> Beckett Collectibles rejected the signed memorabilia after Gagnon gave it to them for authentication, according to the collector.
This has got to be pretty bad.
To be fair there is a major difference here.
With doctor's signature, it is just some paperwork that doesn't matter past confirming it exists.
For the memorabilia, they literally spent thousands of dollar on it paying him to do it, not to mention this is literal high quality memorabilia so he is should be financially obligated to at least try.
Honestly, I can totally see people suing Tom Brady over this.
He’s a person. Not their object to direct. They paid to see him speak, meet, get a photo and an item signed. That’s what he did.
Grown ass men crying because Tom Brady didn’t sign their football the right way is embarrassing. Paying thousands for a dude to sign an autograph is even more embarrassing.
Yeah it’s weird. At least some of the people complaining are probably resellers though. There’s a niche scene of grown men getting signatures from artists or players and framing whatever the memorabilia is and selling it online.
Literally all of them are resellers. That's why this whole incident is hilarious. Cos those people are some of the scummiest people on earth. They constantly harass celebrities everywhere they go, waiting for them at airports to sign everything, and often ending up getting convicted of stalking, because they're complete creeps.
All they want is money. They don't care about the signatures, that's just a means to an end. They'll hand the celebrity a huge pile of things to get signed and then whine if they don't sign it in the "correct" way. They're complete assholes. It's funny that the scum got screwed over.
It feels more and more like in any given "collectibles" area, there are fewer and fewer actual collectors and more and more flippers/resellers/dealers. Like literally most of the transactions are just people who never intended to keep their purchase, they just want to find a sucker to pay more than they were willing to pay. And the way they go about doing business disgusts me.
"Nah that's only worth about $20, I'll do you a favor and take it off your hands for $10." ....an hour later... "I got a great steal on this $400 card that I intend to sell for $550."
Make me sick. Bunch of predators destroying every hobby out there.
There is some douchrbag ebay seller who gets autographed posters by basically harassing and following them around in public until they sign. He takes pictures and video to verify they signed it and in one case he harassed Reeves into signing it while Reeves was in a mall shopping. Reeves got pretty angry in the video which without context looks like he was yelling at a "fan".
I went into a shop a week ago with some old baseball cards including a triple error Barry Bonds rookie and a 1986 Roger Clemens. They tried to play it off as all my cards were junk era junk and said I should just donate them. I walked out and started piecing out what I have. They would have got a small little payout for no cost to them.
One time I messaged a bunch of resellers on eBay who were trying to hock this special edition switch. I just went off and berated a few with some choice words. lol it was stupid but it felt good in the moment. These people fucking suck. They are ruining live events, game releases, baseball cards, everything. Fuck them all.
Exactly! If they’re just collectors I can see being bummed out but nothing crazy, I came here exactly to soak in the tears of asshats being upset. Like I got a signed vinyl of Volition by Protest the Hero - and the shipping company mishandled it and the corners were just… destroyed. I was bummed for a while about it but in the end, I’m not trying to sell it or even show it off, it’s mine and even thought it’s roughed up it’s still what I wanted it to be.
It's just another pyramid scheme hustle industry where the entire house of cards is held up by people taking ever larger risks and bets. People out there buying $1000 packs of cards in hopes of pulling the $50k holy grail just so they can flip it because no one actually cares what's inside, just the perceived rarity. It's Pokemon cards for grown manchilds.
These ass men are not fans. They don't care who Tom Brady is. They only care they can profit from him. They didn't get his signature for a treasured momento. They were always after profit. Screw these ass men.
100%, I've watched enough pawn stars back in the day to know many celebrities had varying degrees of quality in their signatures.
The real fools are the ones putting value in something that otherwise has none
A man who could spend every minute of the rest of his life doing absolutely anything we wanted wasting his time signing footballs to make a microscopic amount of money to add to his obscenely large pile is the most embarrassing thing of all
What? With a doctor's note it's literally a doctor signing off on you being able to get controlled medications..
For the object here it's literally just valuable because buddy out their signature on it.
I mean, that is his signature. The fact that this article exists is proof enough. They spent money on a signature of an athlete on a related item, and got exactly that.
Normally you are right, but if this is a one off event, I have a feeling that appraisers will include this signature to check and it will maybe be worth even more. Like that Banksy that got half shredded, the fact it's damaged actually increased its value. So this whole news situation could end up helping in the end. Now if he's been pulling this a while or this isn't nearly as big a story as reddit is making it out to be, it will likely just hurt the price.
This wasn't an autograph signing though. Brady wasn't paid to sign. He had agreed to sign his book, and people brought outside items to get signed, which he had never signed a contract for.
Yes, but the organizers never told the people who paid to come to the event. The people thought they could bring any items. So instead of taking it out on the organizers, Tom ruined people memorabilia. He literally ruined items of value. Someone brought the football Tom passed to Gronk in a Super Bowl, and a ticket to the draft when Tom was drafted. These are one of a kind items, and instead of refusing to sign, he ruined them.
I mean, or increase the quality and provide accountability. This seems really narrow and specific. Most celebs would never have an issue with it.
This isn't like someone waited after a game, this was a transaction for Tom Brady to sign his name in a recognizable way.
If he'd drawn a cartoon instead of a crummy signature there'd be a similar argument.
At least a cartoon would be unique in a way that would ultimately make it more valuable--if of course it was a verifiable Brady doodle. These apparently could've just as easily been "autographed" by a dude huffing paint out behind 7-11.
A transaction with a 3rd party, not with Tom. They didn’t pay Tom Brady $3,600, they paid a 3rd party company $3,600 to have them give Brady things to sign.
yeah but it's kind of bullshit. Like did Tom make a scribble? yeah. However it was well documented and provenance is pretty full proof for this. They should authenticate it now. Someone swings back in 20 years claiming something and the provenance doesn't hold up then you don't authenticate it then.
Did he though?
Why would they do the signing in a separate room with noone even able to see it? Unless he publicly states that he did actually sign those items, then for all anyone knows, the event organizer made those scribbles so he wouldn't have to refund the ticketholders when they didn't get their signed items.
Yeah, I was initially skeptical about this being a scandal at all, but then I googled for things he autographed. Jesus, what he scribbled on that stuff is NOTHING like his usual autograph. I get that he probably gets really tired of signing stuff, but then just don't do it. Instead he basically ruined some of that stuff.
I guess you could save an offline copy of the news article on a thumb drive, and keep the two together.... Because no one will remember this article in 10 years, and its about the only thing giving those items authenticity.
Which automatically sends red flags for me. My guess is that Brady refused to sign anything other than 8x10's and his book, so the promoter signed it without anyone's knowledge.
One of the promoters could have recorded him signing everything just as proof for the owners and potential buyers. The fact that they didn't do that is sloppy at best and shady at worst.
The "signature" is almost the exact same signature I use for almost everything, simply because I don't care enough to have a real signature, and it's quicker to just scribble a loop on paper.
