New Forensic Autograph Authentication Company

[mr2686]

Agreed. Without a doubt, she is the definition of Cougar..

Please, no jokes about petting the kitty!

[RichardSimon]

Originally Posted by mr2686

Please, no jokes about petting the kitty!

This board has gone from a PG rating to an NC-17 very quickly .

[drc]

Per grayghost's much earlier post, I have no pre-conception or opinion of the company.

It is interesting that just days ago people were bashing PSA/DNA and JSA for not guarantee their opinions, yet here is a company that say it will guarantee things and people are complaining about that too.

Let's not just be a board of complainers.

[mschwade]

Originally Posted by drc

Per grayghost's much earlier post, I have no pre-conception or opinion of the company.

It is interesting that just days ago people were bashing PSA/DNA and JSA for not guarantee their opinions, yet here is a company that say it will guarantee things and people are complaining about that too.

Let's not just be a board of complainers.

I am in 100% agreement... They have everything we've been complaining about... a guarantee that puts them somewhat on the hook (depending on their 3rd party examiner) and the same auth fees regardless of the signature. I am just anxious to see how thorough their exams are for the comparably low rates. I think the biggest way for them to survive is to do their own signings for athletes that they witness and authenticate and turn around and sell-- and I think I read that is what they are doing. No exams needed that way and they can still turn profits.

[drc]

The COA of company that does well-documented in person signings can get a strong reputation.

[novakjr]

Chris. The COA doesn't state it, but I have a good feeling that those are probably from in-person signings.. Either that, or they are bunch of Trekkies who originally wanted to call the company "Galactic Ferengal Alliance".

[mschwade]

Originally Posted by drc

The COA of company that does well-documented in person signings can get a strong reputation.

Tri-star is the first one that comes to mind.

[thetruthisoutthere]

From the GFA website:

To properly authenticate a signature you must have numerous exemplars to do side by side comparisons. That is why at GFA we only authenticate a limited number of autographs and have experts specialized in these signatures.

I guess they have a forensic expert who specializes in Colm Meaney's autograph.

I wonder if they have someone who specializes in the signature of Phil Linz?

Cole-1.jpg

Cole-2.jpg

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by thetruthisoutthere

From the GFA website:

To properly authenticate a signature you must have numerous exemplars to do side by side comparisons. That is why at GFA we only authenticate a limited number of autographs and have experts specialized in these signatures.

I guess they have a forensic expert who specializes in Colm Meaney's autograph.

I wonder if they have someone who specializes in the signature of Phil Linz?

Attachment 55105

Attachment 55106

Well, is it his autograph or not? It very well could be an in person and it certainly can't be a hard autograph to find exemplars on.

I just hope they have actual "handwriting analysis" experts, and not simply "forensic" experts.

[thecatspajamas]

Originally Posted by drc

Per grayghost's much earlier post, I have no pre-conception or opinion of the company.

It is interesting that just days ago people were bashing PSA/DNA and JSA for not guarantee their opinions, yet here is a company that say it will guarantee things and people are complaining about that too.

Let's not just be a board of complainers.

I think it's the whole re-submission process for bad authentications that has people concerned/scratching their heads. Seeing a list of their "authorized 3rd party forensic authenticator"(s) would probably go a long way to easing (or confirming) people's concerns. Since I don't see any such list on their website, that may be up in the air until someone has first-hand experience and can relate it here on the board.

To my mind, their whole "guarantee" hinges on that one factor. If they use a reputable 3rd party authenticator for disputed certs and actually follow through on their guarantee, then they darn sure better not make any high-profile mistakes as it would only take 1 bad Ruth settlement to wipe out a whole pile of those $10 authentications. (Which, incidentally, is the kind of hard-line self-imposed regulation/penalty system many have been wishing for from other companies).

If, however, their authorized 3rd party authenticator is Chris M, well, that's a loophole big enough to drive a truckload of bad certs through...

[RichardSimon]

Originally Posted by thecatspajamas

I think it's the whole re-submission process for bad authentications that has people concerned/scratching their heads. Seeing a list of their "authorized 3rd party forensic authenticator"(s) would probably go a long way to easing (or confirming) people's concerns. Since I don't see any such list on their website, that may be up in the air until someone has first-hand experience and can relate it here on the board.

To my mind, their whole "guarantee" hinges on that one factor. If they use a reputable 3rd party authenticator for disputed certs and actually follow through on their guarantee, then they darn sure better not make any high-profile mistakes as it would only take 1 bad Ruth settlement to wipe out a whole pile of those $10 authentications. (Which, incidentally, is the kind of hard-line self-imposed regulation/penalty system many have been wishing for from other companies).

If, however, their authorized 3rd party authenticator is Chris M, well, that's a loophole big enough to drive a truckload of bad certs through...

+1
Their claim is that a forensic authenticator will reexamine the item.
The whole thing then comes down to who will that be.
One simple statement of fact, who is their forensic/alternate?
Right now the forensic field, in the autograph hobby, is very limited.
And if they submit the item to a forensic, where do the exemplars come from? What type of forensic exam does it then get?
An elaborate real forensic exam, or a $10-$30 exam?
I look forward to seeing their work, let us hope they do a good job.

[mschwade]

FYI, I wrote an email today to Mr. Rocchi voicing my concerns and suggestions for GFA and tried to send the email to the email address listed for him and also the generic info email address that was listed, and both emails bounced as an unknown email address. I eventually used the contact form on the Contact Us page and cut and pasted my email into it, but I am still not sure if it will ever reach them.

Just an FYI to anyone else that thought about writing them.

Thanks,
Matt

[Mr. Zipper]

Originally Posted by drc

Let's not just be a board of complainers.

Isn't that what the Internet is for?