Are these Conlon photos?

[prewarsports]

So much of what he did was heavily pre-meditated and the extent he took to defraud was second to none in hobby history. He even shaved the backs off photos to make them clean then added fake stamps. He was doing things on one hand to defraud banks for millions and then on the other hand he was taking photos worth $25 and spending considerable to time to try and make them worth $50. His big schemes started years before the incident they refer to in the article so its just another lie.

[Forever Young]

Originally Posted by prewarsports

So much of what he did was heavily pre-meditated and the extent he took to defraud was second to none in hobby history. He even shaved the backs off photos to make them clean then added fake stamps. He was doing things on one hand to defraud banks for millions and then on the other hand he was taking photos worth $25 and spending considerable to time to try and make them worth $50. His big schemes started years before the incident they refer to in the article so its just another lie.

No one.. and I mean no one has done more harm to the PHOTO hobby as Rodgers and there will never be a close second.

The junk/fakes he created, the archives he scattered without proper archiving(Burke/brace to name 1) and just irresponsibly flooding the hobby-> devaluing photos for a spell.
Not to mention, turning off great collectors who eventually left the hobby. It’s amazing the damage that one sociopath can do.

[horzverti]

I just re-read the entire thread. Rogers’ fraud is well known in the hobby now, but in 2012 Rogers’ shady dealings were only beginning to be discovered. I bought many items from Rogers’ outlets and luckily only two (I think only two) are not legitimate Conlons. I was naïve and I have learned. We all learned as more and more layers of his fraud became public. That roll of fake Christie’s/BB Magazine stickers is pretty scary.

Things I was wrong about in 2012...yikes! :

“Rogers' team is building a very solid reputation in our hobby and I can't believe that they would risk tarnishing their good name to move a few items.” It turned out that Rogers had built the absolute worst reputation in our hobby.

“risk tarnishing their good name”? It turned out that the name was never good.

“I would say that this graffiti was added to the back of the photos after these photos left Rogers' team's hands.” The fake Conlon writing was not added to the photos after it left Rogers’ hands. The fake writing was added by the Rogers team and intentionally sold as legit Conlons. Rogers obviously added the fake writing as intentional deception.

“Rogers' team would not have let these items be sold as legit Conlons.” Yes he would have sold them as legit Conlons. Pure fraud.

[thecatspajamas]

In retrospect, I'm a bit ashamed too at my own naivete and support of someone who, as Ben rightly stated, has done untold harm to our hobby. It seems I should have applied my own advice of "be wary, but at the same time, please be responsible" to who one chooses to throw support as well as who one accuses.

I still find it incredible some of the small-scale frauds he apparently perpetrated, which lends further credence to the "sociopath" label. It is truly disheartening to think that his prolific output of misinformation and deceit has so polluted the sports photo collecting niche that it will take years to unravel the specifics, if they ever even all come to light. It seems there could easily be a full book's worth of material just in detailing what was faked, how, and how to distinguish the fakes from authentic material.

[Forever Young]

Originally Posted by thecatspajamas

In retrospect, I'm a bit ashamed too at my own naivete and support of someone who, as Ben rightly stated, has done untold harm to our hobby. It seems I should have applied my own advice of "be wary, but at the same time, please be responsible" to who one chooses to throw support as well as who one accuses.

I still find it incredible some of the small-scale frauds he apparently perpetrated, which lends further credence to the "sociopath" label. It is truly disheartening to think that his prolific output of misinformation and deceit has so polluted the sports photo collecting niche that it will take years to unravel the specifics, if they ever even all come to light. It seems there could easily be a full book's worth of material just in detailing what was faked, how, and how to distinguish the fakes from authentic material.

We had a disagreement? Ha! In retrospect, i should have read this entire thing again before adding this link to it. Maybe better to post a new link.

The reality is, no one could have imagined how bad this was. I am a photo pycho so noticed things and thought the worst.. Unfortunately many were true.

What i am trying to say is, it is prob a good thing If you gave him the benifit of the doubt without the research. I wish i had it in me to do so.

[prewarsports]

Rogers was a big personality and had a way of making you feel good even while he was ripping you off so its no wonder he had so many people (me included for a while) trusting that he was on the level. It was early in 2013 when a former associate of his let me know what was going on behind the scenes and it absolutely blew me away. It is sad as Ben said because there are some passionate and knowledgeable collectors that have completely left the hobby as a result of his exploits and that is the saddest part of the whole deal. Most of the Rogers fakes have been outed and removed from the hobby thank God, but the damage has been done.

[Runscott]

Rogers probably started it and he might have been the worst, but many made excuses for him (and others) or ignored the obvious, because he was of benefit to them;i.e-helped line their pockets or establish their internet cred. I suspect some collectors got sick of it and move on to collecting other things.

No different from any other vintage hobby - autographs and cards also have their share of Rogers characters, all of who were getting their boots licked at some point by people who we respect here.