Has anyone ever heard of Pro Treat Autographs?

TonyC

I was looking at craigslist (I know, bad move), and I saw an ad for a bunch of autographed baseballs. He had a fuzzy picture of them; from what I could tell they were sealed in blister packs, but I couldn't make out the manufacturer/authenticator. I sent him an email asking where the balls came from, and he said they are Rawlings balls that are packaged and authenticated by "Pro Treat Autographs."

I searched for Pro Treat on eBay and online, and I found a few cards, but I didn't see any baseballs. I suspect from the name that it is a Mickey Mouse operation and that they are probably fake, but on the off-chance that I am wrong, has anyone ever heard of Pro Treat and are their items authentic?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

TonyC

I wanted to add that I eventually found one on eBay by changing my search terms. The signature is covered with styrofoam, so I guess it is impossible to pre-judge the authenticity.

Catfish Hunter Ball

Sean1125

It is actually Treat Pro autographs, and Brooks Robinson is their spokesman.

It boils down to their CoA's being easier to forge than most (a piece of paper pretty much).

If you actually have a legitimate CoA it is an in person signing, if not though it is most likely not authentic.


Edit*
I checked the auction you linked, I find it odd that he doesn't show the signature even though the package has been opened, in the final picture you can see that someone has cut along the top of the package... I'm not saying the ball is fake but if it is opened I'm sure the seller can turn the ball without damaging much, so there is no reason to not show the full signature... He did post a bunch of pictures which I believe is an effort to show what he can though.

I would request the seller to turn the ball around and get me a photo of the full signature and just decide off that.

TonyC

Sean, thanks for your input. The one on eBay is not the item I was looking at; I was looking at a lot that I found locally on Craigslist. I don't know if those packages have been tampered with.

Tedw9

Like Scoreboard auto's from the 90's, the coa's from Treat are easy to switch out. But all of the baseballs I purchased that came with a Treat coa were all on non official baseballs. So unless someone is forging autographs on unofficial baseballs, I would think you would be fairly safe. That's not to say to do your homework and compare the signatures, but generally the autographs I bought were of lower tier HOF'ers and stars of the day, nothing that would sell for big money now.

Treat sold autographs through Wal Mart and Sams Club in the 90's. I once got a 3 pack of signed baseballs (Willie Stargell, Andrew Jones, and Tony Gwynn inscribed .394/94) for I think $50 at Sams. They also sold bats (Willie Mays set me back $80) and cards too.