The Next Operation Bullpen Has Started - Page 5

JRX · 07-17-2025, 01:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 89Giants

Guess it can be worth it if thats all it costs

Yup if that's all it costs every high end case will be scanned and the ones without any monster hits will be sold.

fabiani12333 · 07-17-2025, 01:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by r338

“95% of the [Patrick] Mahomes and Aaron [Judge] on the market are sold by me. Basically every autograph sold in the last 25 years you should have it looked at. It’s fake and someone sold it to you other than me.“

95%? This is crazy if he is not just exaggerating.

Narcissist scammer bragging about his conquest of and importance to the sports memorabilia autograph hobby.

At the end of the day, he's just a scammer who took his own life instead of face the consequences of his actions.

fabiani12333 · 07-17-2025, 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SaveMeTheGum

Next they'll be saying that the "Game Worn" jersey swatches were just cutouts from jerseys picked up at Bob stores.

Where there is money, there is corruption. And it's never been worse in the hobby since 2020-present. Grading, autographs, trimming, auto pens, "prepping cards for grading", bots, paying distributors for first shot at retail wax, and especially breakers. The hobby has become a den of degenerate gamblers and cheats. This should surprise no one.

Well, I mean, many participants would be surprised by how deep and wide the corruption and scamming is in the hobby -- that's why it's so lucrative to those doing the scamming.

There's a sucker born every minute, right?

SaveMeTheGum · 07-17-2025, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TBTC Baseball

2000 Bowman Chrome Tom Brady. Not a patch, not stamped, just a Chrome card.

Wow, that's really something. What a time to be alive...

fabiani12333 · 07-17-2025, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cracktoast

yeah fake stuff in the hobby not earth shattering news really. What I want to know is how much of this fake stuff was graded by PSA. If they were in on it or at the very least negligent enough to have not done their job and noticed the gates to the kingdom are gonna come crashing down. If I'm Fanatics or any of the other grading companies I'm sitting back watching this situation with a bag of popcorn and salivating.

Didn't he allege that he faked Fanatics hologram stickers?

It seems like all of the most prominent companies in the sports memorabilia autograph business are affected -- this guy apparently wasn't going to let an opportunity to forge valuable autographs pass him by. He was on a decade's-long bender. The bigger the name in the hobby, the better the opportunity to make a buck forging and selling fakes.

mfw13 · 07-17-2025, 02:04 PM

Autographs, like many other parts of the hobby, are a giant cesspool.

As the Messi scandal showed, even pack-pulled autos are not guaranteed to be authentic.....and surely he's not the only person who has had someone else sign for him.

And the supposed authenticators are just as clueless as anybody else.....they passed several of the Messi autos that were signed by his brother, and I've had several autographed cards that I obtained in-person failed by JSA and/or PSA.

At this point, it's buyer beware when it comes to autos.....

CMS1 · 07-17-2025, 02:07 PM

The name Steve Jordan he listed. There is a guy on whatnot that sells under cash4collectibles with that name and he is out of Florida and they always seem to have Brady and Mahomes auto stuff every show with a lot of other big name people.

hermanotarjeta · 07-17-2025, 02:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TBTC Baseball

2000 Bowman Chrome Tom Brady. Not a patch, not stamped, just a Chrome card.

Wow! You can even assess centering.

I’m glad I don’t open much wax anymore.

LVDan · 07-17-2025, 02:24 PM

I’m thankful that the only autographed memorabilia I covet are self obtained signed rock music stuff or maybe a Chevy Chase signed Lakers Fletch jersey before that bitterman passes away.

fabiani12333 · 07-17-2025, 02:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hammertime

Agree. What percent of people buying framed signed Brady jerseys REALLY care if it's authentic or not? It looks good on the wall and impresses the neighbors either way.

This is literally the rationale forgers use -- "If it makes the buyer happy, what's the difference?"

They somehow rationalize their scams are providing a valuable public service of some kind -- haha.

At the end of the day, you're just a scammer who could end up like this guy did.

fabiani12333 · 07-17-2025, 02:34 PM

"If my forged autographed baseball puts a smile on a kid's face, what's really the difference between the real thing and a forged one?"

Narcissists are so delusional.

ctau00 · 07-17-2025, 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tea10

Seems like people do it when there's no way out and no path to take. He was going to jail for this for a long time, no idea who he is, his age, etc. But he was going to federal prison and he decided to do that. Then they found a body. Doesn't seem outrageous to me, but it does seem very dramatic in the literal sense. Netflix will make a documentary within a year.

Greg Marino was only sentenced to 42 months for Operation Bullpen.

This guy was relatively young, 45 years old. Considering it's non-violent white collar crime, Bureau of Prisons would probably classify him as minimum/low risk and he'd probably end up in FCI Terre Haute's sattelite camp.

Not that I have any empathy for him, but he took the coward's way out. Would've been nicer if he'd taken his lumps and outed everyone else who was complicit in the scam.

hammertime · 07-17-2025, 03:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fabiani12333

At the end of the day, you're just a scammer who could end up like this guy did.

Excuse me, did you just call me a scammer?

eastbayak · 07-17-2025, 03:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fabiani12333

This is literally the rationale forgers use -- "If it makes the buyer happy, what's the difference?"

They somehow rationalize their scams are providing a valuable public service of some kind -- haha.

At the end of the day, you're just a scammer who could end up like this guy did.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fabiani12333

"If my forged autographed baseball puts a smile on a kid's face, what's really the difference between the real thing and a forged one?"

