Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Rick Meyer on August 23, 2013 at 3:11pm

It was proven that Charles is not using his actual name. There are many that do this here.

An email from Steve Sipe claiming to have contacted an old bookkeeper to see if he ever worked for GAI means nothing. As far as we know Steve Sipe has no clue what this guys real name is. Kind of hard to verify if somebody used to work there if the name your asking about is wrong.

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Permalink Reply by Carl Ryan on August 23, 2013 at 5:17pm

Just as Rick said, why does that matter if he is using his real name.. Im not using my real full name, and i dare say JXE isnt your real name, nor is mr. zipper, terrior, etc. Alot of us dont use our real names for various reasons. And again, i dont think a thing was proved from GA or Sipe, and i really dont believe anything that comes from them, period.

Their is no defense whatsoever for the forgeries presented, and that cant be blamed on Charles, or not using his real name. If he lied about working for GAI, it was the stupidest lie in history. But even if it is a lie, and it doesnt much matter at this point, it doesnt change the forgeries.

I just cant imagine why anyone is giving GA any credibility whatsoever in regards to anything concerning this situation.

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Permalink Reply by JXE on August 23, 2013 at 5:53pm

I'm not giving any credibility to GA. "Charles" made this thread because I responded to him in another thread where he was calling out Mike Frost. My point to him was that he shouldn't be pointing fingers when he had a big miss himself in the Man of Steel thread. In that thread, he swore up and down that his cousin got a real poster just like it, signed in the same inks, at the real premiere... another dubious story that he hasn't been able to back up, even when asked for images of his cousin's poster. 

You know my real name because you just sold me an item. My username is my initials. I have no problem with anyone using any name, but I think it's highly unusual for someone to register a completely different first and last name. You believe others are doing that here?

Anyways, I don't care if Charles stays or leaves, but the facts are that it seems like one dubious story is following another (remember, he said he called Mike Frost, but Mike has no record of a call from him). If you still want to believe he was a former authenticator for GA--regardless of their poor reputation--that's up to you.

My point to Charles in that other thread--which is what caused him to create this thread--was to keep in mind that no one's perfect before throwing stones. He went on the attack on a member who admitted a mistake, when he just made a massive mistake in the other thread. The only difference is Mike Frost took responsibility while "Charles" told a fib about rock solid evidence belonging to his "cousin".

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Permalink Reply by JXE on August 23, 2013 at 6:45pm

One more thing for the record: I want to make it very clear that I will never, EVER purchase an item authenticated by GA. My point that there are many perculiarities about the different stories "Charles" has been telling (One time he  said Top Pix Autographs gets all their items JSA certified, when nothing on their site is certified by JSA) is in no way an endorsement of GA. They're clearly the worst in the hobby, and it's almost boring to make threads about bad items they authenticated because they are pretty much all bad.

Now, as much as I respect Mike Frost for admitting when he made a mistake and agreeing to pay the selling price of an item to take it off the market, I will also never purchase an item authenticated by PAAS. My point that "Charles" shouldn't cast stones about failed authentications towards people who are trying to make things right when he just had a major blunder himself (with a great "story" to back it up) is in no way an endorsement of Mike Frost. 

My points didn't endorse either company. My points were directed at the way "Charles" was communicating his thoughts on here, and that's it. 

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Permalink Reply by Rick Meyer on August 23, 2013 at 6:59pm

You are right about Top Pix. I saw them collecting while I was in NYC. They do not use videos to show their stuff. I have never seen them use an authentication.

I did see them claim to get 4 sigs of a person at spot where I attended and only saw the person sign 3 or 4 sigs total and bail. They use the same video to claim as proof for all the pics. I question that. I did buy two photos from them prior to this and sent both in and PSA authenticated them.

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Permalink Reply by Rick Meyer on August 23, 2013 at 6:53pm

Valid points you make. Charles big miss is I think differs. He isn't being paid as a professional. GA is. EBAY riddled with GA authenticated forgeries while The GA crew is lining their pockets. I have yet to see GA as ranking anywhere near some advanced collectors I know.

Their product is horrible. As long as there are beginners buying autographs they will be in business. None of the serious collectors I know would buy a GA piece. Kills the value of the item. Not hard to research selling prices.