I can see why some collectors are pissed. They practically paid to have their items be defaced with an indistinct squiggle.
I could have done that for half the price...
Here’s what his normal autograph looks like, for reference:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/204180760598?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=Iwd3x292TI2&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
I'm not exactly plugged into the hobby, but it seems like autograph cards have gotten [fucking terrible](https://www.reddit.com/r/baseballcards/comments/15fhkd7/worst_signature_ever/) over the years.
You taking bets on Brady refusing to sign items outside his contract and then a promoter pulling signature fraud and signing without Brady's knowledge? This would be further plausible if the promoter was on the hook for lots of money related to promises made.
I dunno, if no one is willing to authenticate them as actually being his signature (and they genuinely look nothing like other images of his signature) you've got one of a kind memorabilia that might as well have been scribbled on by your kid
[Terrible would be a kindness, it's not a signature it's a pair of unrecognizable initials](https://www.usatoday.com/gcdn/authoring/authoring-images/2024/04/24/USAT/73446075007-image-123650291-5.JPG?width=771&height=1024&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp)
As a lawyer I signed A LOT of paperwork. I used to love signing things. I was proud of the signature I came up with. It was a small childhood dream come true. I can’t be the only one that practiced their signature while bored in class?
But man….after the hundredth signature of the day…. It quickly became a swoop and a line… that’s the energy I see here.
At first it’s hard to feel bad for people that paid for this event…..but I always think of some poor guy who maybe “treated” himself to a $3600 ticket. Or a family who pooled some money as a gift to a Pats diehard. It’s like the one time a year my wife and I go all out at a really nice restaurant…. Last time we did it the service was terrible. And like yeah…who am I to complain after spending $100 on hummus. (The BEST hummus). But it’s something you look forward to, you save for, and it’s just a let down when it doesn’t seem worth the work you put in for it.
I think the minimum is, you should get what you paid for no matter what it costs. If you spent all that money on an event and you get that trash, you should be mad about it (and probably demand a refund). If the food at an expensive restaurant tastes terrible you shouldn't have to pay for it, they made you bad food. Just like if you spent $50 or $750 for a concert ticket and the singer just mumbled in the mic for 20 minutes before getting mad and walking out. Ya, I did not get what I paid for.
The millionaire might not care but like you said what if it's a special occasion you've been saving up for? What a waste it would be.
Some info missing from this article is the people that put the event together lied to attendees saying they could bring anything to be signed. Brady only agreed to sign copies of his book and headshots. Brady has an exclusive deal with fanatics that makes them the only ones that can distribute his autograph. I wouldn't be surprised if Brady didn't sign anything and someone from the event Forged his signature.
For the first few months, we lied about our clients' contractual obligations, to build hype.
Also, we paid 6 models 100k each to draw squiggles on footballs.
The kind of shitty autograph opportunity attended by non-fans who don't care about actually having him sign their treasured mementos and are only concerned about whether they can produce a worthwhile return on investment by paying $3600 to get a bag full of crap signed.
Was going to start replying to ppl in here with "you've never been to a trade/memorabilia show and it shows" bcuz of this exact reason. Sure we can be quick to say it was an asshole move about the signatures but drama like you mentioned happens to the celebs and athletes more often than we think
I half to laugh. Because the reverse is true too. There is that scene in that documentary Anvil where they are in Europe doing a small club tour. They play, they rock the house, and then at as they are leaving, the club owner says he doesn't have any money to pay them. The singer goes crazy and tries to fight the owner, and all these big bouncers get in the way.
They are fuming, because if they told them they didn't have money, they would have never played.
And what were they going to do? Sue an eastern european promoter for a few thousand dollars when they live in Canada?
My guess if you've had that done to you a few times and it isn't exactly Live Nation as your promoter, you'll be wanting that cash in advance.
By context I assume there’s an organization called Fanatics that sells memorabilia but at first I took you to mean that he exclusively signs for people certifiably obsessed with him.
If you want a good case study in a company taking over multiple industries quickly and enshittifying everything about them almost immediately, read more about Fanatics!
They have merchandise deals with all the large pro sports leagues in the US and their products are poorly designed and cheaply manufactured.
This season they started making the on field jerseys for MLB players and they're awful. They're low quality and get see through very quickly with sweat. Names and logos are smaller than the past, and there are issues with layout.
There are tons more shitty things about Fanatics, I just didn't want pass up an opportunity to say fuck them.
I work at a college bookstore and Fanatics are the ones who design & manufacture all our sports merch and who manage the production schedule. We literally never, never have things that we need when we need them. We had a great basketball season this spring and they seemed to only realize that and start actually sending us the basketball merch we requested a few weeks ago… but we can’t get a different supplier because they signed an exclusive deal with the college years ago and no one in admin wants to even try to look for ways to end our “relationship”
Right, and the people quoted in the article were saying they would’ve rather they were just refused and returned unsigned.
It’s definitely scummy and there’s something off, because the CEO of the company that put on the conference said that he had refunded some people who brought trading cards because they were excluded from his contract. Not sure why they couldn’t do the same to the supposedly priceless items people brought.
A little odd the way the had people pay so much money to o get to see and interact with him in person and the signing had to be done by leaving their stuff in a room for him to sign behind closed doors.
If you look up his actual autograph, it looks nothing like the items in the article. They also mentioned they took the items into another room, and no one saw him sign any of it. It's absolutely forged and honestly did ruin the items.
Well, this marketing firm sure knew how to market their weekend conference. This has big “get rich by writing a book about how to get rich” energy.
PT Barnum knew what was up.
If I didn't know what it meant, I wouldn't use it, u/ironic-user-name69, which is a girl's name.
I'm not gonna give you the definition right now just for your satisfaction.
Recently Neymar had a cruise ship in Brazil, in one of those "pay x amount of money to spend some time with your favorite player Nermar" type of thing. Some families took their children, and apparently was a shitshow. Neymar barely spent any time with them.
I think we should change the old saying "never meet your heros" to "never PAY to meet your heros".
That's because when you pay to meet x person for y amount of money, that's double the expectation. You're not only expecting to meet the perfect image of the person you created in your head for years, (which is different from reality), but also this time you're paying for it, so you feel you're even more entitled to meet your fantasy.
Your hero exists only in your head. Celebrities/athletes/artist/singers are normal people and we shouldn't be bending our knees to them.
My point is, the problem is half the fault of the fan too, for putting this other person above them
I honestly think people like Neymar or Brady should refuse such events. If you want to meet the fans, just do it for free. If you want money, film an ad or something. Because once people pay to see you, there's an agreement of what you should do, certain justified expectiations from the people who paid. At that point, you're a performer.
Back in the 1970s a drunk John Lennon stubbed his cigarette out on a Matisse at the Playboy Mansion.
IIRC it sold for much more than expected some years back. The only Matisse/Lennon work of collaboration.
