News
GAI Grading Operations Reappear as Global Authority
Amid the turmoil surrounding Global Authentication Inc., which saw its Chapter 11 petition filing rejected by a U.S. Bankruptcy Court in California last month, the grading end of the company has been sold and a new company formed with headquarters in Bettendorf, Iowa.
Global Authority Inc. (www.globalauth.com), with Demian Werner as CEO and veteran grading expert Mike Baker as director of grading and authentication, purchased assets of the card and pack-grading component of GAI, including the database and client list.
“We will have the same grading standards, and things will be tightened up,” Werner said. “Two industry guys will run things now. Our goal is to bring grading and authentication back to the collectors and dealers, to get back to the grass roots.” Added Baker, “The clients who used our grading service approved of our consistency. My reputation has always been as a good grader.”
Baker concedes there were money issues with his former employer, instances where promises were made to reach revenue goals that might have caused some of the negativity that plagued GAI in the past. “Getting revenue in the door and hoping we had the supplies to get it out the door didn’t help us or our clients,” he said, adding that all of the cards that had been submitted to GAI have been graded and returned. Global Authority will continue to use the old GAI labeling for a period, but that ultimately will change to reflect the new ownership. With the new logo, a new database will be created and the old database will be attached as a legacy database.
Asked about the potential for confusion about launching a “new” business (and acronym) with a name so evocative of its former incarnation, Werner said, “I believe in Mike, and our ability to rebrand. We decided to keep similar names because I think there’s still some equity in it and I’ve always liked the name Global. We’ll grow as fast as the industry wants us to, and we’ll focus on packs and cards, maybe at the end of the year adding comics.” Werner said he would like to see things fixed within a two-year span.
Submissions sent to the old address in California will be forwarded to the new offices in Bettendorf. For more information, call (888) GAI-7499.
