Introduction - My name is David Kuflik and I believe I may have one of the best Celebrity autograph collections out there

(apologies in advance for the length of my post)

Hello, my name is David Kuflik and I believe I may have one of the best celebrity autograph collections on the planet. My father (Harvey Kuflik) and aunt (Rhoda Kuflik) started collecting in-person autographs in New York in the early 1950’s and continued vigorously collecting their whole lives (Harvey passed in 2002 and Rhoda passed in 2012). Both collected for the love of it and didn’t sell their autographs. Their collections are fully intact and almost all of them were collected in person. My father also acquired a couple smaller autograph collections from his collecting friends in Hollywood. I collected actively with my father in Hollywood as a kid in the 1980’s. I inherited their collections and after working 17 years at Microsoft, I left my day job and have dedicated the past two years full time curating this collection.

I’ve got close to 80,000 autographs, more than 20,000 of which are signed photos. I have very few duplicates of the same photo. 22 Marilyn Monroe autographs, 6 of which are signed photos. I’ve also got a lot of good sports and music autographs as well.

My celebrity autograph collection is going to be featured in a dedicated 30 minute TV episode on a major cable network in the coming weeks.

What am I going to do with all these autographs? I’m going to sell them. I did a small auction with RR Auction in September. http://www.rrauction.com/past_auction_results.cfm?SearchCrit=kuflik... .

I’m currently in their February auction with some modern autographs. See here. http://www.rrauction.com/browse_gallery.cfm?SearchCrit=%20%20&C...=

I plan to use RR Auction at the high end of the spectrum, but that only covers a few thousand items. For all the other autographs, I plan to sell those directly to consumers along with my unsigned headshots from my website (hasn’t launched yet), via eBay, and Amazon. I’ve decided to roll my sleeves up and sell directly because there is just too much sweat equity in these autographs to sell in bulk at wholesale prices. I have no plans to ever acquire autographs from outside sources. I’m just a guy who inherited this awesome pristine collection and will exit the business when everything is sold.

It’s also worth noting that I also have several hundred thousand original unsigned Agency Headshots with resumes of almost every actor and actress from the late 1970’s until 2004. These headshots were actually used in the casting process and nobody else has these in any quantity. Many of the photos are not on the Internet. I never sold autographs but I sold these headshots on eBay in the early 2000’s under the name risingstarphotos and they were very popular. We were the top seller of the Movie photos category on eBay for years. I’ve never sold autographs before but have a lot of past experience in the memorabilia business selling headshots on eBay at high volumes. My father got over 3,000 of these headshots signed, many before the actors were even famous.

Here's a glimpse of the b- list signed headshot collection. I’ve put aside hundreds of a-listers in a different folder: https://1drv.ms/i/s!An5aCe8YraAGhr4Mq3b8WlWlOgJdug

Here’s is where it all started:

https://1drv.ms/f/s!An5aCe8YraAGieY0SgwkxE1Q5Tb8uA

There is sooooooo much more than this in many different forms (Lobby Cards, Books, Color Photos, Candid Photos, Cast Photos, etc.) I’ve been a lurker here on autograph live for the past two years and thought I would introduce myself before my TV episode airs. I’m also hoping to learn from the experts here and gather feedback and reality checks on my business approach. Unfortunately, the autograph ecosystem is full of forgeries, which hurts the industry. I’m hoping I can inject some needed authenticity into the business.

Tags: Awesome

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on February 2, 2017 at 5:24am

If you run across Georgia Ellis (Kitty from the Gunsmoke radio show) PLEASE let me know. She would have lived and worked in NYC in the 1950s.

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Permalink Reply by Scott Paul on February 2, 2017 at 5:47am

I would love to find one of her too! I have Conrad, Baer and McNear! Actually, the last thing I need to do is start collecting the radio the show the television show takes all I can spare.

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Permalink Reply by David Kuflik on February 2, 2017 at 9:33am

You mean one of these. I've got autograph book pages as well. As a heads up, I'm heads down working on my web site in conjunction with this TV show about to air so not really in a position to make sales right now. Let's keep in touch and I'm sure we can work something out in the near future.

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Permalink Reply by Scott Paul on February 2, 2017 at 11:12am

Beautiful picture of a young Kitty Carlisle in the pre-To Tell the Truth days.

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Permalink Reply by Samuel John Clifford on February 2, 2017 at 5:28am

If you have any Tarantino related movie autographs I'd be interested. I.E. Any of the "main" actors or actresses in his movies.

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Permalink Reply by David Kuflik on February 2, 2017 at 9:42am

I got some killer Tarantino Autographs. Headshots signed when he was a struggling actor. The notation on the signed card is from the Reservoir Dogs premier. I'm saving these for a signed Agency Photo cast set of Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs.

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Permalink Reply by Jason Charnick on February 9, 2017 at 5:08pm

these are GREAT, David! I've been searching for the perfect QT auto to add for a while now, but haven't found just the right one... but on an ol' skool headshot? yeah, i can dig that! Love that top one, especially... very interested in purchased when you have more time to discuss. I can only imagine how time consuming this must all be!

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Permalink Reply by Scott Paul on February 2, 2017 at 5:51am

You are very fortunate to have such a tremendous collection. You could probably make money just by scanning them and selling the discs! Hope you show more and let us know when you are ready to sell on eBay.

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Permalink Reply by JMS1223 on February 2, 2017 at 6:06am

If you come across anything Steven Spielberg or Tom Hanks related please let me know. I would probably be interested in buying anything you have up that ally - especially Schindler's List items.

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Permalink Reply by Don Webster on February 2, 2017 at 7:35am

Wonderful collection David!!

I have sent you a "friend" request!

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Permalink Reply by David Kuflik on February 2, 2017 at 9:47am

I've got a few Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks signed photos.

My Father collected at the Directors Guild for many years and I've got ~2000 signed Director photos, many signed and unsigned Director Books, and lots of vintage Director signatures on cards and autograph book pages.

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Permalink Reply by JMS1223 on February 2, 2017 at 10:27am

That's awesome. I sent you a friend request. If you ever decide to sell any of the Spielberg or Hanks signed items please let me know. I would be interested in seeing what you have either way. I saw your Tarantino stuff above and that is so awesome!