Steiner COA with half fake Rivera

Authentic Steiner Rivera signature with suspect inscription.

I recently saw this Mariano Rivera signed ball on eBay with a Steiner hologram and COA card.

In my opinion, the signature is 100% legit as one would expect from Steiner. However, something wasn't quite right about it. I think the "Enter Sandman" inscription has been forged.

The inscription appears tentative and does not match well with authentic exemplars. Further, the postioning of "Mariano Rivera" could indicate that it was signed with no intent to add an inscription below the name. Often, Rivera will sign higher on the ball when he plans to add an inscription below.

Authentic Steiner Rivera with authentic inscription

For your comparison, I have included a Steiner certified ball with an authentic "Enter Sandman" inscription.

Sadly, the lesson is that we must closely examine everything. Crooks are out to make money every way they can... including adding fake inscriptions to authentically signed items.

A Stoner COA

On January 10, I wrote about junk COA whack-a-mole. When one phony-baloney COA gets banned from eBay, another cheeseball COA will soon appear.

Exhibit A: Certificates of Authenticity from Michael A. Stoner, Esq. Does anyone know this guy? Who goes to a lawyer to authenticate or buy an autograph?

What's next, Marcus Welby, MD COAs?

American Royal Arts: The Aftermath

This is a fascinating tale of fraud and greed.

No happy ending thus far, but hopefully justice will eventually be served.

CSC Collectibles COA = Junk

I recommend you avoid items with the CSC Collectibles Certificate of Authenticity / hologram. These worthless COAs appear on the same junky fakes we've seen with the equally worthless Nicholas Burczyk COAs.

I suspect it won't be long before this rubbish COA is banned from eBay as well. Sadly, the criminals who produce these fakes will just produce another phony-baloney authentication COA to slap on the bilge they pump out. It's like COA "whack-a-mole."

One thing to note about these mass-produced fakes is some of them are on 5x7 photos. Now, if you paid big bucks for a private signing with Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio or Ted Williams, would you waste it by having them sign offsize and unpopular 5x7 photos? Of course not. The forgers are so cheap, they probably use 5x7s to reduce costs.

It's even worthless as toilet paper.

Global Authentics + Steve Sipe and Mariano Rivera

Mariano Rivera is my favorite NY Yankee -- he's my Mickey Mantle. (Sorry Jete, I like you too, but you were a bit too much of a teen idol to be MY favorite.) So, I enjoy collecting Rivera signed items and peruse eBay almost daily. Over time, I've gotten a pretty good eye for what constitutes an authentic Rivera and what the clunkers look like.

For many months, there has been an endless stream of Mariano Rivera signed items with Global Authentics / Steve Sipe certificates. There are 20 - 30 of these on eBay at any given time and they all look strikingly similar. Here are a few examples of Global Authentics / Steve Sipe certified Mariano Rivera items:

Can anyone produce known authentic exemplars that compare well to the items above?

Just for comparison's sake, here is a ball signed through Steiner Sports:

Now to resume our regularly scheduled programming

The last few months have been very hectic... I'm really going to try blogging more regularly in 2012. It's not that I don't enjoy it, I just need to be more disciplined!

Forever in our hearts

This is how I like to think of the World Trade Center -- gleaming against a flawless sky.

The Towers have been gone 10 long years now, along with all of those whose lives were cut short. So much promise and opportunity lost.

The people who worked there were regular folks who only wanted to provide for their families: accountants, maintenance, cafeteria workers, clerks, insurance agents, people who answered phones. The kind of people who'd see the back page of your NY Post and strike up a conversation on the elevator. You think Bernie has a shot at the Hall of Fame?

I understand the desire for memorial services honoring the 10th anniversary of the attack. However, for people who were there, not a day passes where there isn't some remembrance. Sometimes it's a dull ache. Sometimes it's a sharp pain. Most often, it's a whisper in the wind... a sad remembrance of a long lost friend.

I won't be watching any of the ceremonies today. My wife and I spent the morning helping the victims of flooding due to Hurricane Irene. This afternoon I'll enjoy the kids and settle in with a cold beer and a Yankee game.

But it's hard not to drift back. Think about how it could have been me gone for 10 years now. Think about their last terrible moments. The last thoughts that crossed their minds. They just wanted to go home one more time.

Worst Mickey Mantle signed item. Ever.

I laughed when I saw this on eBay recently.

Real signature, yet totally undesirable. With all due respect to the man in the photo, who would ever want this except for him? I suppose it could be used for a cut if it was cheap enough.

And why does it look like a photo from the mid-60s instead of the mid-70s?

After a six year wait for B.B. King, this is what I get...

I sent this photo with an autograph request to B.B. King in April 2005.

Imagine my surprise when I recently opened the envelope -- a long-lost request that had been out for over six years!

Now, imagine my sadness when I discover it is a rubber stamp signature.

Why would it take six years to get back a rubber stamp signature? Is B.B. applying the rubber stamp himself?

Looking at the "g," it appears that someone "fixed up" the weak area of the stamp by hand.

This is what a Mariano Rivera forgery looks like

This especially rancid forgery is courtesy of eBay seller big.johnsreds.

Note the very slooowwwwly drawn signature with many stops and starts.

The seller claims to have obtained it in-person, however, the photo he uses for proof was stolen from another auction that ran a few weeks ago.

A Treasure Trove of Lou Gehrig Memorabilia

A great article in the New York Times regarding a failed romance and a stash of Lou Gehrig memorabilia found 80 years later.

Landau and Savedoff: Selling stolen documents?



Tired


Barry H. Landau, 63, a well-known collector of presidential memorabilia, and Jason James Savedoff, 24 were charged with stealing historic documents from museums.

A National Archives official called the scope of the case "truly breathtaking." The indictment charges that the two men pilfered and sold copies of speeches from a former president and took a land grant signed by Abraham Lincoln along with a letter to John Paul Jones.

For more details, read the article in the Baltimore Sun.



Defiant

Were you offered or did you buy from these men?

The FBI is seeking information regarding Barry H. Landau and Jason James Savedoff, both residents of New York City. The FBI believes that Mr. Landau and Mr. Savedoff may have contacted dealers and collectors offering items for sale. If Mr. Landau or Mr. Savedoff have contacted you in reference to the sale of a historical document, please contact FBI Baltimore at 1-410-265-8080.