Experience: 24 years

No one in the modern hobby era has collected, witnessed, or authenticated more signatures of modern or vintage athletes than Steve. His career started in 1986 working for Reggie Jackson and two major league baseball rookies named Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire. Steve was in charge of managing the signings for Jose, Mark and Reggie as their popularity grew during the late 80’s and early 90’s. In 1992 Steve joined Upper Deck Authenticated as the Director of Athlete Relations where it was his job to witness all of the signings of the worlds most famous athletes including Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Ken Griffey Jr., Joe Montana, Mickey Mantle, Dan Marino, and Ted Williams just to name a few.(see photos) Over his 9 years at Upper Deck Steve was responsible for the collection of all of the companies autographs and authenticating totaling well over 3 million autographs across all sports. Steve’s latest assignment is VP of Business Development at GAI overseeing the fastest growing part of the business which is autograph authentication and verification working with a team of experts around the country and at shows.

Experience: 15 years

Bob is the foremost modern autograph expert and authenticator in the industry.
Bob has assembled the finest collection of modern exemplars in existence.
His expertise is unmatched in an industry where information on modern autograph authentication is scarce.

Experience: 20 years

Brandon has obtained such an extensive Autograph collection Over the last 20 years by obtaining the drivers autographs in-person and working with various drivers and teams at many NASCAR tracks and special autograph events. His collected autographs range from drivers in the 1950's to current Super Star drivers and Rookies. Brandon has authored articles published in Autograph Collector magazine that focuses on signature studies and is currently writing a book regarding the NASCAR Autograph hobby and it's history.

Brandon's extensive research and consulting work with other industry experts make his opinion the most sought after in the hobby when in comes to NASCAR signatures. Brandon is the ONLY recognized NASCAR Autograph expert in the United States of America and is a member of Global Authentication's Authentication Team. Brandon also works VERY close with ebay's fraud division on a daily basis. With Brandon's help, HUNDREDS of NASCAR forgeries have been removed from the marketplace each year.

Brandon's goal in the hobby is to simply help educate the buyers and to remove as many forgeries as possible within the marketplace. Brandon continuously render's his opinion for to ANY customer who seeks his assistance he enjoy's the personal contact with customers which allows him to ensure that the customer has a clear understanding of the item in question. Brandon has time and again shown that authentication should be less about making money and more about educating buyers in hopes that they will not be a victim of a forgery.

Brandon's current opinion is that NASCAR autograph forgeries are on the rise faster than ANY other section of the hobby. This is mirrored by NASCAR's international growth and continuous gaining of popularity. The huge DEMAND of NASCAR driver's autographs can not meet up with the supply. Though it may be that EVERY NASCAR driver signs HUNDREDS of autographs a week during the race season, the supply can not be met in the market due to the high number of COLLECTOR'S who keep the autographs out of the commercial system.

Experience: 30 years

Michael Specht is a veteran baseball hobbyist with over 30 years of experience in collecting game-used baseball memorabilia.
A former sportswriter who covered the San Diego Padres and the San Francisco Giants, Mike co-authored the definitive guide to collecting game-used professional model baseball bats.

Experience: 20 years

Rick Giddings took a life long passion for autographs and baseball cards and turned it into a very successful business.
His many years of studying and collecting autographs made his one of the most sought after opinions in our industry.
This has allowed him to have on of the best exemplar libraries in the world. Examining and documenting the various vintage
signatures over the years has given Rick the skills and expertise that are sought after by dealers, auction houses and collectors.
Rick’s professionalism, wealth of knowledge and impeccable reputation make him a welcome addition to the Global Authentication team of autograph experts.