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The GAI Mantle, DiMaggio & Ted Williams Hoard—Are They All Forgeries?

A hoard of thousands Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams signed photos have flooded the market over the last few years. All authenticated by Global Authentication Inc., with COAs signed by former GAI executive Mike Baker.

The hoard has driven down prices on these legendary Baseball Hall of Famers by 50-percent or more, and it's not rare to find one for well under $50.

The problem?

Every baseball expert we asked is emphatic that they're forgeries. And they've had that same opinion since the hoard came out of Florida in 2008.

If the experts are right—and I don't doubt that they are—not only are thousands of collectors stuck with these worthless photos. Thousands more have unfairly suffered a catastrophic drop in the value of their genuine Mantles, DiMaggios and Williams due to the flood of fakes.

And as we all know, GAI went bankrupt in 2009 after certing thousands of forgeries of Mantle, Williams, DiMaggio, Koufax, etc.

 

Why Do So Many Think They're Forgeries? Let's find out!

If you're a regular collector like me, it's hard to tell good Mantles from decent forgeries. DiMaggios and Williams are easier, but I'd never buy without an expert opinion. So I thought it would be a great education for those experienced in these autographs—experts and experienced collectors—to show us why they're so widely considered forgeries.

I've included a few of the GAI authenticated photos to start with. Feel free to upload more. Ask  questions, share your knowledge...and help make collecting these Hall of Famers safer for everyone!

Look at all this garbage!!!

Forged and mass-produced Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays and Duke Snider photo with a worthless COA from GAI.  Pure garbage.

Forged Mickey Mantle and Ted Williams photo.  Laughable forgeries.

Forged Mantle, DiMaggio and Williams photo with a worthless COA from GAI.  Look at this garbage.

Ugly and laughable forged Mickey Mantle with a worthless COA from GAI.  I've observed hundreds of this-style forgery over the years. 

Mass-produced forged Mantle, DiMaggio, Mays and Snider photo with a worthless COA from GAI.   Ugly.

Forged and mass-produced Mickey Mantle.  Ugly and laughable.

Forged Mantle, Williams and DiMaggio photo with a worthless COA from GAI.   Horrid-looking forgeries.

 

Forged and mass-produced Mantle and Williams forgeries.  Worthless COA from GAI and Mike Baker.

Forged and mass-produced forged Mickey Mantle photo.  Pathetic.

This is one of dozens forged Mickey Mantle business cards that were "authenticated" by GAI and Mike Baker.  Pure garbage.

GAI (Mike Baker) "authenticated" hundreds of Mickey Mantle forgeries on the below image.

Laughable Mantle forgery.

Here is a mass-produced set of Mantle and Williams forgeries.

GAI "authenticated" thousands of forgeries before they went bankrupt in 2009.

Tags: authenticate, authentication, baseball., dimaggio, forgeries, gai, genuine, global, hall, joe, More…mantle, mickey, of, ofame, ted, williams

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by DB on March 17, 2011 at 9:42am

just checked it wasn't what I was thinking it was but more  of what we typically do here as in one of these or one of those but far short of a full study.  But below is something beneficial.  Also, when you think of the Fed Sting already mentioned they also note the "gazillions of forged ones not uncovered".  Unfortunately, some of those forged items are pretty good and while we can fault the authenticators to a certain extent as they are the last stand -  according to PSA/DNA  these are the “top three most dangerous autographs” of sports figures in 2010 with approximate values of genuine autographs in parenthesis:

1. Babe Ruth ($3,000 for a signed cut to $50,000 or more for a choice, single-signed baseball).  The King of Swing is the most sought-after autograph in the hobby and the PSA/DNA rejection rate is in the 60 percent range.

2. Lou Gehrig ($3,500 for a signed cut to $60,000 or more for a choice, single-signed baseball).  There is very high demand for his signature and there’s a large volume of forgeries.

