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Star Wars Collectors Unite!

I have been collecting Star Wars autographs since 1998. Not all of my signatures are on Star Wars memorabilia. For example, when I met Warwick Davis at a comic convention in New York City, I had him sign a Willow photograph. I also have publicity photos of Sir Alec Guinness and Christopher Lee from the 1970s, and a Natalie Portman signed The Diary of Anne Frank theater poster from her performance on Broadway back in 1998. My current wish list includes Peter Cushing, Terence Stamp and John Williams. I am interested in knowing about the collections and wish lists of other members.

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Permalink Reply by JXE on August 10, 2014 at 3:11pm

Keep in mind that Celebrity Authentics shares an address, shipping account and fax number with Gridiron Authentics; and the hammer seems to be coming down on them right now for tons of fake merch. With that said I've never seen a questionable signature from Celebrity Authentics and I own many items from them... I just find it hard to believe they've chosen to only keep one of their companies 100% reputable.

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Permalink Reply by Bradford on August 10, 2014 at 3:13pm

Wow. Sounds bad for business all the way around.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Shepherd on August 10, 2014 at 3:44pm

What hammer are you referring to JXE? There have been numerous discussions on this website regarding the close association of Celebrity Authentics with Gridiron Authentics, but I am not aware of any current investigation into the authenticity of items that have been sold by Celebrity Authentics. I agree with you regarding the authenticity of the items sold by Celebrity Authentics. They appear to be authentic.

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Permalink Reply by JXE on August 10, 2014 at 3:56pm

I haven't been following the Gridiron thread religiously. But from what I gather at least two individuals put up the time to gather information and make formal complaints with the NY and PA Attorney Generals' offices for grand theft (one person is out over $2,000). Almost immediately following the complaints, either ebay or Gridiron Authentics has pulled all of their merch from their ebay accounts for the past month or so.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Shepherd on August 10, 2014 at 4:16pm

Are the authorities investigating Celebrity Authentics as well? I have not heard anything that would indicate that they are.

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Permalink Reply by JXE on August 10, 2014 at 4:38pm

I only know what I read in that thread. But once again, because it's the same people operating out of the same building (even UPS email shipping notifications from CA say they're coming from GA), I don't know how you could possibly look at one and not the other. Would they only look at certain racks in the warehouse and certain files on the shelves?

The general thought from that other thread seems to be that they did once do signings with all of the people they're selling forged items from now. They seem to have run out and now they're creating more. What complicates things is that the stock photos they were listing were of real autographs so you didn't know you were hosed until you got it in person.

Permalink Reply by Mike Shepherd on August 10, 2014 at 5:35pm

Thanks JXE.

Permalink Reply by Bradford on August 10, 2014 at 4:57pm

If that were the case, it seems like CA eBay would've been shut down as well.

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Permalink Reply by JXE on August 10, 2014 at 5:43pm

How so? If ebay pulled the plug, there's a chance ebay isn't fully aware of the connection, or doesn't care. If they pulled the plug themselves (which is more likely because they know they're being investigated), why would they also pull the plug on the part of their company that no one has raised questions about?

Like I said, I own several very expensive items from CA. I like them a lot. All I'm saying is to be careful about throwing around words like "100% genuine" for any company for which doubt has been casted. I like to go through the steps of authenticating any item I buy anyways, regarless of the so-called provenance. Besides what people in the other thread claim they were doing with the football and baseball stuff was replenishing things that sold out; so using that logic the newer CA stuff should all be fine.

Permalink Reply by Bradford on August 10, 2014 at 5:49pm

So let me get this straight....you get CA stuff authenticated by a third party or what do you mean by "the steps of authentication"???

Permalink Reply by JXE on August 10, 2014 at 6:02pm

No, I mean that when an item arrives at my doorstep I don't just smile at it and throw it in a binder; I look it over and compare it to exemplars.

For whatever reason I'm getting the vibe that you seem doubtful of my suggestion that people be cautious. But in my opinion this is the same thing as insisting that a guy with a vegetable stand who has been caught selling rotten tomatoes would never ever sell rotten cucumbers.

Permalink Reply by Bradford on August 10, 2014 at 6:13pm

Nope. I find the "steps to authentication" more interesting than anything else. So when you say that you enact these authentication steps, I find that more fascinating and intriguing than 3rd party authentication. As a matter of fact, I bet everyone in the hobby has unique methods that they use to determine what confirms their stance on the authenticity of a product. Don't misinterpret my intrigue as something negative. After all, this is one of the reasons why we use this site....we all want to sharpen our craft and one way we do that it to learn from each other. Take whatever steps you want to JAX, but when I ask a question, it's not to get anyone's feathers ruffled....it's to get clarity and confirmation on what "steps" you are taking.