JSA Story on Autographalert.com

[RichardSimon]

Mark -
If you rely on the knowledgable honest dealers, and they are out there, and they are well known, then you don't have to rely on third party authenticators.
Virtually every good dealer that I know of, does not rely on 3rd party authentication and those that do just pass along the cost to the collector, whether or not he wants the 3rd party COA.

[FrankWakefield]

I agree with what Richard just posted... but it works well not when a collector buys something from a reputable dealer and then stashes the item away; but rather the collector studies and learns about the item, discusses it with other collectors and dealers, and develops his own expertise about the item. A bit of that goes on here on Net54. A lot of stuff goes on here. And some of it involves the sharing of knowledge and ideas. So I think relying on reputable dealers is a good first step.

[mark evans]

I believe you, Richard.

EBay and third-party authentication were just too convenient. Happily, there's not much money invested and even that I assume could be largely recouped given the claimed authentication.

Mark

[WhenItWasAHobby]

I'm not a autograph collector anymore. I used to be when HOFs would appear at shows for prices ranging from free to $10 and the promotors used to defend the $10 because he had to fly the guy and his spouse in from out of town and cover their other expenses, etc.

But my whole problem with third party grading is that the graders rarely ever get put to the test. This type of evaluation should have happened the first year these authenticators were open for business.

These types of embarrassing situations have also happened in a less formal way in the card industry where collectors crack-out certain dealers graded cards hoping for a bump-up and they get rejected for evidence of trimming.

It's becoming overtly clear that rigorous self-education and the sharing of information is the most powerful weapon against fraud.