[Runscott]

Wayne, I didn't really understand the post where you quoted me - I sincerely hope you don't think I was questioning what you said. I actually agree with everything you've stated, and was just adding to it when I said that the "Non Big 2" could live with the results that their integrity has 'cost' them (although I don't really think it has cost them much).

I completely agree that the 2 largest TPA's exist in their less-than-desirable form due to marketing (and I would add customer 'greed' in some cases) and the fact that they provide a service that a lot of people believe is accurate, but that is desirable to some, even if it is not accurate.

I would not compare them to card-grading. They aren't grading the items, they are authenticating them. There is a huge difference. Card authentication should really be close to 100% success rate, while grades are somewhat subjective. Autograph authenticity should not be subjective. If a TPA 'thinks' an autograph is 'probably' authentic, but their certainty is less than say 99%, then their COA should say so. For instance, the ones that we have stated here are definitely bad (like the Sonny Liston Travis recently posted) - there is no way in hell that the TPA could have been even 50% certain on that one. They should say as much in their COA. For instance: "autograph exhibits characteristics consistent with known exemplars, but appears to be signed rather than drawn, and Liston is known to have drawn rather than signed."

Call me emotional, but if I'm collecting something and have a lot of money tied up in it, and key players in my hobby are demonstrating the level of professional skill demonstrated by JSA and PSA/DNA, then you are damned right I am going to be emotional. They either need to clean up their act or go work at McDonalds.

Edited to change 'Louis' to 'Liston' - my bad