Notice how this individual seeks additional info on the Mantle gloves, and continues to inform us of the value, rarity, etc. Note previous posts, how he also admires Denny Eskin.
Is it just me, or has everyone figured out that Vikes066 is the pen name for Denny Eskin?
Why do you say that Denny "hides" behind American Memorabilia? I've had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know Denny over the course of the past few months and I've found him to be very open, accessible, knowledgeable, and helpful. As for his Steelers knowledge, I will bet you that Denny will be happy to contact you if you post your contact information. You can talk to him about Steelers items, baseball gloves, or whatever, and then judge for yourself as to the extent of his knowledge and expertise. No matter where you (or collectors in general) fall in terms of how you view authenticators and experts, you can learn a lot from talking with these folks directly. This forum has allowed me to directly contact and get to know several very knowledgeable people and I am thankful for that ... I suggest that other people do the same thing as it has certainly contributed greatly to my learning and collecting enjoyment.
Well, glad to hear your experience was a positive one as mine was not. I submitted a Steelers game used jersey and it was given to an "expert" to authenticate. Well that "expert" stated it was bad and confirmed it with Eskens. If someone is going to say something is bad, explain why??? I couldn't get an answer as to what his reasoning was and I was told he didn't want to talk too me?? Are you kidding me??? If your going to claim to be a professional, that act like one....
Sorry to hear that your experience was not positive.
July 26 2005, 6:17 PM
Hi, hof89...
I'm sorry to hear that your experience was not positive. Believe me, I've had my share of those!!! Don't even get me started.
As to Denny and Steelers equipment, are you by any chance talking about a 2004-05 Ben Roethlisberger Steelers jersey? I have talked extensively with Denny about many items and, based on my conversations with him, I have learned that the Steelers retained all of Ben's gamers from last season and that this was confirmed with the Steelers equipment manager. Denny told me that he was asked to review a couple Ben jerseys but that, based on what he learned from being in the Steelers locker room and talking with the Steelers equipment people, he could not authenticate them as he has been told that they retained all of Ben's jerseys. If you are talking about a different Steelers game used item, then I cannot comment as we did not talk about other specific Steelers items; but I do remember this about the Ben jerseys from my talks with Denny.
I'm not sure why American Memorabilia told you that he didn't want to talk with you. I have found him to be very approachable and open and he has even mentioned to me that he is happy to talk to collectors about items that they have questions about.
Please believe me when I say that I'm not trying to get into the middle of this; I am just trying to help.
No need to apologize...I appreciate your responses and I'm glad you had a positive experience. The Steelers jersey in question was over a year ago and my contact was not through American Memorabilia. Well, if I exeperience something like this again, I'll make sure I try to deal with him directly and hopefully have the same experience as you...
As stated before, I know of Dennis Esken but I am not him, as I am not Robert Plancich nor anyone else some dealers and/or disgrunted sellers lurking or posting here have accused me of being in the past. Let's not go back down that road again. I am sure Dennis could speak for himself as he would not need me to do it for him.
