Not cards, but this warrants PSA/DNA authentication.

Downtown1974

This is an incredible piece of history, but I think something like this belongs in an aerospace museum or something along those lines. I stumbled upon this and thought I would share it with any forum histrory buffs. I will never forget that day!
LINK

storm888

I think it is reasonable to ask:

"Why is this item not authenticated by PSA/DNA?"

..............................

I also do not like the price of the item.


.................

I know several folks who have bought from the seller
and been very satisfied.

BunchOBull

I really think PSA/DNA means very little to sellers like this who have been in the business longer than PSA.

storm888

<< <i>I really think PSA/DNA means very little to sellers like this who have been in the business longer than PSA. >>



//////////////////////

I agree.

The "value" of PSA/DNA to sophisticated sellers like this
is that the "market" feels comfortable with PSA/DNA.

The subject seller has thousands of in-person customers,
but wants to expand sales to the peasants. PSA/DNA is
a good way to accomplish that.

Also, on items like the Challenger piece, PSA/DNA would
likely consult outside experts.

They key to many buyers' comfort-zone is the notion of
neutral third-party authentication.

thenavarro

That seller is Todd Axelrod. He used to be one of my best customers, one Christmas season alone he spent over $20,000 with me buying Presidential autographs. Great guy. He used to run a shop in the Dallas Galleria when I was growing up and I'd go up there and talk shop with him. He took his business public and was one of the first autograph/memoribilia entities to be publicly traded. I believe his only gallery left is in Vegas now. Todd's old client base has no real need for PSA/DNA authentication. He used to sell a LOT to corporate clients that would use his items for display purposes. Todd creates some of the most amazing frame and mat jobs I've ever seen in my life. His prices are not for the bargain minded or cost conscious person. He used to buy pieces of mine for $2,000 (when no one else would pay $1,500) and immediately mark them up to $20,000. Occasionally he makes a big corporate sell, he has (or had) the clients that don't mind paying for presentation and that don't have time or inclination to do comparison shopping.

Some of Todd's past employees/consultants are and have been PSA/DNA authenticators themselves. Last I heard from Todd was a couple years ago and he was living in Canada, had some marital difficulties. I used to get an email from him every other day or so, but haven't heard from him in a while since I started dealing in autographed sportscards and not Presidential stuff.

Todd literally wrote a couple of books on collecting autographs. They make a great read. I think one is called "Collecting Historical Documents, a guide to owning history" or something similar. I highly recommend the books, you can see some awesome display pieces in it and it takes you through the early years of his business. Neat guy.

Mike

MooseDog

I think the bigger question is why is this on eBay and not in say, a Sotheby's Space auction???

I will say it...this picture is a complete fake.

The signatures are way too neat and tidy for the story...I could be wrong but I have to believe that astronaut training does not leave much time for socializing let alone autograph time. The signatures on the picture look like they were all signed so very neatly the signer would have had to have been sitting down and taken their time. They also look like they were all signed at the same angle (the ones on the top and bottom), and too many of the signatures are the same size. Look at the M's on McAuliffe, Mike (Smith) and McNair - all formed the same way. Look at the J in Jarvis and Judy. Same. Dick Scobee commonly used an autopen for autograph requests, and the one on the picture doesn't even look close to those. All red flags in my book.

I hate to always be a wet rag when it comes to nice pieces like this, but almost 40 years of collecting autographs has made me more skeptical than ever.

The dealer has a high-end gallery in Las Vegas that caters to the wealthy and unsophisticated and a high percentage of the stuff they sell is questionable at best, but really, really, nicely presented.

slantycouch

Good stuff Mike. Other than some great info, from that writeup I learned that I need to get myself some corporate clients.

corvette1340

$65,000? WOW.

Stone193

I remember exactly where I was when it was announced!

That seems kind of high for this kind of photo IMO.

Thanx for sharing.
mike

rajah424

I bought 2 autographed balls from this company several years ago. JSA rejected both. I still have the balls not sure which company to trust.

okposo21

some of his mantle stuff on his website looks fake, and some of them look real.

storm888

Good info from thenavarro.

...............

I have not heard that there is any pattern
of problems with the seller.

His prices are widely known to be high-retail-plus-a-bunch.
It works in his biz model, I have no problem with it; I
would just vote with my dollars.

My desire to own PSA/DNA sigs is based on my PERSONAL
need to rely on somebody other than the seller of an item.
MANY folks share that feeling.

I am not saying that PSA/DNA is "perfect," I am saying that
the general retail market has a high level of confidence in
PSA/DNA opinions.

As noted, if PSA/DNA does not have a good body of knowledge
regarding a sig, they are not shy about getting help. This adds
to my confidence in their opinions.

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This an Ellison S. Onizuka autopen:





The sig on the subject seller's pic looks VERY similar to the many authentic ones I have seen in person.

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This is an EBAY guide to space folks who used autopens.

autopens