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You MUST check out "Real Sports" on HBO tonight, 10 P.M Eastern time as it looks into the big business of sports autograph fraud yet again. Required reading as it should open many eyes and further give a black eye to this great hobby. |
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A LOOK AT ALL-STAR ICHIRO SUZUKI AND FORGERIES
It's time for your Japanese lesson. How do you say 'forgery' in the Japanese language? How about Netsuzou? Gibutsu? Nisemono? Gisaku? That pretty much wraps are lesson on Ichiro Autographs. Chuck Kaufman recently did a story on Ichiro autographs in which Japanese baseball expert Gary Engel labeled him an 'impossible signer'. 'I bet 99.9 percent of the stuff you see out there is fake.' Engel says an Ichiro signature in Japanese sells for about $1,000. Ichiro has always been known as one of the truly tough signers and kudos to Sweet Spot for bringing this story to the general public. Supashi-bo Chuck! More --> |
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AUTOGRAPHS 101 INTERVIEWS JAMES SPENCE, PSA/DNA
Back in 2001, Au101 interviewed James Spence, one of the most respected names in the authenticating business. If you haven't heard the news, Sweet Spot News reports that James Spence's five-year deal with PSA/DNA expires this spring and the veteran dealer/authenticator appears he's not going to renew his agreement. Spence told Sweet Spot Online that the contract offered him by PSA/DNA was unacceptable and "insulting." A noncompete clause in the original contract would effectively take Spence out of the sports memorabilia business for one year, Spence said. PSA/DNA's Joe Orlando did say that Spence still works for them and that they would have loved to have lept him. More --> |
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AU101 INTERVIEWS SUPER COLLECTOR BARRY HALPER
Barry Halper, owner of one of the most extensive collections of baseball memorabilia and a limited partner in the New York Yankees, has died at 66. Halper amassed some 80,000 items, including uniforms of many Hall of Famers, an original ticket from the first World Series in 1903 and the jersey Lou Gehrig wore in his farewell speech at Yankee Stadium in 1939. Halper also owned oddities such as the false teeth worn by Ty Cobb, baseball's all-time leading hitter. Here is an interview he did with Autographs 101 from 2000. He was a friend of the site and a class act who will be missed. More --> |
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AUTOGRAPHS101 ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS!
Every morning, the Autographs101 e-mail account is filled with questions from our fine readers. We do the very best we can in answering them but some questions are asked more than others and some we simply can't answer because of libel issues.We rarely get an e-mail that says 'Check out this cool piece', but instead, we get e-mails berading certain seller's and their amusing inventory. The questions we tackle here are: Is eBay doing anything? What's the deal with Mickey Mantle signed baseballs? Why do baseball's turn yellow? How do you protect your signatures? Are we interested in purchasing a Tiger Woods signed golf ball? Are autographs good investments? More --> |
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A PHILADELPHIA EAGLES FAN WRITES ABOUT...GRAPHS
His name is John. He does not sell autographs and obtains all his signatures himself. He asks: "I can't tell the difference between an authentic Randy Moss and a fake one and I know when I met Randy Moss, he walked right by me. How did you (the seller) get him when I couldn't? Better question, how do you have twenty?". He does not trust the 'On-Line' world, isn't an authenticator but doesn't understand how sellers can offer complete Eagles signed helmets that look nothing like his for a small price over the cost and answers why any collector would need to an authenticator to tell them that their In-Person items are good. More --> |
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THE TALE OF THE HALL OF FAME NICKNAME BAT
During the 1990's, the baseball bat autograph business was born. Athletes signed for a fee and would touch your timber with a blue sharpie for the same fee as if it was a photograph. In 1991, a nick name Hall Of Fame bat was created. Today, that feat would be virtually impossible and cost a large sum as extra signatures on bats count as second signatures. Every autograph on the bat cost less than $20 and read the tale of the 'Rapid' jerk who refused to sign his nickname and a story about meeting a Hall Of Famer (who also refused) with bloody knuckles having it been slammed in a car door minutes before. More --> |
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