Football coa worth it??

[afosterfan]

Hi everyone, I hope I'm not posting this in the wrong section,but I have a question regarding coa's.

After doing some research reading various links I've come to understand that buying autographs on cards like press pass,bowman certified,ud,etc are the best bet. However,I would also like to buy autographed football and another mini helmet.

From what I understand,and if I'm wrong please let me know as I'm learning,3rd party coa's are worthless?
I read ppl saying that some authenticators aren't reliable..even the big name ones? So,do you guys/gals not buy autographed pics,footballs,helmets from 3rd party authenticators? If so how do you go about buying to ensure a safe investment?
Do you only buy from authenticators that don't use "opinion" or "believe" like AAA. AAA(absolute authentic autographs) say they don't use those words because they only certify what they see being signed in person,but i don't hear much about them.

I recently purchased a mini helmet certified by a new company "global authentics" and read that my helmet won't be worth much because the company is new...is this true?
The helmet is a micro mini helmet so I've found a regular mini helmt certified by JSA and was thinking of purchasing that one since ive read that jsa is very well known&respected.

Anyway,sorry for the long post,but id like to get the opinions of members on here since I know you all are avid collectors. Thanks in advance for any help,comments,suggestions

 

[ac-n-mike]

JSA is pretty good...but there have been some known fakes get past them... a LOT of Texans items are signed at TriStar shows and they authenticate them... they are VERY reliable as well...

 

[afosterfan]

Oh I see. Ok,I think I'll pass on the jsa helmet for now so I can do more research on it.

On a side note, how do these signing events work? Meaning,let's say I want to obtain arian fosters autograph, do I just need to check authenticators websites for when they come to houston? I just don't understand how all this stuff works
example,on ebay I see some ppl selling a bunch of texans items from global authentics. I mean a bunch...how does the guy get all those things? Jerseys,footballs,helmets,etc? Did global authentics hold a signing event or could it be he somehow got all those autographs and sent them in to gai? I just can't imagine one guy having the hookup to get arian to sign all those things.or do people have opportunities to buy the items at the shows?
I wrote and asked steve sipe from gai about that and he only responded that one person having so many of their items isn't a bad thing (I emailed him about the mass items and if my helmet is legit) so I'm still confused......
Can someone shed some light for me on how these events work?
Thank you

 

[wju2004]

Personally, I tend to stick to the bigger names such as Steiner, UD, PSA/DNA & Mounted Memories.

There are still chances that fakes might slip through PSA/DNA especially, but I know that Steiner, for the most part, sticks to stuff that is signed in front of their reps. (Other than deceased stars of course...but that's sort of obvious.)

There are also fake PSA/DNAs out there, so if you buy one...use a black light if you can and look for invisible numbers marked on the item that can be viewed with black lights.

I've bought all my pictures straight from Steiner's website (but only when on sale). My baseballs I've bought on ebay. One Steiner and one PSA/DNA.

I stay far away from GAI as there have been a lot of reports of fakes from them. JSA isn't bad, but I've heard fakes tend to slip through there more often than it should be allowed. Just my two cents though.

 

[afosterfan]

Thanks wju for your input..its very helpful. I too read that psa/dna has made mistakes. Its unfortunate how there is so much uncertainty w/autographs.
I'm just going to stick with autographed cards until I become more versed in coa's,authenticators,etc. I'm just too much of a noob to make a comftorable purchase through 3rd party authenticators....
I mainly need to find out about these "signing events"..

 

[afosterfan]

Is there a list somewher of authentication companies that only authenticate items that are witnessed and will not do 3rd part authentication and are RELIABLE?
If not can you guys/gals list reputable companies that ONLY authenticate items witnessed. It'll help newbies like me. I recently learned of tristar so I'll start the list w/them

1. Tristar
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3
4
5
6
7

 

[afosterfan]

I've also heard of gridiron....not sure about their reputation.if not good please lmk

1. Tristar Productions
2. Gridiron Authentics
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7

 

[wheeler281]

its all about flavor. I can not stand PSA/DNA they have more skeletons in the clost about being paid to authenticate know fakes. They are the worst IMO. If you search ther items on ebay there are so many fakes it is not funny
JSA is awesome IMO In the hobby they are regarded as one of the best. Tristar is great. Mounted Memories sweet too but so overpriced it is not worth it. Most athletes have their own hologram process now.

 

[tndcollectables]

i havent had any problems with gai

 

[SellingALLCards]

I'm satisfied with UD, Steiner, PSA/DNA, TRISTAR, AND Mounted Memories. Saw the news investigation video into JSA and just turned me off. I doubt any of the companies have 100% success on finding fakes. Its a risk you take but try to use one of the big ones those 3rd parties could be real but they have a better chance of being a scam or faked. hope it helps