Factory certified autograph question

[JRS123490]

I think the Archives series (which I believe you're referring to) is a safe bet. So far from the last few years, I have not seen any that I would say are forged. I have seen many, many fake Mays, Pujols etc...where the forger will peel an older Topps hologram off the back of a cheaper card, and place it on a forged card and put it into a clip case with a sticker sealing it to make it look like an authentic buyback. Also, Topps claims that they have witnesses present at all signings. Whether or not this is 100% true, I can't say for certain, but it seems like they are pretty good about it.

[homerunhitter]

I think I’ll just collect signed cancelled checks!’ That seems like a safer alternative at least o know those are not forged. I believe signed checks are as close to an authentic autograph as one can get. Your guys thoughts on signed checks? Thanks

[Klrdds]

Originally Posted by homerunhitter

I think I’ll just collect signed cancelled checks!’ That seems like a safer alternative at least o know those are not forged. I believe signed checks are as close to an authentic autograph as one can get. Your guys thoughts on signed checks? Thanks

Al
I think that is the best thing to do if you want that to be your collecting niche, and to have some piece of mind. Many players are available on checks and most are relatively affordable (under $1000.00 ) even for HoFers.
Only legal documents , contracts , and checks are the safest bet these days. At one time I had over 175 checks in my collection and I never worried about authenticity; HOWEVER, about 8-10 years ago with the advent of really good printers I did get a few bad ones that were laser printed . What I would now if I'm primarily going to buy the checks from ebay or a dealer is ask for front and back images of the check , look for the check tear marks from the checkbook on the check , and lastly search ebay for that check of that player and pay particular attention to see if that check number is listed on ebay as well or far sale elsewhere. Call me paranoid but there are scammers everywhere using all the tools available to them.

[homerunhitter]

Thank you for this wonderful advice. I appreciate it. It gives me a lot to think about as I decide which way to go with my collecting.

I feel I should just throw my hands up and say I’m done with collecting WAY to many forgers and fraud in our hobby. Who would of thought a cancelled bank check of all things would be duplicated on a high end printer? I never thought of that before but you are so right. It seems like nothing is safe (or authentic) in our hobby anymore. I never thought I’d see the day that we would have to worry or second guess that a factory topps Autograph would not be real. Thank you so much for opening my eyes to this (in regards to signed checks) as I always thought signed checks were 100% authentic.

[Klrdds]

Forgeries are not new to the autograph collecting world. Forgers have been around as long as people have been signing their names on anything. The difference is that IMO there are more forgers than before , more materials / items to sign to forge , more methods to forge , smarter forgers , and more unsuspecting buyers with any amount of money willing to buy autographs for any amount of money and of anyone they want ( you don't have to forge items that cost hundreds or thousands of dollars anymore to be successful ), many many diverse selling platforms are available, also at times there is very little recourse against forgers because they rarely are the original seller and can claim ignorance as a defense at times, and, finally, there are TPAs that are sometimes a forgers best friend.
That's just one reason among others I started selling parts of my autograph collection about 5 years ago.
Good Luck on your decision .

[JRS123490]

Don't throw your hands up. There are a lot of knowledgeable people out there that don't work at 3rd party authenticators (many in this board.) Sorry if you misunderstood, but the Topps Archives from the last 5 years have been very good sources of authentic autographs. It's the early to mid 2000's cards I have seen a lot of garbage with. And yes, check and document scanning behind big fancy frames seem to be happening a ton recently. If you buy a check (I am not a fan unlike a lot of people,) you need to be sure you examine closely/in person. The same goes for any other cut (see the Ty Cobb laser scanned PSA slabbed fiasco.)

[homerunhitter]

Very true and I guess one way to look at it also is that factory certified autos from companies like Topps and upper deck are for the most part truly authentic and If a long standing company in our hobby like Topps has a scandal in regards to the authenticity of it autographs then it’s probably time for most collectors to get out of the hobby anyway because if you can’t trust Topps who can you trust!