The Beckett Blog


Where Have You Gone, Global Authentication?
November 12, 2007, 6:02 pm
Filed under: BGS, Sports Cards | Tags: , , , ,

Beckett is buying Global Authentication.

That and other tasty rumors have been cascading down message boards and on blogsites since GAI last week was forced out of its San Clemente, Calif., offices for not paying its $8,400 monthly rent.

eviction.jpgEvictions, whether it be of a home (click on photo, left) or a business, never are pretty. But this one is particularly disturbing for collectors, who over the past six years have placed their trust in the Big Four grading companies — BGS, GAI, PSA and SGC.

BTW, Beckett is not buying GAI, that much is true.

What is not known at this time is whether Global can recover – even if it wants to – from this recent public relations nightmare.

What is known is that GAI hasn’t been paying rent on its 5,400 square foot office, according to David Bolt of CB Richard Ellis, the broker who handles Suite 100 at 232 Avenida Fabricante in San Clemente, where the only thing being fabricated these days are rumors.

“They were evicted,” Bolt said today of the now vacant office, which already is cleaned and ready for the next tenant. “It doesn’t happen overnight. They probably went through the legal process, but they are out of there now.”

So, where have you gone Global Authentication? Wasn’t it just February 2002 when PSA president Steve Rocchi and his head grader, Mike Baker, bolted the company to start Global? The enterprise succeeded in a time when there were more grading companies than letters in the alphabet, mostly because of the reputation of Baker having one of the finest set of eyes in the grading world and the fact that GAI graded unopened packs and boxes when no one else did.

And where are all of the customers’ items? Are they in storage? Are they in a PODS container? Are they at somebody’s house? Are they in a vault? Have they been sold for (gulp!) rent money? Will items be returned? Have credit cards been charged? C’mon guys, just let us know what’s going on.

In a business where reputation is everything, why would Global turn off its phones and shut down its Website without a word from Baker or Rocchi, the man who invented sports card grading for gawd sakes. Guys, if you’re out there, drop us a line. We’d love to tell your story instead of fighting through rumors we keep hearing, such as:

  1. All of the submissions are or are not in a warehouse somewhere close to the old office.

  2. Global moved out under cover of darkness, tearing up walls and doorways on the way out, or, Global’s move was orderly and normal.

  3. Global did or didn’t have a license to do business in San Clemente.

  4. Global will or will not be back in business later this week.

  5. A gnome (yes, a gnome) walked off with all of the cards.

  6. A church needed room for expansion, so Global had to move.

Except for the one about the church, which we know is not true according to broker Bolt, what’s a collector to make out of all of this? Global VP Steve Sipe went on record last week that GAI was not finished.

“The company’s still there, it just had to move,” Sipe said on Thursday, obviously frustrated by a situation that if it were in his control, he’d be doing something about. But it seems that Global’s situation is out of control, which usually happens to those who don’t pay bills. And while hearing from Sipe is nice lip service, what are we all to make about the deafening silence from the guys who matter?

Rocchi and Baker are (and Fish, where are you?), well, not around. One of you guys, let’s get the story straight, no matter how good or bad it may be. If you have a new office, great, let us know. If the gig is up, not good, but let us know. The collectors who have supported Global over the years deserve to know what to expect.

What do you think?

21 Comments

21 Comments so far
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It would seem that a niche market such as GAI should be located in a place where rent is cheaper.

Clearly the professional grading business isn’t what it was 3 years ago. For less than 1/5th of what their monthly rent is, they could rent the same sized space here in the Lehigh Valley.

As for GAI, they were starting to gain acceptance in the marketplace and this is a big blow. If they were in financial hock, who is to say that they didn’t accept extra money for better grades or worse, authenticate searched packs to make extra cash. This possibility causes anything graded by GAI to be questionable which defeats the purpose of professional grading in the first place.

Hopefully all turns out well, but this sure sounds like the way things went when Pinnacle went out of business in 1998.

