Rea

[trsent]

Re: Rea

I'm on my mobile right now so I can't cut and paste, buy Robert Lifson just emailed me that they have pulled the Mariano Riviera jersey. Looks like the GUU community may have saved an innocent customer from buying a questionable item.

Also give it up to Robert for working with our community and showing he is concerned about the industry and his auction house selling legitimate items.

[trsent]

Re: Rea

From Robert Lifson:

Hi Joel! See addendum! Thank you bronx_burner! Thank you Dave Mediema! Thank you GameBats! Thank you Joel Alpert! Thank you Game Used Universe!

http://bid.robertedwardauctions.com/bidplace.aspx?itemid=19662

Sincerely,

Rob L

Robert Lifson
President
Robert Edward Auctions, LLC
P.O. Box 7256
Watchung, N.J. 07069
908-226-9900
908-226-9920 fax
www.RobertEdwardAuctions.com

[CollectGU]

Re: Rea

Great job by the forum members here. I will note that the inscription handwriting including "game used" is definitely Mariano's when compared to other exemplars, so when and where did he sign this? At a steiner signing? I so, why was he allowed to sign it game used?

Dave

[trsent]

Re: Rea

Great job by the forum members here. I will note that the inscription handwriting including "game used" is definitely Mariano's when compared to other exemplars, so when and where did he sign this? At a steiner signing? I so, why was he allowed to sign it game used?

Dave

Dave, part of your question is answered in this email below I just received from Rob Lifson:

Hi Joel! Several quick notes: 1) The Rivera signature and the Steiner signature authentication card are authentic. 2) Steiner's request to see the Rivera letter and the jersey occurred only AFTER they had verified the authenticity of the Rivera letter on April 13, 2011. This request was made in response to the additional email (below) that we wrote to Steiner on April 14, 2011 after reading additional comments posted on the Game Used Universe forum AFTER we had been already been told the Rivera Steiner letter was authentic by Steiner Sports (both on the phone and with confirmation in writing per our request which was received). If it had not been for the additional GUU comments, we would have naturally assumed the issue was over and the Steiner LOA was good, as we had confirmation of this in response to our inquiry direct from Steiner. When we read the additional GUU comments by Bronx_burner about the stationary and Dave Miediema about the jersey which appeared later, we checked for the watermark on the letter (which was not there) and sent the email below to Steiner. It was only in response to this email (below) that Steiner wrote REA inviting us to send the Rivera jersey and letter to Steiner to verify its authenticity.

We think this is a pretty serious issue. We provided FBI contact information to Steiner, as well as making a report ourselves.

Unrelated, REA is offering a $1,000 reward to the first person who provides us with a photomatch of Joe DiMaggio wearing this 1933-1935 San Francisco Seals Joe DiMaggio jersey graded A9 by MEARS:

http://legendaryauctions.com/LotDetail.aspx?lotid=60667

There are a lot of DiMaggio photos out there. Hopefully this will be an easy $1,000 for someone.

Back to Steiner: We really like what Steiner does. We think they just made an honest error identifying the Rivera letter as authentic. Who could blame them? It's a great forgery. GUU is totally responsible for the uncovering of this issue. REA is grateful and in our opinion you have done a great service for Steiner. Our best guess is that the signing of the Rivera with the inscription "1998 W.S./Game Used/3 Saves" was made in error because the Steiner letter looked good and their guard was down. But this is just a guess. I don't know their systems. It would seem a reasonable explanation. Our April 14, 2011 email to Steiner appears below.

Sincerely,

Robert Lifson


www.RobertEdwardAuctions.com


On Apr 14, 2011, at 10:41 AM, "Robert Lifson"
<info@robertedwardauctions.com> wrote:

Some additional information which may be relevant:

We have just checked all our Steiner letters and all have the Steiner watermark in the stationary EXCEPT this one Rivera letter that accompanies REA Lot #1383:

http://bid.robertedwardauctions.com/...x?itemid=19662

This suggests to us that maybe the letter (and jersey) are indeed possibly a sophisticated forgery. Would not ALL authentic Steiner letters have the watermark? If this letter does not have the watermark (and we have it here and can confirm with certainty that it does not), then is there any possibility that this letter is authentic?

