gingi79
04-15-2008, 09:41 PM
I think anyone who has been in our hobby for more than an hour knows the following adage is true:
"No authenticator can make a bad jersey good or a good jersey fake. What makes the jersey real is the fact it was used in a game, not the paper that claims it's real"
However, while enjoying my warm shower this morning I realized that I have never bid on a single item with a known Lampson LOA. I would assume many people on this board can say the same thing. And that got me thinking....
Research and doing your homework are the only ways to assure yourself that you are buying authentic game worn merchandise. (MeiGray aside) I can honestly say when looking on this site, any other gw site or eBay that I have done at least some research on every item I have bid on or asked about purchasing from a game worn jersey board. I can also say that anytime Lou's LOA was mentioned, I lost all interest in the item. This hobby is full of fakes and knockoffs because the criminal element will always find ways to pilfer money from the masses and now they have trained their efforts on our community. While I am pretty confident that Lou is not introducing fakes into the hobby, he will always be, in my mind, a money grubber who will sign his name on anything for a buck. I refuse to include anything in my collection that comes with his LOA because I have seen enough terrible knockoffs with his name attached. (I'm sure many people will attest to this fact with personal stories is asked to)
I know some on this board will simply disregard the LOA and do their own research to determine if a jersey is real. I don't have the time to waste trying to over-compensate for his opinion. I want to believe at the onset that an item is real and I am simply proving it rather than providing rock solid providence to contradict a Lampson LOA as I feel every item I see with his letter is as phony as his reputation is on the board.
In other words, I feel that there must be proof that a Lampson item is real to overcome the shadow of doubt his letter generates in my mind. To assist me in eliminating all the grunt work associated with overcoming his opinion, I simply deem everything he has written letters for as fake and I refuse to bid/buy the item.
While this sounds great, the sun does shine on a dog's a$$ once in awhile and not everything he signs off on is fake. That brings me to my question. If enough people disregard his items because of him (as seems to be the case with some collectors on this board as well as with me) is he in essence making good items "fake" because he signed off on them?
"No authenticator can make a bad jersey good or a good jersey fake. What makes the jersey real is the fact it was used in a game, not the paper that claims it's real"
However, while enjoying my warm shower this morning I realized that I have never bid on a single item with a known Lampson LOA. I would assume many people on this board can say the same thing. And that got me thinking....
Research and doing your homework are the only ways to assure yourself that you are buying authentic game worn merchandise. (MeiGray aside) I can honestly say when looking on this site, any other gw site or eBay that I have done at least some research on every item I have bid on or asked about purchasing from a game worn jersey board. I can also say that anytime Lou's LOA was mentioned, I lost all interest in the item. This hobby is full of fakes and knockoffs because the criminal element will always find ways to pilfer money from the masses and now they have trained their efforts on our community. While I am pretty confident that Lou is not introducing fakes into the hobby, he will always be, in my mind, a money grubber who will sign his name on anything for a buck. I refuse to include anything in my collection that comes with his LOA because I have seen enough terrible knockoffs with his name attached. (I'm sure many people will attest to this fact with personal stories is asked to)
I know some on this board will simply disregard the LOA and do their own research to determine if a jersey is real. I don't have the time to waste trying to over-compensate for his opinion. I want to believe at the onset that an item is real and I am simply proving it rather than providing rock solid providence to contradict a Lampson LOA as I feel every item I see with his letter is as phony as his reputation is on the board.
In other words, I feel that there must be proof that a Lampson item is real to overcome the shadow of doubt his letter generates in my mind. To assist me in eliminating all the grunt work associated with overcoming his opinion, I simply deem everything he has written letters for as fake and I refuse to bid/buy the item.
While this sounds great, the sun does shine on a dog's a$$ once in awhile and not everything he signs off on is fake. That brings me to my question. If enough people disregard his items because of him (as seems to be the case with some collectors on this board as well as with me) is he in essence making good items "fake" because he signed off on them?