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Permalink Reply by Richard Booth on July 20, 2016 at 1:50am

Looks good to me!

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Permalink Reply by Marshall Slayton on July 20, 2016 at 5:17am

Thanks for your opinion, Richard Booth. I had to ask because the ebay auction tossed up a few red flags after I bought it.

1. The seller was a guy who goes by the handle stamarkram, who was once accused of selling fraudulent Pink Floyd and Clash autographs here on this Autograph Live forum. (You can search the username.)

2. He said he got it from some expo called Horrorhound in Ohio from a vendor, so he didn't get it himself.

3. Many of his auction listings are private, but not all of them.

4. The sketch came on a thin sheet of paper, and the paper was apparently cut off on the side.

5. Matt Groening himself has said there are quite a few fakes of his online.

6. It was only a Buy It Now price of $30, which feels a little too good to be true.

The seller agreed to take back the item if I'm not satisfied. I'm still debating.

Thanks.

-M

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Permalink Reply by Mike White on July 27, 2016 at 10:47pm

1. The seller was a guy who goes by the handle stamarkram, who was once accused of selling fraudulent Pink Floyd and Clash autographs here on this Autograph Live forum. (You can search the username.)

Generally speaking, that's not necessarily what I'd call a red flag without knowing the details. A lot of collectors end up with bad pieces by purchasing from less than reputable sources. Then, should they decide to sell off their collection, those pieces get thrown into the lot. If they don't lie about the origin of the piece or refuse to pull the piece/honor the terms of sale, there's nothing indicating that it's nothing more than an honest mistake.

The issue is that some people here, rather than inform the seller of their error and give them a chance to pull the pieces, opt instead to post warnings here that the seller is never made aware of.

So while it could be a problem, that's not automatically the case.

2. He said he got it from some expo called Horrorhound in Ohio from a vendor, so he didn't get it himself.

It doesn't really matter if he got it himself or not. Heck, even if he said he got it himself, he could be lying. The question to ask would be "Who was the vendor". Cons don't screen vendors like they should. Some will have good stuff, some will have forgeries galore.

And Horrorhound is a huge convention. It's not just "some expo".

3. Many of his auction listings are private, but not all of them.

Really not seeing the significance of this. On today's eBay, all a private listing means is that when a buyer or seller leaves FB, it doesn't link back to the listing. It doesn't necessarily make sense why people do it for non-personal items, but it's nothing that I'd see as a red flag.

4. The sketch came on a thin sheet of paper, and the paper was apparently cut off on the side.

Matt Groening consistently signs & sketches in books at SDCC & he does occasional book signings to promote new releases. Cutting on the side could indicate that it was removed from a book, which would make it more likely that it's authentic (the proportions of the paper appear to be in line with this). "Thin" could be the back of a comic cover, but it could also indicate tracing paper. It ultimately comes down to what "thin" means here.

5. Matt Groening himself has said there are quite a few fakes of his online.

There are. But, due to the SDCC & book signing thing mentioned above, there are also quite a few real ones.

6. It was only a Buy It Now price of $30, which feels a little too good to be true.

That is a red flag, but not necessarily a big issue. If the guy got a good deal on it or is, for whatever reason, liquidating, that could explain the low price. That he got it from a vendor rather than personally does make a low price odd, but there are ways to make a profit.

All that said, I wouldn't touch it.

1) It's not dated. While there are (seemingly) authentic Matt Groening sketches with no inscription, many of the verifiable ones have some form of date (and occasionally location).

2) This seller also sold a Groening Mr. Burns piece back in May at the same price point. 1 could be explained. 2, listed a month apart? That low? Not likely.

3) Their store is currently empty--absolutely nothing for sale since the end of June.

4) Their past original art offerings include Neal Adams, Tim Burton, 2 Bob Kanes, & Charles Shulz at prices lower than non-sketch autographs should sell for or fetch. As with #2, one piece can be explained. When it's a regular occurrence, there's something fishy going on.

Whether they're doing this maliciously or they simply got screwed over by a dealer, I can't say, but this doesn't feel legitimate to me.

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Permalink Reply by Marshall Slayton on July 28, 2016 at 8:19am

Thanks very much for your thorough and thoughtful response. I greatly appreciate the time you took to research, and agree with everything you posted.

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