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Questionable Autographs are Everywhere

I am seeing very questionable autographs on non eBay auction sites.

These are general auctions sites that sell jewelry, appliances, TVs, etc.

The auctions sites do not have a clue what is being done with autographs on their sites.

The prices that these autographs are auctioned at are startlingly low.

It seems that eBay sellers are buying these autographs on these sites (Mantle, Williams, Koufax, Dimaggio photos) for $5 to $20 each and then flipping them on eBay for $30-50 each. I actually saw a Mantle sell for $5 on a signed photo. Why would anyone sell a signed Mickey Mantle photo for $5??

These prices are way below normal market prices for these autographs.

The autographs that are on these sites and which wind up on eBay all come with questionable COAs from a forensic examiner named Nicholas Burczyk.

The sellers claim Bruczyk authenticated these autographs in the early 1990's.

Why would sellers sit on all these Mantle and Williams autographs (and there seem to be thousands) and then sell them at the absolute bottom prices that they are being sold at?

It is a virtual tsunami on eBay with these autographs. And many are being offered by unknowing sellers, driven by a weak economy, who are just grasping at any possible way to make money.

The non-eBay auction sites, which I will not name here in order to not give them any publicity, also make inflated claims on the real value of these autographs.

"Mickey Mantle minimum bid $5, comparable value $1299."

Many unknowing people are being suckered by these ridiculously inflated claims.

Tags: burczyk, dimaggio, forgeries, koufax, mantle, photos, richard, signed, simon, sports, More…williams

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Comment by Chris Klamer on September 25, 2010 at 2:53pm: By the way I recently spoke to an auction house and told them to go back and check some questionable items mainly signed guitars and within a couple of days they had dropped 2 of the 3 off of their auction site. But we the collectors will just have to keep standing up and protesting and keep trying to stay educated on the fakes and educate other people.

Comment by Roger Furr on September 25, 2010 at 6:56pm: That is why I trust Richard Simon for most of my autographs never had a problem with anyting I have gotten from him going to a auction house.

Comment by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on September 25, 2010 at 8:36pm: Good job, Chris. As long as you report things as your opinion and aren't malicious about it you should be protected from losing a suit...but the forgery dealers still may sue you to shut you up and make an example of you to scare off other whistle blowers.

Comment by john reznikoff on September 25, 2010 at 9:18pm: You have it exactly right chris!!
Those speaking out should not have fear of reprisals of any kind, including law suits or negative blog posts that are almost always lies. We are strong together, united, and on the right side of the line, and right here is a good place to show that.

Comment by Bill Panagopulos on September 27, 2010 at 6:56pm: Right you are, Richard. How about a class-action lawsuit against these crooks who have diminished the value of our inventory be passing their fakes as authentic, thereby diminishing our authentic examples (which we obviously could never sell at their "fake" levels)? I broached this idea with Frank C. years ago, but never pursued it...

Comment by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on September 27, 2010 at 7:12pm: Bill, they're criminals--class action suits are worthless. You know what makes a difference? Speaking out—loud. But even you, my brave-sounding friend, are too chicken to do it.

Comment by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on September 27, 2010 at 7:25pm: Just about all I hear from dealers about the fraud problem is how the forgers have diminished the value of their inventory or killed their sales. It's time they start caring first and foremost about collectors. They're the ones getting innocently screwed—the dealers and auction houses know what's going on and can protect themselves.

Any dealer that doesn't speak out loud and clear is part of the problem—not the solution. No matter how flawlessly authenticated their own inventory is.

Comment by scott on September 27, 2010 at 7:40pm: yep

Comment by scott on September 27, 2010 at 7:58pm: I watch what the dealers do and don't do. I am not buying any of their stuff. I don't care how good a job they do at figuring out if it is authentic or not.

You can't even stop the bad autograph dealers when they are doing a terrible job making their merchandise. They have no reason to put out a good product. Keep patting yourselves on the back at how good you are at figuring out if stuff is real or not. The bad autograph dealers don't have to waste their time putting out a good product.

Comment by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on September 27, 2010 at 8:09pm: Sounds like words from someone pissed at the autograph industry for not getting rid of its own garbage, Scott.

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