JSA Team...

[RichardSimon]

Originally Posted by jgmp123

So JSA's team came out today to a local shop and offered their services. Not questioning their accuracy, but the kids they sent out looked like they just graduated high school....c'mon Jimmy!

James,
Good idea taking that photo. It has started a lively thread.

[Klrdds]

That photo is not a great endorsement for JSA who as we all know has had authentication issues in the past . Nor is that photo of the 2 youngsters looking at their database for exemplars ( those computers probably contain all their experience and expertise ) going to give me confidence in their opinions or JSA. I think I have been collecting for both of their ages combined.

[earlywynnfan]

Time for me to repeat my one and only JSA story: had a free coupon, so thought I'd get a Gene Conley ball authenticated, more as a lark. If anyone's seen Conley's sig, it's very legible. So I hand the ball and the coupon to the kid (if he wasn't a teenager, he was close!) who walks to the other side of the booth, but comes back to me with a puzzled look on his face. I say "It's Gene Conley." He nods, smiles, puts a sticker on it, enters the code into the computer, hands me the ball, and I walk away amazed that these people were raking in money all day long.

To this day, the part that gets me the most is that I wasn't smart enough to start a company like this!

Ken

[travrosty]

They got everybody you never heard of it seems, but you never heard of them because they ain't listed on the site, but thats the system now.

[packs]

Not to defend JSA because I have no idea what those people's credentials are, or even if they were certing items. However, I have been a collector for a very long time even though I'm young for the Board. I cannot tell you how frustrating it was to be at a show and ignored, or talked down to simply because of my age. I frequently knew more about the materials in a sellers case than they did.

Like I said, no idea what these guys backgrounds are. BUT, if you think just because you're young you've got nothing to offer, I can't help but be reminded of those old guys behind their cases.

[jgmp123]

It says in his JSA bio that he joined JSA shortly after graduating college to the director role.

There were a great deal of high end items being authenticated that day...I'm not sure about the outcomes, but I saw folks with items signed by Michael Jackson, Gene Wilder, Jeter, Cy Young, etc. waiting to be authenticated.

[travrosty]

Originally Posted by packs

Not to defend JSA because I have no idea what those people's credentials are, or even if they were certing items. However, I have been a collector for a very long time even though I'm young for the Board. I cannot tell you how frustrating it was to be at a show and ignored, or talked down to simply because of my age. I frequently knew more about the materials in a sellers case than they did.

Like I said, no idea what these guys backgrounds are. BUT, if you think just because you're young you've got nothing to offer, I can't help but be reminded of those old guys behind their cases.

it doesnt have anything to do with that. younger people are welcome in the hobby, its just a fact that authenticating a wide range of athletes, etc requires years if not decades of intense study, something that people right out of college would be very unlikely to have. theses companies claim world class authenticators. it takes years and years and decades to become competent in authentication. it's just an experience thing. airline pilots, brain surgeons, many other lifetime accumulation skilled professions are similar to this. you have to build on the knowledge you acquire over many, many years. I did not feel comfortable at all giving my opinion on signatures until i had at least 7-10 years of hard study and around 32 years of age and to look back i still didnt know that much at age 32 compared to what i know now. its an intense thing to do that takes thousands of hours of study. that's the bottom line. you can't substitute a computer exemplar file for the knowledge you pick up over time. Nobody said a young person has nothing to offer. they have a lot to offer.

[packs]

I understand all that but it seemed like many of the comments about these guys are based around their age and appearance. Like I said, I have no idea what their backgrounds are. Reading those comments took me back to my own bad experiences with hobby people while I was young.

[RichardSimon]

Originally Posted by travrosty

it doesnt have anything to do with that. younger people are welcome in the hobby, its just a fact that authenticating a wide range of athletes, etc requires years if not decades of intense study, something that people right out of college would be very unlikely to have. theses companies claim world class authenticators. it takes years and years and decades to become competent in authentication. it's just an experience thing. airline pilots, brain surgeons, many other lifetime accumulation skilled professions are similar to this. you have to build on the knowledge you acquire over many, many years. I did not feel comfortable at all giving my opinion on signatures until i had at least 7-10 years of hard study and around 32 years of age and to look back i still didnt know that much at age 32 compared to what i know now. its an intense thing to do that takes thousands of hours of study. that's the bottom line. you can't substitute a computer exemplar file for the knowledge you pick up over time. Nobody said a young person has nothing to offer. they have a lot to offer.

+1