Not sure anyone has seen this? ESPN counterfeiters video Greg Marino

[MrSeven]

Never realized how elaborate that forgery scam was. Disgusting to think how many people he ripped off.

Good work by the FBI.

[irv]

That was excellent, Scott. Thanks for posting it up.

Hopefully Leon puts this on the main page, and maybe a couple others as I think anyone in the hobby would like to watch this.

[Mark70Z]

To me it’s a shame that they received such short sentences for the crime committed.

[chaddurbin]

getting a little of the backstory was interesting, but the forgeries were not. i am not an expert at mantle but the mcgwires suck...i'm certain fudd or chris would laugh at those mantles. these were probably aimed at the vegas tourists.

all this video does is validate the irrational fears in minds of normal collectors who think all autographs are fake and we are the crazy ones to collect them.

[GrayGhost]

Well I do agree that a video like this may put three years in the people, it was mainly posted to educate people. A little bit of background on the lead forger in the biggest forgery wearing of all time in sports. I think it is interesting and educational to a degree and that's all I was trying to get out of it.

[gashouse34]

Listening to Marino talk you get the impression he thinks he was a victim He just wanted to see people happy.

[mcgwirecom]

He was pretty good at most of them, but his McGwire was atrocious. I actually was authenticating for several auction houses in 1999 after the story broke because PSA/DNA had not started and JSA only did vintage players. I was called by one house and a few others joined in.

Before the story broke I was really mad because I had collected a lot of McGwire signed items and did an auction after the 1998 season. The prices I got were very low because people saw the cheap forgeries and would not bid over the forgery prices. I was selling signed balls for maybe $100 before the story broke. Then afterward... woohoo. I got as much as $1200 for a nice signed ball because people just wanted to know it was legit.

I like at the end when he says they put pride into it! LOL

[tha-rock]

Both of these guys victimized hundreds of honest people out of their hard earned money and got slaps on the wrist for committing felonies. They made huge profits and lived large by ripping people off and I don't feel the least bit sorry for what happened to them. Thank you FBI for Operation Bullpen otherwise these criminals would still be in operation.

[MrSeven]

Originally Posted by chaddurbin

getting a little of the backstory was interesting, but the forgeries were not. i am not an expert at mantle but the mcgwires suck...i'm certain fudd or chris would laugh at those mantles. these were probably aimed at the vegas tourists.

all this video does is validate the irrational fears in minds of normal collectors who think all autographs are fake and we are the crazy ones to collect them.

His Mantle especially on baseballs is pretty obvious when compared with known good examples.

I've seen his Ted Williams' forgeries and those are far harder in my opinion to identify.

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by MrSeven

His Mantle especially on baseballs is pretty obvious when compared with known good examples.

I've seen his Ted Williams' forgeries and those are far harder in my opinion to identify.

On Ted Williams look at the bottom of the "T" in Ted and the "S" in Williams. Otherwise it is pretty good.

[shelly]

Originally Posted by MrSeven

His Mantle especially on baseballs is pretty obvious when compared with known good examples.

I've seen his Ted Williams' forgeries and those are far harder in my opinion to identify.

His williams are very easy. He could never get the s correctly he loped it through the middle on all of his williams.

[Fuddjcal]

Originally Posted by chaddurbin

getting a little of the backstory was interesting, but the forgeries were not. i am not an expert at mantle but the mcgwires suck...i'm certain fudd or chris would laugh at those mantles. these were probably aimed at the vegas tourists.

all this video does is validate the irrational fears in minds of normal collectors who think all autographs are fake and we are the crazy ones to collect them.

While I do have a "slight chuckle", it is amazing how effortlessly he was able to recreate the Mantle signature....and so many others. To quote Maxwell Smart "If only he would have used his talent for good instead of evil"