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Authenticity is Everything
DEAR JOHN...a study of John Belushi's autograph and a personal search!
John Belushi shone bright and burned out in only 33 short years on this Earth. He is rightly considered an American comedy icon and so his autographs are highly sought after items. The trouble is that the man who lived a wild and fast life also had a wildly signing style. Now I’m only an amateur collector, and I’ve tried doing my research, and although there are characteristics to his signature, he can be very tricky to give a definitive on. Obviously taking into consideration the changes in signing over his years of fame, quick signings, documents and checks, he’s still a tricky one.
The following is my tale to discover if I have a genuine Belushi or not.
First of all, let’s have a look at some (what I would consider to be) 99.9% genuine Belushi signings.
Firstly some signed documents:
Here is a very confident and quite complex signature; an all in one movement for ‘John’ continuing into an ‘A’ for his middle name ‘Adam’ (which appears in earlier examples of his signings and official documents) Then his surname is another all in one movement, this time rounded with lots of swirls. The ‘B’ starts with the straight line downwards, then twists back up to the top veering left and then he continues into the two front loops of the ‘B’ and then back again and into the ‘e’ and a nice loop for the ‘L’ a tight swirl for the ‘u’ and ‘s’, another loop for the ‘h and then finishes with the dot of the ‘I’ that floats out to the right hand side of the signature.
Another contract signed faster, The ‘J’ a bit more pointed in this example, still with the ‘A’ for Adam, and the Belushi is stretched and less flourished, probably to fit into this document. Still that dot over the ‘I’ out to the right. And both names written in single, deliberate movements.
Next up is a nice example of a check from 1972. A little looser, back to the more rounded style, still with the middle ‘A’ but the ‘Belushi’ is leaning to the right a little. There is a break after the ‘s’, which seldom occurs and the dot once more.
This group signing from SNL cast in 1977 features a much simpler signing style, he’s dropped the ‘A’ and this time there’s less of a lean to the left on the ‘J’ of John and the trademark ‘I’ dot still floating off the very end.(in the middle of the document)
This check from the same year and the lean to the left is back and that dot over the ‘I’ as a little dash to the right.
This dot/ dash I believe is an important trait in spotting a genuine Belushi (isn’t it the same with Stan Laurel, where a genuine one always has a dot after the signature? Something that forgers often missed.)
Then there’s this hastily signed membership card, yet there’s that ’A’ and of course the dot again!
Another card:
Now a couple of more informal versions of his signing styles. A signed receipt with a much simpler ‘John’ but it still has a twist in the ‘o’:
And this in-person from a respected document specialist, this time with the John above the Belushi and with a flamboyant swirl underneath.
So there you have it, lots of variation, but a few stand out features;
A lean to the left
Both ‘John’ and ‘Belushi’ written in one movement.
The bottom of the ‘B’ twisting back and sweeping into the rounded ‘e’
The twisting ‘s’
And that tell tale ‘dot’ over the ‘I’ at the end.
Now onto the obvious fakes to compare to:
This site ‘Memorabilia Autographs’ are hawking a large number of these forgeries, from 200 to 400 dollars. This is the most common forgery of his signature out there.
This one on Ebay is currently passing this one off. Not a bad attempt to copy his movement, but not right
This pick guard is pretty shameless:
Now onto my own purchase, I bought this on Ebay back in 2005. And I am under no allusions that it could be a fake, but it has always bugged me, as just when I write it off, I see something that makes me think it could be genuine.
Firstly it seems like a very elaborate fake, now, I’m not stupid enough to think that forgers won’t go to great lengths to cheat us collectors, but still. Why fake these three names in particular; Bill Murray, John Belushi and Gilda Radner (whom the autograph hunter wasn't sure who it was, hence the question mark after her name). Surely Dan Aykroyd would serve you better to forge alongside Belushi? More bucks for sure.
And the confidence in which the Belushi signature is executed has always made me wonder, a forger could certainly have gone for a simpler version of his signature and there is no hesitation at all in the line, it has that lean to the left and has that all important dot over the ‘I’.
I sent the item to John Hickey at Heritage Auctions, who was very helpful and ran it by Steve Grad at PSA/DNA at no extra cost and I was simply told ‘all no good.’ Now I have the utmost respect for their work, but it continued to bug me and nine years later it still does! Particularly as PSA Autograph facts have this one posted as a genuine example.
Here are two studies I’ve done on my own autograph. One shows all three SNL cast comparisons.
And finally another look alongside two genuine and similar in style Belushi’s.
So, there you have it, what do you guys think? Am I chasing a dream and need to save up and buy another, or could I have a genuine Belushi in my collection? I’d love to know what you think? And no need to spare my feelings, I’m still getting over that Jackie Gleason secretarial I have hanging on my wall!!
And at the very least, anyone looking to buy a Belushi have a little resource here on site.
