Real or Fake???

[Keith7]

About a week ago I was trying to think of a way to make my new bare apartment look alittle nicer, and so I came up with the idea, of doing the stereotypical sports fan thing, and fill it with sports memorabilia.. well anyways I got on ebay and started lookin up stuff and found that u can find autographed items on there at a fraction of a price of what you'd find it anywhere else.. Almost all of them say they come with a Certificate of authenticity and some even have pictures of the guys signing the item, but even with the COA and the pictures of the athletes signing the items, it makes u wonder why they are going for so cheap.. I was wondering if any of u guys had any information about that stuff??

[Cameron Crazy]

Dont do it my dad bought some baseballs off the net singed by Barry Bonds,Mo Vaughn,Pudge and they arent real cause you can just tell so dont do it cause they are fakes

[3afan]

you know what they say - if it sounds too good to be true, then ........

[kepdawg]

There is always a risk unless you see the autograph take place. One reason a lot of pieces are "cheap" online is because cheap is relative. Making a few hundred bucks off of a piece acquired at a low cost or no cost isn't cheap to the seller.

[Emerson1]

Check the person feedback and other items. If the guy has alot of items up I would think they are legit. Also check his feedback

[big daddy russ]

Keith, I have quite a bit of sports memorabilia and all of it gets sent to be forensically ID'd. I've bought two items off ebay: an autographed, game-used Todd Helton baseball cap when he was with the Asheville Tourists and a Ted Williams autographed baseball. The Helton cap ran me about $100 and the Williams ball was about $125. Neither came back positive, but I kept the Helton cap and gave the Williams ball to a buddy's son.

I've never heard of anything off ebay coming back as the real thing.

I've stuck with "my guy" ever since. He charges more than most, but it comes with forensic certification and he gets most of it by hand. For me, it's not worth having if it's not the real thing. But if you just want something to decorate your apartment, let them know that your just in it for decoration and that you know it's fake. Sooner or later you'll find someone who can hook you up with a better price.

If you want to save a few bucks but want the real thing, your best bet is to go to a couple of card auctions or memorabilia shows. They usually have some old HOFers there who'll be selling autographs for about $20 a pop. Buy a ball or bat and hand it to them... it's already worth more than you paid.

There's a bunch of those shows up in the D/FW area. That's where "my guy" got my Otto Graham football and my Joe Dimaggio 8x10. Go to Barnes and Noble and check out the back of a Tuff Stuff Magazine to see when the next one comes through town and who'll be there.

[Keith7]

Originally posted by big daddy russ
Keith, I have quite a bit of sports memorabilia and all of it gets sent to be forensically ID'd. I've bought two items off ebay: an autographed, game-used Todd Helton baseball cap when he was with the Asheville Tourists and a Ted Williams autographed baseball. The Helton cap ran me about $100 and the Williams ball was about $125. Neither came back positive, but I kept the Helton cap and gave the Williams ball to a buddy's son.

I've never heard of anything off ebay coming back as the real thing.

I've stuck with "my guy" ever since. He charges more than most, but it comes with forensic certification and he gets most of it by hand. For me, it's not worth having if it's not the real thing. But if you just want something to decorate your apartment, let them know that your just in it for decoration and that you know it's fake. Sooner or later you'll find someone who can hook you up with a better price.

If you want to save a few bucks but want the real thing, your best bet is to go to a couple of card auctions or memorabilia shows. They usually have some old HOFers there who'll be selling autographs for about $20 a pop. Buy a ball or bat and hand it to them... it's already worth more than you paid.

There's a bunch of those shows up in the D/FW area. That's where "my guy" got my Otto Graham football and my Joe Dimaggio 8x10. Go to Barnes and Noble and check out the back of a Tuff Stuff Magazine to see when the next one comes through town and who'll be there.

Thanks for all the info, I kinda figured most of those on ebay were too good to be true, I collected autographed baseballs when I was younger so I already have a pretty good little collection to start out with..

I'm not exactly doing it for just decoration, I would like the real thing, I have the money and am willing to pay for authentic items..

I'm deffinently going to check out a memorabilia show sometime, I bet a place like that would be heaven to me..

Thanks alot again for all the info!

[turbostud]

Originally posted by Keith7
Thanks for all the info, I kinda figured most of those on ebay were too good to be true, I collected autographed baseballs when I was younger so I already have a pretty good little collection to start out with..

I'm not exactly doing it for just decoration, I would like the real thing, I have the money and am willing to pay for authentic items..

I'm deffinently going to check out a memorabilia show sometime, I bet a place like that would be heaven to me..

Thanks alot again for all the info!

