How about this Joe Louis?

[Exhibitman]

[travrosty]

sorry, no good, not even very close.

[D. Bergin]

Yeah, Joe's handwriting was never that nice.

[toybulldog]

Unanimous no.

[Exhibitman]

That's what I thought. Now, how about this JSA/BVG/Leaf, currently for sale on Ebay:



http://www.ebay.com/itm/181101914100

[D. Bergin]

Who cares if it's good, as long as it has a shiny 1/1 frame around it?

It's a little closer then the last one I guess, but I wouldn't touch it at first glance, or second glance. Looks like Joe forgot how to spell his name for a second.

I'll let Mark and Travis decide if it's really good or not.

[D. Bergin]

Oh wow. Stumbling through Ebay has me really depressed. I'm glad I never heavily got into autographs.

What the hell is this? Authenticated just a couple weeks ago according to the letter from PSA.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/JOE-LOUIS-BO...item20d3ceaebc

[toybulldog]

That's what I thought. Now, how about this JSA/BVG/Leaf, currently for sale on Ebay:

No good, a poor attempt. Here's an authentic "Best wishes" Joe Louis to the left of this one:

[travrosty]

that "best wishes" really burns me, it probably looked close enough for someone who didnt know joe louis looking at it for 20 seconds and then sending it along to get slabbed. Joe louis misauthentications are a trail of tears. It is one of the boxers that the two major tpa's get wrong the most of anyone. It's ridiculous how many they have gotten wrong, marshall miles signed, signed by anyone but joe louis it seems.

The dossier on phony joe louis authentications is bulging for sure.

[travrosty]

Originally Posted by D. Bergin

Oh wow. Stumbling through Ebay has me really depressed. I'm glad I never heavily got into autographs.

What the hell is this? Authenticated just a couple weeks ago according to the letter from PSA.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/JOE-LOUIS-BO...item20d3ceaebc

dave,

Steve Grad the mastermind behind joe louis authentications. gotta love him. I don't know of a guy more responsible for ______ up Joe louis autograph, maybe spence but Grad out front of the pack.

[Exhibitman]

Two questions on this one: (1) Is it good? (2) Does anyone have an image of the card itself unfolded? It certainly appears to be a two-sided card and I'd like to see what is on the other [brown] side of the card.

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by travrosty

dave,

Steve Grad the mastermind behind joe louis authentications. gotta love him. I don't know of a guy more responsible for ______ up Joe louis autograph, maybe spence but Grad out front of the pack.

I look at a piece like that and say to myself, "way to screw up a nice vintage photograph".

[toybulldog]

Two questions on this one: (1) Is it good? (2) Does anyone have an image of the card itself unfolded? It certainly appears to be a two-sided card and I'd like to see what is on the other [brown] side of the card.

Wow, they seem to have guessed right here. Looks consistent to Louis' signing pattern from around 1945 or 1946.

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by toybulldog

Wow, they seem to have guessed right here. Looks consistent to Louis' signing pattern from around 1945 or 1946.

Meet PSA's team:

[travrosty]

.

[Runscott]

What expertise can JSA or PSA/DNA possibly be providing, that we can't get for ourselves? Do they have a huge exemplar file? (rhetorical question)

Seriously, I can google any autograph, decide for myself which ones are reasonable exemplars, then decide if the autograph is real or not. I don't care who the autograph is by - I feel certain that my success rate is higher than either of the major TPA's. The big difference is that I spend whatever time is necessary to do my research, and no one is paying me.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by travrosty

dave,

Steve Grad the mastermind behind joe louis authentications. gotta love him. I don't know of a guy more responsible for ______ up Joe louis autograph, maybe spence but Grad out front of the pack.

Travis, my last experience with Grad was that I presented an obvious forgery to the AH that used him, they supposedly sent it to him, and he then basically blew me off (they told me that he again looked at the autograph and still felt it was good). The buyers of PSA/DNA's services have placed Grad in a position where he simply doesn't give a shlt what anyone thinks - he gets paid the same regardless.