Ruth and Gehrig Balls - Authentic?

VAYankee · #1 02-03-2015, 04:00 PM

So I'm curious as to who people believe is/are the best auction house(s). Heritage I'd assume is one, Lelands? SCP? Hunt? Legendary? RR? Grey Flannel?

Klrdds · #2 02-03-2015, 06:05 PM

I have bought and buy from those AHs you listed and others as well. I believe that people develop AH loyalty as they develop dealer loyalty for the most part . I believe it becomes personal preference in most cases. Obviously product selection, specialty offerings , fast shipping, conflict resolution, and buyer's premium also are in the mix, as well as the important one of reputation ( no shill bidding, etc...).

VAYankee · #3 02-03-2015, 07:46 PM

Any thoughts about outfits like Huggins and Scott? I noticed they posted on this forum about their upcoming auction.

Sophiedog · #4 02-03-2015, 07:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VAYankee

So I'm curious as to who people believe is/are the best auction house(s). Heritage I'd assume is one, Lelands? SCP? Hunt? Legendary? RR? Grey Flannel?

I've dealt with SCP and Hunt and always had good results

VAYankee · #5 02-04-2015, 11:52 AM

So I started sending the emails from JDE to a special folder, and it's amazing how much stuff these guys are peddling. Over the weekend, I asked how did this consignor come to acquire so many balls from Halper - this was a classic response, "Ralph did talk to the seller of these bb�s. Seller did not acquire these bb�s thru an auction, according to Ralph. The current owner of these bb�s acquired them in lieu of money Halper brothers owed him. Ralph has known this seller for decades, and in fact this guy worked for Yankees eons ago. No reason, nor any kind of indication, this guy isn�t telling Ralph the truth."

So despite the Halper family business, which is still in existence today, owed this guy so money that he gave him all of these balls, which if authentic would be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Good thing he gave them with COAs too.

Here are the latest balls, the first one is also out on CCA.

earlywynnfan · #6 02-04-2015, 02:56 PM

At any point of these conversations have you ever said "But why are they currently in Coach's Corner auctions?"

VAYankee · #7 02-04-2015, 06:07 PM

Probaly one of the few places they could be unloaded without questions being asked

earlywynnfan · #8 02-04-2015, 08:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VAYankee

Probaly one of the few places they could be unloaded without questions being asked

I must be confused, which happens often. I thought they were being offered to you now, after being bought at CC.

VAYankee · #9 02-04-2015, 09:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by earlywynnfan

I must be confused, which happens often. I thought they were being offered to you now, after being bought at CC.

No the Ruth ball was offered to me first, and I apparently asked too many questions so they sold that ball to someone else. They then offered me the Gehrig ball, because I "had lost out on Ruth by not acting fast enough" , and perhaps hedged their bets that I again wouldn't be an easy sell and posted it simultaneously on CCA. Sophiedog pointed that out very early on, hence your confusion. I don't remember when in this thread, but I also received an email with a fairly extensive listing of balls available for purchase, although that seemed to be sent to a distribution list of theirs with all on bcc. When I didn't pull the trigger on either Ruth or Gehrig, they told me that they didn't think I would act on anything unless Ruth or Gehrig had signed an affidavit that they had signed a particular ball and that I suffered from "paralysis by analysis". That maybe so, but I had suspicions they were fakes, and the folks here confirmed as much for which I'm very grateful. I'm also not out $5 grand.

djson1 · #10 02-06-2015, 12:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VAYankee

So I'm curious as to who people believe is/are the best auction house(s). Heritage I'd assume is one, Lelands? SCP? Hunt? Legendary? RR? Grey Flannel?

Just remember, even with these larger and well known auctions houses, you STILL need to be very careful. I buy from Heritage as well, but I would NEVER believe that all their items are put up there with expert knowledge. I've seen some blatant forgeries and mistakes in descriptions on their site. To their credit, they do remove items if you point it out to them and they revisit the listing. It just surprises me that some crap does get listed there in the first place though. Just recently, they listed a Lakers floor board with the description saying it was signed by Wilt Chamberlain, along with others. But Wilt didn't sign it....his name was just written on it by somebody else. They took this item off though after it was pointed out.

VAYankee · #11 02-06-2015, 01:26 AM

What about REA?

Klrdds · #12 02-06-2015, 09:55 AM

I have had good dealings with REA for many years, and they are one of the best, if not he best , AH at offering vintage material in all categories in my opinion. But again do your homework before bidding...that is the key . It is not the AH but your knowledge as well that makes a successful transaction.

Runscott · #13 02-06-2015, 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Klrdds

I have had good dealings with REA for many years, and they are one of the best, if not he best , AH at offering vintage material in all categories in my opinion. But again do your homework before bidding...that is the key . It is not the AH but your knowledge as well that makes a successful transaction.

+1 to everything you just said. Regarding autographs, I have found that none of the AH's will remove an autograph unless it can be proven that it is bad and the only acceptable proof I know of is that the ball was created after the player died.

The AH's all rely on their authenticator, period. You might love an AH, but their job is to get the highest return possible for their consignor.

VAYankee · #14 02-16-2015, 02:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Runscott

+1 to everything you just said. Regarding autographs, I have found that none of the AH's will remove an autograph unless it can be proven that it is bad and the only acceptable proof I know of is that the ball was created after the player died.

The AH's all rely on their authenticator, period. You might love an AH, but their job is to get the highest return possible for their consignor.

Fair enough, but the AHs need to be concerned if they're trafficking a lot of potentially forged items, right? I'd imagine that those returns for their customers will diminish tremendously as the AH develops a reputation. I get the fact that no AH is beyond reproach, but how much fake stuff is going through the bigger houses like Heritage, Hunt, Leland's, Legends, etc.?

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