Tags: Belushi, Bill, Gilda, John, Live, Murray, Night, Radner, SNL, Saturday
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Micko on
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Another interesting John Belushi signed item. On Ebay for $500. It is a PSA/DNA approved item which I don't doubt is real. It's the first initialized piece I've seen. Again another version of his wild signing style.
Close up:
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Permalink Reply by Bam Miller on
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I purchased this signed bartab to add to my collection, the dealer accepted my best offer of 299 dollars. I'm convinced by the authenticity, the dealer has done his homework and even went as far as investigating the dates of where and when the Rolling Stones played, whom were with John that night at on the Rox. The dealer also included a handwritten receipt, the PSA document and the story of how he came across this. Very happy with the purchase and the piece, signed in Oct 1981, less than five months before his death... a rare item probably never to be seen again because of the type of item and time frame it was signed. A sad reminder of John's dark days given a place of honour and good home alongside the album page and 1978 LP.
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The nice frame does not disguise this fake Belushi autograph. It's for sale for $450 with pride from UACC dealer 251 - I Remember Them Collectables currently on sale on Ebay. It just shows how rampant these forgeries are.
It's possible that the dealers don't even know it's fake, but that is no excuse.
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Currently getting in touch with UACC dealer 251 to get the back story of this piece. Two years this piece has been taking up a space on my Ebay John Belushi searches and bothers me so much that I feel that it's time to find out what the seller has to say. Look on Ioffer and you will see Signed Lobby cards from Belushi's underappreciated final film released less than three months before his death, 'Neighbours', Identical signatures on each, will post Ioffer details here to see if there is a connection between these pieces and this seller. As Micko said, the seller may not realize that the signature is utter bulls**t but that is no excuse... he is a registered expert that obviously hasn't done his homework... is he using his expert creditentials to sell forged items and make a profit? More than likely, or, he is an inexperienced so called expert that knows rightly this is forged but is passing it on to make more than he could have paid. Do not be fooled by the fancy details, the frame, the price and this seller's creditential. Will post a copy of his reply on the page then will report the item regardless of whether he realizes or not that it is an obvious fake.
Also, beware of a few autograph page pieces that were floating about supposedly signed by John, I have images of these I will also post for opinions.
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Great work BB. Look forward to seeing how this plays out. Some of the iOffer Belushi's are totally shameless forgeries very similar to the one above.
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This weeks winner for John Belushi forgery of the week is from this shameless Ebay seller SHEPHERDM.He claims it's signed by Belushi and Aykroyd. The album is brand new and the signatures are poorest I've seen so far!
This is how he describes this awful piece that he is attempting to sell for £1399!! My favourite line is the certificate of authenticity is inside the frame, but I can't remember the details.
Blues Brothers Autographed Display – Genuine signatures
This is a signed ‘The Blues Brothers’ 12inch album, signed by Dan Aykroyd AND John Belushi.
I bought it some years ago and had it professionally framed. If you take it out the frame, you can play the record as well! Its absolutely mint and never been on a turntable.
Anyway, the frame measures 435 x 435mm and is glass fronted. If you take it apart, there is a Certificate of Authenticity inside from the dealer that I bought it from (sorry, can’t remember the details, but it was a registered dealer).
These are genuine signatures, and VERY rare to get them together.
Please email me for more details or further pictures.
I WILL ONLY POST IN THE UK.
He is also passing of a horrible Queen forgery aswell!
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Micko, this seller has been reported, I have even challenged him to show me the COA and give me the details of the supposed seller he supposedly bought this from. So far, he has not got in touch but will get back to you on this. I'm pretty sure this is his work because if he was to sell this and mention that there was a COA then shouldn't he show it? Instead he says it is inside the record, so why not take it out if he knows where it is? He claims the seller is genuine PSA dealer but can't remember details which doesn't make much sense. Definitley a dimwitted Ebay fraud who shot himself in the foot pretty darn badly.
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Nicely challenged BB, That one was particularly shameless. Good work. And I'll keep posting items as I see them. Hopefully we can keep building a good study of fake and genuine Belushi's.
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Out of any fake autograph sold on ebay, I'm especially vigilante on John's signature, the fakes just always stand out because they're either so sloppy, randomized or unknown. As long as I'm around, no fake Belushi will get past me lol
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Be careful about Heritage..I had several items in with them for auction to the public..they got PSA approval... I waited for the auction bids..there were Zero on one rather rare signed guitar. The ite,m did not meet reserve. I expected the item returned. I was sent payment for the minimum set reserve minus their auction fee AND buyers fee. I was told they have the right to purchase an item if there are no bidders> What? they are the seller..not the buyer..and they take a percentage if they buy what they are selling?. I have no way of knowing if the item was actually displayed for auction in public but I really question the auction house in buying the item.
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