Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by 16nbj9fa63ooc on January 20, 2015 at 6:53am

I'm sorry to repeat myself, but what are your feelings abut CA items that are CGC and encapsulated? Those wouldn't have passed CGC right? If they were fakes I mean? Or is there really no way to know?

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Permalink Reply by JXE on January 20, 2015 at 7:25am

CGC Signature Series means that a CGC representative witnessed the item being signed in person. It's the same as how at cons you can pay them to go with you to get something signed and then they give it a CGC SS label. Someone representing CGC was there for the signing and saw those items being signed. It's kind of like the PSA "In the Presence" cert. I highly doubt CGC would risk their reputation and break their own rules to mislabel items. Once again, look at the autographs. Quinto shortening his name over the course of a signing is not unheard of, and should not be used to cry forgery unless the autographs don't look like his in person signatures... but they do.

Like I said... at best this is good information to keep in the back of your head when purchasing items. You should look at EVERY item you acquire with a critical eye. Good dealers turn bad. Good in person collectors have been known to turn. You should inspect every item on a case by case basis. The information in this thread suggests only that you need to treat CA items with a critical eye, just as you should with all other items in this hobby. Until a CA celebrity forgery is posted in this thread, it's all hot air.

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Permalink Reply by 16nbj9fa63ooc on January 20, 2015 at 7:51am

Ok. So that makes me feel a bit better then. CA was/does sell (and I've bought) celebrity autographs both with and without the cgc signature series encapsulation. My main focus is trek. They had several different images of Quinto, along with Nimoy and Quinto combinations, as well as several Simon Peg items. A few Shatner.
Why do you suppose they would still be continuing to dump out items on eBay (through the name barnhollow), while still selling for full price on their website, and catalog? Shouldn't they be low on stock yet? Initially I thought they were unloading extra stuff, maybe needed extra cash. But they've continued their auctions. I've noticed items are starting to sell for more. In the beginning I bought Quinto for around 20ish dollars. You could get Peg autographed communicators for about 50.00. The Nimoy/Quinto combo you could get for about 130.00. Those items sell for MUCH more on their web site. I think Quinto is 199.00 on the web site. A few days ago on eBay a barnhollow Quinto went for around 65.00.
Again, some of the auctions are CGC signature series some not. Any more thoughts on rhyme or reason to any of it?

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Permalink Reply by charlie on January 20, 2015 at 7:53am

JXE,
If you wish to wait for the damn to burst that is your prerogative. Prople like Baston, myself and a few others wish to alert fellow collectors as to what is going on.
Those who know me professionally or hobby wise know that I do not blow hot air. In fact it is rare that I even comment on line, especially since I don't hide my name.
All I am saying is once a crook ALWAYS a crook. I do not need proof that someone changed. THEY need to prove to ME that THEY changed.
That may be a bit disrespectful to Joe and his gang but to me it's called reality.

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Permalink Reply by 16nbj9fa63ooc on January 20, 2015 at 7:59am

I do appreciate your opinion, thanks for taking time to answer. It's difficult to know the "ropes" and hearing all sides is helpful.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on January 20, 2015 at 8:15am

Charlie,

You said "Those who know me professionally..." but in your profile you call yourself a
fan and collector. If you're an industry professional, please add your last name and check that you're a professional in your profile. Thanks.

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Permalink Reply by charlie on January 20, 2015 at 8:56am

Steve let me elaborate, by professionally I was referring to my licensed profession. I am not an industry professional by any means :)

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Permalink Reply by B Martin on January 20, 2015 at 9:57am

I have no idea in regards to authenticity of the Celebrity autographs but I do know they sold huge amounts of bad sports stuff. FWIW, there was a time when you couldn't find a single bad thing about Gridiron Authentics and everybody thought they were legit. They operated for many many years selling bad stuff until a few started seeing them for what they really were.

Funny thing is, you could warn people about them but because they had spent large sums of money buying stuff, they didn't want to believe it.

I personally wouldn't buy anything from them, for the reasons Charlie gave. Highly unlikely they are running a completely legit company on one side and then in contrast running Gridiron Authentics.

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Permalink Reply by B Martin on January 20, 2015 at 10:14am

Doing a little digging, Barnhollow Collectables is owned by a Jeanine Lamothe. I'm guessing some relation to Joe Lamothe.

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Permalink Reply by charlie on January 20, 2015 at 10:48am

She's his wife.

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Permalink Reply by jrockafella on April 1, 2016 at 5:44pm

It's 2016, and over a year since the last post in this thread.  I stumbled upon this doing research, and am now a bit concerned.  I've been collecting autographed mini helmets since 2007, and have been in/out of the "authentication" scene.  I read thru 19 pages of this post and all of it is news to me.  I have bought around 26 Gridiron Authentics items over the years, and now don't know what to do.  Needless to say, many of these were purchased years ago, where now the eBay item history doesn't exist, and I don't even know if I have the credit card I used.  Looks like chargebacks are not an option for me.  Any thoughts to those knowledgeable out there?  Any assistance would greatly be appreciated!

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Permalink Reply by Ian Baldock on April 1, 2016 at 6:27pm

You could post a couple and ask for opinions. Steve Grad from PSA himself commented on Facebook that Celebrity Authentics the "sister" company of Gridiron might have some questionable autographs.

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