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eBay sellers lock-em-up-bob & samsobo forgeries slabbed by PSA/DNA

We have brought up eBay sellers lock-em-up-bob and samsobo before on this site. They are both eBay sellers who scribble on cheap base cards from the 80's, and sell them all as "signed" on eBay. These are eBay power sellers making thousands upon thousands of dollars based off of an eBay scam. 

Both of these seller's use bogus "proof" photos and the power of positive feedback to continue to scam buyers on eBay. Myself and others have brought these forgeries up several times.

Now this alone is no surprise, as we all know eBay is a cesspool of scammers/forgeries. Despite the fact that their entire business is based off of .10 cent base card forgeries, eBay does not care.

Here is where the real problem lies... PSA/DNA is falling for their JUNK. We all know people make mistakes, but PSA/DNA is authenticating and slabbing more and more of these awful forgeries which is a great concern for this hobby. It has become evident to me recently that neither PSA/DNA or JSA have any clue on a lot of athletes. I have pointed out plenty of flatout LAUGHABLE Don Mattingly forgeries authenticated by both "TPAs" recently. It's beyond "mistakes", it's merely a guessing game.

A fellow collector reached out to me and shared some photos he has been archiving on this subject. Ready to spill your morning coffee?

Tags: ebay, forgeries, lock-em-up-bob, mattingly, samsobo, scam

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There are hundreds of kitchen-table forgers on Ebay who fly under the radar.  Very easy to make a $200.00 a week as a kitchen-table forger.

Aim small, miss small.

He has moved up to triple signed photos.   When was the last time you saw a triple signed card that was at the exact same angle.

This card sold for $333.00

eBay item number:
122988084439

Look at the Y in Yaz and the A in Al.  


Sickening.  At this point though, if you Google "lock-em-up-bob" these forums are the first thing that comes up under his username.  The winning bidder of that $333 monstrosity merely had to do minimum research to see all the bad stuff that comes up when you Google him.

I do hope law enforcement will eventually catch up to this guy.  

So Ozzie Smith doesn't do his "O" like that?  Do you know every single Ozzie Smith signature variation?  This seems like amateur authentication. 

Without a video of Ozzie Smith signing that exact card (if you trust it's the same card), no one -- READ: NO ONE - will ever know if Ozzie Smith ever held that card in his hand and signed it, or if it was Bob in his underwear.

You are buying signed cards with no clear provenance.  There is no such thing as "authentic".  You don't know if Ozzie Smith signed that card with one hand in an airport tunnel, or hanging over a railway outside of the dugout.

PSA/DNA is just pseduo-graphology to generate revenue.  They're guessing like everyone else.  Believing otherwise is delusional.

When you buy signed cards, you're buying one with a signature that looks as close to the widely accepted exemplar.  You're buying the look of the signature.  If Bob in his underwear hits the signature dead on, you'll buy it.  And you'll think it's real.  Does it matter if Bob signed it?  No, because you think it's real and you're happy. 

Appleton: Your bio indicates you are a "professional authenticator."

Who are you?

APPLETON, that is one of the, if not THEE, clearest and most defined responses that I have ever read regarding what all but sums up 99% of the authentication industry.

The only TRUE definition of "authentic" is to the person who had something signed in person. To everyone else, and including the in person's own mother, its all opinion/s thereafter.

The main problem being that not all signatures are signed with the athlete or star seated at a table, the medium and signor optimally positioned to produce a carefully executed autograph in an unrushed manner. I know a lot of sports autograph collectors whose majority of signatures were collected with the player on the fly. In motion. Like many I've gotten outside stadiums, at hotels, at airports, in lounges, etc., etc. Signed in an awkward position, unsupported by a sturdy platform, in a "let me get this out of the way ASAP" manner. As a youth, I've gotten signatures outside of and in hotel lobbies that I've looked at after being signed that I would never think was authentic unless I had seen it signed. Some of these authentic signatures were submitted by me and OKed by the major grading services and some weren't. Hand signed, right in front of me. A PSA or JSA thumbs down! A three for six outcome that should have been 6 for 6. Two by the same superstar player gotten at two different times!

Ozzy Osbourne, even at his book signing at Book Soup, was signing books while looking up talking to people and "posing for photographs".  I saw at least 5 books that he never looked at while signing.

I'm not clear on the point of the last few posts.

  • One person states that "authenticators are just guessing and no one really knows if anything is real"
  • Others state that "authenticators failed sloppy signatures and sometimes people sign items without even looking."

What is the takeaway? All authenticity opinions are worthless? 

Are you defending this seller highlighted in this thread?

They're worthless on these dime a dozen baseball cards.

It's total naiveté to think that you can "see" patterns in these scribbles and tell a forgery from a genuine signature.  

People have forged entire 18th century manuscripts with quill pens that experts still can't agree on whether it's real or not.

Rickey Henderson with a blue sharpie?  That sounds impossible.  /sarcasm.

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