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THE AUTOGRAPH AUTHENTICATOR REPORT

I would like to share with everyone a major problem I have been seeing around Florida for the past few years. For a while you would only see these signature on photos or on multi signed 500 Home Run or 3000 hits baseballs. A year or so ago P.A.A.S. starting receiving these Autographed White Panel Baseballs, "Official League Baseball" , signed in blue ink on the sweet spot. They would be submitted one or two at time, and mostly from collectors that obtained them at local Florida shows or Flea markets. In the last 4-5 months we were receiving these almost exact signed baseballs for autograph authentication from around the country. Last month a local Florida dealer brought in 70 of these pure white single signed baseball for autograph authentication. I held the submission for a few days, so we could document and photograph the signatures for our files. When the dealer returned for his baseballs, I asked him where he had obtained these signed baseballs? He explained with a straight face that he has had them for over 7 years. He said that he waited on lines at autograph shows and sent some of the baseballs to autograph shows around the country to get signed. I then explained to him that they are not authentic and that I have been aware of these forged signatures for years. I also showed him enough proof that he had nothing further to say and admitted that he purchased the baseballs at a Miami Flea market for $10 per baseball. The scary part is he told me that a sports memorabilia dealer friend of his from North Carolina purchased over 300 baseballs and a dozen Muhammad Ali signed gloves. This is becoming a wide spread problem and I have been seeing these same baseballs on many websites and auctions. Please take note of these examples and study the signature patterns. You may notice a few different variations of the same signature, this is done by increasing or decreasing the size and width of the autograph. Besides not being authentic I am sure some of the readers will see some interesting similarities with these signatures. I would like hear some opinions and receive some input. There are additional names and signatures and we will continue to post them.

Thank you for your time,

Michael Frost of P.A.A.S. can be reached at specialagent711@aol.com

Tags: Authentication, Autograph, Frost, Michael, P.A.A.S., PSA/DNA

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Permalink Reply by DB on September 10, 2012 at 6:09am

Isn't the owner of this COA (autographed legends) Mark Calamusa who also started CSC Collectibles and runs the calsstore.com website? Isn't this the same CSC Collectibles that is on EBAYs Banned list as well?

Mike - what is going on in Florida?

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Permalink Reply by Michael Frost on September 9, 2012 at 3:07pm

Mr. Bryce Ordway ,

There is no need for any insults or arguing. This is a educational and a learning discussion on known examples of fake autographs being sold. Can you please add some of your knowledge on these signatures to the discussion? Why do you not also post some of your examples and proof of how authentic these autographs are? I have seen mistakes in judgement before and maybe this could be a major surprise for everyone including myself. If you could prove to me and to this discussion that these autographs are authentic and show us all when and where they were hand signed. I would not only thank you, I would offer a reward of $50,000. I am sure there are many other members from this site and the autograph community that would match my offer. In that case you would most likely would earn your self at least $300,000+ and that would be more profitable and much easier then selling this trash. I simply would need a copy of a contract, receipt from the show or private signing, the date of the signings and the quantity of items signed at each of the signings. I would also like to know what year and where, the laser print paper and the white China baseballs used for these signed items were purchased.

If for some reason you care to discuss this in private I can always be reached at specialagent711@aol.com or call me at 954 450-4283.

I am sure this will be the end of your participation in this or any other discussions.

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Permalink Reply by CJCollector on September 9, 2012 at 4:48pm

It's okay, Michael. I love it when the cowards come out and call me names. It reveals their true self.

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Permalink Reply by Paul Fox on September 9, 2012 at 6:44pm

I really dont like how people give forensic examiners bad names by falsely stating that they are on COAs and if they are they need to be removed from that job role and banned as its a trusting job role that the justice systems rely on.

im currently study forensic document analysis and will be certified by a recognised body here in the uk. Its obvious to my knowledge from what i have seen compared to original authentic exemplars that there are inconsistancies.

i do not not know anything about baseball, we call it rounders in the uk and is dominantly a girls sport but ive compared some of the baseballs to authentic examples and i can see a difference. the muhammad ali picture is a joke and is not even a good attempt at a forgery.

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Permalink Reply by CJCollector on September 9, 2012 at 7:00pm

Seriously?

Then go have a chat with Christopher Morales and Drew Max.

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Permalink Reply by Paul Fox on September 10, 2012 at 6:16am

who is drew max and christpher morales? im new on here and i do not know much about the american stuff thats going on?

what do you want me to answer that i am being serious about?

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on September 10, 2012 at 8:15am

Drew Max (his company is AAU: Authentic Autographs Unlimited) and Christopher Morales are so-called "Court-approved forensic document examiners" who you rarely find a genuine autograph authenticated by. Their COAs and LOAs are considered a sign of forgery, not authenticity.

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Permalink Reply by Paul Fox on September 10, 2012 at 8:23am

i would like to see any of their LOAs and COAs and the items with them and ill be able to tell you if they are true forensic examiners or just con men.

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Permalink Reply by DB on September 10, 2012 at 9:53am

just do a search (in the upper screen right hand side search box) for morales and you will see many pieces he has signed off on as well as the opinions of others. You will also find a number of threads that this site has "dedicated" to him as well. Do the same for Dru but you won't find as many but perhaps enough to satisfy the curiosity.

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Permalink Reply by Paul Fox on September 10, 2012 at 10:23am

from what ive seen, it must be far easier to be a forensic examiner in the us than the uk.

ive seen drew max on pawn stars authenticate a president roosevelt signature where he got a magnifying glass to look at the document.

there is no way you can tell the angles of handwriting using a magnifying glass, which drew max did, a true forensic would have taken prints of 3 authentic examples and spent about 2 hour examining each letter and joins comparing them. He would need a petractor to tell if the angles are exact or near enough. but no drew max with sherlock holmes magnifying glass can authenticate and eliminate all inconsistancies just by looking through a magnifying glass, this made me laugh and is a joke of a forensic examiner, he might well and truely be qualified and certified, but hes only bothered about a pay day as it seems to me and is taking people for a ride.

the signature was real, the document was real in my opinion. and i believe they conned the man by giving him so little money for the document which i believe pawn stars and drew max are both in on, to make a big profit.

Permalink Reply by Michael T on September 10, 2012 at 2:33pm

@Paul Fox:

Just a friendly reminder that Pawn Stars is a TV show. The purpose is to entertain us but there is no requirement for truth. The entire show is likely fiction. There are threads all over the internet about the show.

I am not defending Drew Max but do you really think that when you see him 'authenticate' a signature on the show this is the first time he is seeing it? Of course not.

What you are seeing is simply the result of editing down to fit into about 22 minutes of air time so that gives them only a few minutes for each item that is brought in.

Regarding your worries about big profit, please also understand that just because they made an agreement to purchase an item it does not mean that they actually did. It just makes good TV. The word is that people are compensated to bring their items on the show but do not actually sell them. Although, I have been in the shop a number of times and I have seen some of the items for sale. Plus we all know that Hollywood never does anything without some scripting and control, good editing and a good mix of fantasy and they mostly never leave things to chance.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on September 10, 2012 at 3:02pm

True, Michael...

But ironically, if Paul is talking about the FDR autograph on Pawn Stars I remember being discussed here, he called the letter genuinely signed but it was mass-produced, with a preprinteded signature.

And Drew called it genuine.