Thoughts on Wade Boggs bats on ebay from Celebz-Direct....

[MikeKam]

The ball marks look like what I'd consider batting practice impressions. I don't know how Mattingly takes BP, but some players will wrap tape around the barrel so they can better see where the ball is contacting the bat and protect the bat from seam separation.

BTW, Mike, this is one of the reasons why I questioned your game used bats on AML. They really don't look like gamers to me. I'm not dogging on you, it's just the items you post are questionable sometimes.

I understand, I told CelebzDirect that I'm going to pass on this item, thanks for all your help.

As for some of my items on AML, I just want to say that I get annoyed easily haha. For ALL the higher priced items like the Bonds bat (which I sold on this forum) and Gretzky stick I try to get iron clad provenance, which is hard, or opinions from experts in the field. For both of those items, I feel 100% confident on. Also, when I checked out Gretzky's restaurant this last week, the stick looked alike

Sorry if I was rude.

[MikeKam]

Maybe I should just stick to autographs

[Phil316]

Just to confirm the worst Scot Monette is the owner of Celebz Direct

http://search.sunbiz.org/Inquiry/Cor...0%20%20J/Page1

http://images.sunbiz.org/COR/2013/1017/80923118.tif

If you are not familiar with Scot Monette you should be.

http://www.merchantcircle.com/busine...g.727-771-1332

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/ite...ntry-1.1632318

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=89907

We can go on and on and on.

The chances you are getting taken/ripped off is pretty good if you deal with Scot Monette.

[Phil316]

Also take note he has changed the spelling of his name. He must have missed this one though.

http://www.florida-companies-info.co...rect-inc-l9xu/

[MikeKam]

Celebz Direct would just like to comment on the situation:

Not a problem at all in your decision Mike and I can comment on those forum remarks as well if you like as there is really nothing to hide...

First of all this is more than 10 years old stuff. Secondly, Scot has never ever been involved in any of this otherwise he would have also been in trouble. I'm sure that many collectors have an above average IQ to figure this out however judging from many of their comments it seems like their IQ is well below average. If Scot had done anything illegal, it wasn't the ignorant officer down the street but the FBI that was conducting the case. Don't you think they would have AT LEAST questioned him?? Well, NOT EVEN ONE PHONECALL! Unless you guys have zero faith in the FBI and what they're capable of then I would say that Scot was simply caught up in all of this in the same way you might have been caught up if your partner was possibly doing something wrong. And that was NOT even the case!

Regarding the articles alleging that Scot did this or that I would not be surprised if the same collectors were avid readers of The Globe or the National Enquirer as anyone can write up an article and make unsubstantiated speculations...

Additionally, here's a useful piece of information that some of these "know it all" collectors/detectives might want to know in regards to Elite, Brad Wells, ASI and all those comments... Scot and Brad originally started AUTHENTIC SPORTS INVESTMENTS (ASI). Eventually, through the course of time they had a fall out so that company was dissolved. Scot started Elite Sports that had absolutely NOTHING to do with any of this and Brad started AUTHENTIC SPORTS INC. (ASI) to retain the acronym and to lead collectors to believe that he had taken over the original ASI! Brad also started Historic Auctions and Scot had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with that company either! Whatever illegal activities may have occurred by anyone it was up to the FBI to determine; not you, me or any other "know it all" collector since we are not the experts in that field...

And here's one last piece of information also that I don't really need to share but I will anyway; CelebzDirect is doing nothing more than to continuously grow its faithful and trusting-in-what-we-do collectors database and following each and every time we send out a mass email with game used collections that no other company in the United States can access or get their hands to! Any collector can visit our home page and request to receive these emails. No one is being forced to purchase anything here!