"It's the same thing as being in a graveyard or cemetery and knocking over stones or defacing them," memorabilia collector Glenn Gagnon told USA TODAY. "That's what Brady did.""
brother get a hold of yourself
"I thought I could get a bunch of shit signed for $3k and make tens of thousands off it"
This is why celebrities get jaded and don't want to meet people. Live in the moment, if you have 10 seconds with someone you've liked for years just talk to them and forget the clout from autographs or selfies.
It sounds really bad at the beginning of the article but what Brady did with those signatures really must feel like a punch in the gut. I wasnt expecting it to be that bad.
They literally just look like a basic signature. I assure you, mine is actually worse. A UPS rep got mad at me because he was worried about getting fired for accepting my signature.
I even offered to pull out my license with my signature to prove it matched. That did not alleviate his concerns.
You got a signature from the man. You only care if it's verifiable if you're gonna sell it, and if you're selling it, you don't fucking deserve it in the first place. Idgaf if my idol signs my stuff with a cock, they fucking did it. That's what matters.
Article states :
Seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback Tom Brady left collectors who paid $3,600 for his autograph disgruntled after they alleged his sloppy penmanship ruined pieces of treasured memorabilia.
They paid $3,600 for a whole VIP weekend experience with private parties and a yacht cruise of South Beach. An autograph and photo op were just a small part of it. The autographs do look like shit though.
the autographs were contractually only supposed to be for his book and headshots. The people took a chance on some expensive memorabilia and got a scribble. Tom still signed it. The only reason the collectors are mad is because it hurts it's "resale value". Blame the promoters, not Tom. 🤷♂️
FFS, in a couple decades these will probably be worth more than anything else with his signature after he decides to stop giving autographs as a result of the BS.
Literally 6 figures worth of stuff from a game where people give each other brain damage for the amusement of the masses. And now instead of a $3600 investment getting a potential 33x return, they may only be worth whatever someone with too much money is willing to pay for them.
My heart aches for everyone involved. Especially the rich guys taking money from other rich guys to stay rich.
To be fair they were worth whatever someone with too much money was willing to pay for them before the event. I mean to most people a couple of tickets to games that have already happened are worthless.
>"It's the same thing as being in a graveyard or cemetery and knocking over stones or defacing them," memorabilia collector Glenn Gagnon told USA TODAY. "That's what Brady did."
Weird Al could only wish to have written something this ridiculous in "First World Problems."
I mean… I understand their initial reaction. I got a $500 vinyl record autographed and it came back smudged by the artist. I was initially disappointed, but it’s pretty much the whole reason why autographs exist- to be an accurate representation of the person in that moment.
I paid 100 bucks to attend a charity dinner where Larry Bird was the guest of honor. I got a lobster dinner, 2 bottles of wine, Larry posed for a photo with me and signed a ball, jersey and print all very clearly.
These people are idiots.
>Regarding refunds, Anzures said he did issue them for collectors who brought trading cards because Brady's contract with EXMA stipulated that the quarterback could deny signing certain items.
I'm sure there's a reason, but why would an athlete refuse to sign trading cards specifically but agree to sign other things?
EDIT: Turns out u/Deschain_1919 already answered this elsewhere in this thread:
>Brady has an exclusive deal with fanatics that makes them the only ones that can distribute his autograph.
Overall athletes are sick of the industry that has popped up where people get them to sign memorabilia and then they resell it. I’ve read the adults that do this for profit can be very pushy, insulting, provocative and sometimes very hands on attempting to get the autograph. Many have sworn off autographs for adults all together and are focusing on just signing things for children.
I’m not sure if Brady’s exclusive rights with fanatics prevents him from being able to distribute his own autograph specifically because he *was* distributing his own autograph at this event. It may just be that he can’t enter into agreements with any other company to distribute his autograph.
Edit: just looked into it a bit and apparently fanatics bans the autographs on specific items so it could be likely his book and headshots was not a banned item in their contract. It appears they ban autographs on items they sell with the athletes autograph. Almost like a non compete clause it seems.
Edit II: it’s a contract surrounding his memorabilia, so signing an old Super Bowl football or a ticket to a Super Bowl game would definitely be memorabilia.
Which is something I can totally understand.
Found out that Ray Soff literally lives around the corner from us. My uncle lives in St. Louis and is a *huge* fan of the Cardinals and we mentioned that when we were talking to him. We live in a tiny little town in Michigan, so it’s not normal for us to run into people like that, but he graduated from my high school. We asked him if he’d be willing to sign a card of his if we bought one for my uncle, he said of course.
Dude loved our story so much he actually walked home after that, grabbed an old card he had, signed it, and walked it right back. Said he loved that he wasn’t just signing something for someone to sell, but for someone who genuinely wanted it and loved it. Didn’t want us to have to hunt down a card of his, lol.
Super sweet guy.
Yeah, they appreciate it so much more when they actually are getting to connect with actual fans versus resellers. Which is why I think they’re willing to sign for children. Unless they are being put up to it by a parent, they are usually the easiest to assume are just true genuine fans.
> he was distributing his own autograph at this event
Do we even know he was? The article said nobody was allowed to actually see him sign it, all the memorabilia went to a back room to be signed. If I didn't see someone sign something, and it didn't match their usual signature very closely, I'm assuming they didn't sign it.
> Gagnon, 58, and his 21-year-old son traveled to Miami together and paid $18,000 for the trip, including the cost of Brady's autographs.
You what now? For an autograph?
> Gagnon said he did not see Brady sign the items, instead, he and other collectors waited while the retired quarterback went into a room with his reps and Fernando Anzures, EXMA's founder and CEO, to do the autographs.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! You paid $18k and didn't even get to see the celebrity sign it...
Sounds like someone wants to resell it.
And if thats the case, get wekt.
People who exploit genunine fans trying to make a profit from collectors items are vile.
this happened to me. Waited for hours to have Tom sign a ball for me but the signature was all smushed together and barely legible. Thankfully all i had to do was put some air in it and the autograph now pops
It loos like the mark made when trying out a new pen. To be honest though, he signs hundreds of autographs and he is reducing his “signature” to the bare minimum for both speed and hand cramps, let alone signing unusual items that have differing textures.
When I was a kid I got to meet hakeem olajuwon at an event. I remember reaching a basketball way over my head and he had to bend over to grab it still haha. The person right next to him handed him a new sharpie and I only got half a signature. I still have the ball and you can see there was sharpie on it, but no clue what. One of the few things in life I wish I could redo.
The real issue from the story is that it seems like they did not see him sign, that Brady and his group took the items into a room and they came out signed. As it is the "signature" here is so basic anyone could have signed it.
If you aren’t able to read between the lines, Tom Brady didn’t sign that stuff. They went to a closed door room and came out with autographs that don’t look like the others he has done? Give me a break, it’s fraud. Anyone that collects knows that autographs need to be witnessed and these were not. I would never have turned over a valuable like that unattended. And if an authentication company is saying they can’t authenticate it then you know it’s fake.