Comment by frozenntimesports November 12, 2007 @ 10:10 pm

I agree. The lease seems high for 5,400 sqft, but I confirmed it again on a second call to the leasing/broker agent. That price does NOT include utilities, he said.

I hope this all has a happy ending. Steve and Mike both are well-meaning men.

Comment by Pepper Hastings November 12, 2007 @ 11:09 pm

I hope all tuns out for the customers of GAI and items are returned…For some reason I see the market of slabbed auto’s taking a hit over this,People will know second guess them slabs from GAI…Justin Priddy left the company 2 months ago and people were being told he was doing the auto’s still….After all the calls,I mae this past week it sickens me to know they would do this….

Comment by MikeLacon November 13, 2007 @ 3:08 am

I think this says a lot for the grading industry as a whole. Grading has inflated prices while putting the small dealer in an unfair competitive position. Even with the largest and most reputable grading company PSA, auction houses like Heritage in Dallas, Sotheby’s and others get priority treatment because of the 1000’s of submissions they make. They can lower their cost per submission and thus riase their prifit per sale much easier than a small dealer. After having been in management with large corporations for most of my life, no one can make me believe that a company that is buttering their bread more does not get preferential treatment and better grades. Anyone that believes that the grading companies do not cater to those that pay their bills in big chunks needs to take a course in American Business. I truly hope this wakes up collectors and forces the industry back to reality and raw card sales. It was more fun and cheaper!

Comment by Mike Forney November 13, 2007 @ 10:40 am

I can’t speak to GAI’s card grading business but I can say that there has been recent scrutiny with regard to GAI’s autograph authentication of several high profile athletes: Phil Mickelson, LaDainian Tomlinson, Tiger Woods and David Wright, to name four. The quantity of certain so-called GAI certified autographs offered on eBay was basically impossible based on the signing habits of the players in question, not to mention that the sellers either used the same images over and over again, or the images showed obvious forgeries.

If you think card grading is ripe for preferential treatment or outright corruption, autograph authentication is several times more lucrative and tempting.

Who knows what exactly put GAI in this position, it probably is many factors. But if they go kaput, I know many autograph dealers (including myself) that will celebrate their demise.

Comment by Theo Chen November 13, 2007 @ 11:28 am

Um… hello people! Why are none of you talking about the fact that they hold what could amount to thousands of cards and millions of dollars in inventory hostage right now, and that collectors and investors have no idea as to what in the sam hill (who is sam hill?) is going on with their stuff? I’m surprised that there are not stories of pilgrimages being made to San Clemente to retrieve their stuff, or law suits, or anything! This situation is so incredibly sad and frustrating.

Think about the days when there were the big four card companies, Topps, UD, Fleer, and Donruss. What would be the hobby ramifications if, lets say, Donruss just closed its doors one night, and nothing was heard from them for a long period of time? It would be a widespread hobby panic, with thousands of orders, redemptions, and cards owed to collectors now missing.

Fortunately I do not have any cards or product with GAI at the time, but man do I feel for those who do. And kudos to those who have brought up speculation about the grading companies and their suspect grades. It’s almost as if Beckett were to start selling cards and stuff… oh… wait…

Comment by J.R. Lebert November 13, 2007 @ 12:40 pm

J.R. this was all that I could find on “Sam Hill”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Hill_(euphemism)

Comment by Brandon Caballero November 13, 2007 @ 1:49 pm

Steve Rocchi of GAI called me (Monday, Nov 12) to let me know they have a new office and are beginning to get back to work processing orders. He was aware of my submission being there and said it would be shipped “soon”. He also noted he was hoping the tech issues of phone lines, websites, etc., would be resolved asap.
I post this so those of you with submissions in-house at GAI may be able to lessen time spent worrying about your cards. I’ve known Rocchi for quite a while, I trust him at his word that my submission is safe and will ship back to me soon.

Comment by Steve Taft November 13, 2007 @ 4:29 pm

Mike is a god guy mixed up in acompnay with bad ownership. Mike get out and save what is left of your reputation.

