Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Samuel John Clifford on January 10, 2017 at 4:26am

From talking to other Collectors and from viewing items that have been passed by "JSA" I would take their opinion in "Modern Entertainment" autographs with a grain of salt. I've seen plenty of authenticated JSA pieces that were forgeries.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Joe W. on January 10, 2017 at 5:31am

There does seem to be issues with modern entertainment and music autographs with JSA. I don't understand that since their experts list include JD Bardwell and Roger Epperson who are very good. Maybe they don't use them very often?

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Samuel John Clifford on January 10, 2017 at 5:53am

I've asked Roger if he knew "Gwen Stefani's" autograph and he told me "No, I'm not good with her" But you would think someone else on staff would know. Of course I've seen real Gwen's with a JSA cert and real Jessica Alba's with a JSA cert but some of them I see just make me wonder how it got stickered.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Scott Paul on January 10, 2017 at 6:07am

I do not even know who she is lol.  I think your question is valid, though.  Who exactly is looking at them?  That is why I think every certificate needs a real name with both signature and typed name of the person authenticating.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Scott Paul on January 10, 2017 at 5:58am

That is what I am thinking Joe.  I have a lot of respect for Mr. Bardwell he is a very nice and knowledgeable guy.  I think the same is true for Mr. Kramer. I do not know how much they use him for classic entertainment but, he is excellent with that field.  In my view, every certificate should be signed by the person viewing the item.  A rubber stamp signature of a company head is worthless.   I think major TPA's had better take a good hard look at what they do and how to improve it.  It is to their best interests to do so.  I do believe JSA has had a pretty good record (at least in ones I have looked at) of classic entertainment.  This is ignoring the Griffith, Gleason, Heston, Curtis etc. secretarial signatures everyone was accepting a few years ago.   I wish representatives from JSA and PSA would do discussions here to address some concerns. I do think both companies have positive impacts but all it takes is a few scratches to ruin a paint job and make the whole car look ugly.  Obviously, as we have seen with attacks on Mr. Epperson people will come out of the woodwork but, I still think it would benefit both companies to do that.   I have never used a TPA except for a quick opinion I disagreed with but ended up not getting the item and have regretted it. Frankly, I think we have a great group of experts here that I place more faith in than any nameless TPA employee.  

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Joe W. on January 10, 2017 at 6:04am

Yes, Scott. Tom Kramer is great with classic entertainment. Maybe not so good with modern ones. I highly regard him in his field of specialty. I also agree that someone should put their name with what they authenticate. When you look at JSA's panel of experts it reads like a "Who's Who" in the autograph collecting world. We should expect better.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Conner D on January 10, 2017 at 7:05am

Thank you for your feedback, I collect sports autographs however

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Rich on January 11, 2017 at 7:40am

For modern sports autographs, I see no reason to bother with PSA or JSA. So much of the sports market is defined by private and public signings by reputable companies. These autographs can be purchased straight from the source, so there's no reason to play guessing games with JSA or PSA, who crap their pants frequently enough for me to hold zero value in their authentication.

Vintage items are a different story obviously, in which case I'm guessing PSA would have been the better option.

• ▶ Reply