Verifying Authenticity of Autographed Sports Goods

S

Sig

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So, I am looking to buy my brother a Troy Aikman autographed helment for Christmas this year. Oh, how I hate the Cowboys.... but that's his cup of tea. Anyhow, from what I've seen the prices on these things are around 450 for a full sized helmet and 225 for a mini helmet.

My concern is with authenticity. They all seem to offer COA's and 'photographs' of the signing. I am quite jaded with the autograph market having seen the consisently high levels of forgery. However, I know my brother would probably shed a tear over this gift. Thus I would love to find an outlet that is reputable and offers truly authentic items.

Any thoughts?
 
RSO 34 said:
Steiner Sports - the only dealer I would recommend. They have exclusives with most of the major athletes.

http://www.steinersports.com/ssm/control/home

EDIT: Unfortunately, I don't see any Aikman helmets listed on their site at the moment. But the official Cowboys has one listed here: http://www.cowboysonlineproshop.com...47&sAuxTitle=CSD Auto Aikman Authentic Helmet
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That Steiner Sports site is nice.... they are obviously a trusted outlet seeing as though they have quite a few items out of stock. The sites that never seem to run out of stock are the ones I worry about!
 
Interesting thread. Ive got a ton of autographed Hockey and Football cards but no real way to verify their authenticity. When I was a kid, I would send card with cards enclosed asking them for their autograph. Finally I was sending so many that every day Id get at least one of two back in the mail. I keep all the envelopes they came in but I know its not the same.
 
The Kid said:
Interesting thread. Ive got a ton of autographed Hockey and Football cards but no real way to verify their authenticity. When I was a kid, I would send card with cards enclosed asking them for their autograph. Finally I was sending so many that every day Id get at least one of two back in the mail. I keep all the envelopes they came in but I know its not the same.
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That is actually a very reliable way to get autographs! The real fraud occurs when dealers get in the signature business. All of a sudden Joe Smith of American Sports Collectibles Co. becomes Cal Ripken, Wayne Gretzky, Michael Jordan, and John Elway all rolled into the same person and signs there names to hundreds of things. Even worse, many of the fake signatures are difficult to distinguish from the real deal. Most fakes come with Certificates of Authenticity too... seeing as though anyone with a printer can mfr COA's at will, it's not too difficult.

This is mainly a problem when buying collectibles post-signature. If you are getting the sig yourself, that is the purest way!
 
Sig said:
My concern is with authenticity. They all seem to offer COA's and 'photographs' of the signing. I am quite jaded with the autograph market having seen the consisently high levels of forgery. However, I know my brother would probably shed a tear over this gift. Thus I would love to find an outlet that is reputable and offers truly authentic items.
Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

PSA/DNA
 
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