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Is everything from GAI fake?

I was thinking recently about the amount of fakes that are authenticated by GAI, so I went through my items and located 5 pieces authenticated by them. I looked up the corresponding number on their website (what's left of it anyway) and found that two items aren't even listed. The database shows no item exists. Two of the three items I know are legit as they were from a private Willie Mays signing a few years back and included the Say Hey authentication plus the MLB authentication. The other three I believe are bad. Two are Stan Musial 8x10's and one is Bart Starr 8x10.

What I find interesting is that you would assume that people who have legitimate authentic photo's used the GAI service. There should be a quantity that are real! But, it appears that almost everything I come across is FAKE! Did they authenticate anything real, or did they have a network set up where they had people produce known forgeries and then they authenticated them? It seems to be the latter. I wish I could remember who I bought these three from and contact them. You wouldn't think they would spend their time on Musial and Starr. Any opinions on this?

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Permalink Reply by CEE GEE on December 2, 2011 at 6:36pm

Hey Myke...I saw your ball and I have to agree with Mr.Zipper...Iam sorry to say that that ball is not authentic

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Permalink Reply by Steve on December 2, 2011 at 8:08pm

I have to agree also, the Mantle is a dead giveaway. The M's, the c.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on December 2, 2011 at 12:30pm

Mike,

Welcome to Live! Yes, you can upload directly from your phone. Click the picture icon to the right of the LINK button on the editing toolbar above to upload your pics.

If you're uploading Mantle/DiMaggio/Williams, please upload them here, so visitors looking for info can find your examples easier:

http://live.autographmagazine.com/forum/topics/mantle-williams-and-...

Thanks

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Permalink Reply by terrier8HOF on December 2, 2011 at 1:14pm

Mike, welcome to aml. I have looked at a lot of 500 hr balls (I happen to collect signatures of the 500 HR club, on balls and 8x10's). I don't like what I see with the Williams and Mantle. But the easy way to tell the mass forgeries that CEE GEE referenced, is by the Killebrew. His real signature was neat, and you could basically read every letter. On the forgery it is messy, slants to the right, and is barely readable. There are other things that give them away, but they are more subtle.

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Permalink Reply by Jerry Riser on December 8, 2011 at 3:16pm

Here is a Lon Chaney Jr sold by Piece of the Past on eBay about 2 months ago, with a GAI. UNquestionable Forgery. It sold for about $450.

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Permalink Reply by Brick Hunter on December 8, 2011 at 4:23pm

Yep. I made a thread about this one, Jerry.

http://live.autographmagazine.com/forum/topics/elvis-presley-and-lo...

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Permalink Reply by Donovan Ryan Neal on January 5, 2012 at 6:35pm

i agree gai is horrible.I collect Peyton Manning auto's and if you get the chance look up "Peyton manning signed" on eBay and compare his signature from uda jsa or MM to sigs from gai...one they are wayyyy off and two all the sigs look identical with gai's name on it....and this on top of the fact that i purchased a Harrison jersey that came up as some baseball player when i ran the numbers.i contacted steve sipe over this matter and he said it was a mix up on the data base...omg run a legit company.

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Permalink Reply by Myke Furhman on January 5, 2012 at 6:52pm

Surprised though that I'm not seeing a ton of the Williams and Mantle "signed" anymore, but a ton of these Marianos, ARod's, etc. Is GAI focusing on future HOFers now instead of the old timers??? Or did that cache just sell out already??

Either way, you're right, GAI's sell for a fraction of the real ones, pretty evident.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on January 6, 2012 at 5:42am

i also realize that they have a TON of problems at GAI/GA. we got that, but they do pass some good stuff... actually, a lot of good stuff.. but i typed in "peyton manning GAI" in the search bar and immediately saw a lot of good stuff.. and the reason that they look to be identical handwriting across the board.. BECAUSE THEY ARE GOOD!

The clunker percentage is so high with GAI/GA, that even the occasional good items are tainted.

With Rivera, there are consistently 20 – 25 Steve Sipe GA certed items on ebay. In my opinion, they are almost always ALL highly suspect. On a good day, maybe one appears to be authentic.

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Permalink Reply by Rich on January 6, 2012 at 8:30am

Chad should be thrilled if anyone actually wants his worthless autograph.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on January 6, 2012 at 5:38am

Surprised though that I'm not seeing a ton of the Williams and Mantle "signed" anymore

eBay has really been cracking down on the forgeries of the big 3. Perhaps the strategy is the fly under the radar with players like Rivera, Puhols, A-Rod, etc.

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Permalink Reply by Donovan Ryan Neal on January 6, 2012 at 9:55pm

i just see what i see.In this market i feel that one has to be almost paranoid that they wont end up with one of the billions of fakes out there.i do my homework i study the most particular things esp. the number the same things i see from one source.if a red flag goes up then i walk away from it.I may have passed up somethings that WAS legit but at the end of the day i know i wont be buying anything fake.Ive even passed up autos with Mounted Memories coas b/c something just didn't seem right about it (a questionable signing date or whatever the case may be) the point is you cant be too careful.this age of collecting it can look real seem real all the signs can point to real and STILL be fake.and i do agree with you that (in this case) Manning signs his name with little differences here and there but what i seen was the same size shape and everything about the sig was TOO identical...however i have also seen good stuff from gai but there's too many bad things about them for me to trust....if you like them and feel good about them then by all means go with them...oh and while this is getting posted does anyone know how deff. it is that Reggie Wayne is leaving Indy???