Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Rich on August 1, 2012 at 12:08pm

Yep, we have a local sports memorabilia place that have Packers and Brewers in-store signings all the time.  Right after you get you autographs, there's a little table where one of the employees asks you whether you would like the Legends COA and hologram affixed to your item.  No additional charge.

At the Mounted Memories show I went to last year, pretty much all the athletes were charging an arm an a leg (as expected).  But, not being familiar with these shows, was absolutely floored that MM holograms were not part of the deal.  People were paying $99 - 150 for Sam Bradford and walking away with zero certification, unless they coughed up the extra cash for PSA's crappy operation.  That was the last such sports show I went to.

Permalink Reply by James Lafaman on August 1, 2012 at 4:37pm

I think that it is up to some of us to change our hobby for the better. Every person who came before us and even we to some extent have made it what it is today. Who determines that a 1952 Topps Mantle is worth X, while a Ted Williams is worth Y? Who says that you have to have a PSA / DNA sticker for something to be considered authentic? I think these industries are dominated by a small handful of people who tell us what to think, what to do and what is valauable and what is not. What did all of us lemmings do before PSA told us what a baseball card was worth on a scale of 1 to 10? We just bought it and decided how much we would pay for it. For every person right now who would want an award winning actress, there are five people who want Snooki or Kim Kardashian. The thing that we sometimes forget is that this is a fun hobby and maybe, just maybe, not everybody thinks that paying someone who did not see the item signed has value above and beyond your seeing it signed. I remember taking my son to a signing to meet Mickey Mantle when he was a kid. He could care less. I then took him to a Rickles department store (now defunct) to see Alvaro Espinosa. We waited five times longer to see Alvaro and my son was over the moon. Alvaro Espinosa? I completely get why you need authenticators for buying items you are not familiar with, but having them charge me a fee for "authenticating" my in person signature is a fee that I will never pay. Maybe a seller should issue a lifetime guaranty and also offer to pay for the authentification fee if an item fails. I don't have all of the answers, but sports shows are slowly dieing because of the greed from the athletes, promoters and authenticators. It will not be long before the celebrity shows get ruined as well. I think we need to stand up and tell people we want that IP cert for free or for no more than $1 or $2. They still make thousands for the weekend and it doesn't insult the intelligence of the collector.

Permalink Reply by Genuine COA on August 4, 2012 at 9:36am

Hello Collectors,

I am from Genuine COA and happened accross your discussion. I would like to introduce ourselves and bring some understanding to what we do, since there seems to be a lot of confusion.

We are collectors of autographed memorabillia who grew disillusioned with the fact that there is an immense amount of forgery in the marketplace. One report, according to the FBI, stated an estimated 90% of autographs that are sold or traded, are in fact, forgery. In a billion dollar industry, that's $900 Million worth of fakes being sold as real. It gives you a whole different perspective when looking at items in an autograph shop, on auction sites, or, even, at conventions. You know what they say about something being too good to be true. Sure, many times the seller of the memorabillia issues you a certifcate of authenticity, but that is just a document that they, themselves, printed. Most are never signed by a real person, or include the name of the person who witnessed the autograph. There is still no real way to definitively confirm when or where it was signed to know if the celebrity was actually present at the event.

Also, as a person that might acquire autographs in person with the intention of it being valuable someday (so as to sell yourself or eventually leave to someone), it is hard to invest, considering that your item will be indistinguishable from the sea of fakes. Yes, there are authentication houses that allow you to ship your signed item to them, and for a fee they will have scriptologist analyze the signature and give an OPINION on the authenticity. But I have had autograph dealers tell me that they have had an item autographed in person, then sent the item to an authenticator to have the documentation behind it, and the opinion came back as 'not authentic'.

That frustration led to the idea of our company. Our operation is to be there, at signing events, and to serve as actual witnesses to signatures. Your signing details are then made searchable on our website using the exclusive, tamper-evident sticker we issue to the item and the certificate. Now, at any time you wish to provide validity to you claim of authenticity (such as an auction site ad), we are there to vouch that we saw you have the item signed. We don't have a stake in what happens to the memorabillia...if it is kept or sold...we just serve as your witness. What's more, all of our witnesses will sign a notarized affidavit stating that they witnessed the signing. This a legal document that will stand in a court of law. And it, too, is viewable with your signing details. As far as we know, no other authentication service offers this level of confidence in authenticity. What's more,  serializing and certifying an autograph enables the owner to have the item insured. Should anything unfortunate happen to a valuable peice of memoribilia, it can now be claimed for current fair market value. We are intent on adding value.

We are new company, but our goal is to set a standard. It is our intention to benefit collectors, sellers, buyers, and even the celebrity, who certainly doesn't appreciate their name being forged. And with once in a lifetime opportunites that shows such as Wizard World are producing, with legends such as Stan Lee, or a rare uniting of Star Trek Captains, we are proud to be involved in trying to set a new standard.

I hope that cleared any confusion. Thank you for letting us post on your boards and introduce ourselves. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us. If you are at a Wizard event, please stop by our booth and say "hi".

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Permalink Reply by Rich on August 4, 2012 at 12:41pm

Thanks for introducing your business.  My initial questions came about because I saw your advertisements for next week's Wizard World Chicago show.  Honestly, I do think that many show attendees will welcome this option, especially with Stan Lee.  As I said, I did hear some criticism in the past about the lack of COAs making future resale difficult.  I admire that you're staying away from third party authentication which will decidedly help maintain the integrity of your business.

However, I think the "item will be indistinguishable from the sea of fakes" statement is a bit over the top.    Though admittedly many modern-day autographs come down to awful scribbles that are just about impossible to authenticate, suggesting that it is impossible to tell an authentic autograph from any given fake is ludicrous, and you will have many people on this forum challenging that assertion.  

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Permalink Reply by DB on August 5, 2012 at 2:51am

thanks for stopping in.  After reading this I (& perhaps others) am still wondering how an item is actual witnesses to signatures.   Do you have runners who actually stand with the autograph seeker at the time they go for the autograph or is the celebrities "herder" involved somehow.  Or do you have a table nearby...  How does it actaully work?

 

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Permalink Reply by Genuine COA on August 5, 2012 at 1:40pm

Thanks for asking,

Without going into too much detail, yes, we do have a team of witnesses that will either meet the customer in line before the customer's signing takes place, or stand in line with the customer if need be. The witness will then escort the customer to our on site booth (#1521 for WW Chicago) for completion of the process. After completion, the signing details will be immediately searchable on our web site given the serial number issued to the customer. Shortly after the conclusion of the event, the notarized affidavit will be posted in those signing details.

We realise that at large events, we are subject to the signer's availability, but serving our customer is very important and Wizard has been very helpful in allowing us to accomplish that. We intend to make sure every customer feels like they have received a great value for the price.

I hope that helps answer your questions. The FAQ section of our web site may offer further answers. If you still are not able to find an answer to your question, please feel free to contact us through our web page.

 

Thanks again.

 

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