Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on August 15, 2012 at 5:44pm

I've been there but never logged in. Thanks for the report. It's not surprising, sadly. People want to believe what they want to believe.

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Permalink Reply by Carl Ryan on August 15, 2012 at 6:25pm

Thanks for the reply steve, here is an example of what i was so shocked by.

This was a reply left by someone who was commenting on the authenticity of a Channing Tatum signed photo.

"dont wanna be out of line but if you send a letter to a star and you get a picture back signed in my opinion its real. i dont care if the dog signed it point is you sent request and it was fulfilled. if your just collecting for yourself you gotta figure its real. it your gonna sell them i think this is the wrong site. people should by them of ebay or something but who says those are real. ive got signed lithographs with certificates of authenticity but i didnt see the star sign them. i just assume there real. anyone share this opinion? gary"

I was just shocked. And the seller continued to argue that point when others commented.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Shepherd on August 15, 2012 at 6:33pm

I guess now we know who is buying all of the forgeries out there.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on August 15, 2012 at 8:03pm

People can justify anything, can't they, Carl?

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Permalink Reply by Greg B on August 15, 2012 at 7:55pm

Fanmail at one time was a very good free site for the through the mail collector. Sadly, the majority of posters are under 20 and could care less about authenticity or just want to pretend everything they get through the mail is real. Myself and most of the true collectors have bailed from the site and only use it to find an occasional address.

To see the "quality" of posters, simply read any John Travola, Clint Eastwood or any artist known and proven for sending secretarial autographs and you will know what I mean. If you try to educate them, you are the villain. That all being said, its still a good site to find some useful information and addresses, you just have to sort through all the BS and ignorant people.

 

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on August 16, 2012 at 3:50am

@Carl - Do you think this is due to forgers utilizing fanmail.biz to try and smear reputable sites and advertise their items, or do you think its just a site full of inexperienced members who just dont know better?


Both.

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Permalink Reply by Chad B on August 16, 2012 at 7:38am

I use this site quite a bit for mma autographs and I will look through the "successes" of others. I think it is a great site for the price.

It is like anywhere else, you have to know what you are doing, who to trust and a little experience will go a long way. In my experience, there are many knowledgeable collectors over there who are happy to call out autopens and secretarials.

Finally, I have never had anyone attempt to sell me anything. I did contact a guy for an autograph I really wanted and was able to obtain it. 

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Permalink Reply by Robin McKay on August 16, 2012 at 9:17am

What you have to remember in regards to this is that in regards to autograph collecting, nobody is an expert - not even the so-called ones because even they have been burned. 

Some people are admittedly better than others but even they can't be sure - autograph collecting is a dog-eat-dog world. 

They seem like an honest bunch, maybe just inexperienced. 

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on August 16, 2012 at 10:06am

I don't agree that no one is an expert, unless your definition of expert means "infallible."

An expert has keen insight, a superior track record of accuracy, and can quickly detect unusual patterns, thus identifying new forgery patterns. I don't know any credible expert who would claim to be perfect and infallible. But the good ones learn from mistakes and get better.

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Permalink Reply by Dave Lee on October 10, 2018 at 7:25am

The Longer you are in this Hobby the Better you get at what is real or not. Is that an Expert? Just because Dealers Charge High Prices to tell you if it is real most Long time collectors can do that FREE. Do the Homework, With NOW Internet it is so much easier then when I started in the Late 60's

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Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on October 10, 2018 at 8:43am

+1 @ SZ

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Permalink Reply by Dave Lee on October 10, 2018 at 7:20am

Well I Have Use Fanmail.biz for about 3 yrs and over that time I have recieved many wonderful replies adding some 450 to 500 Signed items per yr. Very Few had Return to sender.in fact I get about 65 % or better replies which is Very High for the Hobby. Grant you many Members are in UK or other countries so what? If you do the work you will be Great and Build a Wonderful Collection.

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