We're an eBay affiliate and may be compensated on purchases made through clicks.

Springsteen Greatest Hits LP w/ Walls of Fame COA

Good or a good forgery? I know Walls of Fame (Billy Smith) does not have the best reputation on this site but all of his stuff can't be bad -- can it?

0 members like this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Trond Johansen on October 25, 2014 at 11:34am

I do not agree 100% there, if I would choose between the one on top here, and this last one here, I would choose the one on top. I think they both are authentic though. I do not trust some of the "experts" when it comes to Springsteen anymore. Especially PSA seems not to have enough knowledge about Springsteen's many shifting`s in signature style. Look at some of the signings from the last HH Tour 2014. and you can`t compare them to his 10-15 years ago, and not at all to his older ones from 70`s and 80`s.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Bruce Juice on October 25, 2014 at 11:47am

Troud the second one I got in person in 1991 -- the Billy Smith one was deemed "not authentic" by PSA, Epperson, and several others. If you really think it's good, here is the link on ebay to the "Greatest Hits" LP -- It's at $349 with no bids.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bruce-Springsteen-Greatest-Hits-Signed-Reco...

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Trond Johansen on October 25, 2014 at 12:13pm

Bidding and prices it reaches on Ebay is (unfortunately) often based on COA`s, and not on the item itself. I must admit I often fall into that myself, not because of the actual COA, but the fear for what it would mean for other people deeming it. I myself bought a sig by Springsteen from 1981 without a COA at all, now a month ago, I got it for under $50. I am myself 100% sure it is legit. But I collect only E Street sigs, (and other memorabilia), not for its value, just because I am a huge fan of E Street, Asbury Jukes, and all the other Jersey Shore artists.

Jan Cogo and I have exposed a lot of forgeries on Springsteen-autos in Scandinavia, and I really want to fight the forgers with all my ability, but I value my own opinion in E Street autographs, and will not automatically say "crucify" , if an authenticator says "fake".

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Trond Johansen on October 25, 2014 at 12:33pm

I got this from Billy a year ago, of Vini "Maddog" Lopez (first drummer of E Street Band, and now member of Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with the band) signing my "The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle", so saying that "all is bad" is doing him a big injustice.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Cogo on October 25, 2014 at 12:48pm

Is the original Springsteen posted really from Billy Smith's Walls of Fame?

If you follow the ebay link posted by Bruce you can see that the COA is from s company called "New Hope Walls of Fame", based in Pennsylvania. Billy Smith's company WOF is based in Florida. Plus the COA looks nothing like the ones that I have seen from the WOF that we have discussed in this thread...

I still think that it's to many autographs coming from Billy Smith and his Walls of Fame that are deemed as fakes, but maybe this isn't one of those??

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Trond Johansen on October 25, 2014 at 12:57pm

Good eye there Jan, you may be right. I still think this one is real though, it fits good in there in Bruce`s style somewhere around 2000. Or may I say, one of his styles.

I agree, Billy has had a couple of fakes in his possession, some that he has obtained from others, and himself believed was real. We all have bought fakes it seems, the difference though is that we are not in the business of selling them, or I am not at least.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Trond Johansen on October 25, 2014 at 1:36pm

I did some googling now, and "New Hope Walls of Fame" IS Billy Smiths company from back in 1993. Must have been before he moved to Florida. I was somewhat puzzled by this, as I saw the signature on the COA on Ebay definitively was Billy Smith`s.

http://www.bizapedia.com/pa/NEW-HOPE-WALLS-OF-FAME.html

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Cogo on October 25, 2014 at 1:39pm

Ok. Great detective work Trond! :-)

Now we can put that behind and focus on the signature instead, as it should be!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Trond Johansen on October 25, 2014 at 1:51pm

Yeah, that`s what we are here for. :-) Now it is established that it must be from sometime between 1993, and when Billy moved to Florida. I believe that must have been sometime early 2000`s. I will look more on this one, and as I said earlier, I honestly believe it`s real. I am not into buying at the moment, but still think it`s interesting solving things like this. (Ok, I bought this 81-Bruce sig for $50 a month ago, but that was a bargain too big to resist...hehe)

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Bruce Juice on October 25, 2014 at 2:02pm

It's the same company Jan. Before moving to Florida, Walls of Fame was located in New Hope, PA. Same Billy Smith owning both companies.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Mark Roberts on October 25, 2014 at 12:38pm

Here is my in person signed copy of Greatest Hits - I got him to sign this for me in 1996 Tom Joad Tour - in KY. First time I got to meet the man! Great experience! And YES it looks similar to the one at the top of the thread. I am not trained enough to see the differences.....

Mark