If the item isn't on the upper deck online database then UDA has no image of the item to confirm against. (They do, most times, have it recorded who the athlete should be and sometimes, sometimes, what the piece is aka jersey, picture etc)
So for example, if you called about these items they will say "we can confirm item number ____ is a signed michael Jordan item"
They cannot however tell you that it is this exact thing or not
The autographs on these items are bogus and have only ever come from this seller. He has used various Ebay accounts and Craigslist scams.
There are several posts on this site about fake autographs with UDA. Hope that helps
I haven't heard that before.
Their record keeping is horrible though.
Items that are exclusive or limited edition should be on the website. But the thousands of other items aren't leaving a space for forgers to get stickers made etc and fooling people
Upper Deck simply did not maintain a good database in the 1990s. In many cases, it was up to the buyer to fill out a form and send it back for the item to be preregistered in the DB. The result is a lot of UDA items from the 1990s have nothing more to go on than the COA and the hologram. Which can be attached to a forgery.