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 David Kuflik on February 2, 2017 at 11:36am

Here are a few Steven Spielbergs I found.

Here are some Tom Hanks. I've got more.

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Permalink Reply by JMS1223 on February 2, 2017 at 12:03pm

WoW! I love those. The one I would be most interested in buying if you do decide to sell is one of the Spielberg Schindler's List signed photos. I find those extremely special because Spielberg no longer signs Schindler's List items. I am guessing these were likely signed in 1993 right before he changed his mind about signing items from that film.

I love the early Tom Hanks signed photos. Very awesome!

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Permalink Reply by Mark Roberts on February 2, 2017 at 8:01am

The whole collection sounds incredible!!

I sent you a friend request.

thanks!

Mark

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Permalink Reply by David Kuflik on February 2, 2017 at 10:22am

It's also worth noting that Harvey and Rhoda kept detailed logs of all the autographs they collected. Rhoda stopped doing this in the early 60's. I've got reams of handwritten notebook logs. He wrote the actor name, date, and place on the back of all of his signed cards and the number on the card corresponds to the number in the log. He also logged what he received through the mail and maybe 1% came through the mail. Those were mostly from people who he couldn't get in LA.

Harvey's logs

Rhoda's logs

I also have all of Harvey's annual day planners where he logged all the places he went and the autographs he got. It's clear from his planners that he was the hardest working collector in Hollywood. This is a single day haul of signed photos from the Academy Awards. He'd take two weeks vacation to collect around the Oscars and did so 25 years straight. That was when you could actually get close to the actors. Blows my mind.

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Permalink Reply by michael phillips on February 2, 2017 at 11:16am

Brilliant Collection and thanks for posting on Autograph Live.

Regards Mike

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Permalink Reply by David Kuflik on February 2, 2017 at 12:14pm

Somebody mentioned Steve Mcqueen. I've got that covered too. My aunt used to hang out with Steve McQueen in New York when she was a teenager and he was a struggling stage actor. 'That Somebody up the Likes Me' signature is an example. He wasn't even credited for that role. Rhoda took those candids and later got them signed.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on February 2, 2017 at 12:36pm

David,

This is insane!!! 3 Steve McQueen signed 8x10s here alone...plus the one you sold at RR.Amazing.

Amazing.

The third one, signed top right, isn't a signature style I'm familiar with. I'm looking forward to studying these as you put them online.

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Permalink Reply by David Kuflik on February 2, 2017 at 12:55pm

Did somebody mention Marilyn Monroe? I've got that covered as well. As a teenager, Rhoda used to follow Marilyn around NY as she shopped. Marilyn would wear no makeup and a head scarf and nobody noticed her. I have lots of unsigned candid photos that Rhoda took. By the way, I know the color post card isn't real. I have a couple more Marilyns inscribed to Harvey that aren't pictured.

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Permalink Reply by JMS1223 on February 2, 2017 at 1:05pm

Wow! Some very awesome pieces there. My favorite would probably be the black and white headshot photo signed. That's a classic shot!

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Permalink Reply by David Kuflik on February 2, 2017 at 1:13pm

That's my best autograph. Signed to Rhoda in white ink with 'Love and Kisses'. The photo looks brand new in person as it was tucked away in an envelope for 50 years.