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:
I couldn't figure out a way to write an e-mail to you from this site, so I am leaving this in your latest comments. I found this blog doing some research on some memoribilia given to me by my sister in law that my late brother had purchased. He had pictures of DiMaggio, Mantle, etc that were authenticated by Stat Authenticators. I'm learning that they are likely forgeries. My question is whether they are always 100% forgeries and whether I should send them to PSA to get them graded. I am a member at PSA because I collect sports cards and have had them graded from there in the past. But I never dabbled in autographs. My brother never talked to me about a lot of the stuff he was buying, and I guess he didn't do much research.
ReplyDeleteI saw some YouTube videos from a loud obnoxious guy named TomTresh who really turned me off with his calling of people like my brother idiots, when they really just trusted that the signatures were certified by a legitimate place and were just duped. I don't see how it makes my brother, who was a lawyer, and idiot.
Anyway, is it worth it to have this stuff certified by PSA? I hate to throw this stuff out but I also am a legitimate collector myself, and I am not going to keep stuff around that is clearly fake...even if it has sentimental meaning.
p.s. He also has a ton of signed baseballs, football helmets, mini helmets, a couple footballs, etc. and I am starting to wonder if EVERYTHING he had was a fake. He wasn't the type to do much research...he saw something, he liked it and I guess he bought it for his collection as long as it had a Certification, which everything does have.
Thanks in advance
Hi Chris: STAT (Ted Taylor)COAs have been banned from eBay. That pretty much tells the story. Tom Tresh is actually a really good guy and fights forgeries every day, although he can be tough. My advice is to go to http://live.autographmagazine.com/ and post images of some of your items in the forums. The people there will be happy to provide some educated authenticity opinions.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link, Steve. I'm going to post some pictures when I get home tonight. I'll leave out the authenticators so there isn't any "bias" against the signature before it is even seen ;) But seriously, thanks again. I'm guessing I should use the "What's new in your collection" thread? Or is there another one specifically for this type of thing?
ReplyDeleteIf it is Mantle, Williams or Joe D, post in this thread: http://live.autographmagazine.com/forum/topics/mantle-williams-and-dimaggio?xg_source=msg_com_forum&id=3524372%3ATopic%3A75799&page=1#comments
ReplyDeleteYou could also start a new thread in the "What do you think of this autograph" section. Yes, leave out the authenticator info so as not to bias the results.
Rivera signs TTM during Spring Training. I see a lot of questionable Rivera's on ebay all the time selling for decent money. Personally, I prefer to purchase as many sports items as I can through Steiner or UD. The extra hundred bucks is worth not having to worry about authenticity today or 20 years from now when the company that issued a 'certificate' is long gone.
ReplyDelete