Muhammad Ali, Fake?

I should have posted this long ago. I bought in 2002, paid $450. Got it from Park West Galleries, yes on a cruise ship. I've been talking to PW for about two months about replacing or giving me my money back. I am very surprised they have spent this long talking to me, even though we go for weeks without contact, and I know I will get nothing. I just want to see how it ends. I would like to shed a little light on Park West. In my mind they are a big ARA. They are an art dealer but do sell memorabilia. In my research I have found Fine Art Registry. They are single handedly taking on PW and give people a place to turn after realizing they have been burned. I have talked to them many times. She is the Steve Cyrkin of the art world. I would love comments about the Ali piece, I'm not trying to cross the line over to art, but if anyone is interested, give a little attention to Fine Art Registry. She is fighting a good fight over there.

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Permalink Reply by terrier8HOF on January 3, 2012 at 4:13am

fake, in my opinion. not even close to any of his signature styles

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Permalink Reply by Barry S on January 3, 2012 at 8:54am

Thank you for responding! You are right. I've been told its classic Operation Bullpen, signed by John Olson. I well know I'm not getting anything from PW but have kind of enjoyed dueling with their slick talking person that handles all the complaints. This company was founded in 1969 And has anual sales of $300-$400 mil. They know how to sell fake and overpriced art. Their day is coming. Luckily I'm only out $450. Hundreds of people have lost their retirement and life savings.

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Permalink Reply by Barry S on January 3, 2012 at 9:15am

Back to my piece. I told the lady that my piece is fake and I want not my money but a real Ali. I did see a real one on a cruise last year with an Online Authentics COA. She said she would try to find one, called me back about a month later, and said she couldn't find an Online Authentics sticker for mine, that mine was before they did that. I said I didn't want a sticker, I wanted a real Ali with a real sticker!!!! She went on and on how mine was 100% real, they bought only from Ali himself. That I should be very happy with mine, that I only gave $450 10 yrs ago and now it was very valuable! I said ok, I'll sell you my beautiful Ali, that I figure is worth $2500-$3000 for ONLY $450!!!! She said PW doesn't buy back art or memorabilia. I said ok, I'll sell to you personally, the piece is real, company is reputable, (she has worked there 17 years), how can you lose? Said she don't buy sports. So I go off on her, tell her what I think of her, her company, that they all were going to Hell. Instead of hanging up she calmed me down, sent me 20lbs of literature FedEx to convince me they are legit, and going to resubmit my claim for $450. She's good. She could sell an Eskimo ice cubes. But that piece isn't real and I'm not getting $450.

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Permalink Reply by terrier8HOF on January 3, 2012 at 5:42pm

Barry, Im sorry you got taken on that one. We have all had experiences like that as some point in time during our collecting careers. But with sites like this, if we self-educate, and discuss with our peers, the chances of getting hosed again are a lot slimmer!

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Permalink Reply by terrier8HOF on January 3, 2012 at 5:44pm

as a side note, I was lucky enough to have my parents run into Ali in a restaurant on Cape Cod in the late sixties, and they got his autograph for me. He signed it "world boxing champ" which I thought was cool because he was actually in exile when he signed it.

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Permalink Reply by Barry S on January 4, 2012 at 6:11am

That's very cool!

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Permalink Reply by Barry S on January 4, 2012 at 7:09am

Honestly Terrier, I will not take a refund if I can get one. I'm donating my piece to Fine Art Registry. If they want it back it's just to get it out of circulation. All their Ali's on their website have Online Authentics COA now. It's too late to go legit. They all try.

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Permalink Reply by Mike P on January 3, 2012 at 8:48pm

The distance sellers of forgeries will go is truly incredible. How can they sleep at night?

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Permalink Reply by Barry S on January 4, 2012 at 6:55am

I hope they all sleep in jail one day Mike. But not likely.

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Permalink Reply by Barry S on January 7, 2012 at 1:44pm

http://fineartregistry.blogspot.com/2012/01/park-west-gallery-accus...

Here is a link to an article Fine Art Registry has written about this piece.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Kahldon on January 9, 2012 at 7:17pm

Sorry, no good. The aka Cassius Clay is even worse than the Ali.

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Permalink Reply by Barry S on January 10, 2012 at 5:53am

Well I'll tell you it was signed exclusively for Park West Galleries. There is an example of this numbered hand signed rare picture on display In the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville Kentucky. It came with a COA hand signed from Abert Scaglione himself.