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Authenticity is Everything
500 baseballs with GAI Mike Baker COAs
Member id benandsavy1 ( 181
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who is selling quite a few GAI sport items. When I inquired of a Terry Francona item; with cert number GV326376.
he responded that the "authenticator" is Mike Baker director of authentication - so perhaps he doesn't know. I did as suggested above but am surprised as he seems to have sold a number of GAI items and would have thought that Steve et all would have headed him off at the pass already.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by DB on
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me and my friends had all the balls signed at spring training we did over 500 balls gai had mike come out and certified them at the camp. i will call gai and see if they can redo them for me thanks again
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Permalink Reply by Brandon Mysinger on
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I am reporting it to Steve Sipe as soon as I post this.
Remember, Mike Baker is NOT or never was an authenticator. These are the type of COAs that Priddy handed out by the thousands.
Now, I have no idea if these items are fake or not because they are not in my area of expertise.
Keep posting any updates...as will I.
Thanks!
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Brandon - that is great to hear as you confirm it with Baker not being an authenticator.
It is people like you, cyrkin and a gaggle of others out here that are going to be walking point to clean up this mess in this hobby. Unfortunately, the "enemy" is always looking for the point people.
What surprised me about his postings is that he left them up there and still has several upfor sale. Since it seems he is based in Calif., the connection to GAI is plausible but the stretch is training camp and over 500 balls. It is possible but.... I have my doubts.
what I don't understand is why EBAY has not already added these names to their COA banned list.
speaking of which where is that damn link?
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Well, the History of GAI, Steve Rocchi, & PSA is interesting to hear. However, GAI as a authentication company is now defunct. So, if ebay questions an older GAI cert, they send it over to Steve Sipe at Global Authentics to be re-checked. Global Authentics then renders the opinion and if it is bad, ebay will pull it at Steve's request. Ebay also has the option of asking other 3rd party experts as well.
The very 1st thing I asked GAI when I started talking with them about their MANY, MANY, MANY certified NASCAR forgeries was..... who is Mike Baker and Justin Priddy?
It was made clear to me that Mike Baker was the "card grading guy" and not an authenticator. However, since he was a major owner, his name and sig were on the certs. That was supposedly a business decision. and I immediatly started telling them that if I was authenticating an item, I wanted my name on the COA because I wanted the customer to know that I was the responsible party. I think this should be the case for all COAs..not a list of names, not a janitors name, the actual name of the responsible authenticator.
Justin Priddy was described and marketed as the second coming of sliced bread. It took me about 3.2 seconds of talking to him to get that typical " this guy is a crook" feeling. To be honest, Priddy was litterally a kid that was used as a front-man and in the end, he ended up causing a LOT of harm to the hobby. Looks like he is still "authenticating" at ACE.
I'm not ashamed that I was GAI's NASCAR expert. I did a LOT of good by being it. I made GAI buy back and destroy countless forgeries, I pushed buttons and pressed issues within the company and when Steve Sipe and the new ownership came in, heads rolled. Change had to come from the inside. I saw this very early on.
It doesn't bother me in the least whenever someone says "Oh, GAI or Global Authentics is a terrible company" because most of the time, these people have a vested ( invested ) interest in PSA, JSA, ACE, On-line Authentics, whatever. Sometimes ( in the case of many Priddy GAI items) they are right.
Plus, I truly believe that EVERYONE at any level at any company can learn more every day. Competition is a very, very good thing. Of course, it doesn't harm me because I don't charge GA or anyone for my authentication opinions.
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Brandon sounds like a cloak & dagger mystery. Baker's name is on them and we don't have any idea who actually validated it. Since the only 2 names published to date are Priddy or the other one you mentioned. Who else would be validating baseballs from 2005 on?
Then we have the problem of the COA with Mike Baker's name on it which essentially places the item in the "very questionable" category. Sort of like Stan's Sporting Goods where there good stuff was completed tainted by the operation foulball disaster.
The problem I have with EBAY is that I have yet to hear EBAY question anything! Thus unless there are some links I've missed I'd say that EBAY once again protects the fakes and forgers.
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I say question anything that has an older GAI coa. If Steve and the guys at Global Authentics don't have people questioning certs then they may miss some bad things that are on the market.
I just think it was stupid to have any names on the coa listed as the authenticator when they are not a authenticator
Even with NASCAR....I will gladly look at any items that have GAI coas to make sure I did indeed authenticate it. It wont bother me in the least. Who knows what these turkeys did back then.
Ebay protects itself. That's a HUGE umbrella...However, as a member of their anti-fraud division, I know that there are a lot more items being removed at the request of experts than the general public is aware of. Still, the way ebay protects itself does let a lot of things go by un-checked.
It takes every ounce of extra time I can spare to police the NASCAR sections. I see forgeries that I failed to get before they ended. There is no humanly possible way for anyone to stay caught up simply due to the volume of listed items :( still, at least they do take action...even if the downside is that it's not always enough
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Does Sipe address these issues head on?
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Steve Sipe is one of the good guys to date. He has answered this w/o question with regard to the event. Presuming this is one of the principles then it ends here.
Nonetheless, those swines created a conspiracy of extortion by whoever was envolved. which I understand, the other smear site has now had subpoenas served while criminal charges are asssuredly in the works is exactly what is deserved by all of those unsavary characters. I can only hope I am the one to expose those swines.
as fas asthis post ~ well, I'd say we beat it to death.
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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on
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Really? Who served subpoenas on them?
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I like surprises.
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Permalink Reply by Chris Klamer on
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Hell I have a hard time getting one ball signed and I couldn't imagine 2 people getting 500+ signed during a spring practice. Unless you have 300-500 friends helping and I don't see anyone signing that much without wanting some money.
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me and my friends had all the balls signed at spring training we did over 500 balls gai had mike come out and certified them at the camp. i will call gai and see if they can redo them for me thanks again