Beltre Bats from Celebz

[Phil316]

This answer by the FBI about a crack down

But FBI agent Tim Fitzsimmons, who led Operation Bullpen, the bureau's investigation of sports forgery rings, says it's more complicated than that. Forensic examiners told FBI investigators that because handwriting can change dramatically due to factors such as age, alcohol consumption and stress, authenticators need scores of examples in order to make an accurate determination.

"You would want 100 examples of 'knowns,' signatures that you know are good," Fitzsimmons says.

[sox83cubs84]

Phil, that's crazy, but not the only form of crazy by a shady seller. Back in the 1990s, a known jersey forger on the West Coast had a stand pat response for anyone who question his items on a third-party basis. He claimed that the other dealers and experts were jealous of him and lying about his stuff in order to sell their own. He said this about many hobby stalwarts, from me all the way to the late, great, and totally honest Dick Dobbins. That was an easy way for him to try and deflect his inventory's issues by trying to make legitimate hobbyists look to be liars and out to get him.

Dave Miedema

[Phil316]

Phil, that's crazy, but not the only form of crazy by a shady seller. Back in the 1990s, a known jersey forger on the West Coast had a stand pat response for anyone who question his items on a third-party basis. He claimed that the other dealers and experts were jealous of him and lying about his stuff in order to sell their own. He said this about many hobby stalwarts, from me all the way to the late, great, and totally honest Dick Dobbins. That was an easy way for him to try and deflect his inventory's issues by trying to make legitimate hobbyists look to be liars and out to get him.

Dave Miedema

That is crazy Dave. It also would totally mess with your head especially being an honest authenticator. It's like someone telling you something you know is not real but they will sit and try to convince you it is until they are blue in the face. So aggravating.

[earlywynnfan]

I thought the best part of the article was Lee from Coach's, probably speaking while actually in bed with Morales, throwing him under the bus by saying how there are better authenticators out there. Like Ted Taylor, Barry Halper, and Nicholas Burczyk, I suppose.

[Wrigley2010]

"There are question marks even about the biggest names in the hobby. During the discovery phase of a lawsuit filed by Indiana dealer Bill Daniels against Mastro Auctions, Daniels' attorney found that PSA/DNA, a leading autograph authentication service, spent about 16 hours over two days authenticating thousands of pieces offered in Mastro's December 2004 auction - which translates to just a few seconds per item."


I have always wondered how PSA examined so many items for an auction house. Also, those auction LOA's which offer a discount on an actual authentication have always astonished me. That is a pretty damning article.

[Phil316]

I have literally spent hours and hours doing research on most authenticators. At least to the point I feel comfortable. So many good articles that lay everything out on the table. Chances are when you hear a name come up in lots of these articles it's worth googling.

[sorklora]

They are not going to photomatch your stuff for you.....gotta do that on your own. They have come up with some serious gems in the past. On that same note some stuff is a complete dud. They do no homework on anything but truly do get stuff from the actual athlete. As with anything just do your homework. I am in no way saying celebz direct is a top notch company (and Scot monet is probably the biggest asshole I have ever dealt with) but they have truly produced photomatched (after a purchase) gems.

Actually, they are photomatching now...see some of the Correa stuff. But I still wouldn't buy from them because it's just supporting a crook.