It seems the Auction House formerly called Mastro is in trouble again!!

Here is an interesting story from the New York Daily News detailing the latest problems for the former Mastro Auctions. Written by Michael O' Keeffe. Will this kind of stuff ever end?

"Bombshell court documents filed by the president of a New Jersey card-grading firm say the company formerly known as Mastro Auctions knowingly sold him an altered baseball card and placed fake bids on items to artificially jack up prices. The counterclaim and third-party complaint filed late Wednesday in Illinois state court by Dave Forman of SportsCard Guaranty also says that former Mastro president Doug Allen sold a Joe Jackson T210 card for Forman in September 2009 to New York collector Corey Shanus for $300,000. But Allen told Forman that the card only sold for $250,000 - and then pocketed $50,000, the documents say. Allen's spokeswoman, Julie Stoklosa, disputed the allegation, saying that Forman told Mastro Auctions that he would sell the card for $250,000. Mastro officials kept the additional $50,000 as their fee for finding a buyer. "This is just another example of their fraud," countered Jeffrey Lichtman, one of Forman's attorneys. "It was flat-out thievery." Forman's filing offers a glimpse into the Justice Department's three-year investigation into Mastro Auctions and its founder, Bill Mastro, which has focused on allegations of shill bidding, card doctoring and other fraud. One of the former Mastro employees cited in the complaint, Pete Calderon, testified before the grand jury that has been reviewing evidence gathered during the government's third major sports memorabilia probe in 15 years, according to a source familiar with the investigation. Other witnesses who have appeared before the grand jury have testified about allegations included in the documents, the source said. Forman says Allen told him in 2007 that he wasn't worried about the investigation because Mastro officials had destroyed all bidding records prior to 2007 "that would expose its fraud." Shill bidding was an open secret at Mastro Auctions, according to the complaint. "In May 2006, Forman overheard Mastro on the telephone with a collector named Chris Larson. Forman overheard Mastro discuss that Larson wanted to buy a L-1 leather Ty Cobb item and was willing to pay up to $41,000 for it," the counterclaim says. "Forman had been keeping an eye on that item during the auction, which was bidding for $17,000.00 at the time of Mastro's conversation with Larson. However, several minutes later, the item was bidding at $41,000 and Forman believes that this was a result of the entry of fake bids by Ketap employees." The court documents, and a motion for protective order that was also filed on Wednesday, say Mastro Auctions controller Walter Tomala violated Illinois and federal laws by making 34 harassing phone calls in 46 minutes to Forman's home between 1:58 a.m. and 2:44 a.m. on Sept. 10. "I'm going to bring you down - one way or another, I'm gonna bring you down, because you are a piece of --- and your brother's a retard, so I will bring you down," Tomala, who first identified himself as "Bill Mastro," allegedly said in a message left on Forman's home voicemail. Tomala sent an email to one of Forman's attorneys to apologize for the phone calls shortly after the incident. "I had a bad day yesterday and I unfortunately took it out on Mr. Forman," Tomala's email said. Attorneys representing Mastro and Allen did not return calls for comment. Mastro Auctions was once sports memorabilia's biggest and most important auction house, reporting $45 million in revenue in 2006 and 2007. The company specialized in rare and expensive collectibles, catering to wealthy collectors who don't blink at the prospect of spending $100,000 or more for a baseball card. Bill Mastro was sports memorabilia's undisputed king, hailed in the media as the nation's top memorabilia dealer. But the Chicago-area auction house, now known as Ketap Company, shut its doors in March 2009, several months after the Daily News first reported that Mastro Auctions and its executives were at the center of an FBI investigation into shill bidding, card doctoring and other allegations of fraud. Allen and other former Mastro executives purchased Mastro Auction's assets and launched a new company called Legendary Auctions. Allen and his partners vowed that all Mastro Auctions business will be "seamlessly facilitated, processed and completed through Legendary Auctions," but many consigners complained they had been stiffed by the company. Allen told The News last year that Mastro Auctions was struggling with cash-flow problems because some bidders had not paid their bills. The company filed a lawsuit in June 2009 alleging that Forman owes Mastro more than $400,000 for items purchased n 2007 and 2008 auctions. Forman's counterclaim says Mastro Auctions failed to credit almost $22,000 to his account from the sale of baseball cards and comic books the auction house sold on his behalf in 2008 and 2009; the company also owes almost $157,000 for vintage baseball cards Forman consigned for auction but were never sold or returned. The counterclaim also says Forman purchased a 1913 T200 card in 2008 for $13,200. Forman later learned that when Mastro had sold the card in 2004 for almost $3,900, the catalogue noted that it had been altered - a fact that had been omitted from the 2008 catalogue. Doctored cards are generally worth much less than cards that have not been altered. "Mastro instructed Pete Calderon, a Ketap employee, to change the description for the Joe Jackson Fatima by omitting the material fact that it had been rebacked prior to the May 1, 2008 auction," the complaint says. "The rebacking of the Joe Jackson Fatima significantly devalued the card." According to the documents, Mastro officials also used the names of several associates - including Andrew Filipowski, the entrepreneur whose private investment firm purchased the auction house in 2005 - to create accounts for shill bids to artificially escalate prices and auction house commissions."

