Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Don Webster on February 7, 2024 at 9:28am

Very nice!

I would purchase this for my collection in a heartbeat

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Permalink Reply by Markus Fischer on February 9, 2024 at 2:00am

Hello Don,

thank you very much for this positive evaluation! I also think it is a real signature.

Still I am curious what the others in this group think...Then I will tell you a little more about this very autograph.

It is really astonishing that the opinions differ so much...

Kind regards

Markus

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Permalink Reply by MG on February 9, 2024 at 4:23am

I like it, looks ok.  More generally, there is too quickly an assumption that all German Elvis autographs are not authentic...although there is plenty of evidence that he signed multiple nights a week in front of his house...where should all these autographs be? In essence, the evidence suggests that the general view of German Elvis autographs requires refinement....as some are definitely authentic...incl in my view this one here...

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Permalink Reply by Markus Fischer on February 9, 2024 at 7:44am

Hello MG,

you speak from my heart - I could not have said it better myself.

Thank you so much for your kind and enlightening words :-)

I fully agree that the rule certainly cannot be "if German origin, then fake"...

So what can we do to prove otherwise then? As far as I know, this phantom of "Hans Bakker", allegedly a dog breeder who once bought some stuff from Lamar Fike, was obviously active in the 1990ies, so some 30 years ago. This guy may not even live anymore - and still every second German Elvis autograph is supposed to be faked by him...!?!

Let me put up a very daring thesis here - what if all discussed Bakkers were real?
Just some food for thought... ;-)

I wish you a pleasant evening and a happy week-end

Markus

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Permalink Reply by Thorsten Knublauch on April 19, 2024 at 2:54pm

This looks good - a sloopy army one.

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Permalink Reply by Markus Fischer on April 24, 2024 at 12:00pm

Good evening Thorsten,

thank you so much for your positive evaluation - I highly appreciate it, as you seem to be very knowledgeable.

I recently acquired this autograph in a set of 6 Elvis "autographs": 3 similar "real" ones in my humble opinion (see scan below), plus two Lamar Fikes plus one stamped autograph.

What is your opinion on the other 2 ones, if I may ask? Also real - from your point of view?

As you can imagine, I was very confident when I decided to go for the set - otherwise I wouldn't have bought it. Unfortunately, it came without rock solid provenance...

The funny thing is, though, that I ran a Signature Review (Quick Opinion) for the 3 at Beckett which came back with "Unlikely to Pass Full Authentication"... And others that they qualified in the past clearly are fakes...?!

Some Elvis autographs I own that came with a very very credible background story have been dismissed as well by Epperson or whoever...
This Bakker guy seems to be the creator of 99% of all Army days autographs - although Epperson claims to have shut down the "Forgery Ring"... This Bakker guy might not even live any more?!?

And Al Wittnebert states in his study that "This time in history produced the largest amount of authentic Elvis Presley autographs that appear on the market today."

So who is right and who is wrong? And how can you sleep well at night? This topic really demoralizes me... Any thoughts on this?

As always, thanks a million times in advance - I appreciate each and every comment!

Have a pleasant evening!

Best regards from a fellow German here
Markus

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Permalink Reply by Thorsten Knublauch on April 24, 2024 at 1:45pm

Personally I think they are all good. I have one very similar - comes with full documentation.

They dont look like Lamar Fike and not like Bakker.

Regarding experts mainly from the US - it seems they dismiss most of the German army autographs and they are not always right - as one could see at the last gottahaverocknroll auction.

On the other hand the "credible background" is in most parts something like "my grandmothers got it at Goethestrasse" but they never told properly if they were signed in person or just "signed inside".

Elvis is always a mine field and it might be good to have several positve opions instead of one.

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