[yankeescop]

Cut your loses and get a refund. Honestly the only way you will know if an autograph is legit is if you watched it get signed. I have 4 Manny Machado autgraphs that I got in person and they all look different. So many things affect a signature that there is no real way someone isnt going to make a mistake every so often. In my opinion these companies are all jokes. People are paying a premium because in some "expert's opinion" something is real. For all we know the guy who looked at your card just lost his fantasy league to a guy who had Trout on his team and decided to reject all Trout autographs that day.

[rjcj2017]

Cut your loses and get a refund. Honestly the only way you will know if an autograph is legit is if you watched it get signed. I have 4 Manny Machado autgraphs that I got in person and they all look different. So many things affect a signature that there is no real way someone isnt going to make a mistake every so often. In my opinion these companies are all jokes. People are paying a premium because in some "expert's opinion" something is real. For all we know the guy who looked at your card just lost his fantasy league to a guy who had Trout on his team and decided to reject all Trout autographs that day.

Yeah, I agree. I have to admit, I lost a lot of faith in the idea of these grading companies — and I swear this is not sour grapes because I got rejected — when she told me that they do give refunds if it's inconclusive, but still accept the fee if they "strongly feel" it is not authentic.

There is literally NO WAY POSSIBLE you can look at my card and look at the two links a couple of posts ago and DEFINITIVELY SAY IT'S NOT TROUT'S SIGNATURE.

Absolute worst case scenario, I should have gotten my card and my money back.

I mean, I suppose someone could spend a lot of time practicing his signature on a piece of paper a thousand times before trying it on a card, but I would have to assume "stage fright" would set in to a small enough degree that the forger couldn't produce an IDENTICAL signature.

I spent HOURS studying all the Trout autos out there, especially on card/on ball/on bat, and was POSITIVE it was his sig.

And you're right, that's the other thing I forgot to mention ...

When I asked if I could send it back to use their "review" option but request a different authenticator, she said I couldn't do that.

So, basically, I could spend another $42.50 to have the same guy look at it twice ... I'm so disappointed.

Funny thing is, I may just keep it. I still think it's real.

I wasn't planning on flipping it anyway, even if it came back slabbed, so ...

And that's funny about the guy being in a bad mood.

Or maybe he was just jealous it was such a sweet card, so he wanted to pee in my Cheerios. LOL

[joe callahan13]

Personally, it looks fake to me too. Either way, I don't see what the problem is- grading companies are nothing more than an expert opinion. They have to GUARANTEE that it is real. Their name is on it.... forever. If they are not 100% sure, they aren't going to stick their name on it forever. You asked for their expert opinion, they gave it.

"I mean, I suppose someone could spend a lot of time practicing his signature on a piece of paper a thousand times before trying it on a card, but I would have to assume "stage fright" would set in to a small enough degree that the forger couldn't produce an IDENTICAL signature."

The problem with "in person" autos like this is they are done on base cards usually. Which means if it takes you 50 tries to get that one that REALLY looks legit with no hesitation, etc.... so what?

The problem is people take PSA/Beckett's word like it is the bible. It is an opinion from people that are educated in this stuff and look at a lot of them, that's all. Of course they make mistakes, people practice this stuff until they are better at signing autos than the athlete himself is!

If you are sure it is real, keep it! If you have your doubts, get a refund!

[uvaspina]

If you don't mind me asking, I'm curious what you paid for this card, because it sounds like you spent a good bit here (of time and money). Of course, you should always buy what you like, but I'd recommend against buying "high end" IP autos for current players, especially when you can spend a few bucks extra and get a certified auto.

Anyway, sorry to hear you didn't get the result you were hoping for.

[petillo64]

No, that's not what I said ... of course they're all over eBay LOL

What I'm saying is that sometimes even if, say, a collector gets the auto himself at the ballpark and sends it in, it still won't come back encased as authentic ... even though he himself knows it's the real deal because he got it himself and is just trying to create re-sale value by getting it slabbed.

But you're right, that's how I'm leaning ... unless anyone can talk me out of it LOL ...

Get your money back ASAP! I'm sure you paid a good amount to get that card, and a good amount to get it authenticated! You have more than sufficient means to get your money back, and I would leverage with them (if they are a power seller) that you get reimbursed for PSA fees or else it results in negative feedback saying that the card did not pass authentication!

