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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."

Tags: GFA, ali, muhammad, rocchi, stephen

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Joe W. on July 31, 2016 at 6:45am

Distractions. I've noticed whenever the discussions get away from authenticity issues and turns to personal accusations an alarm bell in me goes off. Keep up the good work Christopher! I love it when the con artists get all uptight.

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Permalink Reply by CJCollector on July 31, 2016 at 7:11am

Thank you, Joe.

They can't even use their real names.

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Permalink Reply by CJCollector on July 31, 2016 at 7:57am

"Mike Ruff (not his real name) wrote (paraphrasing)" "That all I do is post photos."

That's because the proof is in the pudding.

A whopping $113.00 for a Mantle and Maris autographed reproduction Safe At Home poster with a COA from Rocchi and GFA.

As you can plainly see, they are forgeries sold by Ebay seller Ranger191.

Dozens upon dozens of these have been sold on Ebay for the last year or so.

How come we never saw these before then?

Because they were probably penned (both by the same hand) within the last twelve months.

Roger Maris passed away in 1985 and these pristine prints have all-of-a-sudden surfaced.

Yeah right.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mantle-And-Maris-Autographed-8-X-10-Photo-G...

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Permalink Reply by Jason Toney on July 31, 2016 at 8:47am

I love it lol, thanks for calling out all these dealers of fake autographs. It needs to be done. It amazes me that people buy these fakes. The prices alone should throw up a huge red flag.

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Permalink Reply by terrier8HOF on July 31, 2016 at 9:44am

These FDE's (forensic document examines) are trying to mislead collectors into believing THEY are the only ones that can truly offer valid opinions on autographs. Well, if you look at the butchers that we have in this business, the ones that when they certify something, you KNOW its a fake, most of them claim to be FDE's.

Yes, there are times when you have to see the item in person to determine if its authentic (hand-signed vs. copied or machine signed) but there is NO substitute for knowledge of a specific signature and that takes years of studying and learning.

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Permalink Reply by CJCollector on July 31, 2016 at 2:23pm

So Rocchi is Forensically Examining autographs for $25.00 a pop and not $100.00 or $300.00 (as per his website).

So Rocchi went from a PSA card grader to a Forensic Authenticator.

By the way, I have yet to see any proof that Rocchi authenticated for PSA.

You will have to click the below image with your mouse to view the entire image.

Notice it is an "In The Presence" COA.

I have Mantle pieces (with Rocchi's COA) that I purchased from AtAuction that are still in their original packaging. Never opened.

One day I will open one up. I purchased them, of course, knowing they are forgeries.

Here is link (to the same image I purchased):

http://atauction.com/iSynApp/Autographs-auctions/Certified-Mickey-M...

John House, CEO of AtAuction, has been selling the same Limited Edition autographs for well over five years.

I have no idea how they are Limited Editions, but I have to assume they are still being produced hot off the presses.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on July 31, 2016 at 3:21pm

Does the Baseball Hall of Fame legal counsel know their logo is being used to market these items?

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Permalink Reply by CJCollector on July 31, 2016 at 4:23pm

Here it is. Click the below image with your mouse to get a closer view.

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Permalink Reply by terrier8HOF on July 31, 2016 at 4:44pm

I am sure they will find out soon enough

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Permalink Reply by TradeGeek on July 31, 2016 at 5:09pm

Why is the pattern always the same with these people? It's like their is a handbook for the defense of selling garbage on eBay. I'm guessing It looks something like this.

1. Point out the third party credentials associated with your item have fancy sounding names. Forensic Document Examiner, for example.
2. Attack any logical argument or presentation of evidence with broad meaningless statements. Such as "what makes you the God of autographs?"
3. Make sure to use unnecessary punctuation and capitalization. Such as, but not limited to, LOLOLOL, HAHAHAHA and !!!!!!!.
4. Make the target of your anger feel bad with statements such as "you have reproductive dysfunction, while my reproductive organs function satisfactorily" (you may paraphrase), or "You are obese and in poor financial health, I have significant financial resources and women eagerly submit to my masculine vitality" (again, paraphrase). Be sure to make generous use of rule 3, such as "HAHAHA !!!".
5. Create a second account or recruit a friend to support your arguments. Be sure he or she follows rules 1 through 4.
6. After expending significant time and effort in your endeavor, point out that spending significant time and effort in such an endeavor is evidence of being a looser with no life.

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Permalink Reply by CJCollector on July 31, 2016 at 5:10pm

Love it, TradeGeek!!!!

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on July 31, 2016 at 5:54pm

Hilarious. Although you forgot to include play #1 -- refer to phony complaints (which they probably submitted) on anonymous complaint sites and cite them as credible sources.

Crooked seller shills all operate from the same playbook. Sad!