In addition (and possibly related): Dave Miedema (who is extremely knowledgeable about jerseys and is a true scholar of the field) has written the following: “The Mo Rivera jersey is junk. I don't recall ever seeing a Yankees jersey (or any jersey, for that matter) made by Russell with a dual case NIT. Everything I've seen that I like has been all caps.”

Dave Miedema’s reservations (which have nothing to do with the letter)certainly have to be taken into consideration also, and if there is no reasonable explanation for his observation (and we hope there is), an authenticity issue with the jersey would of course be consistent with an authenticity issue with the letter.

Could you please have Steiner Sports review this? We want to be sure to bring all of this information to your attention before withdrawing the jersey from the auction as of course perhaps there are explanations that only Steiner Sports could provide that is consistent with the jersey and letter being authentic.

In addition, we have had concern expressed about the Derek Jeter jersey Lot #1387:

http://bid.robertedwardauctions.com/bidplace.aspx?itemid=19666

Would it be possible to take a look at this lot for us? The Steiner letter does have the watermark.

Our goal is to protect the integrity of the auction and authentication
process both for REA and Steiner.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Robert Lifson

President
Robert Edward Auctions, LLC
P.O. Box 7256
Watchung, N.J. 07069
908-226-9900
908-226-9920 fax
www.RobertEdwardAuctions.com

[sox83cubs84]

Re: Rea

And thank YOU, Rob. Your auctions are as or more above reproach as any in the industry. Your willingness to recieve additional input, and your willingness to act on it when necessary, is a big part of that upper class status.

Dave Miedema

[sammy]

Re: Rea

This is just one of the reasons I have always thought REA was the best auction company around.

[bronx_burner]

Re: Rea

Good to hear the final outcome. Glad to be of help. And Kudos to both Steiner and Rob at REA. Also glad that I posted this rather than just contacting REA. I'd like to think if even a few more people are aware of these things to look for, the post was well justified.

[trsent]

Re: Rea

Any thoughts on the Barry Sanders jersey?

http://bid.robertedwardauctions.com/...x?itemid=19807

The year/month code (DY) actually pegs it to 1991, although that in and of itself isn't a deal breaker. I worry more about the jersey's ASI hologram.

Dave Miedema

Dave, while talking to Troy Kinunen today he said that you did the original research for the original letter for this Barry Sanders jersey that was given a MEARS A7 grade.

Just curious, do you remember working on this jersey when you were working for MEARS? I just wonder if you remember if it had an ASI hologram when you originally worked on it if Troy's comment is correct?

[trsent]

Re: Rea

Email I received from Robert Lifson this morning:



From: Robert Lifson [mailto:info@robertedwardauctions.com]
Sent: Friday, April 29, 2011 11:51 AM
To: joel@alpert.net
Subject: Jeter Jersey Follow Up! 100% Good!

Hi Joel! Just a quick follow up on the 2006 Jeter Steiner jersey: We sent this in to Steiner and they have confirmed that the jersey (and accompanying letter) is 100% authentic. Steiner was really very helpful in being responsive to our concerns. I believe they can definitely tell what’s real and what is not (and can also identify their letters with 100% certainty, although they do need to see them in person – giving a definitive pronouncement from a scan alone can be tricky – we’re card guys and we can’t always tell if a card is authentic from a scan alone – same thing).

[sox83cubs84]

Re: Rea

Dave, while talking to Troy Kinunen today he said that you did the original research for the original letter for this Barry Sanders jersey that was given a MEARS A7 grade.

Just curious, do you remember working on this jersey when you were working for MEARS? I just wonder if you remember if it had an ASI hologram when you originally worked on it if Troy's comment is correct?

I do not recall viewing that piece. It's feasible that I did, but I have no memory of it and doubt it.

Dave Miedema