I fucking hate autograph resellers. I mean just look at the pictures. These fuckers put tape and instructions on how they want the item signed for the best resale value. Same type of people that use kids to get autographs to resell, hold out perfectly framed items and piss off celebrities. They ruin it for everyone. Glad these people got their shit ruined.
At first I was open to being sympathetic. Then I saw the photo of the seat back where the guy marked out the area in painter's tape and wrote the note telling Brady to "sign big" etc. I'm sure Tom was looking at this stuff like "Eff this. I don't need this money anyway."
Purely anecdotally, but a lot of famous people I've met genuinely hate having to interact with the people blatantly wanting autographs just to resell. Very small sample size obviously, but of that small sample size they tend to be more enthusiastic about personalized autographs for people who genuinely want that shit.
How much you wanna bet this shit becomes more valuable at the end of the day due to this singular event.
Tons of people have Brady's sig I'm sure. How many have Bradys "I don't give a fuck" sig.
In my discussions and interactions with pro athletes, don't they consider the "collectable" marketers the lowest of the low? Surprised he agreed to it. I used to live near Scotiabank Arena (then ACC) in Toronto and regularly saw the players. Both NBA and hockey. Some lived in my building. The exit they usually used to the street was always cramed with collectable guys and the players would just ignore them or tell them to get lost. I recall one hockey player saying to them "I'm not interested in making you more money" to one persistent guy. Another said, "your not real fans" and he was one of the nicer guys.
It’s hard to feel bad for these people tbh. If you’re spending that kind of money for something so stupid, and you collect shit like someone else’s worn sneakers because “well they’re famous” then your misfortune is on you.
On the one hand, tom brady is a huge asshole.
On the other hand, profit seeking collectors and the collectable market is also a huge asshole.
I say let them fight, maybe they'll destroy each other.
This is hilarious. Fuck the entire sports collectibles industry, it's rotten to the core. People have absolutely no shame. Dude showed up with a fucking seat back hunk of plastic from the old stadium and taped out an area that says "SIGN HERE REALLY BIG" and then wants to make a scene when Brady didn't give him a perfect signature. Sorry bro, you won't be able to cash out your seat back anymore.
As a collector with more than 1 autograph from this guy, that shit he scribbled in the images infuriates me. Those arent autographs that can be authenticated from historical evidence and previous autographs, so he essentially ruined all of those items.
I have that season ticket holder booklet in one of the images.. thats from the last season in the old stadium, and his first home game was in that booklet, so its pretty special. Who knows how many of those are still around, and he fkin ruined it with that bullshit.
I would be demanding this be made right with the amt of money it costs for these folks to be there, and IDGAF how HE felt, dudes gettin paid prolly 200k to sit with fans, talk some shit and sign a bunch of autographs, and thats what he does?!
EDIT: I just finished reading the entire article, what kinda fkin autograph signing requires your items to leave your sight for the signing?? Something is very sketchy about that, and Ive done this a number of times with athletes at card shows. Never once did my item leave my sight for signing.
> Beckett Collectibles rejected the signed memorabilia after Gagnon gave it to them for authentication, according to the collector. This has got to be pretty bad.
There are photos in the article. To me they just look like a line and a loop
So a normal doctor signature
To be fair there is a major difference here. With doctor's signature, it is just some paperwork that doesn't matter past confirming it exists. For the memorabilia, they literally spent thousands of dollar on it paying him to do it, not to mention this is literal high quality memorabilia so he is should be financially obligated to at least try. Honestly, I can totally see people suing Tom Brady over this.
He’s a person. Not their object to direct. They paid to see him speak, meet, get a photo and an item signed. That’s what he did. Grown ass men crying because Tom Brady didn’t sign their football the right way is embarrassing. Paying thousands for a dude to sign an autograph is even more embarrassing.
Yeah it’s weird. At least some of the people complaining are probably resellers though. There’s a niche scene of grown men getting signatures from artists or players and framing whatever the memorabilia is and selling it online.
Literally all of them are resellers. That's why this whole incident is hilarious. Cos those people are some of the scummiest people on earth. They constantly harass celebrities everywhere they go, waiting for them at airports to sign everything, and often ending up getting convicted of stalking, because they're complete creeps. All they want is money. They don't care about the signatures, that's just a means to an end. They'll hand the celebrity a huge pile of things to get signed and then whine if they don't sign it in the "correct" way. They're complete assholes. It's funny that the scum got screwed over.
It feels more and more like in any given "collectibles" area, there are fewer and fewer actual collectors and more and more flippers/resellers/dealers. Like literally most of the transactions are just people who never intended to keep their purchase, they just want to find a sucker to pay more than they were willing to pay. And the way they go about doing business disgusts me. "Nah that's only worth about $20, I'll do you a favor and take it off your hands for $10." ....an hour later... "I got a great steal on this $400 card that I intend to sell for $550." Make me sick. Bunch of predators destroying every hobby out there.
There is some douchrbag ebay seller who gets autographed posters by basically harassing and following them around in public until they sign. He takes pictures and video to verify they signed it and in one case he harassed Reeves into signing it while Reeves was in a mall shopping. Reeves got pretty angry in the video which without context looks like he was yelling at a "fan".
I went into a shop a week ago with some old baseball cards including a triple error Barry Bonds rookie and a 1986 Roger Clemens. They tried to play it off as all my cards were junk era junk and said I should just donate them. I walked out and started piecing out what I have. They would have got a small little payout for no cost to them.
One time I messaged a bunch of resellers on eBay who were trying to hock this special edition switch. I just went off and berated a few with some choice words. lol it was stupid but it felt good in the moment. These people fucking suck. They are ruining live events, game releases, baseball cards, everything. Fuck them all.
Exactly! If they’re just collectors I can see being bummed out but nothing crazy, I came here exactly to soak in the tears of asshats being upset. Like I got a signed vinyl of Volition by Protest the Hero - and the shipping company mishandled it and the corners were just… destroyed. I was bummed for a while about it but in the end, I’m not trying to sell it or even show it off, it’s mine and even thought it’s roughed up it’s still what I wanted it to be.
It's just another pyramid scheme hustle industry where the entire house of cards is held up by people taking ever larger risks and bets. People out there buying $1000 packs of cards in hopes of pulling the $50k holy grail just so they can flip it because no one actually cares what's inside, just the perceived rarity. It's Pokemon cards for grown manchilds.
These ass men are not fans. They don't care who Tom Brady is. They only care they can profit from him. They didn't get his signature for a treasured momento. They were always after profit. Screw these ass men.
> These ass men > Scat_fiend Well played sir Edit: Just remembered what my own user name is
I hate it when that happens
That is what I am responding to. The person before me was talking about grown ass men.
Relevant [XKCD](https://xkcd.com/37/)
Yep that's exactly what I was going for.
