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Star Wars Collectors Unite!

I have been collecting Star Wars autographs since 1998. Not all of my signatures are on Star Wars memorabilia. For example, when I met Warwick Davis at a comic convention in New York City, I had him sign a Willow photograph. I also have publicity photos of Sir Alec Guinness and Christopher Lee from the 1970s, and a Natalie Portman signed The Diary of Anne Frank theater poster from her performance on Broadway back in 1998. My current wish list includes Peter Cushing, Terence Stamp and John Williams. I am interested in knowing about the collections and wish lists of other members.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Shepherd on July 25, 2014 at 10:46pm

I am not familiar with Jeffrey Hunter's autograph. I did a quick search on Google Images, but I was unable to find anything that I would be comfortable using as an exemplar. There may be a lot of secretarial signatures out there. This one appears to be authentic.

Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on July 26, 2014 at 4:59am

Ahhhh I see. Yes, a wiki check shows Henry McKinnies, Jr. was Hunter's birth name.

Permalink Reply by Mike Shepherd on July 26, 2014 at 6:44am

I agree that the two signatures appear to be signed by the same person.

Permalink Reply by Bradford on July 26, 2014 at 7:37am

Ok using the fist as an exemplar, how does this signature compare?

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Permalink Reply by Mike Shepherd on July 26, 2014 at 7:45am

They appear to be different to me.

Permalink Reply by Pete Bendu on July 26, 2014 at 4:21am

The Hunter part is what stands out to me as a good signature, probably signed before he legally changed his name, (if he ever did) so he had to sign both stage name and legal name.

They do appear to be in the same hand, but I haven't dealt with any of his Henry Jr. signatures before.

Tha actual contract would have been a nice piece if it wasnt chopped up.

Permalink Reply by Mike Shepherd on July 23, 2014 at 7:48am

Would you settle for just a list of the five most valuable Star Wars autographs in any order? Members can create a list based on what they believe to be the most valuable to them. Many of the prices vary tremendously.

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Permalink Reply by Pete Bendu on July 21, 2014 at 3:35pm

The Lucas Death Star photo is a now well known forgery from the guy who supplied ebay seller autographczar and countless other dealers nationwide for years. His proof pictures made his face well recognized as "autographczar" and he is still called that today, but the actual seller is probably not the guy in all the proof pics. He was widely known among in-person graphers in NYC and LA, and due to the fact that he had all the cash to drop bribes to Limo drivers, hotel employees and airline people....he was the guy with all the info on where the celebs would be, and when they would be there, so of course no one blew the whistle as long as he shared the scoop.

That exact shot with that style signature, randomly placed around the images, has sold dozens of times on ebay and private auction sites. Maybe this was such an early one sent into PSA DNA, that they hadn't seen them, I can't comment on how it got stickered, or even if the sticker is authentic. All I can talk about is the signature.

The czar flooded the market with bad stuff and it fooled lots of people for years, but after seeing a decade or more of his stuff from the same exact sources.....he does have tells, and the long time SW collectors have found most of them.

He would get out there in the streets and get a signature, then a photo with the celeb, stick it in his bag and go home to copy the signature on a stack of new prints of the same photo. He would send a proof pic featuring the original item (or just him standing with the celeb) along with his very well executed forgery out to dozens of dealers world wide and collect all the money that he could use to get more info, and the cycle continued.

As for the cousin signed Fords....I now only see the Cobra Indy shot, I can't seem to find the others, but all were signed in the same hand.....that hand just wasn't Mr. Ford's.

I hope this clarifies some of my comments

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Permalink Reply by Mike Shepherd on July 21, 2014 at 6:15pm

Thanks Pete. At first I thought that you had an issue with the variation of the autograph. It appears to be atypical of both George Lucas' vintage and current signatures. I was unwilling to count it out because I thought that perhaps it was something that was signed during a transitional period of his signing habits. There were a couple of things that I liked about the appearance of it, and one particular thing that I certainly did not like about it. I think that you know what that one thing is. The history lesson puts a whole new perspective on things. Please share as many of those stories as you care to share with us.

I would imagine that PSA had this style of George Lucas autograph in their inventory when they authenticated it. They may have been unaware of the scandal that you have just described for us. You yourself said that many people for years were fooled. I hope that PSA are aware of the history of the item now.

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Permalink Reply by Pete Bendu on July 21, 2014 at 6:54pm

Steve Grad is the lead authenticator for PSA DNA and I know for a fact that he knows all about the forger known as autograpczar.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Shepherd on July 21, 2014 at 7:02pm

Good.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Shepherd on July 21, 2014 at 6:36pm

Here are the Harrison Ford autographed photos that Daniel's cousin had signed. Pete, I cracked up laughing at your description above of the origin of these autographs. Was it a subconscious slip? I have also noticed that Daniel has not posted on AML since July 22, 2013. I am not sure why he has been absent for so long.

There is one particular thing about the "Harrison" on all three photos that I do not like Pete. I know that you agree.