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E.A great idea was posted. Let's get a group of the biggest authenticator screw ups. I'll start. All of mine happen to be with Lampson and American Memorabilia.
American Memorabila auctioned a Flutie New Jersey Generals USFL jersey authenticated by Lampson. I tried to find photos of this jersey in a game situation. I noticed that it had no numbers on the sleeves. It was hard to find Generals photos. Maybe I wasn't looking in the right place. I made the mistake of taking a leap of faith because it also came with an ASI certificate. When I got it, something just didn't seem right. I dug and dug and dug and only found photos of jersey with no numerals form practice photos.
I then talked to a usfl expert. he told me i had a practice jersey and they always wore uniforms with numbers on the sleeves. american memorabilia kept saying they would fix the problem. they talked to lampson- and said he'd talk to me about it, but there are photos of the generals wearing uniforms with no numbers on the sleeves. he never produced the photos and he never returned my calls or emails. eventually victor moreno said "you're a good customer, i can't explain why lou won't produce the photos or talk to you, just send it back and we'll refund your money." American Memorabilia did refund my money, but what worries me is I have since seen this item sold at vintage authentics with the exact same game worn description.
I have since had other problems with american memorabilia. i consigned a dave stewart coaches jersey certified by the toronto blue jays from 2000. It was certified by lampson as "one of the finest examples of a rookie shannon stewart jersey you can find" i wrote them immediately and told them it wasn't shannon stewart, shannon stewart never more #45 and it was a coaches jersey of Dave Stewart. I told them about the problem maybe 5 times. The problem wasn't fixed until 1 night before the auction ended. i kept telling them they should be worried about someone bidding on something that they're not exactly getting. No response. in the description of the item I consigned I wrote it was Dave Stewart, and it came with a letter from the Blue Jays saying it's a geniune Dave Stewart- for some odd reason that was ignored.
In other lampson/american memorabilia problems- they had a chargers anthony miller game worn helmet which had a linemen's facemask- clearly not his. When i asked about this, they told me the same thing- there are photos that show him wearing a linemen's facemask, don't worry. but they wouldn't show it to me. Lampson again hid from his mistake.
Finally, and here's one I'm dealing with now- I won a ladainian tomlinson game worn jersey with lampson coa. when it arrived, the COA was for a painting. I can't get anyone to help me fix it. Here's what the COA says
2003 LaDainian Tomlinson Game Used Chargers Jersey
Original watercolor 7 3/4" X 5 1/2" painting by Graziano, which has been mounted on heavy-weight art board. The talented artist's humorous illustration of two scientists in time machine and apes outside reads "STILL THINK TIME TRAVEL IS POPPYCOCK?" has been signed and dated by Graziano "92" and inscribed "FANGS FOR THE MEMORIES". Included is a trading card that depicts this same scene.
Can't track down lampson. He doesn't return emails from 100% authentics. american memorabilia has ignored my emails too.
Those are my stories. I have to say with most of these, the probles was my fault for trusting them, and then finding out later that the authenticator was wrong. I'm learning from my mistakes and I hope everyone else can learn from this too.
E.