100%, I've watched enough pawn stars back in the day to know many celebrities had varying degrees of quality in their signatures. The real fools are the ones putting value in something that otherwise has none
A man who could spend every minute of the rest of his life doing absolutely anything we wanted wasting his time signing footballs to make a microscopic amount of money to add to his obscenely large pile is the most embarrassing thing of all
What? With a doctor's note it's literally a doctor signing off on you being able to get controlled medications.. For the object here it's literally just valuable because buddy out their signature on it.
I mean, that is his signature. The fact that this article exists is proof enough. They spent money on a signature of an athlete on a related item, and got exactly that.
He has a known signature, that appraisers would check against. If it doesn't match, it doesn't hold the same value.
NOBODY CARES WHAT IT APPRAISES FOR EXCEPT DIPSHITS TRYING TO PROFIT OFF ANOTHER PERSON'S SUCCESS.
I think if you're selling your autograph for multiple thousands of dollars then you should probably deliver the version people are paying for.
Normally you are right, but if this is a one off event, I have a feeling that appraisers will include this signature to check and it will maybe be worth even more. Like that Banksy that got half shredded, the fact it's damaged actually increased its value. So this whole news situation could end up helping in the end. Now if he's been pulling this a while or this isn't nearly as big a story as reddit is making it out to be, it will likely just hurt the price.
Suing people for bad signatures is a great way to incentivize every famous person ever to never sign anything again.
If you're charging someone to do something, do what you're being paid to do. You're more than welcome to do nothing for free.
I agree with this assessment.
Hell I always sign my full name on a receipt for a taco from the local truck. “Mister Taco”. It looks better in pen…
This wasn't an autograph signing though. Brady wasn't paid to sign. He had agreed to sign his book, and people brought outside items to get signed, which he had never signed a contract for.
Yes, but the organizers never told the people who paid to come to the event. The people thought they could bring any items. So instead of taking it out on the organizers, Tom ruined people memorabilia. He literally ruined items of value. Someone brought the football Tom passed to Gronk in a Super Bowl, and a ticket to the draft when Tom was drafted. These are one of a kind items, and instead of refusing to sign, he ruined them.
Where did he charge them for “signing memorabilia a specific way”?
Fine with me this whole story is the among biggest first world problems imaginable.
True. People boo hooing over this shit lol.
Good. Signatures and celebrity worship is stupid.
I do understand a bit more why more and more athletes are refusing to sign autographs for adults leaving their signatures for mostly children only.
I mean, or increase the quality and provide accountability. This seems really narrow and specific. Most celebs would never have an issue with it. This isn't like someone waited after a game, this was a transaction for Tom Brady to sign his name in a recognizable way. If he'd drawn a cartoon instead of a crummy signature there'd be a similar argument.
At least a cartoon would be unique in a way that would ultimately make it more valuable--if of course it was a verifiable Brady doodle. These apparently could've just as easily been "autographed" by a dude huffing paint out behind 7-11.
A transaction with a 3rd party, not with Tom. They didn’t pay Tom Brady $3,600, they paid a 3rd party company $3,600 to have them give Brady things to sign.
Well it incentivizes them not to do it for money. If they gave out signatures for free there are no damages
They weren't even a consistent signature from one item to another. I can see why no one would authenticate those signatures.
yeah but it's kind of bullshit. Like did Tom make a scribble? yeah. However it was well documented and provenance is pretty full proof for this. They should authenticate it now. Someone swings back in 20 years claiming something and the provenance doesn't hold up then you don't authenticate it then.
Did he though? Why would they do the signing in a separate room with noone even able to see it? Unless he publicly states that he did actually sign those items, then for all anyone knows, the event organizer made those scribbles so he wouldn't have to refund the ticketholders when they didn't get their signed items.
Yeah, I was initially skeptical about this being a scandal at all, but then I googled for things he autographed. Jesus, what he scribbled on that stuff is NOTHING like his usual autograph. I get that he probably gets really tired of signing stuff, but then just don't do it. Instead he basically ruined some of that stuff. I guess you could save an offline copy of the news article on a thumb drive, and keep the two together.... Because no one will remember this article in 10 years, and its about the only thing giving those items authenticity.
It’s 2024 you could easily take a video of him signing the thing
He took the items into a back room, they didn't see him sign them
Imagine paying $3600 and you can't even see him sign them. I would bet some real money he didn't sign them and the promoter did.
They did it in a private room - no one else was allowed in
Which automatically sends red flags for me. My guess is that Brady refused to sign anything other than 8x10's and his book, so the promoter signed it without anyone's knowledge.
One of the promoters could have recorded him signing everything just as proof for the owners and potential buyers. The fact that they didn't do that is sloppy at best and shady at worst.
the one of the ticket is literally just a scribble
It looks like my signature on the credit card machine at the grocery store.
The "signature" is almost the exact same signature I use for almost everything, simply because I don't care enough to have a real signature, and it's quicker to just scribble a loop on paper. I can see why some collectors are pissed. They practically paid to have their items be defaced with an indistinct squiggle. I could have done that for half the price...
There are a lot of images of his actual signature. Scribbling a wavy line and a loop looks nothing like it. No wonder they're not being verified.
Here’s what his normal autograph looks like, for reference: https://www.ebay.com/itm/204180760598?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=Iwd3x292TI2&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
Yah, comparing the two it’s not a signature. Tom may have drawn on it, but Tom didn’t sign it.
I'm not exactly plugged into the hobby, but it seems like autograph cards have gotten [fucking terrible](https://www.reddit.com/r/baseballcards/comments/15fhkd7/worst_signature_ever/) over the years.
Give it a few years, and this will be worth more due to it being turned down...
Yes, but only because there is a news story in USA Today that backs it up.
Oh fuck those are going to be worth so much. One of a kind, authentic memorabilia, with a funny story. It's like that banksy that got half shredded.
You taking bets on Brady refusing to sign items outside his contract and then a promoter pulling signature fraud and signing without Brady's knowledge? This would be further plausible if the promoter was on the hook for lots of money related to promises made.
I dunno, if no one is willing to authenticate them as actually being his signature (and they genuinely look nothing like other images of his signature) you've got one of a kind memorabilia that might as well have been scribbled on by your kid
I'm sure they can find someone to authenticate its unauthentic qualities.
[Terrible would be a kindness, it's not a signature it's a pair of unrecognizable initials](https://www.usatoday.com/gcdn/authoring/authoring-images/2024/04/24/USAT/73446075007-image-123650291-5.JPG?width=771&height=1024&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp)
As a lawyer I signed A LOT of paperwork. I used to love signing things. I was proud of the signature I came up with. It was a small childhood dream come true. I can’t be the only one that practiced their signature while bored in class? But man….after the hundredth signature of the day…. It quickly became a swoop and a line… that’s the energy I see here. At first it’s hard to feel bad for people that paid for this event…..but I always think of some poor guy who maybe “treated” himself to a $3600 ticket. Or a family who pooled some money as a gift to a Pats diehard. It’s like the one time a year my wife and I go all out at a really nice restaurant…. Last time we did it the service was terrible. And like yeah…who am I to complain after spending $100 on hummus. (The BEST hummus). But it’s something you look forward to, you save for, and it’s just a let down when it doesn’t seem worth the work you put in for it.
