The following is an email received from a professional dealer in boxing autographs. A collector who purchased a high end signed photograph from this dealer sent the photo to PSA/DNA for their "opinion" or "best guess." The so called "experts" at PSA/DNA failed the item.

Email as sent to www.autographalert.com:

Subj: Re: lawsuit/ruling in our favor 2
Date: 10/20/2009 1:12:08 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From: fighttoys@nycap.rr.com
To: Autographalert@aol.com

Autograph Alert,
I'd like to thank you for providing me with evidence to prove the incompetence of third party authenticators. I recently had a civil lawsuit filed against me where the sole piece of evidence was a rejection letter from PSA/DNA denouncing an autograph I sold. I actually printed some posts off your site (5/29/09, 5/11/09, 5/5/09, 12/6/08, 12/1/08, 8/8/08, 12/10/07, 5/23/06) and presented as evidence in court along with a long list of exemplars of the subjects handwriting. Together, with the proof of this company's incompetence and with a signature comparison of my item to a long list of authentic exemplars, I obtained a ruling in my favor. I was expecting the plaintiff to provide evidence from their authenticator, perhaps authentic exemplars and an explanation as to the discrepancies, but the only thing that was provided was this letter. My attorney pointing out there is no evidence contained in the so-called document and it states "opinion" in it by their own admission. I've been a longtime collector and dealer of autographs pertaining only to the sport of professional boxing and do a thorough inspection before obtaining and offering each signed item for sale. I've been filing exemplars and studying the hobby for quite awhile before these authenticating companies existed. The legitimacy of the item I sold was never in question to me so rather than giving in to a demand for a refund I decided to take a 4 hour and 15 minute drive (one way) to defend my name. I paid $500 for the attorney and spent $150 on gas and tolls but the experience and outcome is priceless to me. I've never had a complaint about the authenticity of an item I've sold and I knew very little about these third party authenticators until this matter arose. I was fortunate to discover your web site while searching for evidence of this company's incompetence. I guess you could say I hit the mother-load here. I just can't understand how an authenticator can be considered legitimate when their company provides no explanation or evidence to support their claim. Feel free to use any and all information/photos provided if you think it will be informative to your readers.

For additional information go to: http://www.fighttoys.com/lawsuit.htm

The following names are those listed on the PSA/DNA website as their autograph experts.

Steve Grad
James Camner
Bob Eaton
T.J. Kaye
Kevin Keating
Kevin Low
John Reznikoff
Zach Rullo
Bob Zafian

The PSA/DNA Letter of Authentication states ".....it is our considered opinion...."

Repeatedly it has been proven to trust your professional autograph dealer or auction house who guarantees what they offer. There is still a handful who don't want to stand behind what they offer for sale and hide behind the "opinions" or "guesses" of third party autograph authenticating companies. This avoids responsibility. If the dealer or auction house will not stand behind what they sell then these are the dealers and auction houses to avoid.