3. Mickey Mantle ($150 for a signed cut to $600 or more for a choice, single-signed baseball).  Mantle remains one of the most desirable autographs in the hobby, and even though he signed an enormous amount of items until his death in 1995, the number of forgeries is greater than the amount of authentic examples available.

 

Theft from the Hall of Fame

photos stolen from the Hall of Fame in the mid to late 1980s, have surfaced for sale recently (2010/2011). These include documents that were part of the August Garry Herrmann Papers collection.  Lelands had purchased a photo and noticed something whited out on the back of the photo. It turned out to be a Hall of Fame accession number stamp on the rear of the photo. Lelands took the appropriate step of returning the photo to the Hall of Fame. 

 

and remember the "cut" discussion and how to kill an autograph!

Permalink Reply by CJCollector on March 17, 2011 at 10:16am

A "comprehensive signature study" is all well and good, but again here's the problem.  The people who should be reading this forum or a "comprehensive signature study" will never get far enough to read it.  They aren't hobbyists. They will never find this forum because they don't do any type of research. 

Here's an example.  There was a seller (now suspended) who sold approximately 200 autograph cards every week.   Most of her buyers purchased between 10-20 of those cards every week.  They were terrible forgeries.  Those buyers simply "believed" that the seller got them in person.  No research, no common sense. 

Look at this thread and all of the other threads on "AutographLive."  It's the same people reading and writing the information that everyone here has so generously contributed their time and knowledge.  How do we get over that hurdle?

Permalink Reply by Brandon Mysinger on March 17, 2011 at 10:42am
Simply having the information out there is the 1st step. The most important step.  Then, Let steve, and other members pass it around.  It's well worth the effort even if it saves one person from buying a fake and transferring it later to someone else.
Permalink Reply by DB on March 17, 2011 at 11:17am

keep making this information available.  Open up blogs in the EBAY forum with links back here.  You'd be surprised how many will find it.  Of course, when you open the door as we already know the pathetic A/Alerts of the world along with all their dark sides of the force pals show up as well.

 

It's the risk we run and it is amazing Cyrkin has stayed the test of time along with a number of other AList People.

 

Of course, that doesn't mean they will walk away with common sense as you can lead the horse to water but that don't mean they are going to drink it .

Permalink Reply by John91C on March 17, 2011 at 9:09am

I also want to ask...if GAI is considered a very poor autograph authentication company, then how are they on pack grading?  I know it's not this is not the place since it's not considered an autograph, just wondering about the company as a whole...for instance I have this pack sitting in my safe:

 

 

Attachments: No photo uploads here
Permalink Reply by CJCollector on March 17, 2011 at 10:38am
I'm not familiar at all with pack grading.
Permalink Reply by Rich on March 17, 2011 at 10:35am

I consider GAI every bit as guilty as the parties forging the materials, as they too are cashing in on tons of inauthentic garbage.  They don't even try.

Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on March 17, 2011 at 11:18am

Anyone care to opine on these from my collection? I'm pretty sure they are okay and they were all obtained through reputable dealers... but it's always nice to have a sanity check. :-)

 

 

 

Permalink Reply by Kyle M. on March 17, 2011 at 12:01pm
Zipper I don't like the photos at all.  Lets see what others say.  I do like the book.
Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on March 17, 2011 at 12:24pm

Thanks... I'd like to see what others say.  One was purchased from a prominent dealer/authenticator and the other was bought from the estate of a NY show promoter.  :-O

 

One thing I liked about these sigs is that they are signed in fine tip pen, and they are from the 80s. I find that fakes are usually signed in the thicker tip Sharpies, but you never know. ???

Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on March 17, 2011 at 2:04pm
I asked a friend who's sharp on these and he said they're all good.
Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on March 17, 2011 at 2:09pm

Thanks Steve.

 

The top one came from Richard Simon (dual signed with Bill Dickey), and the second one came from the Collection of Gloria Rothstein, a NY show promoter who used to host Mantle signings. But, it never hurts to get a second opinion.

 

I sent a note to Richard to have him take a second look just as a final sanity check. :-)

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