A year ago michael collins did a private signing with novaspace. I bought four of these at a cost of about $ 300 each. I sold one online for about $ 450 which gave me a small profit. The buyer returned it claiming it was not authentic based on a zarelli opinion. Everyone is entitled to an opinion but just because he gave an opinion does not mean that it is true and correct. My customer had a certificate from novaspace and yet he paid an additional $ 50 or more to zarelli. My opinion is that steve zarelli should keep his opinions to himself
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
I bet Steve would have passed your Michael Collins Autograph in a heartbeat had he known it was from NOVASPACE, but he had no clue. Yes, everyone is entitled to an opinion but an opinion is very different than authentication . Your buyer was charged money for an opinion and you lost a sale.
This does not speak well for steve zarelli's "Opinion business " . I have seen a few complaints on the net about Zarelli and a few other "exports"
He is Grinning from ear to Ear because he is making serious BANK on his opinions !
Zarelli is not my first choice for authentication.
In defense of STEVE ZARELLI I beg to differ . I have many items in my collection that were dissed by PSA and Steve took the necessary time to review these and give them the time they deserved and as a result Steve was able to authenticate these pieces for me. I would not hesitate to recommend Steve Zarelli. PSA rejects a lot of pieces because they have an objective that goes beyond the realm of integrity.
I recall back in the 1990's Steve Zarelli was at the forefront of BEANIE BABY identification and authentication. He wrote a BEANIE article about the type of thread TY used on real Beanies and how that kind of thread is hard to find and the fake Beanie Baby's has a different weight and color of thread used to sew the parts together. Steve used to write excellent articles because he would actually take the Beanies apart and put all the parts under a microscope. He had a great eye for detail and he was an inspiration the Beanie Collectors all over the country ! He is a very smart man.
Just Google "Steve Zarelli Complaint " and see all that comes up. He is a guy who knows everything about everything. So Annoying too.