fraudulent autograph alert!....and SCD?

[Archive]

Posted By: Bob Lemke

While I was associated with the sports division at Krause from Day 1 in 1980 until the early-1990s, and from 1998 until the day I left their employ May 1, 2006, I left the division to work in corporate management ranks for several years. In 1998 I returned to the sports division as editor of the Standard Catalog and as a sometimes columnist for SCD. At that point I had no "clout" concerning who advertised or how, though I certainly kept myself in the info loop and provided counsel when asked. It is my understanding that 2-3 years ago, then publisher Dean Listle, acting on concerns about Coach's Corner and some other advertisers, instituted new policies, particularly as concerned autographed items, requiring them to be able to provide authentication upon demand (such as if specific complaints about an item were received). Whether those policies were ever adhered to or are still be followed, I do not know. I do know that once Krause was sold out from under its employee owners after Chet Krause and Cliff Mishler had retired, the new owners virtually disbanded the Customer Service Department that had monitored, adjudicated and enforced ad policies under my "watch".