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Posted By: MW

Leon –

Since when is a deadline a valid excuse for authenticating something which is not authentic? I sure hope MastroNet didn’t have any pressing deadlines in the past when they were authenticating Ruth and Gehrig autographed baseballs or Ruth game bats.

Also, I’m not sure you read the description. There is a difference between “corroborating provenance” (as you put it) and the ACTUAL description which reads, “Its documented provenance is impeccable.” I guess in some cases “corroborating provenance” COULD be impeccable, but without viewing a videotape of the game, you just wouldn’t know, would you?

Tainted cards that are encapsulated? Which grading service are you referring to? MastroNet makes the claim on its website that, “We offer only the finest and highest quality sports memorabilia and with our network of leading authorities, we are able to stand behind the authenticity of all the items we offer." To the best of my knowledge, there are only two or three grading services which make a similar claim for graded cards. If you are referring to the grading company I think you are, you may very well be right. By the way –- does MastroNet use this grading service?

And how about Ichiro? All the news reports I have read about him indicate that he possesses only a very limited understanding of English. So what about the autograph and inscriptions on the bat? (pictured below) Weren’t they authenticated too? Obviously, one did not have to watch a videotape to do that, and yet MastroNet came to the same conclusion – the autograph and inscription were as authentic as the bat itself. Ichiro may have signed his name and uniform number, but was he capable of writing anything beyond that?

What's going on here?