joel,

On multiple occasions, Howard has invited all forum members to send him their Phillies items with return shipping costs and he will examine them and give his conclusions for FREE. Not sure if you caught the last part, but it reads:

FOR FREE.

As you know, Howard's evaluations are detailed and thorough, to say the least.

I don't disagree with you about MEARS. I think that they try very hard to get things right, listen to the collecting public, and stay ahead of the pack. I'm not arguing this point at all, so be clear about that.

But Howard has offered far more than most people would in terms of FREE and THOROUGH inspections and evaluations and it just isn't fair to insist that he open a comprehensive authentication service in order for him to freely speak his mind.

If anyone imposed the same unfair standard upon you, I would say the same thing in your defense, as well. Howard may complain a lot, but I would think that his substantive contributions should far outweigh any annoyance that you experience.

Reid

[trsent]

Reid, you know Howard sits at home and thinks of ways to make my blood pressure rise.

Do you think he has a life insurance policy out in my name?