Fake Footballs & Mini Helmets bdiamondsports
Finding bdiamondsports on ebay is like finding Tony Marino again on ebay. Tony Marino (no relation to the Angelo Marino family from San Diego) was convicted in Operation Bullpen for being involved in selling millions of dollars worth of forgeries. We were actually his last victim before the FBI raided his home. He took us for over $10,000 in the beginning of our autograph career in 1998-99. The thing with Tony Marino is that he could get you ANYONE on a mini helmet for $40. And the scary thing was, you couldn't really tell if the autograph was forged or not. According to him, he would get them via "runners" or people who supposedly followed these players around.
Look at this Howie Long football (this picture is kind of distorted, go to the actual auction to see the full size image:
And then look at a ball that Howie Long signed at our show on September 13, 2003 in Ontario, CA:
Close, but no cigar. Also, the certificate for all of the sellers auctions come with a cheap, computer printed COA from themselves, and I am sure they have never contracted with Howie before.
Now go to the sellers other auctions and you will find an incredible range of athletes on mini helmets. Including very hard to get players like Emmit Smith, Tom Brady, and several others. They even have a mini helmet up for $49.95 (they are all $49.95) from Joe Namath while Namath typically charges over $100 per autograph.
Notice also that the seller has 100% positive feedback. We have had some readers ask us that if someone was selling fake items, why would their positive feedback be so high? The simple answer is that if the people who were buying from them knew what real autographs were, they wouldn't be bidding on their auctions. These unfortunate bidders think they are real and the seller is shipping them their product. So of course, they are going to leave positive feedback.
Back in the Tony Marino days (and it looks like they are still out there doing it), Marino would take mini helmets, jerseys, and footballs to "signing parties" were they would pay forgers anywhere between $5-$10 per signature to sign their stuff, sometimes even less. When we were at the court appearance in San Diego, we listened to him on FBI recorded telephone calls laughing at how great this new forger was that he found, "he can sign like almost a thousand things an hour, he is great!" Marino was sentenced to 2 years in jail for his involvement when he was only going to get 1 year originally. The judge was so disgusted with the evidence he gave him the maximum sentence.
These autographs look very close to the ones that Tony Marino used to sell which probably means the guys who were forging 4 years ago are probably doing it again (we are NOT saying Tony Marino is involved with this).
A perfect example of the type of stuff these guys are selling, a horrible Joe Montana autograph:
Compare that to a football that Joe signed at one of our shows:
So beware of these types of sellers. They usually have a HUGE selection, more than even the top sports memorabilia distributors do, and they sell players like John Elway, Joe Namath, and other $100+ per signature players for ridiculous prices. They also sell everything with phony COA's, usually from their own companies, even though they have probably never contracted with ANY of the athletes they are selling.
6 Comments:
I'm sure you know what you're talking about, and I'm certainly not saying that you're not. But my signature never looks the same twice, and I'm signing flat pieces of paper. I can't imagine what my signature would look like if I were signing something round like a football or a helmet!! :)
Hello Dave, thank you for your comment. You are correct, the normal person has trouble signing two signatures the exact same way. However, people like Joe Montana and Howie Long sign thousands and thousands of autographs and you would be surprised how similar they all are. Also, we are looking at several factors, the COA, the missing holograms (Joe has his own hologram that goes on everything he signs), the low price, etc. So the inconsistent signature is only one part of the diagnosis.
Let us know if you have more questions, thanks!
What if someone recently buys an autographed piece of sports memorabilia and takes it to an expert to check for authenticity which turns out to be fake. If the item was bought on the web and is from another state, what action can be taken? It seems that people should not settle for a refund but should report such fraud.
Let us know who you bought it from...there aren't too many agencies that will actually do something about it but if you can spread the word to other collector's it usually helps. Also if it is an athlete that is under contract by a certain company, sometimes they will try to stop it.
I am a seller on ebay and I get all my autos in person.I have sold montanas and tim brown and jerry rice before and I also guaranteee 100% money back authenticity.So don't be quick to judge all sellers by a coa.I have gotten Montana at golf tournaments and he doesn't AFFIX HIS COA TO ALL IN PERSON ITEMS OR ANY IN PERSON ITEMS FOR THAT MATTER.i GUESS i AM UPSET BECAUSE GUYS LIKE THESE RUIN IT FOR ALL LEGITIMATE EBAY SELLERS out there.Is there anything we can do.Also I guarantee all my items to pass PSA/DNA I witness all auto's.Thank you and keep up the great work.
Hello, we do understand that there are some people like yourself that do get autographs in person. We do not judge an item solely on the COA, we use a number of criteria including the actual autograph scan, the COA, the other items the seller is offering, and the seller's proof of where it was signed. These are all factors, however as you already know, there are tons of people who say they get autographs in person who are lying so it does put you in a difficult position when you are selling these items.
Thank you for your post!
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