Fake Dickerson Mitchell & Ness CORRECTION

Regarding our November 17 post on the alleged fake Mitchell & Ness Dickerson jersey we found, a reader challenged our assertion that Dickerson didn’t have a contract with Mitchell & Ness. The reader was correct. Dickerson actually does have a contract with Mitchell & Ness. Mitchell & Ness, however, has NEVER produced a white Rams jersey. So the jersey below is, in fact, a fake.

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.

Worst Rice Signature Ever!

Thanks to alinchitown, we were able to find the worst Jerry Rice signature we have ever seen. A 2 year old could have done a better job. At least no one is bidding on this. The sellers user id is gogogophers32 and the stuff they are trying to sell is HORRIBLE!



Thanks to alinchtown for the heads up on this one. If anyone else finds fake stuff on eBay feel free to post a comment on this blog.

Fake Jerry Rice & Tim Brown Picture

I find more and more of these sellers that put these fake frames around fake signed pictures and think that people don't notice. The sad thing is that some people don't notice as this seller, icefisher564 , has some bids on listed items. The dual signed Rice and Brown pic below is an obvious fake. Doesn't look like Rice or Brown's autographs (we have done shows with both and seen them sign hundreds of autographs in person). The certificate comes from an unknown company called Celebrity & Sports Collectibles. Look at this picture:


Go to the sellers other auctions and you will find other ridiculous items, the most disappointing one is the fake Lebron James picture that actually has bids on it. Lebron is exclusive with Upper Deck and doesn't sign for companies like Celebrity & Sports Collectibles.

Fake John Elway Autographed Picture

Here is another eBay seller taking fake autographed pictures and superimposing fake frames on the item images. This one is selling a John Elway autographed picture (who you can only get from Mounted Memories) for $13.99 FRAMED! The seller's feedback is private? This is a fraud and eBay should kick these guys off immediately when they see this. Go to the Mounted Memories site to see REAL Elway autographs. Then take a look at this thing:


The sellers user name is cviningvinson

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