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Authenticity is Everything
GFA/Tony Podsada in the news...
Here is an article on ESPN about Muhammad Ali signatures & forgeries.
http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/17101800/debate-muhammad-ali...
Surprisingly, GFA's Steven Rocchi answered some questions for this article, which I found hilarious. Check out some of his quotes:
"That company is GFA. Stephen Rocchi, who founded and runs the company, says he stands by every signature that GFA authenticates, and if someone claims what they bought was fake, he'll buy it back from them. He's only had to do that once since 2011, he says, with a Mickey Mantle autograph that he still believes was authentic.
Rocchi says his company gets bashed because, unlike the leaders in the industry, he said he doesn't let politics get in the way of authenticating pieces.
"We don't pay attention to how many autographs someone brings to us or who they are," Rocchi said. "We make it only about the autograph. We have exemplars, we match the autograph in front of us to the exemplars and have 15 points of authentication and if it matches, we call it real. We don't have deals with auction companies like the other guys do, and we don't know dealers. It's better that way."
When told that competitor JSA failed a GFA-certified Ali signature at a recent show, a signature that had been bought on eBay after Ali's death, Rocchi said that's because "our competition will fail anything with our sticker."
Check out these quotes from Tony Podsada:
"Podsada's items do not come with a certificate of authenticity. Disenchanted with the authentication business, Podsada said he merely offers buyers the assurance that it's a "decorative item only."
"I believe what I have is real, but I don't guarantee anything because I know too much," Podsada said."
LMAO!
Here are a few other interesting tidbits from the article:
"EBay does not pull auctions itself, as certain legal rulings have established that the marketplace does not have any legal liability if a person buys a fake on the site"
"EBay maintains that less than .025 percent of its listings in 2014 were identified as being "potentially counterfeit,"
"In the past month, 55 GFA-certified items have sold on eBay. Those items have sold for an average of $106.41 Include the GFA price of $25 for authentication, $20 to Podsada and eBay's 10 percent take and a seller's margin on Ali items, before shipping, is less than $46 per autograph.
Rocchi said he's proud of the low cost that is being delivered to the consumer, saying this is the way it's supposed to be."
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by TradeGeek on
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Chris goes back to the same thing because it is something we all see everyday. GFA customers seem to have a never ending supply of pristine autographs of dead athletes. And GFA seems to slap a sticker on them even when they are really really questionable.
Trust me. I hate the personal bickering that goes on in this hobby. These guys hate those guys. Those guys hate these guys. Childish name calling.
But this GFA issue isn't one of those childish name calling issues. They have infected the hobby with massive quantities of fake merchandise.
Like you, I started out as a card collector. I'm not, and never have been, a fan of PSA grading services of modern cards. Vintage, I do see a value. You can't identify a trimmed card in a scan. I'm not a fan of PSA or JSA auto authentication. They have a reasonably good reputation now, but who knows what there reputation will be in 10 years?
But GFA slaps stickers on brand new pristine garbage. Every day. In mass quantities. Quantities that are impossible. And they sell for such low prices, nobody in their right mind would have their pile of "authentic" Mantle/Maris photos authenticated by GFA. If they were authentic, they would have them authenticated by whomever will get them the highest price. The problem is, they aren't authentic. And GFA's only concern seems to be that the check clears.
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Permalink Reply by Brianna Audet on
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Omg!!! What is your problem? I looked you up seen you live in a trailer and have nothing better to do then stalk ebay sellers who don't sell PSA are they paying you to do this?? I hope so because I am letting everyone I know who you are. You are very very strange. Actually weirded me out. I will contact ebay and let them know who you are. I will send all these messages to all buyers of all authentications companies. Something does not add up here. I will get to the bottom of this. WOW and thank you Larry for letting me know about this Christoper Williams. The funniest thing ever is he lives in a trailer at what age?? 80?? come on dude. you must really be lonely. I thought you were some guy living in your mother's basement stalking ebay. wow!!
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He is!!! I got the same messages from him.. Wow everyone on here believes his BS it's crazy. I go to signings all the time. And the minute I used another company to authenticate my autograph I got messaged by Perch who is Christopher Williams. I used PSA for years and decided to go with the forensics guy when PSA rejected an autograph I got in person! The forensics guy gave me a full report and I didn't even tell him I got it the autograph in person. I do this so I know who is really looking at the autograph. Anyway, I have so many people I am sending emails to about this guy who obviously is working for PSA and of all things bahahaha living in a trailer. Even I at a young age own my own HOME. What a loser. ANd what really makes me laugh is he says he has an EYE LMAO!! Wow amazing. I didn't go to college to learn I have an EYE TO BE AN ENGINEER !! funny stuff Ebay is fun and all.... but not my income lol
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I wasn't the one lost. I have a life. Took me 2.5 minutes to find this guy after I got the message of who Perch was. I even found his trailer house on the internet. I can post a pic if you like? It's quite the condo. And I am VERY SERIOUS when I truly believed he lived in his moms basement. Now I know the facts because I have an EYE for homes. It's quite the trailer.
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LOL looks like you guys have nothing better to do on a Saturday night hahaha I am heading out on a nice date. Hopefully a little wine and nice view of the ocean. How about you Joe W? Or actually how about you Rich?? Telling a beautiful young lady to get lost. Hmmm you may live in Chris's basement haha . On a serious note. I was just honestly glad to find out who Perch was. That Is why I am here and I will get lost now until Perch712 decides to invade my ebay again.
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Permalink Reply by terrier8HOF on
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Please post of photo of your item.
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Permalink Reply by AC on
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Brianna so if he contacted you via eBay I am guessing it was because you are one of the sellers that listed all of the GFA Fakes tell me if I am wrong. So that just makes you scum and to be honest people here don't really care if you and your brother and going out on a "special" date.
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Permalink Reply by CJCollector on
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Thank you, Wascher.
Gotta love the lies.
And they can't even use their real names.
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