Some questions have been coming up lately about who Collectors MD partners with and what our intentions are. We want to clarify a few things openly and transparently:

First, we have no affiliation with Fanatics, Whatnot, or Arena Club - no partnerships, no collaborations, no financial ties. But that’s not really the core issue.

Collectors MD exists to reach the people most affected by the parts of the hobby that mirror gambling mechanics: fast-paced ripping, hype/chase-driven environments, and high-energy buying formats. If we want to help the hobby’s most vulnerable collectors, we can’t do so by only partnering with organizations who already agree with us. That’s preaching to the choir.

We have to show up where the harm is happening - on the platforms, in the communities, and alongside the influencers and creators whose audiences actually need real support. If the opportunity arises to work with a major platform or company in order to bring real harm-reduction tools, education, and support to their users, we will absolutely consider it. Not to endorse how they operate, but to protect the people engaging with it.

That’s exactly why crisis hotlines partner with casinos, why 1-800-GAMBLER ads run inside them, and why harm-reduction teams collaborate with platforms where risky behavior occurs. We can’t help from the sidelines - we have to be present in the environments where people are navigating these challenges.

Collectors MD isn't here to gatekeep, take sides, or pretend the modern hobby is black and white. We’re here because:
-Some collectors overspend and hide purchases and debt from loved ones.
-Some feel an immense amount of internal pressure to keep up.
-Some chase hits until they feel sick, ashamed, or stuck.
-Some lose their joy for a hobby they used to love.

Those people deserve support and a place to talk, learn, and reset, regardless of what platforms they use or who they follow.

So while we hear and respect the criticism, we stand firm on this: our credibility comes from showing up for the people who need help, not from staying "pure" or avoiding association with anyone controversial for the sake of optics.

If the mission is to make the hobby safer, healthier, and more sustainable for the foreseeable future, we can’t only operate in the safe corners of it.

https://x.com/collectorsmd/status/1994548821213274215

A Facebook post just exposed over 4 million fake sports memorabilia items and $350M in sales over 20 years—affecting Fanatics, Panini, Tristar, and more. It ended in a police raid and an early grave.

The hobby isn’t just cooked… it’s charred.

This week, a jaw-dropping Facebook post blew the lid off what may be the largest counterfeit memorabilia ring since Operation Bullpen. A user named Brett Lemieux casually confessed to helping pump over 4 million fake items into the hobby — raking in $350+ million in sales across two decades.

This wasn’t a basement print job gone rogue. This was an organized, mass-scale forgery operation that duped collectors, shops, and even authentication companies.

Let’s run the hobby horror show recap:

• 100,000+ forged Tom Brady items

• 80,000 fake Kobe Bryant items dumped into the market posthumously

• Millions of fake Fanatics, Panini, Tristar, JSA, and Steiner holograms

• Auto-pen signatures so clean they passed player signings

• And a final act that ended in a police raid and someone taking their life.
  
  

🕵 How Did This Happen?

According to Brett’s now-infamous post, it started with one guy: Dominique from Carmel, Indiana. He funneled fakes through dozens of burner accounts under aliases like Steve Jordan and “dilliano,” mass-producing fake COAs and holograms using auto-pen machines and overseas signature vectoring.

His quote?

“I had every hologram from every company’s database. I typed ‘Mahomes,’ and out came 10,000 certified stickers.”

This man literally created a custom counterfeiting UI. It was ChatGPT for faking slabs.

🚨 What’s Even Real Anymore?

The post claimed:

• 97% of Tom Brady Tristar autos are fake

• 95% of Mahomes and Aaron Judge autos currently on the market were faked by them

• “Every company I touched is now my b*tch” 😬
  

He bragged about mixing real and fake inventory, faking entire signing events, and even fooling the athletes themselves. Bro was deep in the multiverse of mid.

🔥 So... What Now, Collector Fam?

Here’s the uncomfortable truth:
If you bought a signed memorabilia item in the last 20 years, especially Brady or Kobe? It might be fugazi.

And if you’ve ever said, “Well at least it has a hologram,” congrats—you just bought a shiny sticker from Brett’s label printer.

Do this now:

• Reevaluate any autos without full provenance

• Don’t trust COAs alone—especially old Tristar or Fanatics stock

• Ask questions. Document everything.

• And if your Kobe auto came out of nowhere in 2020... you might want to sit down
  
  

🧯 Final Thoughts from the Breakroom

This isn't just a scandal. It’s a collector’s identity crisis.

The guy behind this post didn’t just steal money—he stole trust, the single most valuable currency in the hobby. And he did it while sitting on an auto-pen for 8 hours a day like it was a Topps factory internship.

If this story teaches us anything, it's this:

The next time someone tries to sell you a $2,000 signed mini helmet “with COA”… maybe sip first, then rip.
And maybe—just maybe—don’t buy it from an account named “DillianoSports123.”

#sportsmemorabilia #fakeautos #counterfeitcards #tradingcards #fanatics #tombrady #autographscandal #kobe #mahomes #panini #cardcollecting #brewsandbreaks #collectorcommunity #hobbynews #operationbullpen