JSA autograph authentication question

[cjclong]

Does anyone know about JSA (Jimmy Spence Authentication) as far as their reputation for authenticating autographs?

[legaleagle92481]

Some people still trust them. Personally I and alot of others do not and think it is just tossing money in the trash. Go to www.autographalert.com or Richard Simon's website if you would like to read some horror stories about them and the people who "authenticate" for them. Or google "jsa" and "sal bando" and you will get links to stories and videos about the "sting" a news station ran on them. In summary Mr. Bando was signing at a show in Chicago and JSA was there "authenticating" the female reporter on camera forged Mr. Bando's signature on a photo in the parking lot outside the show then she went inside with it and JSA "authenticated" it.

[CUTiger23]

Some people still trust them. Personally I and alot of others do not and think it is just tossing money in the trash. Go to www.autographalert.com or Richard Simon's website if you would like to read some horror stories about them and the people who "authenticate" for them. Or google "jsa" and "sal bando" and you will get links to stories and videos about the "sting" a news station ran on them. In summary Mr. Bando was signing at a show in Chicago and JSA was there "authenticating" the female reporter on camera forged Mr. Bando's signature on a photo in the parking lot outside the show then she went inside with it and JSA "authenticated" it.

If I am not mistaken the lady submitted her 8x10 with the show ticket to buy what should have been the autograph.

Personally, I really do trust JSA and PSA/DNA. That incident is isolated based on my knowledge of autographs. I would not touch GAI anymore though since they have been passing highly questionable ones in the past couple year.

[joelsabi]

If I am not mistaken the lady submitted her 8x10 with the show ticket to buy what should have been the autograph.

Personally, I really do trust JSA and PSA/DNA. That incident is isolated based on my knowledge of autographs. I would not touch GAI anymore though since they have been passing highly questionable ones in the past couple year.

i concur that it was a sad, embarrassing but isolated incident. some newbie employee was caught off-guard faced with approving a semi-star's signature that was signing on-sight. based on the exemplar library that jsa possesses and advanced, signature verifying methods, i see them in the forefront of autograph authenticating. i imagine the person was reprimanded if not fired for his poor performance on that day and that stricter procedure were implemented to prevent a similar situation in the future. if this had happen with a high end $1K item on that video, JSA would seize to exist.

[cjclong]

Legaleagle, I went to the site you suggested and was shocked to see some of the misses on autographs. I know that authenticating autographs is not an exact science, but I was surprised at how far off some of them were. I decided to go with the Steiner ball as I trust them on their signings. Too bad there are so many fakes out there as it makes you reluctant to purchase autographed items. Steiner is about the only one I'll purchase where I haven't seen a player sign in front of me.

[David]

As far as the big companies go, JSA has a good overall hobby reputation, on the order of PSA/DNA. In fact, Spence used to be the head expert at PSA/DNA.

[mdube16]

I have watched James Spence work and its an amazing thing to behold. The key is no matter how knowledgeable he is, its still just an opinion. Jimmy himself will be the first to tell you that.

If Im buying something on ebay or from a dealer that isnt UDA or the like, JSA or PSA/DNA are the only ones I would trust.

[cohibasmoker]

Last Month, I won four (4) items in a single lot from a Major auction House. The first issue I had was neither the auction house or JSA would give me a LOA for each item. One LOA covered all four (4) items.

The second issue I had was there were typos on the one LOA I did receive. Eventually, I got a corrected LOA but I had to jump through hoops to get it. It seemed to me that JSA didn't care about the accuracy of the LOA - all they wanted to do is sell me a "upgraded" LOA.

If an item comes with a LOA from JSA, that's fine but I certainly would NOT seek them out to authenticate an item for me.

Just my opinion,

Jim

[legaleagle92481]

I am going to borrow something from Mike Lupica, one of my favorite sports writers. After Canseco's first book came out and outed all those steroid users, he asked "if it were not true where are the lawsuits?" If autographalert.com and richardsimonsports.com and other sites like them were spreading lies about PSA, JSA and GAI how come those companies have not sued for libel (written defamation) and gotten an injunction and monetary damages? There is no doubt that they are aware of it and that it does hurt their business so you would think that they would want to be vindicated and put a stop to it.

[legaleagle92481]

Legaleagle, I went to the site you suggested and was shocked to see some of the misses on autographs. I know that authenticating autographs is not an exact science, but I was surprised at how far off some of them were. I decided to go with the Steiner ball as I trust them on their signings. Too bad there are so many fakes out there as it makes you reluctant to purchase autographed items. Steiner is about the only one I'll purchase where I haven't seen a player sign in front of me.

Yeah it is scary how many fakes there are, the good news though is that there are quite a few reliable sources. Upper Deck authenticated, Tristar Productions, Mounted Memories, Ironclad Authentics and Locker Room Memorabilia and CSA Shows (Collector's Showcase of America) are a few, besides Steiner. Also from other compaines if a baseball has the MLB hologram and before purchase you verify the number in the database that MLB.com maintains, the item is real. (Meaning the description in the database for that hologram number matches the item in question)