Global Authentics + Steve Sipe and Mariano Rivera

Mariano Rivera is my favorite NY Yankee -- he's my Mickey Mantle. (Sorry Jete, I like you too, but you were a bit too much of a teen idol to be MY favorite.) So, I enjoy collecting Rivera signed items and peruse eBay almost daily. Over time, I've gotten a pretty good eye for what constitutes an authentic Rivera and what the clunkers look like.

For many months, there has been an endless stream of Mariano Rivera signed items with Global Authentics / Steve Sipe certificates. There are 20 - 30 of these on eBay at any given time and they all look strikingly similar. Here are a few examples of Global Authentics / Steve Sipe certified Mariano Rivera items:

Can anyone produce known authentic exemplars that compare well to the items above?

Just for comparison's sake, here is a ball signed through Steiner Sports:

Now to resume our regularly scheduled programming

The last few months have been very hectic... I'm really going to try blogging more regularly in 2012. It's not that I don't enjoy it, I just need to be more disciplined!