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Michael Jackson Signing Styles in Julien's Tompkins and Bush Sale

On December 2, Julien's Auctions is selling The Collection of Tompkins and Bush. The collection contains 465 lots of Michael Jackson memorabilia, 287 of them autographed.

Michael Bush and the late Dennis Tompkins were Michael Jackson's costume designers for 25 years, during Jackson's most successful period. They were the consignors of the signed Thriller jacket that Julien's sold for $1,800,000 in June 2011.

Almost all of the autographs in the Tompkins and Bush sale are a variation I'm not familiar with. I've only been looking at Jackson's autograph for a few years, though, and we have members here who have collected him for decades, so I'd appreciate your input and exemplars.

If you know Michael Jackson's autograph well, please look at a few images below from the auction and let me know what you think. Even better, browse the auction and upload any similar examples you have: http://www.julienslive.com/view-auctions/catalog/id/77/

Julien's is the world's premier auction house for Michael Jackson memorabilia, so they would know his autograph better than most of us. I'm just surprised I haven't seen this style before.

Thanks for your help.

Tags: 2012, Julien's, auction, michael jackson, tompkins and bush

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Mai-Britt on January 8, 2013 at 2:52pm

Yes, there´s a lot of the same words in the responses.

I got one from Julien´s Auctions attorney.

She says, that Julien’s Auctions will certainly refund any item proven to be inauthentic by a reputable expert in the field. She also mentions the terms and conditions. Plus she says that the journalist from NBC have misunderstood Darren Juliens message about refunds. It´s a misstatement.

The problem is no one knows who they will approve to be an expert. And the person has to prove the item is inauthentic.

Any suggestions of whom that can be, and how?

Mai-Britt (buyer of sale lot nb 1003)

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on January 8, 2013 at 2:55pm

It's best to find out who Julien's recommends, since both parties have to agree.

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Permalink Reply by TeamMichael777 on January 8, 2013 at 3:00pm

Mai and Veronica, i have sent you details of an attorney, please contact him, you are wasting your time. Juliens are the same who were well aware of concerns in regrds to merchandise they were about to sell for MILLIONS of dollars, They were informed the signatures are not authentic but went ahead anyways, please dont waste any more time with them, i have worked hard to get an attorney for you guys, please use him, check you emails

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on January 8, 2013 at 3:16pm

They have to give their opinion that the item is inauthentic, not prove it.

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Permalink Reply by Carl Ryan on January 8, 2013 at 6:00pm

You will still win Mal Britt, just keep at it.

The fact is, that in this case, Julians isnt going to recommend anyone to you that they think will say the autographs are fake. That is a reasonable assumption. And so far, from what ive heard, only one authenticator has thought these items are good. However, the list of autograph authenticators who think they are bad is huge. So its not going to matter in the end. Courts may ignore one authenticator vs another in a battle of opinions, but if Julians has 2 guys saying they are good, and you have 30 authenticators saying bad, i think its safe to say you will win. Just keep up the fight. We are all behind you.

Here is the start of a list of Authenticators that say BAD!!!!! (please add to this, as i only know the tip of the iceberg):

1.) Roger Epperson

2.) Mike Frost (PAAS)

3.) Ed Kosinski (Gotta Have it)

4.) PSA

5.) JSA

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Permalink Reply by Luciana Camino on January 10, 2013 at 7:13pm

Yeah, and all "Michael" songs were finished all by Michaael himself!!!!

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Permalink Reply by Jadzzia Mj on January 8, 2013 at 3:31pm

I have more than enough lies Darren Julien ...
Veronica, a fan has even post this letter on a forum in France and Belgium, the same. In any case, I'm sorry to see this happen to you ...
Regarding Laura Woolley, I find his site:
http://thecollectorslab.com/about.php
I do not see it or indicate that the person is autograph authenticator ...

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Permalink Reply by Carl Ryan on January 8, 2013 at 6:08pm

Shes not an authenticator at all. Why Julians is lying about this, which will be brought out if it goes to court, is anyones guess. Its a fact anyone can check......She admitted from her own mouth she is NOT an authenticator and hasnt been one. So by Julians stating so, they are lying.

What is even more ironic is that Wooley then recommended PSA to look at the Jacksons, and said they were very good. And PSA already said these autos were FAKE!!!!! (via quick opinion). So now if Julian states that PSA cant be trusted, then that must meen that Wooley cant be trusted. They never thought that the news would check Wooley's credentials in my opinion, and now that the news has done so, they are caught in a jam. How can Julians possibly explain the mistruth that they claimed Laura Wooley as the "best authenticator of MJ in the world". Shes not an authenticator!!!!! And we all know the title of Best in that category belongs to Roger Epperson.

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Permalink Reply by Michelle on January 8, 2013 at 8:37pm

Pod cast interview with Laura Woolley from summer 2011. Its about 1 1/2 hours.

She talks about appraising items, inventory, insurance values and having an archive or record of previous auction sale items and prices from saving old auction catalogs.

She talks about a person who called her about getting an appraisal of a Michael Jackson drawing that a woman paid $30K for. She did the appraisal for the woman's insurance company.

Interesting discussions about taxes and I wonder if Bush has been paying taxes on his profits? If Michael gifted him this stuff, does he have to pay taxes on it? If Michael just left the stuff at his house, and he decided to sell it, is that income?

Around 30 minutes in, she is asked about how much people do research and how much people trust the consignor. She says she does not trust consignors word! For herself, she does not trust anything. You have to check it out. She hates letters of authenticity. She said they are faked a lot. She said it really comes down to who the item is from. Talks about auction houses selling bad stuff, bad reputations. If you get something and you have a suspicion, reputable auction houses will GIVE YOU YOUR MONEY BACK because they will not last long if they do not!!!

About 45 minutes in, she talks about AUTOGRAPHS! She talks about authentication services. SHE SAYS SHE DOES NOT AUTHENTICATE!!! Ding, ding, ding. She says autographs are the BIGGEST MESS OUT THERE!!! She talks BUYER BEWARE!

http://www.originalprop.com/blog/2011/06/30/prop-talk-podcast-014-%...

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id371924150

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Permalink Reply by MJ-fan-1965 on January 8, 2013 at 9:03pm

AWESOME FIND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

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Permalink Reply by Michelle on January 8, 2013 at 10:25pm

There is also an interview podcast with Darren Julien about his auction house and it starts with the Thriller jacket sale which occurred a week before this podcast (June 29, 2011). Says his team researched the THRILLER jacket for 4 months. Talks about Michael Jackson auctions overall and music memorabilia.

He discusses having a staff/coworkers in place to do authenticity, research to avoid getting bad stuff. Talks about competitors. Talks about most important thing for an auction house to do is their due diligence and to NOT sell questionable items, puts a black eye on the industry. He talks about questioning items and reputation.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id371924150# Darren's podcast is #5