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Permalink Reply by elgeedublu on June 12, 2015 at 7:22pm

Dane, thanks.  Yeah I was holding my Dodgers "Coast to Coast" book out as a "table" for Koufax to sign the photo on--and we were standing on either side of a low chain link fence to boot.  So I wasn't surprised there was a little shaking going on.......since this was at Spring Training, I have no receipt from a "public signing" or anything like that.  I suspect I'm SOL on this one, but trying a follow-up contact couldn't hurt, I guess.....thanks.

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Permalink Reply by David S on June 19, 2015 at 10:55am

I can understand why they wouldn't pass that autograph...it's not a great example.  I would not buy this.  Sandy looks good, Koufax not so much.  The K is shaky...there are many occasions where he doesn't connect the sides, but that's not the issue here.  how the "u" connects to the "f" is very atypical as well....i can totally understand why they wouldn't pass this, having not seen it in person.  I believe it to be real, as his ST autographs are all over the map...

PSA and JSA are by no means perfect, but as a whole i think they do a great job.  I had them fail a Pete Rose bat (it was a bat given to season ticket holders about 30+ years ago)...i went to a Pete rose signing later, and asked Pete if it was his autograph. He said "Yes, I remember signing those!"   I've also had JSA reject items, and PSA authenticate (and vice versa)....it's not a perfect science.

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Permalink Reply by Chicklet McTushy on June 19, 2015 at 1:59pm

Yes, it IS pretty much of a waste. Think about how nutty it's gotten, you get an autograph in person and then you pay someone to find out if it's genuine...what the hey?!?! Your friends won't believe you without an authenticator stamp? Call Rick on Pawn Stars and ask The Beard of Knowledge for a second opinion. Sheesh. The first Pawn Stars autograph guy..the one with the big magnifying glass...has been discredited.

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Permalink Reply by Dane on June 19, 2015 at 4:06pm

Drew Max was discredited BEFORE he was on the show.  STAT and AAU were/are both considered to be companies where forgers pay a fee to get a certification.

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Permalink Reply by elgeedublu on June 19, 2015 at 8:37pm

Thanks David and Chicklet for your comments.  Yes, the ONLY reason I submitted to PSA was in case I get hit by a bus, my wife or kids could get the most value from my collection.  The incredibly sad and unjust state of affairs seems to be that buyers, including dealers, either won't touch at all or will trot out ridiculous lowball offers if perfectly authentic and otherwise completely desirable items are not authenticated.  How the memorabilia world arrived at such a sorry reality is beyond me.  I can always not participate, I guess....David, I completely understand your comments and position, and appreciate your detailed analysis of the signature, but my point is that this particular photo and Koufax's signature has a great story behind it, and yet there's a good chance that no one other than me will ever appreciate that story simply because PSA failed it--I doubt if it could be sold "properly" in the future, if at all--and this does not seem logical or "right."  The hold that authentication companies have on the memorabilia market is hard to believe, frankly.....I recently auctioned a Mantle ball I had obtained directly from Harmon Killebrew's estate--I had the original LoA signed by Killebrew's wife, all the other original documentation, etc.--and then I had all kinds of questions about what am I going to do for the buyers if the ball doesn't pass PSA--REALLY??!!  It just seems wrong that in the case of my Koufax photo, its monetary worth is not determined by the fact that it's a 100% authentic autograph--and a truly unique piece of Dodgers memorabilia with a story to boot--but rather by some "expert" who knows nothing about it save that the signature doesn't resemble exemplars on file......and I'm sorry for getting overly dramatic, but it seems like personal study/knowledge/experience has been largely replaced by blind dependence on the reputed expertise of others, particularly with respect to financial value.

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Permalink Reply by Paul on June 19, 2015 at 9:11pm

Elg You bring up some concern that I've had also. I don't think your being over dramatic. It's a great question to ask the community if things have been stich ed up so much collectors won't touch items without a coa. My items it's 60 /40 with coa.

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Permalink Reply by Rock G III on June 9, 2015 at 10:17pm

you signed up to say this? 

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Permalink Reply by Mike T on June 8, 2015 at 8:59am

Grad is one of the best in the business, and in my experience dealers and individuals that bash PSA and bring up lawsuits and all this other nonsense are just mad that PSA won't cert their forgeries. If PSA was going to be "brought down by a large FBI investigation" it would have happened 10 years ago when people starting inventing all this nonsense.

That said, no one in this hobby is perfect, and it's silly to expect them to be.

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Permalink Reply by Paul on June 8, 2015 at 9:37am

He was authenticating The red hot chili peppers FLEA s block signature etc through an Electronic pc microscope. He ran a device over the ink and it magnified the signature on the screen.

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Permalink Reply by Paul on June 8, 2015 at 4:11pm

It would be hard to authenticate flea without the other members on the album. Everyone who thinks cobain has a simple signature flea wins.

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Permalink Reply by Mike T on June 8, 2015 at 4:38pm

Are you saying he got it wrong? I'm not following what you're saying.

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Permalink Reply by Paul on June 8, 2015 at 4:42pm

He got it right. I mean without Anthony and the other chilli peppers on the album you would have no chance of authenticating Flea Alone.Rick h asked Steve how can you authenticate Flea, Steve said it's like a stamp that's Fleas stamp.

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