As for our Letters of Authenticity, here's what I have to say because I really get frustrated when I see some smart ass remarks made by average IQ collectors who want to play detective and "discover" a new scam everyday so they can justify their obsession. Check our website! It is www.celebzdirect.com. On our website, if anyone is half competent to navigate it, one will realize that we are the largest company in the United States that represents retired professional athletes! We represent well over 600 names! And these are not names we copied and pasted from the internet or from some online list - anyone can do that and actually many do do that! We develop PERSONAL relationships with all of our athletes! We go to their homes, we talk to their kids, wives, girlfriends etc. We have the pics to prove that! Can anyone else say this? As for the LOAs use your brain! When I am at an athletes home in front of a game used collection that consists of hundreds of items do you expect me to also have hundreds of LOAs in my briefcase and demand that the athlete signs each and every one of them as well as spell out on each and everyone of them what each and every one of the hundreds of items is?? That process would take hours if not days and no professional athlete has the appetite to sit down and do this ESPECIALLY when they are selling out a big part of their lives/careers due to financial devastation and there's emotions involved! They want their money as quickly as possible and they want their game used items that they are attached to OUT THEIR DOOR and away from sight as soon as possible!!! So what do we do? We simply ask them to sign some blank LOAs very quickly, we take a couple of pictures of them and we're out the door! When we return to our office we fill out those LOAs as best as we can and YES many of them are COPY LOAs since as I explained before it is IMPOSSIBLE to get an athlete to sign hundreds of them! We are one of the very few companies out there that supplies their customer base and collectors with professional looking LOAs so they could display their memorabilia with pride. What is on our LOAs is a statement that the athlete has made describing each and every item we have acquired from them. Sometimes we even call them days after we have left their homes to ask for a clarification or for certain details! Can we guarantee that each and every item is what the athlete claims to be? Of course not! And yes, there is a margin of error and the possibility that a collector might be getting something that is described inaccurately... Collectors are big boys and gamblers and they should know that! Hence do your due diligence before you purchase sports memorabilia! I'm not saying we are the best out there and that we do not make mistakes but at some point this bashing has to stop and some disgruntled collectors need to give this a rest and move on!

In closing I would humbly request that you post this response on the forum for me so that we can set the record straight and please let every doubtful collector out there know that if they do not wish to work with us there are many other trustworthy companies they can go through for their sports memorabilia needs. Enough is enough! Thank you!

Nick Tsolakakis
CelebzDirect, Inc.
www.celebzdirect.com

----------------

Personally, as I've mentioned, game used items aren't my forte, but I really wanted a cool Yankees bat. I had friends who I trust tell me to avoid the bat, but that is their opinion WHICH I personally took above everything else and decided to go with that. I've bought from Celebz Direct before, and have seen tons of other stuff such as autographs (which I am familiar with) and know they are 100% authentic.

Just seems like I should stay away from GU stuff.

[danesei@yahoo.com]

Mike, did you ask Nick about if Scot's name is Monet (like the painter) or Monette these days? Seriously, though, as I said earlier, the issues were alleged by Wells.

As for the "Scot's never been contacted by the FBI" argument... how would we know that statement is valid? Who the FBI contacts isn't public record. There would be no real way for us to know if they talked to Monette unless someone leaked the information, he was called in as a witness to testify or he was indicted for a multi-state federal offense. It's true that Monet/Monette didn't get prosecuted for anything, but that's not what they're arguing.

As for ESM, that company had problems of its own. That's why CD was founded: People stopped trusting items from Elite.

[camarokids]

Last month I did buy two Luis Alicea team signed Cardinals game bats with no issues at all from Scott.

[danesei@yahoo.com]

Last month I did buy two Luis Alicea team signed Cardinals game bats with no issues at all from Scott.

FWIW, I don't question the items that the athletes themselves used nor the items that are just signed. The ones I call into question are the third party usage items. It's like there were two bats that were supposedly used by ARod from Alicea, and they both looked new.

[Nnunnari]

Did you know that Wade Boggs only cracked 5 or 6 bats in his entire career?

What a joke these people are. The definition of bush league. I must own the other 5.

http://campaign.r20.constantcontact....b-d4ae528eb986

[Juicyfruit66]

By the sounds of his reply I'd say the "ignorant officer down the street is way more intelligent and tryst worthy than Nick Tsolakakis.

*****



Celebz Direct would just like to comment on the situation:

Not a problem at all in your decision Mike and I can comment on those forum remarks as well if you like as there is really nothing to hide...