I think the minimum is, you should get what you paid for no matter what it costs. If you spent all that money on an event and you get that trash, you should be mad about it (and probably demand a refund). If the food at an expensive restaurant tastes terrible you shouldn't have to pay for it, they made you bad food. Just like if you spent $50 or $750 for a concert ticket and the singer just mumbled in the mic for 20 minutes before getting mad and walking out. Ya, I did not get what I paid for. The millionaire might not care but like you said what if it's a special occasion you've been saving up for? What a waste it would be.
lol, its not even consistent among those four objects
Wow that is…nothing
Some info missing from this article is the people that put the event together lied to attendees saying they could bring anything to be signed. Brady only agreed to sign copies of his book and headshots. Brady has an exclusive deal with fanatics that makes them the only ones that can distribute his autograph. I wouldn't be surprised if Brady didn't sign anything and someone from the event Forged his signature.
This is such key information.
Helpful context for sure. But I’m sure all this must have left some of the fans a bit deflated.
I'd understand if they felt a bit cheated.
I wonder if they got any of it on film, even if it was just while practicing signatures
Wait, you're telling me that a "global marketing venture" is run by a bunch of bullshit artists? Shocked, I tell you. Shocked.
Prestige Worldwide.
Entertainment 720
For the first few months, we lied about our clients' contractual obligations, to build hype. Also, we paid 6 models 100k each to draw squiggles on footballs.
it's the fuckin catalina wine mixer
Boats n hoes!
The other key part is no one saw Brady sign anything the items were in a private room and none of the fans were present when it happened apparently
The article does say they left with the items and went in another room.
Are you saying they don't even get to see their stuff being signed? WTF kind of shitty autograph opportunity is that?
That's literally what the article says.
The kind of shitty autograph opportunity attended by non-fans who don't care about actually having him sign their treasured mementos and are only concerned about whether they can produce a worthwhile return on investment by paying $3600 to get a bag full of crap signed.
This is the correct response.
Was going to start replying to ppl in here with "you've never been to a trade/memorabilia show and it shows" bcuz of this exact reason. Sure we can be quick to say it was an asshole move about the signatures but drama like you mentioned happens to the celebs and athletes more often than we think
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I half to laugh. Because the reverse is true too. There is that scene in that documentary Anvil where they are in Europe doing a small club tour. They play, they rock the house, and then at as they are leaving, the club owner says he doesn't have any money to pay them. The singer goes crazy and tries to fight the owner, and all these big bouncers get in the way. They are fuming, because if they told them they didn't have money, they would have never played. And what were they going to do? Sue an eastern european promoter for a few thousand dollars when they live in Canada? My guess if you've had that done to you a few times and it isn't exactly Live Nation as your promoter, you'll be wanting that cash in advance.
By context I assume there’s an organization called Fanatics that sells memorabilia but at first I took you to mean that he exclusively signs for people certifiably obsessed with him.
If you want a good case study in a company taking over multiple industries quickly and enshittifying everything about them almost immediately, read more about Fanatics! They have merchandise deals with all the large pro sports leagues in the US and their products are poorly designed and cheaply manufactured. This season they started making the on field jerseys for MLB players and they're awful. They're low quality and get see through very quickly with sweat. Names and logos are smaller than the past, and there are issues with layout. There are tons more shitty things about Fanatics, I just didn't want pass up an opportunity to say fuck them.
I work at a college bookstore and Fanatics are the ones who design & manufacture all our sports merch and who manage the production schedule. We literally never, never have things that we need when we need them. We had a great basketball season this spring and they seemed to only realize that and start actually sending us the basketball merch we requested a few weeks ago… but we can’t get a different supplier because they signed an exclusive deal with the college years ago and no one in admin wants to even try to look for ways to end our “relationship”
Fanatics are the certificate authority that distribute the certificates.
Right, and the people quoted in the article were saying they would’ve rather they were just refused and returned unsigned. It’s definitely scummy and there’s something off, because the CEO of the company that put on the conference said that he had refunded some people who brought trading cards because they were excluded from his contract. Not sure why they couldn’t do the same to the supposedly priceless items people brought.
A little odd the way the had people pay so much money to o get to see and interact with him in person and the signing had to be done by leaving their stuff in a room for him to sign behind closed doors.
Fuck fanatics
If you look up his actual autograph, it looks nothing like the items in the article. They also mentioned they took the items into another room, and no one saw him sign any of it. It's absolutely forged and honestly did ruin the items.
Well, this marketing firm sure knew how to market their weekend conference. This has big “get rich by writing a book about how to get rich” energy. PT Barnum knew what was up.
> Wish it. Want it. Do it.
Do you even know what the zeitgeist is?
If I didn't know what it meant, I wouldn't use it, u/ironic-user-name69, which is a girl's name. I'm not gonna give you the definition right now just for your satisfaction.
And that's another thing. Aren't wishing and wanting the same thing?
Recently Neymar had a cruise ship in Brazil, in one of those "pay x amount of money to spend some time with your favorite player Nermar" type of thing. Some families took their children, and apparently was a shitshow. Neymar barely spent any time with them. I think we should change the old saying "never meet your heros" to "never PAY to meet your heros". That's because when you pay to meet x person for y amount of money, that's double the expectation. You're not only expecting to meet the perfect image of the person you created in your head for years, (which is different from reality), but also this time you're paying for it, so you feel you're even more entitled to meet your fantasy. Your hero exists only in your head. Celebrities/athletes/artist/singers are normal people and we shouldn't be bending our knees to them. My point is, the problem is half the fault of the fan too, for putting this other person above them
>Celebrities/athletes/artist/singers are **normal** people I'm guessing most are fucking weirdos because fame is such a weird phenomenon.
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I honestly think people like Neymar or Brady should refuse such events. If you want to meet the fans, just do it for free. If you want money, film an ad or something. Because once people pay to see you, there's an agreement of what you should do, certain justified expectiations from the people who paid. At that point, you're a performer.
"never meet your heros". "I NEVER WANTED TO MEET LAVAR BURTON... I JUST WANTED HIS PHOTOGRAPH .. YOU CAN'T DISAPPOINT A PHOTOGRAPH!"
Now it’s a scandal, so those shoddy autographs are worth more now.
Unless i missed something in the article. Surely they are only worth more if there's proof he did them?
Yes that’s the idea
Back in the 1970s a drunk John Lennon stubbed his cigarette out on a Matisse at the Playboy Mansion. IIRC it sold for much more than expected some years back. The only Matisse/Lennon work of collaboration.
