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Antiquities Caesars Palace, GFA/Stephen Rocchi and AAU/Drew Max Sued for Autograph Fraud

According to the Courthouse News Service, Mr. Daniel Odobas has filed a lawsuit against Antiquities Of Nevada (Toby Stoffa), Drew Max (Authentic Autographs Unlimited) and Stephen Rocchi (Guaranteed Forensic Authenticators for "Fraud, Deceptive, Trade, Misrepresentation, Unjust Enrichment, Conspiracy, Bad Faith, Breach Of Contract and Breach Of Warranty."

Immediately below are links to the story.

http://www.courthousenews.com/2016/08/30/vegas-memorabilia-house-ac...

http://www.inquisitr.com/3472565/vegas-antiques-and-memorabilia-dea...

In my opinion, this was a long time coming.

Drew Max of Authentic Autographs Unlimited, gives himself the title of Forensic Document Examiner (FDE).

What in the world does "Forensics" have anything to do with autographs?

Very, very rarely in my opinion.

I don't know of any Forensic Document Examiner who knows sports or music autographs

It is also important to know that COAs and LOAs issued by Forensic Document Examiners or by authentication companies that use them, are much less likely to be genuine.

I have yet to see an authentic autograph of Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio or Ted Williams with a COA from Drew Max (AAU).

Not one.

Just below is a link to a thread I wrote on Drew Max and one of his performances on the Pawn Stores show as he Forensically Examined an FDR "Letter To Clergy."

http://live.autographmagazine.com/profiles/blogs/drew-max-forensic-...

Then, of course, there is Stephen Rocchi and his Guaranteed Forensic Authenticators (GFA) group.

In the six years since Rocchi started GFA, I have yet to see one authentic Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams or Joe DiMaggio autograph with a COA from GFA (Guaranteed Forensic Authenticators).

Also, since when does a Forensic Examination only cost $25.00?

Rocchi does all of the below for $25.00 and still can't get it right.

From Rocchi's website. Seriously?

You do not need "Forensics" to determine if an autograph is authentic or not.

http://live.autographmagazine.com/forum/topics/ebay-mantle-dimaggio...

http://live.autographmagazine.com/forum/topics/joe-dimaggio-forgeri...

http://live.autographmagazine.com/forum/topics/roger-maris-forgerie...

Just below is a typical Mickey Mantle forgery on a baseball with a COA from Stephen Rocchi and Guaranteed Forensic Authenticators.

It can be opined in less than one second as a forgery.

What is Rocchi thinking when he issues a COA for the below Mantle forgery?

Rocchi (Guaranteed Forensic Authenticators) has certed dozens of the below set of Mickey Mantle/Roger Maris forgeries on a reproduced Safe At Home poster.

A real authenticator would laugh and dismiss this garbage in a millisecond, but Rocchi has certed dozens of these as authentic.

These are, at best, laughable.

When will all of this "Forensic" madness finally end?

Tags: aau, antiquities, caesars palace, drew max, forgeries, fraud, gfa, lawsuit, pawn stars, rocchi, More…toby stoffa

9 members like this

Comment by Eric Keith Longo on January 2, 2018 at 10:57pm: If there were some magical area of collecting where buying with the eye of another, or on the strength of some papers, alone, actually is a good idea...well, then it would not be any fun for me anyway, nor would I learn as much. I like the "why" part and figuring it out for myself as best I can. You can learn a LOT without ever opening your purse.

PS - I hate stickers.

Comment by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on January 2, 2018 at 11:33pm: Danny,

You are anything but a nuisance. You are doing exactly what we hope more collectors would do: ask lots of questions, try to get educated, try not to get burned or burn others...try to make collecting a safer place for everyone.

You and collectors like you are the light at the end of the tunnel.

Comment by Eric Keith Longo on January 2, 2018 at 11:35pm: +1!

Comment by Danny Francis on January 3, 2018 at 5:05am: Thanks Steve.

Drew Max and Steve Grad both (I believe) appeared on Pawn Stars. I can see how the most advanced collectors can get fooled. Why would the HISTORY CHANNEL use people who are not good authenticator?

Steve, this site has saved 1 collector. Keep up the fight.

Comment by Richard S. Simon on January 3, 2018 at 5:58am: "Why would the HISTORY CHANNEL use people who are not good authenticator?" Because they are a network that does not care about being accurate. They care about the "show" they can create, that looks good and draws viewers. One of Chris' goals in posting so much about TPA's is to hope that collectors find his posts (just takes a little effort) and steer clear of bogus sellers and bogus autographs. It is horrid to see so many criminals in this hobby but they are enabled by people who do not do any homework and just blindly spend money. I would think that these people applied due diligence to their businesses to obtain the money that enabled them to buy these items. Why not apply the same efforts into spending their money? The red lights are everywhere in the autograph hobby. If people would think about their purchases and apply some logic they might not get burnt. So many criminals have sprung up because it is way too easy to sell their crap.

Comment by Danny Francis on January 3, 2018 at 6:35am: I get it Richard. What you, Chris, Steve x2, good at, are doing is awesome. I chase bad guys everyday.

What they r saying about 30 year old company is that it gives the presence of legitimacy. When you go to the grocery store for a can of green beans only to find out that when you open it up it is a can of carrots? It's the same thing as buying a forgery. I hate them as much as I do carrots.

I have private messages you and others here asking for help with a project I am working on to combat this stuff. I do not and probably never will have some of the knowledge here. However, I do have other skills that truley think will help change the industry for all levels of collectors.

Comment by CJCollector on January 3, 2018 at 6:47am: Ebay is probably the most dangerous place to buy autographs for people who don't know autographs and the bad guys (sellers, Forensic BS and so-called authenticators) know it.

Unfortunately, Ebay (and I've stated this hundreds of times) is heavily-populated with delusional autograph collectors and impulse buyers and the bad guys know it and that's why they are successful selling their crap on Ebay.

And Ebay DOES NOT CARE!!!

All EBay cares about is the money coming in from the sales of forgeries.

Check out the link below.

Does the buyer of the below item think they got over on everyone else!!!

https://live.autographmagazine.com/forum/topics/ebay-seller-sliding...

Comment by sling on January 3, 2018 at 8:13am: the plaintiff Dan is from Canada? Must be extra hard to sue in another country-hats off to dan

Comment by Xwiesy on January 3, 2018 at 8:15am: Ebay is not dangerous, not educating yourself is dangerous. There are thousands of authentic autographs on ebay, you just have to know your stuff.

Really not that hard. Instead of complaining about ebay not being able to sift through millions of autographed items with an in house authenticator....educate yourself.

I'd argue ebay cares, I just dont think in reality there is a way to stop fake items. It;s part of doing business. These forgers prey on the naive. The key, then, would seem to me to not be naive.