Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Paul M Lover on January 17, 2015 at 8:55am

who the heck is drew max???..lol

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Permalink Reply by Paul M Lover on January 17, 2015 at 9:00am

it makes no sense to you how a competitor in the industry competing for sales business would say other peoples autographs are bad and mine are good come buy from me!  

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Permalink Reply by Michael T on January 18, 2015 at 8:53pm

What Paul M has written makes sense no matter who the authenticator is.

If they sell and they authenticate then there is always the opportunity to do the right thing or the opportunity to do the wrong thing.

I am not defending or maligning any specific authenticator.

IMHO second opinions are always a very good idea.

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Permalink Reply by Barry S on January 19, 2015 at 6:46pm

I will say this. Around 1/2 of my rock collection came from Roger, the other half or so came from elsewhere. The ones that didn't come from Roger I ran by him to get his opinion on. Never once did he say that something didn't look good, but hey I have one! I can see where others may do this. He's questioned many, and many he said look great that I've bought.

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Permalink Reply by Mark Roberts on January 17, 2015 at 10:06am

Agree terrier 

Mark

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Permalink Reply by Penny Fields on October 5, 2024 at 6:09pm

I’ll repeat what Paul has stated. You cannot rely on biased parties. Also I would advise to never rely on any authenticators COA when they do not offer services to the public or provide any transparency as to their authentication methods. 

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Permalink Reply by Penny Fields on October 5, 2024 at 6:05pm

This is very wise advice! 

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on January 19, 2015 at 8:19pm

Paul M Lover is Chad Baldwin, a twice convicted felon from Oregon. He was convicted in the 1990s for armored car robbery, and convicted in 2012 for selling forged sports and Beatles autographs:

http://www.oregonlive.com/clackamascounty/index.ssf/2012/10/gresham...

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Permalink Reply by Rick Meyer on January 19, 2015 at 8:33pm

Hope he didn't go to prison with that hair style. He was a prison yard punk for sure.

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Permalink Reply by Dom Vito Castiglione on January 20, 2015 at 8:30am

No doubt he enjoyed many nights as Bubba's live blow-up doll

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Permalink Reply by Barry S on January 20, 2015 at 9:16am

I think it's kind of sad really. Probably could have been a movie star with hair like that. Probably got tangled up with the wrong crowd.

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Permalink Reply by 2t7o4rndea2r0 on January 20, 2015 at 12:14pm

In theory, I can understand why a well-meaning person would say that an authenticator shouldn't, at the same time, be a dealer. This is the conflict of interest inherent in competing with your own clients. However, there are conflicts of interest everywhere, in many types of businesses and industries. The law sometimes requires complete written disclosure of conflicts of interests. Sometimes not. Ever watch Antiques Roadshow? Seems to me that every one of the expert appraisers has a business selling antiques. Same thing? I have a couple of basic carpets around the house I bought when in Istanbul a few years ago. Where did I go to have them appraised? A carpet dealer. How about the real estate agent compensation scheme? Motivation to get the seller to accept a low offer to generate a quick commission. Representing the other side, encouraging the buyer to pay a higher price because it means a bigger check. But that doesn't mean your real estate agent is corrupt. It's just not a great system; your agent is financially compelled to work against you on both sides of the transaction. But that doesn't mean he/she has to. That the conflict exists in the autograph business, as with many other types of businesses, is not a debatable point. The conduct of the professional is the critical issue. Working directly with Roger, I have never experienced even a hint of dishonesty when it comes to rendering an opinion about an item. And he certainly has never encouraged me to buy from him instead of from another source. Its about trust. If someone you do business with violates your trust, find another provider. If the person you're doing business with is competent and honest, even within a somewhat flawed system, then what's the problem? Apologies for the long-winded post. This is basically what Michael T said yesterday, and I agree.

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