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Forgeries sold at major conventions such as Fan Expo Canada, Wizard World Etc....

Last weekend, I attended Fan Expo Canada and during downtime, I walked through some of the vendor booths.  Many vendors where selling autographs from actors/atheletes who frequent the "convention signing circuit"....while one major vendor in particular caught my eye.  This vendor had a large and prime sized and very attractive booth space....selling many rare and highly sought after signatures. Upon inspection...i noticed several forgeries from whitney houston, the beatles, madonna and elvis presley with price tags all below 500.00. I also attended Fan Expo Dallas back in May and noticed forgeries for sale there too. All the autographs where framed and matted very nicely and professionally.....so to the regular convention attendee, it could be an easy sell.  So Beware when buying from conventions where you are often made to feel confident in autograph purchases. I took pictures of the Madonna and Elvis forgeries that where offered for sale. 

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When I went to Fan Expo Dallas, they still had a vendor that offered witnessing and certify services.  I don't remember what company it was though.  I think it really depends on if the company wants to be a vendor, i don't think the Fan Expo company really seeks out these types of vendors.  After witnessing Fan Expo Canada 2014, it's really just a big cash grab for them

I've seen FBI around, but I'm yet to see them do anything.

Actually, i was just watching a youtube video someone posted from a previous year convention and I saw the booth in the video.....The company that is usually present at these cons are www.genuinecoa.com and they actually are pretty affordable

I remember it being $15 - 25 or more.  That's a significant chunk of cash to add to many of the autographs, especially for a company that isn't on most collectors' radars at all. 

Stan Lee was charging an additional $5 to have items signed by him stickered which I think is reasonable and I had all of mine stickered. The problem is that the sticker is placed after you get an item signed by some member of his management team away from the table. Someone could easily just bring a fake and have it stickered. 

One of the guys with them gave me the sales pitch one year at Wizard Chicago. I asked if any of them were licensed notaries. He said no. I shook my head and walked away.

What they do in terms of COAs is nice, but it's something anyone can do. Therefore, I don't trust them anymore than I'd trust anyone else. I know my stuff is authentic, as I'm standing there to watching the person sign it. I don't see the point in paying them to also watch this, then give me a piece of paper saying that they did so.

If I was buying from someone who offered any non-notarized witness statement as a COA/LOA, I treat it like a letter from the person's best friend that says "I was there when this guy signed it. Trust me. It's legit."

And like Rich said, it's not the cheapest thing in the world. For that price, for that amount of work, I could actually get a licensed notary.

i think even though genuine COA isnt a real recognizable name in the industry....i think they will develop a name over time for being at comic conventions as they don't offer opinions but exclusively witness and certify in person convention autographs. Their logo could be a bit more professional...but we shall see what happens with them over time. 

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