For the sake of accuracy it should be stated by me that Mr Forman's attorney is an acquaintance of mine. He is a vital member of Net54 the leading website forum on the internet to discuss collecting.

Roy Rogers Museum Auction Museum Closed in 2009, Collection sells for $2.9 Million Roy Rogers' stuffed horse Trigger and His Saddle are top sellers!

The stuffed horse belonging to cowboy actor and singer Roy Rogers along with his saddle took top dollar at an auction in July for memorabilia from the Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Museum Collection.

The Museum closed in December 2009, less than six years after it picked up and moved from its longtime Route 66 home in Victorville, California, to Branson, Missouri.

Christie's auction house, which ran the sale along with Western auctioneer High Noon Americana, said the collection of items related to Rogers' and wife Dale Evan's roles on television and in the movies brought in $2.9 million.

Trigger, the palomino horse which Rogers had stuffed after it died in 1965, was bought by rural cable television station RFD-TV for $266,500, while his saddle fetched $386,500 from a private buyer.

Other top sellers included Roy Rogers' 1963 Pontiac Bonneville and the Nellybelle jeep, an iconic emblem on the Roy Rogers Show, which ran on television in the 1950s and 1960s.

The more than 300 items included in the sale ran from Roy's sunglasses to a sterling belt buckle and a Roy Rogers directors chair. Here is a partial listing of some of the items that were sold at auction:

Roy 's 1964 Bonneville sold for $254,500, it was estimated to sell between 100 and 150 thousand dollars.

His script book from the January 14,1953 episode of This Is Your Life sold for $10,000 (est. $800-$1,000)

A collection of signed baseballs (Pete Rose, Duke Snyder and other greats) sold for $3,750

A collection of signed bats (Yogi Berra, Enos Slaughter, Bob Feller, and others) sold for $2,750.

One of many of Roy 's shirts sold for $16,250 and one of his many cowboy hats sold for $17,500.

One set of boot spurs sold for $10,625. (He never used a set of spurs on Trigger.)

A life size shooting gallery sold for $27,500.

Various chandeliers sold from $6,875 to $20,000. Very unique and artistic in their western style.

A signed photograph by Don Larsen taken during his perfect game in the world series against
the Dodgers on Oct.8, 1953, along with a signed baseball to Roy from Don, sold for $2,500

Two fabulous limited edition BB guns in their original boxes with numerous photos of Roy,
Dale, Gabby, and Pat sold for $3,750.

A collection of memorabilia from his shows entertaining the troops in Vietnam sold for $938.
His flight jacket sold for $7,500.

His set of dinner ware plates and silverware sold for $11,875.

The Bible they used at the dinner table every night sold for $8,750.

One of several of his guitars sold for $27,500.

Nellybelle sold for $116,500.

A fabulous painting of Roy, Dale, Pat, Buttermilk, Trigger, and Bullet sold for $10,625.

One of several sets of movie posters sold for $18,750.

A black and white photograph of Gene Autry with a touching inscription
from Gene to Roy sold for $17,500.

A Republic Productions Poster bearing many autographs of the people that played in Roy's movies sold for $11,875.

Dale's horse, Buttermilk (whose history is very interesting) sold below the pre-sale estimate for $25,000. (est. 30-40K)

Bullet sold for $35,000 (est. 10-15K). He was their real pet.

Dale's parade saddle, estimated to sell between 20-30K, sold for $104,500.

One of many pairs of Roy's boots sold for $21,250.





