The evidence against Barry Halper is mounting

[canjond]

Originally Posted by 19cbb

Dan, don't have the catalog at hand, but I think there was a phony Cummings.

It was Roger Connor.

[19cbb]

Originally Posted by canjond

It was Roger Connor.

I meant the Cummings in lot 202

[canjond]

Originally Posted by 19cbb

I meant the Cummings in lot 202

My mistake. Connor was the other cabinet Dan was referring to.

[mr2686]

so what's the thinking here...he got duped, knew it, and starting making up authentication stories to save face, or did he knowingly invest very little in bogus stuff in order to sell it later on at high market value?

[D. Bergin]

I have a feeling Halper was just one of those guys who believed everything he was told, because he wanted to believe it.

The collectible world is full of people with "stories" of their treasured heirlooms. Unfortunately there's plenty of folks out there who take it at face value without doing the research. Why else would companies like Coach's Corner be so successful?

Being in the boxing field, I can't tell you how many calls I get from people who have gloves of famous boxers "given to their father/grandfather" and passed down in the family.

Usually the story goes something like "My father met Rocky Marciano at a gym. Rocky gave him a pair of gloves and told him, these are the gloves I used to knock out Jersey Joe Walcott".

Whether the gloves were even owned or even touched by the original boxer is a matter of debate. The fact is 99 times out of 100 the gloves offered aren't even the right size, brand or even era of glove.............and more times then not, they are sparring gloves and not actual fight used gloves.

Whether Halper made up these stories himself or just naively passed on anecdotes he was told, I don't know.

I'm sure plenty of his material was also pretty good.

[slidekellyslide]

There is no doubt that most of the material in his collection is good...but that is stuff like cards, and memorabilia. When it comes to the game used stuff I'm not sure I'd trust anything in that collection. And I think at this point it's apparent that he wasn't just duped, but he did some duping himself. (ie Jackson and Robinson jerseys)

[mcgwirecom]

Around the time of the Halper Auction ( I think it was a few months after) there was someone selling more of Halpers collection on Ebay. Mostly the cheaper items that didn't warrant a catalog auction. I definitely saw a bogus McGwire signed bat. The signature wasn't even close. It bothered me that a guy with a collection that valuable didn't bother to even check out the cheap stuff.

On a related note, when the travelling show of McGwire and Sosa items came through Philly I went to see it (at the Vet during a Phillies game). Todd McFarlane sent a lot of his Guernsey's Auction acquisitions on tour so people could take a look. In there along with all his homerun balls he had two bats, one signed by Mac and one signed by both Sosa and Mac. Both were horrible forgeries. Very strange.

[Giants00]

Great discussion! I am sure many of you have seen Dave Grob's piece on his worries.
if not http://www.mearsonline.com/news/newsDetail.asp?id=757

I am the owner of many pre-1955 flannels. Some I purchased at Halper sale. Like anything else, caveat emptor. There were some good, some bad. You could see in the prices a huge difference for jerseys people believed in, vs those with issues. Clearly, 19th century jerseys look to have issues.

My bad story does not come from auction, but after auction. They had an internet only auction from Soethbys. I bought a supposed 1919 white sox jersey (similar to Joe Jackson). Turned out to be total joke. Was child size, tags were way off. I have kept it as a reminder to my self of always do my work.

dan

[jbsports33]

any type of game used items can be tough, which is why I try not to deal with too much of it, I have had my share of nice items in the past. The news is very disappointing, but we have heard a lot of news this best year, I did not think I would hear from this hobby.

Jimmy

[jboosted92]

Dan S.

Thanks for sharing. I know sometimes collectors have been duped, are embarrassed to share. like Dave G. (mears) the more that can be weeded out, the better.

I collect GU items BECAUSE of the fact i enjoy knowing the player used them.I I would rather pay more , with the proper authentication/research/MEARS work, but know for sure.

Im more into bats, but i would rather have a bat that looks horrible but is lock/stock/barrel Used by the player, than a pretty one, with lots of leaps of faith.... just my opinion...

Originally Posted by Giants00

Great discussion! I am sure many of you have seen Dave Grob's piece on his worries.
if not http://www.mearsonline.com/news/newsDetail.asp?id=757

I am the owner of many pre-1955 flannels. Some I purchased at Halper sale. Like anything else, caveat emptor. There were some good, some bad. You could see in the prices a huge difference for jerseys people believed in, vs those with issues. Clearly, 19th century jerseys look to have issues.

My bad story does not come from auction, but after auction. They had an internet only auction from Soethbys. I bought a supposed 1919 white sox jersey (similar to Joe Jackson). Turned out to be total joke. Was child size, tags were way off. I have kept it as a reminder to my self of always do my work.

dan

[Giants00]

I have learned so much. I am happy to share. One point made by some is that by sharing, one only helps those trying to cheat. I have one of the largest collections of dead ball and pre-war jerseys. I have hired a professional non-baseball curator to conserve and give me her opinion on fake/real/doctored. Honestly, aside from the Halper issue, most of the issues i have had are with uniforms being "improved" with new numbers or piping and then have that not disclosed. I run into people selling "unaltered" often only to find that jersey has modern flannel number. I have seen fakes. I have rejected a few jerseys, or skipped buying when i could not prove to my satisfaction that they are real. At some point, i hope to bring out a book about the collection to share wins and losses with the larger community.

[bmarlowe1]

Originally Posted by 19cbb

I meant the Cummings in lot 202

The Cummings was definitely phony.

[19cbb]

Originally Posted by 19cbb

I meant the Cummings in lot 202

Originally Posted by bmarlowe1

The Cummings was definitely phony.

And not even close!