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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 Steve Cyrkin, Admin on January 5, 2018 at 6:47pm: I remember my assistant finding those altered photos. It was 2009 and by then I was well aware how the forensic document examiner scam worked.

Comment by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on January 5, 2018 at 6:48pm: That part is somewhere on this site still. Probably under my videos.

Comment by Richard S. Simon on January 5, 2018 at 6:52pm: I have seen thousands of items with forensic COA's. In my entire life I have only bought one of them.

Comment by Jason Charnick on January 5, 2018 at 7:01pm: Steve, just watched those videos, they're the first couple listed as featured videos. A fantastic watch, very education. Also Flash, btw!

Comment by CJCollector on January 5, 2018 at 7:05pm: I remember those altered photos.

Comment by CJCollector on January 5, 2018 at 7:06pm: Jason, the casual collector will never do any research and that's why nothing will ever change.

Comment by CJCollector on January 5, 2018 at 7:10pm: The only reason Mr. Odobas became suspicious is because the major auction houses rejected the pieces he purchased.

If he didn't offer them to those major auction houses, those same pieces would still be hanging in his home.

Comment by Jason Charnick on January 5, 2018 at 7:23pm: I agree with you in theory... it's not like doing research for what kind of TV to buy, I get that. But in practice, we all started somewhere. I was actually just talking to my wife about this, because when we met in 2011 I was hardly a major collector at all. I had a De Niro 8x10 auto with a J. DiMaggio cert that I purchased at a silent auction at a film festival back in 1998.

I wasn't a collector at the time (and was 23), though as I kid I used to get autos at NY Ranger games. The cert meant nothing to me, and I had no reason to believe that a film festival would dupe me (and I still think they were duped themselves). There was no research to be done, and no time to do it in (it was an impulse purchase at the festival banquet). That photo stayed on my wall for over 10 years until I discovered J. DiMaggio certs were banned from eBay, and then just a quick look (like 5 seconds quick) told me it was garbage. Discovered AML shortly thereafter and found my cast-signed Departed poster was also trash. Which led me to becoming more vigilant and more involved in collecting than ever.

Will this happen to most casual collectors? No, certainly not. But I started that way, got burned, and then learned more and more and here we are today. I'm a different beast though, but I am still an example of a casual collector who learned to do their own research, and I'm proud of it. We're all of a like mind here, and that why I dig it, and stuck around, and it's also why I get so upset when I see us turn on each other, because it's such a turn off to those who come here for help. The truth took down ARA, and the truth can take down Antiquities, but only if we present a positive, united front against these criminals. Kudos to Steve and the other long-time vets for staying on the front lines for this long, and kudos to you for your fact-based evidence on the AtAuction garbage. Hopefully my SNL autos blog can also help someone someday, somewhat.

The more I read, the more I feel Daniel Odobas was not a collector at all, but what we call in the sports card world a flipper, and as such, yes I think he does have some culpability in this. But my overarching point remains, that as long as AML is here and as long as we are here to try to exert some pressure on the dark side of our hobby, it's imperative that we put forth a united front with nothing less than fact-based evidence in a positive manner.