First of all this is more than 10 years old stuff. Secondly, Scot has never ever been involved in any of this otherwise he would have also been in trouble. I'm sure that many collectors have an above average IQ to figure this out however judging from many of their comments it seems like their IQ is well below average. If Scot had done anything illegal, it wasn't the ignorant officer down the street but the FBI that was conducting the case. Don't you think they would have AT LEAST questioned him?? Well, NOT EVEN ONE PHONECALL! Unless you guys have zero faith in the FBI and what they're capable of then I would say that Scot was simply caught up in all of this in the same way you might have been caught up if your partner was possibly doing something wrong. And that was NOT even the case!

Regarding the articles alleging that Scot did this or that I would not be surprised if the same collectors were avid readers of The Globe or the National Enquirer as anyone can write up an article and make unsubstantiated speculations...

Additionally, here's a useful piece of information that some of these "know it all" collectors/detectives might want to know in regards to Elite, Brad Wells, ASI and all those comments... Scot and Brad originally started AUTHENTIC SPORTS INVESTMENTS (ASI). Eventually, through the course of time they had a fall out so that company was dissolved. Scot started Elite Sports that had absolutely NOTHING to do with any of this and Brad started AUTHENTIC SPORTS INC. (ASI) to retain the acronym and to lead collectors to believe that he had taken over the original ASI! Brad also started Historic Auctions and Scot had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with that company either! Whatever illegal activities may have occurred by anyone it was up to the FBI to determine; not you, me or any other "know it all" collector since we are not the experts in that field...

And here's one last piece of information also that I don't really need to share but I will anyway; CelebzDirect is doing nothing more than to continuously grow its faithful and trusting-in-what-we-do collectors database and following each and every time we send out a mass email with game used collections that no other company in the United States can access or get their hands to! Any collector can visit our home page and request to receive these emails. No one is being forced to purchase anything here!

As for our Letters of Authenticity, here's what I have to say because I really get frustrated when I see some smart ass remarks made by average IQ collectors who want to play detective and "discover" a new scam everyday so they can justify their obsession. Check our website! It is www.celebzdirect.com. On our website, if anyone is half competent to navigate it, one will realize that we are the largest company in the United States that represents retired professional athletes! We represent well over 600 names! And these are not names we copied and pasted from the internet or from some online list - anyone can do that and actually many do do that! We develop PERSONAL relationships with all of our athletes! We go to their homes, we talk to their kids, wives, girlfriends etc. We have the pics to prove that! Can anyone else say this? As for the LOAs use your brain! When I am at an athletes home in front of a game used collection that consists of hundreds of items do you expect me to also have hundreds of LOAs in my briefcase and demand that the athlete signs each and every one of them as well as spell out on each and everyone of them what each and every one of the hundreds of items is?? That process would take hours if not days and no professional athlete has the appetite to sit down and do this ESPECIALLY when they are selling out a big part of their lives/careers due to financial devastation and there's emotions involved! They want their money as quickly as possible and they want their game used items that they are attached to OUT THEIR DOOR and away from sight as soon as possible!!! So what do we do? We simply ask them to sign some blank LOAs very quickly, we take a couple of pictures of them and we're out the door! When we return to our office we fill out those LOAs as best as we can and YES many of them are COPY LOAs since as I explained before it is IMPOSSIBLE to get an athlete to sign hundreds of them! We are one of the very few companies out there that supplies their customer base and collectors with professional looking LOAs so they could display their memorabilia with pride. What is on our LOAs is a statement that the athlete has made describing each and every item we have acquired from them. Sometimes we even call them days after we have left their homes to ask for a clarification or for certain details! Can we guarantee that each and every item is what the athlete claims to be? Of course not! And yes, there is a margin of error and the possibility that a collector might be getting something that is described inaccurately... Collectors are big boys and gamblers and they should know that! Hence do your due diligence before you purchase sports memorabilia! I'm not saying we are the best out there and that we do not make mistakes but at some point this bashing has to stop and some disgruntled collectors need to give this a rest and move on!

In closing I would humbly request that you post this response on the forum for me so that we can set the record straight and please let every doubtful collector out there know that if they do not wish to work with us there are many other trustworthy companies they can go through for their sports memorabilia needs. Enough is enough! Thank you!

Nick Tsolakakis
CelebzDirect, Inc.