Comment by Tom Fletcher November 13, 2007 @ 7:12 pm

I just talked to Steve Rocchi on his cell phone. Sounded like he was driving, and I appreciated him calling me back.

The story is on the Beckett homepage. I just posted it.

Comment by Pepper Hastings November 13, 2007 @ 8:11 pm

First, they are idiots for having there business in one of the most expensive cities in California (Yes, the beach is about 10 min away, if that.) Second, their idiots for paying such high rent in one of the most expensive cities in California. Finally, I’ve been here the last 5 years(Oceanside) and had no idea that they were in San Clemente. Maybe they cater to the rich and famous, but I do know one thing, they are in big doodoo with the lil guys(that’s about 98% of the hobby, FYI). Honestly,with PSA and possibly BGS grading packs, that’s a doodoo from Godzilla.

Comment by Toro November 13, 2007 @ 11:41 pm

This article seems like a case of kicking a guy when he is down. Last time I checked BGS and GAI are competitors.

I think it is a dirty tactic posting this information on their website.

Comment by Gazza November 14, 2007 @ 4:27 pm

There are no “Big Four” in grading, there’s simply the best, which is BGS who uses the 10 point scale with percision (I’ve yet to earn the elusive perfect 10 after several hundred submissions) and nobody else. PSA is good, but they give out “10’s” fairly commonly and their main clout is with the fact that they’re a publicly traded company (NASDAQ: CLCT) but are otherwise not strict graders. GAI and the rest of the card grading companies who have loose standards and basically sell collectors a “Gem Mint 10″ grade are all the same and if you shop on eBay or at card shows you’ll know that BGS is the authority and their high grades command the highest value due to their integrity. Plus, their slabbing cases are also the best. The only criticism about BGS is their turnaround time, the way they ship/pack large orders (cellophane bundled in a rather flimsy box that leaves the slabbed cards exposed to cracking during delivery), and their sometimes seemingly subjective standards (citing restoration of cards that I pulled straight out of manufacture sealed packs or on certified autographs they bouce back) of refusing to grade certain cards (and also you need to check your invoices as sometimes they neglect to give credit slips or charge for ungraded cards). Other than those flaws in the machine… BGS still rules!

Comment by Rick $ November 15, 2007 @ 1:02 am

The big 3 graders and their markets are as follows,

SGC Pre-War
PSA Vintage
BGS shiny stuff which already comes mint from the pack ;)

Comment by Caleb G November 15, 2007 @ 1:46 am

I wonder how this will impact GAI’s graded items…especially those Wilt UD insert autos.

Comment by Eric A November 24, 2007 @ 3:40 am

Looks like all these authentication companies are a bunch of trash, let them all crash

Comment by R. Kay Vaughan December 1, 2007 @ 12:04 am

Wow, an article on a Beckett blog bashing a rival grading company. And to think, I never thought Beckett could sink to new depths. Congrats.

Comment by Jerry C. July 3, 2008 @ 5:40 pm

Wow, curious to see what your definition of “bashing” is.

Comment by ejahnke July 4, 2008 @ 10:39 pm

GAI is back on the rise, Baker is better than ever and Sipes is still the best in the business too.

That’s what I know to be true.

Comment by Just Care Enough to Comment November 15, 2008 @ 10:53 pm

I find GAI to bring the second highest premium for cards sold on ebay behind PSA. In fact I would rate them like so
1. PSA
2. GAI
3. SGC
4. BVG

I honestly do send much pre-war and post 2000’s in, so I suppose that might be my bias for GAI and PSA on top. In my expirence GAI is much more consistant than PSA. The only problem with GAI is it takes months to get your cards back. SGC tend to grade the toughest I’ve found which is odd since there the pre-war specialist.

Comment by Jason January 28, 2009 @ 8:44 pm

All I know from there web site is that they moved to an office at 15641 Red Hill Avenue. Suite 200
Tustin, CA 92780
That is the adress posted on the website

Comment by Andrew January 29, 2009 @ 4:47 pm


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