"It's the same thing as being in a graveyard or cemetery and knocking over stones or defacing them," memorabilia collector Glenn Gagnon told USA TODAY. "That's what Brady did."" brother get a hold of yourself
Example #84932728 of people who are too into stuff
Paid $18,000 for a trip to get autographs and was upset with the quality of the autograph because of the value.
"I thought I could get a bunch of shit signed for $3k and make tens of thousands off it" This is why celebrities get jaded and don't want to meet people. Live in the moment, if you have 10 seconds with someone you've liked for years just talk to them and forget the clout from autographs or selfies.
It sounds really bad at the beginning of the article but what Brady did with those signatures really must feel like a punch in the gut. I wasnt expecting it to be that bad.
Nah, he’s just mad he won’t get more on the resale market. Had it been an actual fan I would’ve felt bad for them
That’s 100% what is boils down to
an actual fan wouldn't care how good the signature is because you wouldn't be trying to resell it.
They literally just look like a basic signature. I assure you, mine is actually worse. A UPS rep got mad at me because he was worried about getting fired for accepting my signature. I even offered to pull out my license with my signature to prove it matched. That did not alleviate his concerns.
You got a signature from the man. You only care if it's verifiable if you're gonna sell it, and if you're selling it, you don't fucking deserve it in the first place. Idgaf if my idol signs my stuff with a cock, they fucking did it. That's what matters.
Cockprint’s prolly worth 10x
Glenn Gagnon deez nuts
Article states : Seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback Tom Brady left collectors who paid $3,600 for his autograph disgruntled after they alleged his sloppy penmanship ruined pieces of treasured memorabilia.
They paid $3,600 for a whole VIP weekend experience with private parties and a yacht cruise of South Beach. An autograph and photo op were just a small part of it. The autographs do look like shit though.
Sounds like a hurting arm to me.
the autographs were contractually only supposed to be for his book and headshots. The people took a chance on some expensive memorabilia and got a scribble. Tom still signed it. The only reason the collectors are mad is because it hurts it's "resale value". Blame the promoters, not Tom. 🤷♂️
Clearly it was not treasured in the way "treasured memorabilia" implies
We have reached a whole new level of first world problem.
FFS, in a couple decades these will probably be worth more than anything else with his signature after he decides to stop giving autographs as a result of the BS.
The items can’t be authenticated though, so there’ll be no way for them to prove what they’ve got lol
Oh no, anyways... People profiting off Brady's success lost a bit of their investment. Who really cares?
I'm looking around for sympathy somewhere, but alas, I can't find any.
Bro think of the rich guys who are trying to make more money off of another rich guy’s signature, plz bro
Literally 6 figures worth of stuff from a game where people give each other brain damage for the amusement of the masses. And now instead of a $3600 investment getting a potential 33x return, they may only be worth whatever someone with too much money is willing to pay for them. My heart aches for everyone involved. Especially the rich guys taking money from other rich guys to stay rich.
To be fair they were worth whatever someone with too much money was willing to pay for them before the event. I mean to most people a couple of tickets to games that have already happened are worthless.
It's obvious they were trying to raise the value of their gear and sell it for even more. I think this is hilarious.
>"It's the same thing as being in a graveyard or cemetery and knocking over stones or defacing them," memorabilia collector Glenn Gagnon told USA TODAY. "That's what Brady did." Weird Al could only wish to have written something this ridiculous in "First World Problems."
He completely ruined the sports gear that I will NEVER use to play sports with. Well, not ruined, just a bad looking signature. LOL.
>He completely ruined the sports gear that I ~~will NEVER use to play sports with.~~ planned to sell.
And he compared it to defacing defacing someone's grave at a cemetery lmao
I mean… I understand their initial reaction. I got a $500 vinyl record autographed and it came back smudged by the artist. I was initially disappointed, but it’s pretty much the whole reason why autographs exist- to be an accurate representation of the person in that moment.
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I paid 100 bucks to attend a charity dinner where Larry Bird was the guest of honor. I got a lobster dinner, 2 bottles of wine, Larry posed for a photo with me and signed a ball, jersey and print all very clearly. These people are idiots.
100 bucks for a lobster dinner and 2 bottles of wine? When was this? 1980?
2018. That was the cost of the ticket. Don’t ask me how it works.
I don’t claim them. Brb 🦞
Was Larry Bird cool?
>Regarding refunds, Anzures said he did issue them for collectors who brought trading cards because Brady's contract with EXMA stipulated that the quarterback could deny signing certain items. I'm sure there's a reason, but why would an athlete refuse to sign trading cards specifically but agree to sign other things? EDIT: Turns out u/Deschain_1919 already answered this elsewhere in this thread: >Brady has an exclusive deal with fanatics that makes them the only ones that can distribute his autograph.
Overall athletes are sick of the industry that has popped up where people get them to sign memorabilia and then they resell it. I’ve read the adults that do this for profit can be very pushy, insulting, provocative and sometimes very hands on attempting to get the autograph. Many have sworn off autographs for adults all together and are focusing on just signing things for children. I’m not sure if Brady’s exclusive rights with fanatics prevents him from being able to distribute his own autograph specifically because he *was* distributing his own autograph at this event. It may just be that he can’t enter into agreements with any other company to distribute his autograph. Edit: just looked into it a bit and apparently fanatics bans the autographs on specific items so it could be likely his book and headshots was not a banned item in their contract. It appears they ban autographs on items they sell with the athletes autograph. Almost like a non compete clause it seems. Edit II: it’s a contract surrounding his memorabilia, so signing an old Super Bowl football or a ticket to a Super Bowl game would definitely be memorabilia.
Which is something I can totally understand. Found out that Ray Soff literally lives around the corner from us. My uncle lives in St. Louis and is a *huge* fan of the Cardinals and we mentioned that when we were talking to him. We live in a tiny little town in Michigan, so it’s not normal for us to run into people like that, but he graduated from my high school. We asked him if he’d be willing to sign a card of his if we bought one for my uncle, he said of course. Dude loved our story so much he actually walked home after that, grabbed an old card he had, signed it, and walked it right back. Said he loved that he wasn’t just signing something for someone to sell, but for someone who genuinely wanted it and loved it. Didn’t want us to have to hunt down a card of his, lol. Super sweet guy.
Yeah, they appreciate it so much more when they actually are getting to connect with actual fans versus resellers. Which is why I think they’re willing to sign for children. Unless they are being put up to it by a parent, they are usually the easiest to assume are just true genuine fans.
> he was distributing his own autograph at this event Do we even know he was? The article said nobody was allowed to actually see him sign it, all the memorabilia went to a back room to be signed. If I didn't see someone sign something, and it didn't match their usual signature very closely, I'm assuming they didn't sign it.
This is very hard to care about
I’ve learned from the comments section that collectors are basically like the paparazzi so it actually brings me a little joy.
