There is an ever-growing market in sport memorabilia, and sports-related keepsakes include signed commemorative photos, baseballs, footballs, basketballs, pucks and jerseys. A Google listing of corporations hawking these items produces almost five million business sites! A few of the items on offer cost thousands of dollars.

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There is an ever-growing market in sport memorabilia, and
sports-related keepsakes include signed commemorative photos,
baseballs, footballs, basketballs, pucks and jerseys. A Google
listing of corporations hawking these items produces almost five
million business sites! A few of the items on offer cost
thousands of dollars.

Where there are so many eager and gullible customers, con
artists are sure to show up. A San Diego federal judge who
recently sentenced many sports autograph forgers to prison said,
“Life, liberty and the pursuit of the national pastime, has been
undone”. The prosecution stemmed from an FBI investigation
called Operation Bullpen, which closed down a professional
criminal organization that forged and sold sports goods enhanced
with bogus autographs. Sixty search warrants were served, more
than two dozen forgers arrested, and a warehouse with ten
million dollars worth of fake merchandise was seized. The ring
leaders received three years in prison and loss of assets to the
IRS. Both current and faux “antique” items were involved.

Any sports fan who has a signed souvenir would be wise to
question its authenticity. Phil Halpren, the assistant federal
attorney who worked to prosecute the forgers, stated that fraud
is so pervasive in the sports memorabilia market that unless you
personally watch as an athlete signs an item, odds are greater
than 50 % that it’s forged. Athletes most popular with the
public are a hit with forgers, too. Halpren said, “If you see a
Mark McGuire signature, it’s almost a guarantee, 99.9%, it’s a
forgery.” Certificates of authenticity can be fabricated with as
much ease as the collectible item they supposedly validate, so
this is no protection.

Vendors are fighting back in an effort to maintain the
integrity of the market. Disney, which owns ESPN, will commence
next year to auction signed sports memorabilia online. Disney
says it will authenticate the signatures with holograms
encrypted with the item’s identifying information and
tamper-proof package seals, videotaping the entire process.

Sophisticated forgers can even develop holographic seals which
appear real to the untrained eye. Even so, the great majority of
forgers are amateurs, and usually even a basic anti-forgery
system is likely to deter them.

Baseball and football are the most popular sports in America,
however some famous hockey players like Wayne Gretzky and Bobby
Orr are popular targets for forgery as well.

With the large selection available, both in stores and on web
sites, fans can avoid a lot of fraud by applying common sense.
For instance, a baseball autographed by Babe Ruth selling for
$500 is obviously a fake, because such a cost is unbelievably
low, too low for real market conditons. As well, it pays to know
a little bit about the development of baseballs and pens. If you
see baseballs supposedly signed in the ’20s and ’30s with
Sharpie pens, these items are obviously fake, because these pens
weren’t invented yet in that era. To quote Phil Halpren : “I
have seen Babe Ruth balls signed on a Bobby Black American
League President ball. So, you know, he was president in the
early ’80s. That’s impossible to have been done. However someone
did it.”

So, while it’s enjoyable to have a peice of sports history to
call your own, the motto to follow is : buyer beware. Unless you
are a professional trader who knows how to authenticate
merchandise, do not acquire an item strictly for its potential
resale value, because you can be disappointed by what you sooner
or later get back for it. Purchase an item you personally like
and intend to keep, and do not spend thousands of dollars. This
ensures that you will be happy when you admire your acquisition,
without the lingering doubt that you have lost a massive amount
of money on something of dubious value.

About the Author: Frank Hague takes great interest in sports
matters. www.sports-memorabilia-now.info

Source: www.isnare.com

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