[jacobystealshome]

simple rules i live by:

1. ALL in-person autos are fake unless you obtained them.
2. PSA are not Gods. They make mistakes.
3. You really want this to be real, but there is no way you can know for sure. since you dont know, because you didnt obtain it, it's fake. see rule #1
4. if you really like it, and think it is real, it is real
5. unless you are going to resell it, then it is fake fake fake
6. if there is any uncertainty in your heart or brain, get a refund.
7. then try to get an auto yourself. and have him sign something nicer then a piece of cardboard

[yankeescop]

simple rules i live by:

1. ALL in-person autos are fake unless you obtained them.
2. PSA are not Gods. They make mistakes.
3. You really want this to be real, but there is no way you can know for sure. since you dont know, because you didnt obtain it, it's fake. see rule #1
4. if you really like it, and think it is real, it is real
5. unless you are going to resell it, then it is fake fake fake
6. if there is any uncertainty in your heart or brain, get a refund.
7. then try to get an auto yourself. and have him sign something nicer then a piece of cardboard

Words to live by.

[pacrimcollectibles]

simple rules i live by:

1. ALL in-person autos are fake unless you obtained them.

Does this include any autographs obtained through the mail of Dave Roberts?

I don't think I've ever read a more ignorant statement on this site.

[jacobystealshome]

Does this include any autographs obtained through the mail of Dave Roberts?

I don't think I've ever read a more ignorant statement on this site.

they arent fake in the literal sense. but when you buy an IP auto, or even if you get it TTM, it could be fake, or autopen. there are no guarantees unless you get it yourself

and that isnt even in the top ten of ignorant statement I've made on this site, much less the entirety of the site. id go far enough to say that you saying it was the most ignorant thing you have ever read on this site was measureably more ignorant than my post

[rjcj2017]

If you don't mind me asking, I'm curious what you paid for this card, because it sounds like you spent a good bit here (of time and money). Of course, you should always buy what you like, but I'd recommend against buying "high end" IP autos for current players, especially when you can spend a few bucks extra and get a certified auto.

Anyway, sorry to hear you didn't get the result you were hoping for.

For the record, I paid $60 ... I didn't have the $125-150 to get a certified auto, and actually had to wait until I got paid again to go for the grading — so in the end, I paid $102.50 for the card and the authentication.

Look at it this way. For argument's sake, let's say the auto is real. And hypothetically, let's say the auto passed the PSA test — that would have been a pretty sweet price for a nice, full, on card Trout auto, especially slabbed.

Obviously, it didn't work out that way.

But I can't stress this enough — of course I know it's better to buy a certified one ... I just couldn't swing it at the time; and secondly, I spent HOURS studying literally ALL of the other Trouts I could find.

I'm telling you ... the "M" and the "T" are basically identical to almost ALL of his on-card, on-ball, on-bat stuff ... the pen streaks are in the right places ... even the tiny numerals (2 and 7) are identical to a majority of the ones I looked at.

The seller's timeline of when he said he got the card, if you believe him, would make sense that it was a nicer, fuller auto ... before he signed 10 million stickers and 100 million more autos before every Angels game.

I contacted the seller, he got right back to me and said he would actually like to have the card back and offered me a full refund — so, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt on the shadiness factor.

But I think I'm going to give JSA/Beckett a shot and see what happens.

If they reject it, too, then that's fine. I'll call it good and consider it lesson learned.

I'm not going to try to sell it to someone else.

I mean, I've wasted $142.50 on other crap in my life and I'm sure I'll do it again, so ... we'll see.

I mean, if I knew then what I know now, I would have just waited and bought a certified one, but oh well.

That's why I've never done it in 25 years of collecting, and why I'll never do it again.

If it comes back from PSA/Beckett in a nice slab, I'll let everybody know.

I really appreciate everyone's help, too.

---

they arent fake in the literal sense. but when you buy an IP auto, or even if you get it TTM, it could be fake, or autopen. there are no guarantees unless you get it yourself

and that isnt even in the top ten of ignorant statement I've made on this site, much less the entirety of the site. id go far enough to say that you saying it was the most ignorant thing you have ever read on this site was measureably more ignorant than my post

This made me laugh out loud.