A question from the newbie

Do most collectors on here get their stuff in person or by purchasing it? I'd have to say about half of my really good autographs were obtained in person and the other half were purchased carefully, very carefully. My most recent purchase, from prizeo.com, seems to have paid off. Now I'll follow their site. How much risk are people willing to take on items?

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Permalink Reply by Rich on February 19, 2014 at 2:16pm

I think like you, many in here have a comparable mix of items they've gotten themselves vs. items purchased. Probably depends on what you collect - i.e. if you're into classic Hollywood or vintage baseball, most items will decidedly have to be purchased.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Chervinko on February 19, 2014 at 2:32pm

Good point on collecting the deads' autographs. I bet it is a tough market to be certain on.

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Permalink Reply by Rich on February 19, 2014 at 2:39pm

Well, the helpful bit in that area is that older signatures themselves are probably easier to authenticate with more certainty, simply because handwriting was nicer and signatures more complete. There is good information out there (especially for the most famous names) on known secretarials, common forgeries, autopens, etc. In contrast, many modern celebs signatures are so bad that I consider them not worth owning unless you get it yourself for free, as a large number simply cannot be authenticated on the basis of the signature alone.