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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 7:44pm: Don't blow it for me, Rick.

Comment by Richard S. Simon on January 5, 2018 at 8:13pm: In an old thread here there is a 1919 Black Sox baseball,bought by a gallery in California from Roaches Vomitcorner. Her son's gallery. Runs in the family I guess. Something to be proud of for a crooked mother, her son emulating her.

The more I get into this thread the less I feel any sympathy for Obodas. A rich guy with money, looking to make more money, in something he supposedly knew nothing about. Maybe he knew more than we think he did.

Comment by Richard S. Simon on January 5, 2018 at 8:21pm: All it would have taken for Odobas to not get burnt was a little research. Unless he knew what he was doing already. How many of us go out and spend $170K without checking out what is going on with our purchase. Geez, I spend time researching socks before I buy them. Does his brother want us to believe that he did not do anything at all but just took the gallery at face value?

Comment by Don Webster on January 5, 2018 at 8:21pm: Interesting

Looks like our gal Toby made the front cover of the Las Vegas Better Business Bureau magazine in November.

I tried to get to the magazine site but I was not successful.

As far as I can tell the address is bbbconnection.com

Can one or two members here give that site a try?

I would love to read that article!!

Antiquities btw has the highest rating from the BBB - they're rated A+

Comment by Richard S. Simon on January 5, 2018 at 8:22pm: This hobby/business is now at its worst state ever. Far worse than anything I have ever seen. Far worse than when Marino was so prolific and pouring out hundreds of forgeries on a daily basis. Anyone wanna buy a good collection? :(.

Comment by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on January 5, 2018 at 8:25pm: Why do you think it's in the worst state ever, Richard?

Comment by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on January 5, 2018 at 8:34pm: This is the site but none of the BBB Connection's issues are online:

https://www.bbb.org/losangelessiliconvalley/get-to-know-us/the-bbb-...

Comment by goodcat on January 5, 2018 at 8:52pm: is this the same BBB rating that sunk America's economy back in 2008?

Comment by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on January 5, 2018 at 9:52pm: Travis Roste of WBC Authentication was reading this discussion and looked for the BBB magazine article on Toby Stoffa and Antiquities—he found it!

It's flash, outdated technology and not supported on iOS, so you'll need to go to an actual computer or an Android device to read it:

https://view.joomag.com/the-bbb-connection-november-2017/0512382001...

Thanks, Travis.

Comment by Jason Charnick on January 6, 2018 at 12:06am: Hey Steve, link works on iOS, just read it on the ol' iPad... glorified press release that made me sick reading it. She disparages hobbyists like us while putting forensics on a pedestal, touts their "custom" work which reads like what we've been talking about when they can whip up whatever a customer desires, and brags about their sterling reputation in the industry (ha!) and their trustworthiness and honesty so many times that it calls almost too much attention to itself. Puff piece of the worst variety. Luckily, no one in the general public reads or even knows of this rag. I'm sure the article was bought and paid for on the backs of the customers whose money they've stolen.