Autographs From Presidential, Sports, Hollywood & More Signed Pieces Of Memorabilia

Autographs & More: The Good, The Bad, and The Autograph Terror Alert

This blog is dedicated to collectors, investors, and just about anyone interested in autographed items and other related collectibles.

What is this so called "Autograph Terror"?

The best way we can describe what we have come to know as autograph terrorism is not heading towards the counterfeit items, but it is an unfortunate event that has been seen by many, yet realized by just a small percentage.

While "fake" autographs are (in my opinion) one of the worst rip-offs someone can ever be a victim of due to many reasons, we have found that authentication rip-off has even become a larger epidemic. The obvious route here is PSA/DNA and of course JSA now and it seems GAI are following their ground work. We have dealt in the industry for decades and this is one of those things that just becomes mind boggling. PSA/DNA will charge a collector approx. $7.50 to give them an opinion of wheather an autograph is authentic or not (they use "likely" in their little letter), but at the same time they admit that it means basically NOTHING../??? SO why do we do this? one answer: EBAY... Ebay teamed up with PSA/DNA to offer the on-line opinion service some time ago when forgeries had begun to rise. Now if this was done to help collectors keep from spending hard earned money on "fake" auto'd signed items it would have been wonderful, but it was for one and very obvious now reason: MONEY... Now we do not know how much ebay and PSA split on this deal, but you can bet they are keeping a tight lid on this....

Am I saying that I have never purchased a PSA/DNA, JSA or other authenticated piece of memorabilia? NO, I have and will in the future if the price is right, but I HAVE NEVER purchased it due to the fact that I felt any assurance that the auto was any more authentic... Some people are yelling right now and I have listened, and actually researched both sides very closely as this impacts my business and life daily, so to me this was not just for the collecting but to ensure I could continue to run the business I love so much... TERROR? where does this come from? Well, these big money companies and corporations have released "their" figures of forgeries and pushed them onto government agencies- remember that everyone gets elected, appointed then hired by someone.... Think of it like a lobbyist. These companies want collectors to live in fear or "terror" that the auto is fake unless it has their seal of approval, yet there is little to none formal training by the PSA staff. Why? their answer: basically that they have dealt in auto'd items for so long that they know what is a good sig and what is not by comparing to "known authentic" items (not sure how they distinguish this for each one- some from checks but my wife signs mine a lot or even my brother). Am i saying they are wrong in their assumptions- notice the word assumptions- Not always, but I can guarantee that if you send PSA 100 signed Photos of the same person they will turn down around 40-60% of them as not genuine, but if you send the same group in or actually just the "not authentic" ones they returned you will get about the same results.. Be careful now you must send these in from different states and ensure they are not coded. How do I know this? IT HAS BEEN DONE!!!

Now how does this hurt the collector? well, first the enormous fee they charge (not $7.50) average about $50-$100 on an item is passed on to the collector plus the fee paid to get 40-60% turned down. Let's use a 50% pass rate and $100 charge basically each collector is paying $200 per item more due to the recovery of charges to get it so called authenticated...

UDA- Upper Deck Authenticate is a different story as they atleast send a rep to see the items signed and this is the way to go as long as the rep does his/her job.

my solution: know your dealer is the best way and know the auto you are buying. Most high end and even lower end items have the "tell-tell" signs of a forgery, and you need to be an informed buyer not just a buyer.

I am not to say PSA/DNA was not a good idea when well IF it was ever established to HELP THE COLLECTOR AND HOBBY, which it's not looking good. Their BBB-Better Business Bureau- rating is an F... THE LOWEST SCORE POSSIBLE and the California BBB suggests strongly that consumers do not do business with these individuals... I have actually spoke with the BBB and it is on-line as well, but PSA/DNA does a good job covering it up through using many different names and not making their parent company known to all: "Collector's Universe".

Let me know your opinion and I am open minded, and all we ask is for all to be that way as things change but right now it is changing towards larger companies getting rich off scaring collectors...

ONE LAST THING.... EBAY---- please come on first you have this paypal thing that is beginning to become the scandal of the 21st century see sitehttp://www.nopaypal.com and http://www.paypalwarning.com for some information about how you can end up with out your cash and no resolution!!!

But now ebay supporting and promoting this PSA/DNA thing-and they are actually pulling sellers auto's that PSA/DNA say are "likely not authentic". However, do this if you would like some proof... Find an actual PSA/DNA picture of Mantle or someone and then list it but do not tell them it is PSA/DNA but say it comes with a Scoreboard COA- by the way they were the only authenticator in the 1980's and were chosen over Upper Deck at one time before they quit the business- and they will say it is "likely not authentic" EVERY TIME... I have done this over 25 times and it never fails!!!

Until next time.... good day

# posted by Tragically write @ 3:00 AM