Hole-E-Shiiiiiiit
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WOW. What a wild story
Been watching this…While I think the guy that offed himself exaggerated, it may not be by a ton.
People in the know already knew that setup was fishy it seems, but basically anything with a Steiner certification or the Fanatics little flag sticker holo w/o a code is bogus.
The link is to a posting in a private Ohtani collectors FB group so it may not work. I’ll add the text below.
As we all know, signatures of Aaron Judge, along with the signatures of several other MLB players (and other sports), were recently revealed to be part of a widespread forgery ring that has finally been exposed.
Keep in mind: even though the main culprit just now publicly confessed and was raided this week, dealers, knowledgeable collectors, TPAs, and companies like Fanatics have known about this for years and have been fighting it however possible.
Here are a few ways to protect yourself when purchasing Aaron Judge signed baseballs, along with a timeline of his private signings. (Much of this is recycled from my previous Ohtani post.)
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Aaron Judge Signing History
• 2015–2017: Judge was exclusive with Player Direct (PD) LLC, which used JSA to witness their signings. His first signing with PD was in May 2015. From then until October 16, 2016, Judge signed a shortened version of his autograph (“AJJ”).
• During a PD-approved signing with Steiner Sports, Steiner asked Judge to expand his signature. He agreed, and from that point forward, we got the version he signs today.
• Per PD, Judge did two signings with Steiner. An MLB rep was present at both, so baseballs from those sessions will have MLB hologram only.
• 2017–present: Judge signed an exclusive deal with Fanatics. Per Fanatics, every signing has had an MLB rep present—meaning any Judge-signed item from Fanatics will feature both the MLB and Fanatics holograms, either the old flag-style sticker or the new one that requires the 3 letter holographic code.
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Tips for Buying Aaron Judge Autographs
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Know the market value.
Witnessed/authenticated items (MLB, Fanatics) sell at a premium. If an item’s listed for too cheap and hasn’t sold in a few hours, it’s probably not legit. -
Hologram Combinations – What to Look For:
Good:
• MLB hologram only = (Steiner Sports signings)
• MLB hologram (post 2017) + Fanatics hologram = (Fanatics signings)
• New-style Fanatics hologram only = (rare but legit)
• JSA Witness + Player Direct hologram =
Tricky:
• JSA Witness only = Be careful. Fakes can pass at quick glance. Real JSA holos are thicker and glossier; fakes are more transparent—you’ll often see the Rawlings stamp underneath. Please note this is not a knock on JSA. The counterfeit holograms used for JSA are more difficult to decipher than the Fanatics ones. JSA has since updated their witness holograms.
•MLB holo + Fanatics holo can be tricky. Be sure to check the date of old style MLB holograms with Fanatics flag-style holograms. Judge had not yet signed with Fanatics in 2016
Bad:
• Fanatics flag-style hologram only = (counterfeit)
•Fanatics & MLB Holograms with MLB holograms dated pre-2017 (Judge had not yet signed with Fanatics)
• Steiner hologram only = (same as the fake Ohtani Steiner balls—claims MLB authentication, but not legit)
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Avoid sketchy COAs.
Stick to MLB, Fanatics, PSA, JSA, Player Direct, and Beckett. Avoid others like Heritage Authentication, InPersonAuthentics, or generic COAs—no matter how good they look.
Judge is a solid in-person signer, so third-party authentication isn’t unusual. But to our knowledge, the forgery ring didn’t use non-witnessed authentication for his items. -
Good eBay deals vanish fast.
eBay has 134 million users. If a deal sits for more than 30 minutes, there’s probably a reason. -
When in doubt—ask.
Utilize Out or Safe?! Whether it’s single certed, double certed, or not even certed, we’re here to help. A second opinion and more reassurance never hurts!
6 The saying goes judge the signature not the cert. Judge them both!
Red X= Stay Away
Green Circle= Good to Go
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Hey, maybe the value of my junk-card-era cards will go up. No reason to have faked those!
That collection of Barbaro Garbey autos is probably safe, yup.
We got so screwed growing up in the over-production era. That being said, I do expect my Canseco Rated Rookie card to experience a value comeback. 
I need a Time Machine to go back thirty five years and tell my young self, “The nerds are right. Buy Magic The Gathering and Pokémon cards instead.”
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I’m into the hobby deep and I still don’t know diddly squat about Pokémon cards… I know it’s the same premise as far as rarity goes. But it’s not like Pokémon has a fresh crop of new players each year… 7th round Pokémon don’t become hall of famers making their once worthless cards super valuable. It’s just weird to me 
My kiddo is eight. He doesn’t really get it either. We’ve bought him some packs and binders and what not. I guess you just try and work whatever social angles are possible in this technology landscape. But many of the kids are into it deep. And it’s a complete foreign language to most all of the parents.
I have a thirty-seven year old employee that’s still a Jamaal Williams level Pokémon devotee. Much like Jamaal he still crushes tons of skirts. Okay, I made that last part up.
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I got so deep into it for a minute, and pretty much everything I ended up with isn’t worth much. Even the good cards, like the score Barry rookie or the Topps Traded Darryl Strawberry.
Look at the bright side. Based on what you laid out, Brad can’t trade three future third round Pokémon draft picks for an obscure little known Pokémon character with high end evolution/level up potential.
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It’s really sad how badly his night life habits screwed up his Yoplait and Driscoll’s marketing opportunities.
Lol
Charizard is Charizard from go… That’s why I don’t understand how the value can go up or down… Everyone knows the best cards, there’s no surprise character that levels up and suddenly becomes valuable
Is it just me or is value in general more detached from reality than ever? Seems like vibes is the new supply and demand.
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Not to got TOO philosophical or political… But when the value of currency plummets like it has the last 5 years and things become more and more disposable, I find myself searching for things that truly make me happy, not just more “stuff”. People seek validation now more than ever, they obsess over it, but chase things that will eventually leave them feeling empty in the end. I turn 39 next month, my only child turns 18 in January, and I know now more than ever that time is the only thing that holds any real value. Time with good people, having good times… I see how much time I’ve wasted and watch others do the same on an ever larger scale, scrolling social media and such. People seem to want to distract themselves instead of value the time they have. I’d light all my worldly possessions on fire today if it meant more time with people that aren’t here anymore.
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Well said. I couldn’t agree more. IMO we as a society have some important decisions to make regarding how we organize interpersonal communication. It would IMO be of great benefit to all of us if we could work significantly more touching of grass and shaking of hands into our routines.
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I used to fake sign cards in middle school and try to sell them at school. I wish I was kidding. But 12 year olds do dumb shit.
I’ve always thought tons of signatures were fake circulating out there.
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That’s why you want the official socko signature. No way you can forge that. It’s fully traceable.
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