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Permalink Reply by Innuendo on August 23, 2013 at 7:12pm

Carl, you know how much respect I hold for you. And I absolutely consider you a true friend. I respect the heck out of you standing up for Charles, and speaking your mind. However, I don't feel like anyone is trying to make GA look like angels here. Wascher has caught Charles in a few lies so far that made her question him in the first place. A major set back for her was a comment he left on a previous thread were he admitted to not being an authenticator or ever having that title. He since edited that comment. And was then claiming go have worked for GA. It's not a question of what anyone thinks of him, it's the fact that the mods caught him lying in general. Not only that, but he was also caught in lying about calling mike frost. And when asked to explain that lie, he just posted this thread and left. Also, the mods seem to has an issue in regards to his last comment on the Bob Dylan thread that said he will leave it up to another member to post a video of him showing proof that he worked for GA, instead of just posting some proof then and there. For it being such a long comment, he had plenty of time to show the proof he said he would make a video on (but he won't post it himself). That's where the GA stuff comes in. If you ask Wascher, shell tell you she doesn't even care if he really worked there or not anymore. For them, it's more about other stuff they caught him on. That, and the fact that the majority of his threads were worded immaturely, and she got tired of having to rename the titles and "babysit" his posts. A few members (this is where JXE and Eddie comes in) noticed that as well, and noted that he would comment on other stuff and even make new threads instead of answering questions they asked him on the poster thread. He would just ignore it until he somebody would type his name enough times for him to comment. A few people felt that he simply avoided having to answer or acknowledge past mistakes or questions. Now, nobody likes to admit that they were wrong, but you have to understand that even the mods were tired of it all building up over numerous threads. JXE, I told you how I feel about this subject. I also, commend you for taking a stand and expressing what so many others had agreed with but decided to stay out of. I agree in that Charles (whoever he may be) did help in some cases, but I have to say that the way he went about things just worked a lot of people's nerves. We all get angry at times, and I myself have lost my head on posts, but to do it every day on multiple threads obviously left a bad taste in some people's mouths. I only commented on the Dylan post to ask him to stop being so outwardly disrespectful and accusing of Mike Frost before the guy had a chance to speak his side. We all know Mike's rep of standing up for his stuff. Even if Charles didn't know that, just being an adult about how he worded his post would've saved all that hassle. That's a big factor in the mod's minds as well. To have a mod say she felt she needed to babysit his posts and rename so many, just didn't help things. Carl, you are an awesome guy, and you still made valid points. As did Rick, and I must agree on the fake name subject. My name isn't really Mercury Man...believe it or not. Rick, you have also proven yourself to be a great guy, and I see where you're coming from as well. Literally all of you have valid points, and we all don't have to agree or convert anyone go another side of this. All that does is help build the drama around it. It's probably best left to the mods to figure it out. I hope nobody has any hard feelings for anyone else because of this. Rick, JXE, and especially you Carl, are all respected by me. Hope this all blows over soon. Personally, I didn't wish for him to go, and if he decided to ever come back, Im sure he will continue to help the hobby. I just hope he does it with less harsh words that don't cause the mods as much stress.

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Permalink Reply by wascher on August 24, 2013 at 3:06am

I'd prefer to speak for myself here in the future.  I know you mean well though... so its cool... THIS time :) 

To clarify some of the things you've mentioned.

He has not since edited the thread, it remains:  HERE

Am I an autograph expert....no, i'm not.  I do the best I can.  I have said time and time again that in football I am probably as strong as any authenticator at any authentication company.  On the Superman poster I went by emotion....

As for changing titles, I don't think I edited any of his (Steve has) but there were a lot of threads I had to go in and edit or remove what I consider "soft profanity" - an F bomb or two, as well as calling someone a piece of -.  He also brought politics in, and that isn't allowed either. 

And you are right on the fact that I don't care if he worked for GAI or not and I mentioned that in the one post I wrote on this already.  Nor do I care what name people use here--unless the person is using it detrimentally against another member or entity.  In fact if the guy gives someone proof he did in fact work for GAI in the past,  fabulous!  However I do find it odd, that when Steve C contacted him privately and mentioned to him that his name wasn't showing up on the GAI records that he didn't immediately say, because that's not my real name it's ____.  He could have even added it to his last post.  But instead he posted that Sipe is lying and he's going to prove him wrong.  I mean think about it,  let's pretend someone writes you privately here about claims you've made working somewhere, and says, "someone is claiming you don't work where you said you work, there is no (insert AML name here) on the books".  What would the immediate response be?  I would assume you'd say that's because I just use that name here. He didn't do that.  All of this could have been immediately resolved right then and there.

As for his threads and his authentication abilities, the guy was good, the method of delivery for his threads, or if someone didn't agree with him, could have been better.   There were obvious errors that he got snagged on (which I believe if your gonna call someone out or state something is fake, you need to be spot on) - but it is what it is. 

Any who, Charles is still a member here - he has not been taken off, and if he wishes to respond, he can.  I also do not feel differently about any member here if they stood up for Charles or not, nor does any of this endorse Mr. Sipes or his company.  It could be PSA/DNA, GA/GAI or JCPenney, I would have responded the same way.  If someone is being called a liar, and they aren't lying, if I have information that shows they weren't lying, I'll post it.

 

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Permalink Reply by Robert Sessions on August 21, 2013 at 6:16am

Charles - stick around, there are tons of good people and we need everyones opinions, especially those that have have a good eye at the hobby and can help novices like myself......besides, just tell folks you're from South Carolina - they'll understand (joke, I hail from the Palmetto State)

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