It's no wonder Trigger fetched over $266,000 at the auction. He was a genuine Hollywood star. Roy and Trigger made 188 movies together. The horse began it's "career" in show biz in the 1930s. Do you remember the 1938 movie The Adventures of Robin Hood with Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland? Well Olivia rode Trigger in that movie.

Trigger was bred on a farm co-owned by Bing Crosby. Roy bought Trigger on a time payment plan for $2,500. Trigger even out did Bob Hope by winning a P.A.T.S.Y. award (animal equivalent of the Oscar) for the movie Son of Paleface, in 1953.

Longtime Forger Using Third Party Authenticators To Flood Market With Fake Autographs

Well a longtime forger from Missouri who was once well known for passing many forgeries of John Wayne Gacy on unsuspecting collectors and dealers is back and working under three aliases.

His expertise with the pen is signing autographs of Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan and Michael Jackson.

The forger has recently been scared of being exposed and refunded a dealer on 500 signed photographs of Muhammad Ali. The forger well aware of and taking advantage of the incompetence of the high profile third party authenticators sent in 10 photos with forged signatures of Ali. The forger gets them COA’d and shows the photographs to a dealer along with the COA’s. The forger wants $50 a piece for the forged signed photo.s However, and here’s the game, if you take others with the same style signature without the COA’s you can have them for only $30. Therefore the dealer only has to pay $15,000 for the 500 signed photographs.

The dealer felt $20 per photo was a huge savings. He also knew that with a volume of 500 photos he can get the authenticating company to authenticate them for a fraction of the $20. However, the incompetent authenticating company got the 500 photos and turned them all down. The dealer who now owns the photos screams bloody murder telling the authenticating company that they OK’d 10 from the same batch just weeks before.

The well known high profile authenticating company states they get nervous when they see so many of the same item.

What ever happened to being able to authenticate a signature whether it’s on one item or 500?

This is not an isolated incident. Problem is if the submitter is a forger of signed pieces and is someone known or a good customer to the authenticating company, the items get passed. Thus the forgers have an ally in the authenticating companies. The high profile authenticating companies are flooding the market with forged autographs.

Beware!!!! More Fake Williams and Mantles Hit the Internet!

I am seeing waves of bogus Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Sandy Koufax and Mickey Mantle autographs on pictures and baseballs. On August 2 I saw a "signed" photo of Mays, Mantle, Dimaggio and Snider (with a COA) sell for $97 on ebay!! If it was legit it would sell for $700 or more. Don't buy those horrible items, you cannot get bargains in autographs. You can only buy good items at realistic prices or junk items at ridiculously low prices but then again, if all it costs a crook is $2 for a photo or $6 for a ball and $1 for his own sharpie, then he can sell Mantle and Williams for less than $50 and still make a huge profit. Lots of guys are getting rich off the unknowing buyer. Don't let them get rich off you! These items come with COA's also. Be careful out there!
ps. There is an e mail in circulation on the internet which actually names the man who is distributing many (or maybe even all) of these forgeries. Perhaps it is time for a new Operation Bullpen!!

RR Auction Doesn’t Do The Right Thing!

Neil Armstrong's Customs Declaration Form,
Allegedly Stolen, Seized From Auction House

What’s wrong with Bob Eaton of RR Auction? Does he not have common sense?

When someone comes to any legitimate autograph dealer or auction house and they offer for sale an “Official” legal document belonging to the United States of America, what is the first thing you would think of? You are absolutely right, no question, it’s stolen!

That light bulb doesn’t go off inside Bob Eaton’s head. Someone offered Eaton a United States Customs Declaration filled out and signed by Neil A. Armstrong and Eaton went for it.

When was the last time anyone saw an original United States Customs Declaration for sale, anywhere?

Astronaut Neil A. Armstrong’s Stolen Custom Declaration Form Offered by RR Auctions

It is said this form was allegedly stolen by a U.S. Customs worker who along with a cohort tried to pass it off through RR Auction based in New Hampshire.

The two men will face a federal grand jury and if found guilty of stealing an official government record they could face 10 years in prison and a very hefty fine of a quarter million dollars. What about the dimwit who tried to sell it at auction?????? Isn’t the seller part of this fiasco? It is our opinion, proper procedure would have been to get as must information as possible from the consignor, take possession of the item and immediately call the authorities. That is the right thing to do, not participate in the sale of an obvious stolen document that should be in the files of the United States Government.

