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Disney's Hollywood Studios

I have purchased a few Star Wars autographs from Tatooine Traders in Disney's Hollywood Studios that I am sure are authentic but someone has recently informed me that I should be cautious about purchasing in Walt Disney World. The autographed photos are all from Michael Wehrmann as are all of the other autographs sold at the Studios. There used to be an autograph store in Downtown Disney a few years ago that I did not trust and did not purchase from. They did not carry Michael Wehrmann pieces. Any thoughts? Thanks for your opinions in advance.

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Permalink Reply by DB on October 5, 2012 at 6:14pm

thanks rich - haven't been there in sometime.... never seem to get out of EPCOT!

ok, except for Planet Hollywood.... I never understand why they didn't provide external ordering webs... or perhaps I haven't found one.... Last time i was there was just after 9/11 and the security was almost suffocating, and rightly so (well that is debatable)

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Permalink Reply by Mike Shepherd on October 5, 2012 at 6:57pm

Sid's is still there DB. At least it was in July. I noticed that some items had not moved since I was there last year but some were no longer there so items do appear to be occasionally sold. A Walt Disney signed check was hanging on the wall for years but it is no longer there. I assume that it was sold. I think that they were asking $4000 but I am not positive. At one time it was only hanging in the store as an example of his signature and was not available for sale but they may be hurting due to the recession so they sold it.

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Permalink Reply by Rich on October 5, 2012 at 7:58pm

There used to be two other autograph stores in Downtown Disney (not Starabilia's), side by side in the middle of Pleasure Island I believe. One was a movie oriented store, while next door consisted largely of music autographs. Both stores basically seemed like an extension of Sid's. Can't remember the name of them for the life of me, only that they haven't been there for a while. I'm certain I visited the stores in 1997 - but I believe they were gone by my next visit three years later.

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Permalink Reply by DB on October 6, 2012 at 3:37am

Wow, pleasure island. Where adults became "donkey's" at places like the Soundstage or Adventurers club. Rich, I think your right there was a surf shop and a stoogie place called Fuegos... now if i can recall the shops you speak of,

loved the crabcakes and portobellos!

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Permalink Reply by DB on October 6, 2012 at 3:54am

reel finds might be one of them as it had lots of Hollywood memorabilia.

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Permalink Reply by Rich on October 6, 2012 at 10:32am

Reel Finds sounds like it might be right.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Shepherd on October 6, 2012 at 4:55am

I'm only aware of Tatooine Traders in Hollywood Studios being an alternative to Sid's. They sell only Star Wars related autographs and they all come with Michael Wehrmann COAs. Sid's also sells some Star Wars items for the same prices so I'm not sure exactly how or even if the two shops are related. TT is not exclusive to autographs though. They sell pretty much everything Star Wars related.

The fact that Starabilias was there in 1997 is unfortunate since they must have taken a lot of money from a lot of unsuspecting tourists. They appear to have shut down a few years ago so they must have been selling for at least 10 years. When I last stopped in they were selling all of their items at a fifty percent discount.

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Permalink Reply by Rich on October 6, 2012 at 10:40am

Actually, it wasn't quite that long. The autograph store(s) DB and I were trying to recall were there in 97, though Starabilia's wasn't - Downtown Disney West Side (including Starabilia's) was still under construction at that point. I think it would have been between 1998 - 2000 when Starablia's opened and the other Downtown Disney/Pleasure Island autograph store was closed. When I went in 2000, Starabilia's was there while the other Disney-run shop was gone.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on October 6, 2012 at 11:01am

I don't get it. I thought Werhmann was strictly an in-person collector, and most Star Wars signers charge a fee. Does he handle paid signings, too?

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Permalink Reply by JXE on October 6, 2012 at 11:09am

He must, because there are usually multiples all matted up with certificates. He also issues COAs for the memoibilia sold at Sid's. I got an Arnold Schwarzenegger inauguration invitation from Sid's in August that came with a Werhmann COA.