[delfergemd]

this is why i dont bother displaying any autos that i did not get myself. they are on my walls to show my friends who i had the pleasure of meeting and getting an auto, not what i could find and buy on ebay. yes, not everyone has the chance to be close enough to superstars, but isnt that the purpose of asking for an auto, was to have something to remember the moment you did. this all changed when people realized that they could make money off people that did not have the ability to ask for theirs in person. because of this, the flood gates of forgeries was opened and now alot of people are left to wonder if they have fakes, even some who have cards or items that come from UD and other card manufacturers.
i feel safe with mine since mine come straight from the athlete themselves while i watched them sign it. that is the most accurate way imo. i dont have them or get them for profit. i have them because i wanted them and was able to capture the moment i had the person and was able to secure an auto from them. the stories i have with each item, going over how and where i got them will always be there for me to recite with my friends, not how i bought it on ebay.

[mcjas63]

thank you for the video ............ sorry just got back from throwing up the last 1/2 hour, that is just sickining and very disturbing. that is scary to know that upperdeck could possibly have fakes.

[thelegendjerryrice]

mariozac Wrote:wow.....just wow

All i could say myself

[stefanjwhite]

card collecting, mem. and auto collecting are probably the most dishonest hobbies there are. I think higher ethical standards are used by drug dealers (just say no) Easy money I suppose is the only explaination, I don't think this is anything new to the hobby (fake sigs) just much more wide spread now for obvious reasons, it is shocking to see how easily supposedly legit coa's are to obtain, but again when you are in the business of authenticating sigs, it would probably be in your best interest to authenticate them, lotta money in that, hard to imagine getting return customers when you don't hand over coa's, as what's his name? I forget, the main authenticator in that vid shows. It pays, anyway it destroys the validity of any third-party coa's really and brings up more questions, seems pointless to even bother collecting any autos anymore unless as someone stated above you acquire them yourself. Even the best authenticator they brought known fakes to didn't reject them all, so there are no guarantees (sp) this I find disheartening.

[pacrimcollectibles]

There are a few things that should be updated since this story was originally aired in early 2006.

GAI is bankrupt and should be out of business. Even with the glowing review by the producers of this story.

EBay has placed Frangipani on a list that they will not allow items from to be listed. This list is available if you look at eBay's rules about selling autographs on their site. His items, questionable or legit, shouldn't be on the site at all. I think he was placed on this list after an FBI investigation into him was concluded.

PSA/DNA and eBay no longer have the relationship they had during this video. In fact, according to my correspondence with eBay officials, they don't recognize PSA/DNA as a viable third party authenticator. The only two they supposedly allow are JSA and GAI, which as I said earlier is bankrupt and believed to be out of business.

Don't get scared away from buying something because you saw a video. Just be careful and know what you're doing. Is a little bit of your time researching what you want better than losing your hard earned money on a piece of garbage? I would think so.

[tim49erfan]

very interesting video, and some good post's on this as well. lots of good information.
Thanks. I actually bought a fake Jerry Rice, Steve young, not knowing it was fake,. The seller showed a picture of a true auto and i was sent a fake. I knew it imidiatly as i had some 8X10 true autos of those 2 players. I reported it, got my money back and seller was banned from e-bay. This was about 6 years ago.
I still have em' and look at them from time to time when i need a good laugh.

Rule of thumb: buyer beware, if it sounds to good to be true, it usually is.

[lpearce7]

WOW, you gotta feel for the poor guy who dished out 85 Grand for a fake.

I can't believe Upper Deck put out a fake auto. That kinda makes me question my dual cut auto of Calvin Coolidge/Warren Harding from Upper Deck. But so I can sleep at night, I think I will put that video out of my head.

[sensei322]

I'm watching it right now while I wait for my flight at the airport. VERY interesting video, thanks a ton for posting!