CSC Collectibles COA = Junk

I recommend you avoid items with the CSC Collectibles Certificate of Authenticity / hologram. These worthless COAs appear on the same junky fakes we've seen with the equally worthless Nicholas Burczyk COAs.

I suspect it won't be long before this rubbish COA is banned from eBay as well. Sadly, the criminals who produce these fakes will just produce another phony-baloney authentication COA to slap on the bilge they pump out. It's like COA "whack-a-mole."

One thing to note about these mass-produced fakes is some of them are on 5x7 photos. Now, if you paid big bucks for a private signing with Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio or Ted Williams, would you waste it by having them sign offsize and unpopular 5x7 photos? Of course not. The forgers are so cheap, they probably use 5x7s to reduce costs.

It's even worthless as toilet paper.

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!

Forever in our hearts

This is how I like to think of the World Trade Center -- gleaming against a flawless sky.

The Towers have been gone 10 long years now, along with all of those whose lives were cut short. So much promise and opportunity lost.

The people who worked there were regular folks who only wanted to provide for their families: accountants, maintenance, cafeteria workers, clerks, insurance agents, people who answered phones. The kind of people who'd see the back page of your NY Post and strike up a conversation on the elevator. You think Bernie has a shot at the Hall of Fame?

I understand the desire for memorial services honoring the 10th anniversary of the attack. However, for people who were there, not a day passes where there isn't some remembrance. Sometimes it's a dull ache. Sometimes it's a sharp pain. Most often, it's a whisper in the wind... a sad remembrance of a long lost friend.

I won't be watching any of the ceremonies today. My wife and I spent the morning helping the victims of flooding due to Hurricane Irene. This afternoon I'll enjoy the kids and settle in with a cold beer and a Yankee game.

But it's hard not to drift back. Think about how it could have been me gone for 10 years now. Think about their last terrible moments. The last thoughts that crossed their minds. They just wanted to go home one more time.

Worst Mickey Mantle signed item. Ever.

I laughed when I saw this on eBay recently.

Real signature, yet totally undesirable. With all due respect to the man in the photo, who would ever want this except for him? I suppose it could be used for a cut if it was cheap enough.

And why does it look like a photo from the mid-60s instead of the mid-70s?

After a six year wait for B.B. King, this is what I get...

I sent this photo with an autograph request to B.B. King in April 2005.

Imagine my surprise when I recently opened the envelope -- a long-lost request that had been out for over six years!

Now, imagine my sadness when I discover it is a rubber stamp signature.

Why would it take six years to get back a rubber stamp signature? Is B.B. applying the rubber stamp himself?

Looking at the "g," it appears that someone "fixed up" the weak area of the stamp by hand.

This is what a Mariano Rivera forgery looks like

This especially rancid forgery is courtesy of eBay seller big.johnsreds.

Note the very slooowwwwly drawn signature with many stops and starts.

The seller claims to have obtained it in-person, however, the photo he uses for proof was stolen from another auction that ran a few weeks ago.

Jeter should have given fan big check for 3,000th hit

Phil Mushnick wrote an interesting article in the NY Post.

Jeter should have given fan big check for 3,000th hit - NYPOST.com

Jeter will probably make more in one month than Christian Lopez will make in his lifetime. Should he have accepted the ball for free? What say you?

Neil Armstrong: Still not signing autographs

Here's an interview with UACC Vice President, Anthony Pizzitola regarding Neil Armstrong's autograph policy. Kudos to Anthony for getting a great interview to plug the UACC Study, Neil Armstrong: The Quest for His Autograph.

Two of the images used in the graphics are items from my collection!

Spotting Real Armstrong in Sea of Phonies: MyFoxHOUSTON.com

James Arness, 1923 - 2011

Gunsmoke is still one of my all-time favorite shows --  a gritty morality tale centered around an iconic American pillar of strength, fortitude and ethics.

Thanks for many, many hours of great entertainment, Mr. Arness.

To a real saddle bum...

Get out of Dodge...

New UACC Signature Study - Neil Armstrong: The Quest for His Autograph

The UACC has released a comprehensive new signature study on Neil Armstrong. Run -- don't walk -- to get your copy today at Amazon.com.

I will first admit that I am not completely unbiased as I contributed one chapter to this study.

The study -- commissioned by the Universal Autograph Collectors' Club (UACC) - is quite comprehensive and includes contributions from a wide range of respected figures in the autograph collecting hobby. It has a multitude of authentic signature examples and will be helpful to any collector looking to learn, authenticate or purchase a Neil Armstrong autograph. It also includes a good deal of narrative and biographical information on Armstrong.

And it is a real "book," not a flimsy pamphlet. I highly recommend this as it belongs on the reference shelf of any serious space or autograph collector.

Charlton Heston signature study update

Top: Obtained through-the-mail
Bottom: Obtained in-person by Mike Sibley in 1999

I've updated my previous study with a few reputable in-person signed photographs obtained by UK collector, Mike Sibley. Thanks to Mike for helping me round out the study.

To date, there has not been any credible evidence of an in-person signature that clearly matches what I have proposed is the secretarial style.

I suspect there will always be a few who do not agree with the theory for various reasons, however, I believe the collecting community in general has accepted these findings. The evidence is pretty stark.