The Future Of Autographs In General

After last night, we got a pretty good picture about what some people are capable of, and it doesnt matter who they are or were. I think that of all the things we expected to go wrong with cuts, this was at the top of the list. Its not surprising, but awesome that it was discovered.

A few nights ago I had a conversation with Bailey that he discussed on his blog. Basically, my take that in the future, the only "trustworthy" source of secondary market autographs will be cards. We have seen MAJOR problems with PSA and JSA's tactics, and also a conflict of interest with the process in general (why give a good customer a bad break, right?), so they have been cleaved from the trust tree slowly but surely. Yes, I know, the only sure source is one you got yourself, but that is not always a possibility. So, how can you tell what is what these days?

The short answer is you cant, but the long answer is much more complicated. For instance, back in the beginning days of autos, there were a few players who disliked signing cards enough that they gave them to their spouse to do for them. It was quickly discovered, policy was changed, and supposedly it doesnt happen anymore. I looked on the back of the cards now, and I see wording that is legalese for "to the best of our knowledge this auto is real, and it was obtained in person or sent by the player, who gave their ceritification of authenticity." To me, that seems like an out, but again, could just be CYA.

For now, they are real to me until proven otherwise, and that is why I will continue to buy auto cards. But, what is to stop companies from avoiding the $200 per card price tag and using their own means? First, there is a lot of people who are experts outside of the manufacturer. Second, there is a kind of "you shook Sinatra's hand" code between us and them that says "we were both here before autos, lets not fuck it up," type of thing. Again, we have seen bad and worse in the last few years, and nothing is outside the realm of possibility these days.

In the future, we can expect that things will get much worse as the price tag grows. But, on the flip side, at least we are aware of a problem, rather than running blind into a wall. We know there are still Project Bullpen items still out there, and there is a pretty good idea in my head that they would pass inspection, which means, as always, trust no one.