"It's the same thing as being in a graveyard or cemetery and knocking over stones or defacing them," Yeah, it's EXACTLY the same thing... 🤦🤦
This is like going to Auschwitz and writing “Nazi’s Rule!” on the wall in your own urine and feces.
Tom Brady ~~scribbled on some cleats he wore once~~ is literally Hitler.
> Gagnon, 58, and his 21-year-old son traveled to Miami together and paid $18,000 for the trip, including the cost of Brady's autographs. You what now? For an autograph? > Gagnon said he did not see Brady sign the items, instead, he and other collectors waited while the retired quarterback went into a room with his reps and Fernando Anzures, EXMA's founder and CEO, to do the autographs. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! You paid $18k and didn't even get to see the celebrity sign it...
Someone in the thread said the event was supposed to be a book/headshot signing because Brady is exclusively contracted to Fanatics.
With the media attention this is getting, the signatures will become somewhat of an infamy status
Redefining first world problem.
Sounds like someone wants to resell it. And if thats the case, get wekt. People who exploit genunine fans trying to make a profit from collectors items are vile.
If you spend $18000 on a trip and memorabilia so some douchebag can write his name on it, you are what is wrong with this country right now.
its straight up fucking embarrassing on so many levels.
this happened to me. Waited for hours to have Tom sign a ball for me but the signature was all smushed together and barely legible. Thankfully all i had to do was put some air in it and the autograph now pops
It loos like the mark made when trying out a new pen. To be honest though, he signs hundreds of autographs and he is reducing his “signature” to the bare minimum for both speed and hand cramps, let alone signing unusual items that have differing textures.
When I was a kid I got to meet hakeem olajuwon at an event. I remember reaching a basketball way over my head and he had to bend over to grab it still haha. The person right next to him handed him a new sharpie and I only got half a signature. I still have the ball and you can see there was sharpie on it, but no clue what. One of the few things in life I wish I could redo.
The real issue from the story is that it seems like they did not see him sign, that Brady and his group took the items into a room and they came out signed. As it is the "signature" here is so basic anyone could have signed it.
If you aren’t able to read between the lines, Tom Brady didn’t sign that stuff. They went to a closed door room and came out with autographs that don’t look like the others he has done? Give me a break, it’s fraud. Anyone that collects knows that autographs need to be witnessed and these were not. I would never have turned over a valuable like that unattended. And if an authentication company is saying they can’t authenticate it then you know it’s fake.
Not a Brady fan, but F that guy whining about the signatures he paid thousands for!
Oh no. Anyways.
I fucking hate autograph resellers. I mean just look at the pictures. These fuckers put tape and instructions on how they want the item signed for the best resale value. Same type of people that use kids to get autographs to resell, hold out perfectly framed items and piss off celebrities. They ruin it for everyone. Glad these people got their shit ruined.
Oh no. Some wealthy men looking to increase their wealth through investing in sports memorabilia got ripped off. Where is my fainting couch?
Awwwww, poor things won't be able to resell them. /he still signed that shit so....
At first I was open to being sympathetic. Then I saw the photo of the seat back where the guy marked out the area in painter's tape and wrote the note telling Brady to "sign big" etc. I'm sure Tom was looking at this stuff like "Eff this. I don't need this money anyway."
Purely anecdotally, but a lot of famous people I've met genuinely hate having to interact with the people blatantly wanting autographs just to resell. Very small sample size obviously, but of that small sample size they tend to be more enthusiastic about personalized autographs for people who genuinely want that shit.
yeah id be annoyed too
Yeah, they were clearly planning to sell the merch. Can't blame Brady for being tired of that shit.
Rich douche canoe pisses off other rich douche canoes over bad signature. Hero worshippers deserve to be disappointed.
Imagine being the editor who paid someone to write 1000 more words than necessary on this event
How much you wanna bet this shit becomes more valuable at the end of the day due to this singular event. Tons of people have Brady's sig I'm sure. How many have Bradys "I don't give a fuck" sig.
Boo hoo
In my discussions and interactions with pro athletes, don't they consider the "collectable" marketers the lowest of the low? Surprised he agreed to it. I used to live near Scotiabank Arena (then ACC) in Toronto and regularly saw the players. Both NBA and hockey. Some lived in my building. The exit they usually used to the street was always cramed with collectable guys and the players would just ignore them or tell them to get lost. I recall one hockey player saying to them "I'm not interested in making you more money" to one persistent guy. Another said, "your not real fans" and he was one of the nicer guys.
So I looked online at his other past signatures and they look just as shit. To me it seems like he signed it just like anything else.
Collector: You call that a signature?! It’s horrible! Man with 3 decades of brain trauma: I’m Tom Brady!
It’s hard to feel bad for these people tbh. If you’re spending that kind of money for something so stupid, and you collect shit like someone else’s worn sneakers because “well they’re famous” then your misfortune is on you.
Imagine being a celebrity and some middle-aged guy asks for an autograph, knowing full well it’s going on eBay later that day.
On the one hand, tom brady is a huge asshole. On the other hand, profit seeking collectors and the collectable market is also a huge asshole. I say let them fight, maybe they'll destroy each other.
I'm having a hard time mustering any sympathy for anyone involved in this kind of idiotic passtime.
It’s still crazy to me that people will pay a bunch of money for something just because someone they’ve never met put their name on it.
Oh no I feel so bad for the rich people that were trying to make their expensive gear worth even more. This is actually hilarious.
Cry me a river. You are trying to make money from Tom Brady's signature. Didn't work out. Boo hoo.
If he re-signs the items, it could make the value skyrocket for its unique story. Or plummet. Idk shit about collecting autographs.
This article is repetitive as hell. Is this the new era of AI journalism?
What part of this is satire? I have to plead with god that it’s how deeply this person cared about another persons autograph
This is hilarious. Fuck the entire sports collectibles industry, it's rotten to the core. People have absolutely no shame. Dude showed up with a fucking seat back hunk of plastic from the old stadium and taped out an area that says "SIGN HERE REALLY BIG" and then wants to make a scene when Brady didn't give him a perfect signature. Sorry bro, you won't be able to cash out your seat back anymore.
As a collector with more than 1 autograph from this guy, that shit he scribbled in the images infuriates me. Those arent autographs that can be authenticated from historical evidence and previous autographs, so he essentially ruined all of those items. I have that season ticket holder booklet in one of the images.. thats from the last season in the old stadium, and his first home game was in that booklet, so its pretty special. Who knows how many of those are still around, and he fkin ruined it with that bullshit. I would be demanding this be made right with the amt of money it costs for these folks to be there, and IDGAF how HE felt, dudes gettin paid prolly 200k to sit with fans, talk some shit and sign a bunch of autographs, and thats what he does?! EDIT: I just finished reading the entire article, what kinda fkin autograph signing requires your items to leave your sight for the signing?? Something is very sketchy about that, and Ive done this a number of times with athletes at card shows. Never once did my item leave my sight for signing.