That autograph is fake.
Operation Bullpen list eBay’s link to the FBI’s Operation Bullpen site (http://1.usa.gov/12DKmfC) lists the following individuals and businesses: Catch a Star/JMC Distributors/J&M Sports Cards/Mike Bowler (all of Oceanside, Calif.) Classic Memorabilia/Hollywood Dreams/Hollywood Collectibles/David Tabb (of Santa Ana, Calif.; not to be confused with any other firms) Del Mar Sports Cards/Jon Hall (San Diego) Framed Images/Richard Laughlin (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) Front Page Art/John Marino, Gloria Marino, Kathleen Marino, Greg Marino, Angelo Marino Frosty’s/Frosty Golembeske Home Field Advantage/Carmen “Chip” Lombardo (Del Mar, Calif.) International Sports Marketing/Mike Lopez (Rosemead, Calif.) La Jolla Sports Cards/Bruce Gaston (La Jolla, Calif.) Prime Time Sports Cards/Michael Tapales (Buena Park, Calif.) Pro Sport Memorabilia/Anthony Marino Rick’s Collectibles/Ricky Weimer (Escondido, Calif.) Ricky Mitchell Shelly’s Cards/Sheldon Jaffe (Tustin, Calif.) Sports and Celebrity Authentic Autographs/WW Sports Cards/Wayne Bray (San Marcos, Calif.) Sports Management Group (Aliso Viejo, Calif.)/Universal Authentic Memorabilia (San Clemente, Calif.)/Sports Alley (Laguna Niguel, Calif.)/Mike Moses/Robyn Moses The Beautiful and the Unusual/Lowell Katz (Long Beach, Calif.) Universal Authentic Memorabilia/Reno Ruberti/Karen Ruberti (San Clemente, Calif.)/Scott Harris/Mary Lou Harris.
To summarize, the last two two lists above, consisting of nearly 50 names, represent all of the businesses and individuals whose COAs and LOAs are “not allowed” by eBay, according to its own website. But these are not all the dubious memorabilia firms that were busted by the FBI during Operation Bullpen.
There are nearly 30 more companies that made millions producing and distributing forged memorabilia while creating phony paper to cover their tracks. But they’re not on eBay’s forbidden list. This is the first list of names.
To my knowledge, the three groups named here represent the most complete listing ever published, in one place, of all the companies and people that were publicly busted or targeted by the FBI during Operation Bullpen.