Upper Deck Hits Low Note with Gard Gontroversy

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G U R R E I I TH A P P E I { I I { G SI I I T H E A U T O G R A P HH O B B Y
;
il
I
l,-
li
fll
nl
I
I
'l
who soentsix monthsbehindbarsfor
counterfeiting
sporlsand celebritymemorabilia,appearedon the showhiddenby
shadowsand was referredto as "Eddie."
evin Demitrospurchaseda one-f
If
ElonWerner,directorof communicaof-a-kindautographedbaseball
-.f
tionsfor BeckettMedia,a spodsmagazine
cardhopingto add somecushTL
publisher
Instead,his
andfacilitator
in the sellingof
I
Iion
to hisreirrement.
investmentbroughtshockand controversyto
the card,told AC he is dismayedby Real
course."So many
the sportsmemorabilia
hobby.
Sporfs'journalistic
goodthingsaregoingon ln the hobby
In December,
Demitros,
a Milwaukee
purchased
that to takethe word of a convictedfelon
airportadministrator,
an Upper
DeckLegendary
and smearthe nameof a very upstandCuts"QuadCuts"cardon
ing companylikeUpperDeck...someone
eBayfor a record-breaking
$85,000.Originallyfoundin a packof cardspurchased
UpperDeckhelpedput in prison,is really
shortsighted."
by Mississippia
r BarryScott,the valuable
the signatures
of BabeRuth,
BeckettMediais not an autographaucardcontained
thenticationservice,and facilitatedthe sale
HonusWagner,WalterJohnsonandTy
into
afterUpperDeckcertifiedthe signatures.
Cobb-four of the fiveoriginalinductees
the BaseballHallof Fame,
Jaffecontended,"who betterto sniff
This Upper Deck Legendory Cuts "Quod Culs"
thansomeonewho spent
dealerShellyJaffenoticed cord sold for $85,000 on eBoy. Soon ofter, the out forgeries
Collectibles
yearshandlingthem?"
outhenticity of the Bobe Ruth ond Wolter Johnson
the cardon eBayand suspected
the Ruth
Alongwith Demitros'card,Real
andJohnsonsignatures
werefalse.Jaffewas signotures wos tonlesled by HBO's Real Sports.
Phofos Gourtesyof BeckeE Medio [P
forgeries
Sporfstook a hiddencameraand seven
assisting
in a sportsmemorabilia
All
card
forgedsignatures
to forensicauthenticator
DonaldFrangipani.
segmentfor HBO'sRealSporfs,and in January,Demitros'
who issuedseven
wasthe segment.
of themweredeemedgenuineby Frangipani,
that hisbig investment
COAs.RealSporfsalsosent out 20 bogusitemsto a varietyof
Uponseeingthe showand learning
and 15 wereissuedCOAs.Of the services
was'susoect.Demitros
toldthe AP he felt "sickto hisstomach."
authenticating
services,
In an interview
withAC, Jaffesaidthe minutehe sawthe card,
tested,onlytwo, RichardSimonSportsand GlobalAuthentication
Inc.,correctlyidentified
the forgedmatedals.
he knewtherewas a problemwith it, padicularly
Johnson'ssignature."lt was so bad,it wasn'tevencloseto his freal]signature."
Manyin the industrysaythat in its pursuitof a sensational
story,HBOstartedwith the preconceived
conclusionthat forgeries
But it wasn'tthe onlyproblematic
UpperDeckcard.
Autograph
RichardSimontold
areprolificin the hobbyand eventhe "experls"oftencan'tspot
authenticator
and consultant
them.To backtheirclaimsof bias,they'vemadetwo points.First,
AC he found10 othercut cardshe believes
containforged,heavily
editedor incorrectsignatures.
that in its undercover
authenticator
tests,HBOdid not approach
Cut cardsarecardswithsignatures
the sportsautograph
field'smostprominent
authenticators,
PSfu
embeddedin themcut fromdocuments.
OneRayDandridge
card
authenticontainedhiswife'ssignature
insteadof hisown,whilean Eddie
DNAandJamesSpence.Second,that HBOspotlighted
featuredthe signature
cator,DonaldFrangipani,
was identified
by the FBIduringits masCollinscardmistakenly
of EddieRoushwith
the "H" in Roush'slastnamecut off.
sivesportsmemorabilia
fraudinvestigation,
OperationBullpen,as
the faultysignausedby the perpetrators.
ltemsoffered
Simondoesn'tthinkUpperDeckdistributed
one of the authenticators
with Frangipani
bannedby eBay.
turesintentionally,
but doesfeeltheyacted"carelessly."
COAsweresubsequently
"lt's not an accuraterepresentation
Accordingto the New YorkDailyNews,Demitrossaid he atof the overallmarketplace,"saidJoe Orlando,president
temptedto mollifythe situationwith UpperDeck,but received
the
of PSA/DNA,
in an interview
withAC. But he takeshiscompany'somission"as a compliment."
cold shoulderuntilhe threatened
legalaction.Now,the two parties
arereportedly
workingout a resolution.
Orlandoalsofelt that whileRealSportsmadean important
point,"theydidn'tfollowit up witha solution."
A possiblesolution
Forsome,the mosttroublingaspectof the storyis thefactthe
questionable
"Consumer
camefromthe reveredUpperDeck,the
to avoidingforgeries?
education."
signatures
industry's"gold standard."The card manufacturer
hasstatedthat
Accordingto Orlando,too oftencollectorswait untilafter
theyacquireautographs
froma "coregroup"of trustedsuppliers,
they'vepurchasedan expensiveitem beforeaskingquestions
eachof whomauthenticates
eachautograph
and providesa COA.
aboutit. To him,it shouldbe the otherway around:Consumers
DonWilliamstoldAC thatthe companyis reevaluating shouldeducatethemselves
on an itemas muchas possiblebefore
Spokesman
purchasing
to
it, including
theircoresupoliers
and willenlistan indeoendent
authenticator
seekingout a thirdpartyauthenticator.
examineand validateallfutureautographs.
Thehobbyhasits problems,mostagree,but peoplelike
"We standby our products100percent,"he said.
in the right
Orlandoseeit as havingmademarkedimprovements
"Theevolution
direction.
continues.
Theatmosohere
is muchbetUpperDeckexpresseddisdainfor the RealSporfssegment
becauseit reliedon convictedfelonShellvJaffeas a source.Jaffe,
ter thanit was 10,15 yearsago."
UpperDeckHitsLowNote
with GardGontroversy