Armstrong was returning from his well publicized trip overseas visiting U.S. troops as part of the “Legends of Aerospace Tour.” His March 13th American Airlines flight 105 from London to New York was diverted to Boston, Massachusetts due to inclement weather.

One of the customs inspectors at Boston was Thomas Chapman and he received the Customs Declaration from Neil Armstrong. Instead of filing the form as required with Homeland Security officials, it is said Chapman kept the document.

Chapman showed the form to his friend Paul Brickman and the two located an unidentified individual who had experience dealing in autographs. The item was consigned to RR Auction and with a ridiculous opening bid of only $200 in their May 22, 2010 auction. Bids exceeded $1,000 before the item was seized by Homeland Security.

One dealer commented “it was refreshing to see a genuine item being pulled from an RR Auction instead of the usual mis-authenticated items.”

Sgt. Pepper Lennon Lyrics -- The Real Deal -- $1 Million

The last song on the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band record was A Day in the Life, written by John Lennon. It's considered by many the best song on the album.

In Rolling Stone Magazines list of 500 Great Songs of All Time, it was #26. And, in terms of handwritten lyrics, it's probably #1.

An American collecto paid $1.2 million for it at the Sotheby's auction. They had estimated it would get between 500,000 and $800,000.

It's on a double-sided piece of paper, with Lennon's edits and corrections in black marker and blue ball point pen. There were a few corrections in red ink.

This piece is cool for so many reasons. Aside from handwritten lyrics by the Beatles being huge to begin with, get this. One side of the sheet is written in Lennons cursive script. The other side is written in all capital letters and has all the corrections. I think this is so much cooler than the "All You Need is Love" lyrics which sold for $1.25 million in 2005.

Time for a Lawsuit? It could be coming soon!

The following is an email from a reader named Jeff. It says what other emails state, just clearer.

“I enjoy your site. I wanted to point out yet another reason some sellers use PSA and JSA. PSA has the ability to email eBay with their “Quick Opinion” findings, and eBay will then immediately hit a button and close the item down and remove it from the system. All based upon an email from PSA, without any info being given to the seller. If you have 5 Sophia Loren’s listed, and PSA decides in their infinite wisdom they don’t like them, eBay then (because of multiple closures) sends you an email that REQUIRES you as the seller to get every item you list in the autograph category pre-authenticated by one of their approved companies. And even worse, I’ve also heard from sellers who have been completely suspended due to these emails from PSA. Only PSA has this system set up with eBay….PSA charges $7.50 a pop, then “shares” the info a potential buyer paid with eBay. This really does give PSA sole authority over what is, and isn’t listed on eBay. There are tons of cases where PSA closes an item that’s 100% authentic. The seller is left holding the bag. eBay won’t share the email they got from PSA, and won’t give more than a canned response to any requests for info.

The only way to stop PSA from doing this is for sellers who have items closed down, and have been financially damaged, to file suit against PSA. A seller basically can’t sue eBay, as they have a ton of rules set up to protect them as part of the user agreement. IF enough people go after PSA, maybe the $7.50 an item won’t feel like enough to go through all the trouble.”

Signature Arts response is that many, for years, have been calling for a law suit to be filed against PSA. Some attorney needs to come forth and take on these incompetent authenticators who are scamming collectors. Collectors and dealers who have been harmed will come forward! For the record, eBay largest seller of autographs (over 100,000 feedbacks) got caught up in this authenticating scam. 100% authentic autographs were removed on eBay from the sellers site and they closed him down. He could not get back on unless he paid one of eBay’s incompetent autograph authenticators to go to his office and authentic the autographs he would put back on eBay. Could this be collusion between eBay and their so-called authenticators? Could the authenticating company have shared the money with eBay, sort of like a finders fee? It cost the dealer $5,000 to have an autograph authenticating imposter, approved by eBay to come over and attach stickers to every item the seller showed him. The seller told us that the authenticating imposter was not aware of many of the names he was placing the silly stickers on. After the scam was said and done the seller got a lousy tea shirt. You may find this hard to believe, but the same authenticating company asked this seller of autographs to be one of their authenticators. This seller is willing to tell his story to a judge in court.

For the record, this seller opened his own website, is holding weekly auctions, and after a year, sales are much better than they ever were on eBay. Not to mention no longer paying the buying and selling fees and being held hostage to Payal (owned by eBay).

A fabulous and we mean fabulous, alternative to eBay is coming. Scheduled for October 2010, in our opinion, sellers of autographs will be ecstatic when they hear the news.