Also listen to the radio. Sports radio usually will advertise signings. Athletes always make appearences at Malls, Restaraunts , etc. Here in the Valley, a Bowling Alley/Bar called Fanatics always has Cowboys come down to do signings. Keith Davis is a regular and Patrick Crayton was supposed to do a signing but he broke his ankle the day before and didnt make it. They charge for the autograph but all I ever get is 8 x 10's signed and those are only 5 bucks. I got a Drew Pearson autograph at a mall in Dallas one time. I also got Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker in San Antonio. Just another avenue for ya.

[VAMike]

Or you can go right to the horse's mouth (or in T.O.'s case..some other part of the horse anatomy) and buy it from the guy who signed it...

T.O's Site (http://terrellowens.com/)
$500 for an autographed jersey.

[PPHSfan]

Man I was hoping this thread had pictures.

[JasperDog94]

Originally posted by VAMike
Or you can go right to the horse's mouth (or in T.O.'s case..some other part of the horse anatomy) and buy it from the guy who signed it...

T.O's Site (http://terrellowens.com/)
$500 for an autographed jersey. Try 199.

[JasperDog94]

Originally posted by JasperDog94
Try 199. oops...that's for the replica...sorry.

[CenTexSports]

I have a Mickey Mantle baseball that I personally handed to him and had autographed in 1961 or 1962. It stayed in my drawer forever and the signature is faded so bad you can barely read it.

Is there any way to restore it?

[District303aPastPlayer]

Originally posted by turbostud
Also listen to the radio. Sports radio usually will advertise signings. Athletes always make appearences at Malls, Restaraunts , etc. Here in the Valley, a Bowling Alley/Bar called Fanatics always has Cowboys come down to do signings. Keith Davis is a regular and Patrick Crayton was supposed to do a signing but he broke his ankle the day before and didnt make it. They charge for the autograph but all I ever get is 8 x 10's signed and those are only 5 bucks. I got a Drew Pearson autograph at a mall in Dallas one time. I also got Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker in San Antonio. Just another avenue for ya.

i used to be Parker, Super G, Duncan, Terry Cummins, and Pops cashier at my HEB in SA... nice guys... I have a 1982 Dallas Cowboys total Team Autographed football...

[Bullaholic]

Hey Keith...I think you ought to do it up in all Cowboys, UT, and Rangers memorbilla. :D

[big daddy russ]

Originally posted by Keith7
...I'm deffinently going to check out a memorabilia show sometime, I bet a place like that would be heaven to me..

Thanks alot again for all the info!
Hell yeah, it's loads of fun even if you're just looking. Makes you want to buy everything, though.


Originally posted by turbostud
Also listen to the radio. Sports radio usually will advertise signings. Athletes always make appearences at Malls, Restaraunts , etc. Here in the Valley, a Bowling Alley/Bar called Fanatics always has Cowboys come down to do signings. Keith Davis is a regular and Patrick Crayton was supposed to do a signing but he broke his ankle the day before and didnt make it. They charge for the autograph but all I ever get is 8 x 10's signed and those are only 5 bucks. I got a Drew Pearson autograph at a mall in Dallas one time. I also got Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker in San Antonio. Just another avenue for ya.
There's another good idea.


Originally posted by CenTexSports
I have a Mickey Mantle baseball that I personally handed to him and had autographed in 1961 or 1962. It stayed in my drawer forever and the signature is faded so bad you can barely read it.

Is there any way to restore it?
You can't do it without taking away the value of the ball. Best thing to do is buy a UV protective case (you can find them online for about a buck), throw the ball in there and keep it inside out of direct sunlight. You might also want to have it authenticated so that in the future, when the sig isn't legible, people will still know it was a Mantle ball.

You know, I got my first two Mickey Mantle balls in the early 90's for about $25 a piece. He was still signing like crazy back then (he was getting up there in years and was hurting for money) and the value of his autograph was next to nothing. Then the value shot up to about $75, I was trying to get a new dirt bike, and it seemed like an easy way to make a few bucks. He died a year or two later.

Fifteen years after I bought those balls for $25 a piece they're going for $650-$800.

[Keith7]

Originally posted by Bullaholic
Hey Keith...I think you ought to do it up in all Cowboys, UT, and Rangers memorbilla. :D

Rangers would work, and alittle UT would be fine, but NO COWBOYS

[turbostud]

Originally posted by PPHSfan
Man I was hoping this thread had pictures.

I like em real! and BIG!:D

[kepdawg]

Originally posted by PPHSfan
Man I was hoping this thread had pictures.

http://images.andale.com/f2/111/126/23211506/1142308805924_ryan5714kfrontrangers.JPG

http://i16.ebayimg.com/01/i/05/c8/10/4b_1.JPG

[VAMike]

Originally posted by JasperDog94
Try 199.

The 199 is the replica jersey. If you are gonna go, might as well go big and get the AUTHENTIC jersey for 499

[SintonFan]

Originally posted by PPHSfan
Man I was hoping this thread had pictures.
.
No wonder this thread has like a jillion views.:doh: