Comment by Stephen Duncan on April 19, 2010 at 11:45am

My 2 cents, since it seems me walking into Antiquities a week ago last Saturday night started this conversation:

All the business aside, and all the $$ (millions) that autographs generate aside, please consider this thought. What really are autographs? Seriously, what really are they? To me, they are a preservation and a time stamp, in any such celebrity career. If there isn't forces in this industry that are working towards this preservation (because lets face it, every celebrity is going to one day die), then autographs will be as polluted as our rivers and streams, and cut down and bruned as our forests curently are, and as endangered and extint as many tigers and bears are currently suffering. Who wants in 50 years to not even be able to show our kids a signed Paul McCartney autograph because instead there is such an abundance of fake signatures around that our collecting decendants will not even be able to tell a real one from a fake one.

In other words, we are it. Today, we must do all we can to expose forgers and stop fraudulant autographs. As far as I can see, I can with reasonable certainty tell a fake Bruce Springsteen autograph from a real one. But in 50 years when Bruce, myself, Mr. Cyrkin and Mr. Stoffa are all dead, who really is going to be able to tell then, in a world over run with fake signatures. It starts with us, we are the generation. My websites, in my opinion is just not a collection of 25+ years of collecting autographs in person, it is a preservation of real autographs for my children and grandchildren who are not even born yet to enjoy, who will hopefully still be listening to The Eagles, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, etc....

I understand this business part of the entire autograph industry. I see it from your end Mr. Stoffa as a dealer, and I see it from my end as the physical collector. My midset is about preservation of our industry, education of our industry, and the enjoyment of our industry. Anything less will in my opinion, though many will make bank along the way, drive our industry into the history books as to what it once was or worse, extinction.

At best, I have about another 20-25 years, god willing, of real collectability left in me. Add that to the previous 27 years, and by the time they bury me I should have quite a collection of REAL autographs.

This is all I can do, including fighting the fight, so my grandkids and anyone else where technology allows, can visit my museum and know that at least this collection is where it is real.

Cheers,
Stephen Duncan

Comment by Stephen Duncan on April 20, 2010 at 8:24am

My apologies and oversight in refering to Toby Stoffa as Mr. Stoffa, when it should have been Ms. Stoffa. Absolutely no disrespect intended or implied, just an honest mistake and oversite. I stand 1000% corrected.

Cheers,
Stephen Duncan

Comment by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on April 23, 2010 at 1:05am

Antiquities Web sites are:

Las Vegas, NV: www.antiquitieslv.com
San Francisco, CA: www.antiquitiesca.com

Comment by CJCollector on September 4, 2011 at 5:45pm

Oh really, Toby?

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