Narcissists are so delusional.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hammertime

Excuse me, did you just call me a scammer?

I'm curious to know if he also called you a narcissist?

fabiani12333 · 07-17-2025, 04:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hammertime

Excuse me, did you just call me a scammer?

No -- I was referring to a hypothetical scammer who rationalizes their scams as being good in some way.

fabiani12333 · 07-17-2025, 04:08 PM

Watch the Vice TV documentary "Forging Fame": https://www.vicetv.com/en_us/video/f...6dc2fb6d05d38a

Mavs1306 · 07-17-2025, 04:15 PM

I think the evidence collected will be instructive. 1st hand knowledge of the product/TPA to watch for.

boxbuster7 · 07-17-2025, 04:56 PM

all the blowout usual suspects in this thread

lol

schmerik · 07-17-2025, 05:16 PM

Scammers have always been in the hobby. The reality is if you’re buying sports mem or medium to high end sealed wax boxes or cases that didn’t just immediately come out straight from the manufacturer, you have to assume it’s a fake auto/jersey and the wax has been CT scanned. And, if you’re buying slabs, know there’s a good chance someone cleaned the card and the grading companies do not truly care since they can’t detect it. Plus, they want you to crack and resubmit pop controlled cards so they can make more money. Whole entire industry has and will likely always be corrupt

PuddleMonkey · 07-17-2025, 08:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by solt0131

What the f*ck is wrong with you dude?

I was lightheartedly mocking TBP, settle down.

PuddleMonkey · 07-17-2025, 08:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by solt0131

This could absolutely crash the entire market.

You really need to settle down.

PuddleMonkey · 07-17-2025, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hammertime

Excuse me, did you just call me a scammer?

Quote:

Originally Posted by fabiani12333

No -- I was referring to a hypothetical scammer who rationalizes their scams as being good in some way.

For the entertainment value of this thread it'd probably be more productive if you did.

PuddleMonkey · 07-17-2025, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hammertime

Agree. What percent of people buying framed signed Brady jerseys REALLY care if it's authentic or not? It looks good on the wall and impresses the neighbors either way.

The neighbors probably think you're weird.

JWBlue · 07-17-2025, 09:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PuddleMonkey

The neighbors probably think you're weird.

Imagine if we showed people the cards we collect.

I actually don't think it is anything to hide. Cards are artwork. Oh....some a lot are worth a ton of money.

PuddleMonkey · 07-17-2025, 10:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JWBlue

Imagine if we showed people the cards we collect.

I actually don't think it is anything to hide. Cards are artwork. Oh....some a lot are worth a ton of money.

Odds are the neighbors don't collect cards/autographs. It's weird to think it impresses them.

07-17-2025, 02:04 PM	#106
mfw13 Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 17,304	Autographs, like many other parts of the hobby, are a giant cesspool. As the Messi scandal showed, even pack-pulled autos are not guaranteed to be authentic.....and surely he's not the only person who has had someone else sign for him. And the supposed authenticators are just as clueless as anybody else.....they passed several of the Messi autos that were signed by his brother, and I've had several autographed cards that I obtained in-person failed by JSA and/or PSA. At this point, it's buyer beware when it comes to autos..... Last edited by mfw13; 07-17-2025 at 02:06 PM.

07-17-2025, 02:24 PM	#109
LVDan Member Join Date: Jun 2017 Posts: 17,541	I’m thankful that the only autographed memorabilia I covet are self obtained signed rock music stuff or maybe a Chevy Chase signed Lakers Fletch jersey before that bitterman passes away. __________________ So we cheated and we lied and we tested. And we never failed to fail; it was the easiest thing to do.

07-17-2025, 04:56 PM	#118
boxbuster7 Member Join Date: Aug 2016 Posts: 12,267 boxbuster777	all the blowout usual suspects in this thread lol __________________ Psa 9 > psa 10

07-17-2025, 05:16 PM	#119
schmerik Member Join Date: Jun 2019 Posts: 6	Scammers have always been in the hobby. The reality is if you’re buying sports mem or medium to high end sealed wax boxes or cases that didn’t just immediately come out straight from the manufacturer, you have to assume it’s a fake auto/jersey and the wax has been CT scanned. And, if you’re buying slabs, know there’s a good chance someone cleaned the card and the grading companies do not truly care since they can’t detect it. Plus, they want you to crack and resubmit pop controlled cards so they can make more money. Whole entire industry has and will likely always be corrupt Last edited by schmerik; 07-17-2025 at 05:20 PM.

07-17-2025, 02:07 PM	#107
CMS1 Member Join Date: Jul 2015 Posts: 450	The name Steve Jordan he listed. There is a guy on whatnot that sells under cash4collectibles with that name and he is out of Florida and they always seem to have Brady and Mahomes auto stuff every show with a lot of other big name people.

07-17-2025, 02:34 PM	#111
fabiani12333 Member Join Date: Jan 2017 Posts: 11,561	"If my forged autographed baseball puts a smile on a kid's face, what's really the difference between the real thing and a forged one?" Narcissists are so delusional.

07-17-2025, 04:08 PM	#116
fabiani12333 Member Join Date: Jan 2017 Posts: 11,561	Watch the Vice TV documentary "Forging Fame": https://www.vicetv.com/en_us/video/f...6dc2fb6d05d38a

07-17-2025, 04:15 PM	#117
Mavs1306 Member Join Date: Sep 2024 Posts: 9	I think the evidence collected will be instructive. 1st hand knowledge of the product/TPA to watch for.