Sorry Steve, I was a bit impulsive filling out my profile...just wanted to express my interest without being presumptous. I am more interested in autographs as an 'alternative asset class" to other investments than I am as an enthusiast. That being said, I am always interested in keeping an eye on the professionals and the industry as a whole.
My apologies for summarizing my voyeurism as 'watching the drama' - my profle has been revised.
Your efforts and the inherent allure of autographs, in my humble opinion, will continue to contributed to the integrity of a market that has great potential - and I am interested in forums like this that benefit the greater good (investors, authenticators, historians, autioneers, dealers and of course collectors).
Cream always rises to the top...thank you, and keep up the good work.
Steve- I am most interested in the examination of signatures for the purposes of authentication. My experiences go back to 1988, and have handled a variety of cases, writing letters of opinion (I do not know if that is worth while here or not), those cases deal with signatures found from extortion to contracts to anonymous letters. I hope to be an asset to this site.
Thank You for your input! At this time, for whatever the reason, I do not have e-mail access on this blog site. (I am certain it is because I am new.) I am just learning the ropes.
Thanks for the welcome Steve, this looks an excellent website . I am usually quite busy (in my professional job), but i will try to explore this website and add to some discussions
hi not a game player thanks for your welcome . Not a game player and want to sell my items that was posted and have more than that . if we can get sales, fine if not remove me and my stuff . all my photos are authenticted by the photos sent to me and autographed by the star . Go see more on WWW.BURTRICHARDS.COM if you dought me
For those considering whether or not to advertise on this site ~ The simple answer is do it ROI and exposure is 2nd to none. Steve Cyrkin, without a doubt, has been a beacon of light when it comes to many collectors and dealers above reproach that visit this place.
I've been catching up on all your past articles and discussions since joining the site yesterday. There is a ton of useful info on here for the beginning collectors all the way up to the advanced levels. The artices about forgers have been the most interesting as well as informative. I have completely stayed away from Ebay for autographs as even I, (just a collector, not a dealer) can easily spot fakes on that website. Almost all of the examples on Ebay are horrible. The printed COA's are worse! Keep up the good work.
My girlfriend took the photo and he actually sang into the camera for her
He lives by me and we see him regularly at the local soccer matches and he is always willing to sign
When this photo was taken he had actually signed :
Zep 1, 2,4, houses of the holy and bbc sessions.
to cap it off i gave him a copy of destroyer 77 to sign and he looked at it and i thought oops but all he said was Hmmm one of the better ones and started laughing and duly signed it
hes really cool
I left a message to a member on here who has been stiffed by autographs america and said i will get him a plant signature if he sends me something to sign
i will try my best to help inform the autograph collectors out there to try and educate on purchasing authentic items and not cheap forgeries....i hope i can help...once i figure out how this works i will be posting to many items...thanks again....happy collecting
Thanks Steve...I just hope Iam posting correctly to get maximum reading exposure for others that can use help....if iam not please let me know...we can all use the help...the forgers flooded the market so bad and we need to show and help each other to prevent buying fakes....thanks again for the kind words....I truly love this site !!!
I will do that. I need to get some more pictures. It's tricky because these collectibles were my fathers and since he worked in promotions he was able to get alot of celebrity signatures that he did not buy but was physically present for. Thank you for your advice, my goal is to liquidate as
Much of this as possible since the lease on the air-conditioned storage unit is almost up
Yes !!!!! Where did you guys get the photo from?? I can assure you it is 100% genuine. It has complete providence, certified handwriting, and evidence of past ownership. It is understandable why it's questioned, but so matters are put straight it is a true piece of rock memorabilia, and one I am proud to own!!!
Unfortunately when I stated collecting over 20 years ago I was not as knowledgeable as I am now and I have over 10 Beatles Albums signed supposedly by all four including a promo photo, and a Snare Drum signed by Ringo Starr, and a Guitar signed by Paul and Ringo. But knowing what I know now I fear that they may all be fakes. I hope for my sake that at least maybe 1 of the things I have could be real. Unfortunately i recently lost my job and due to health I am unable to go back to work. So I really need to sell some of my longtime treasured collectibles. if I take the time to send the pics to verify their Authenticity will i get an honest opinion as to their wether they are fake or not . If the answer is yes will you respond directly to me or will I have to wait for the end of the consensus to know wether my items are considered fakes? Thank you for your time and adding me as a friend I really appreciated the article on the beatles Albums but it does make me fear that all the items I have may be fakes!!!! Which would really suck This site is amazing by the way
Hello, Steve can you help me to identify a declaration of independence that I just found in a flea market the size is 15 1/2 inches by 17 1/2 inches the color of the paper is between white and beige not yellow cintyacampos88@gmail.com thank you
No, born in Ireland. I've been in SoCal off & on for the last 20 years. Was in Silverlake for a long time, now outside of Grand Terrace. Possibility of work moving me again to Minneapolis of all places...don't know if I can take it. Spoiled too long by this weather.
As a matter of fact, the other person is my boyfriend - we purchased the items together and have had nothing but issues with the company. We've been in contact with Mr. House, the CEO of Always At Auction; but after stumbling on an article on your website about a soldier in Afghanistan who purchased a collection of forgeries from them and reading the comments from other customers I've realized he's been lying to us more and more every step of the way. The first article I saw on your website was about Christopher Morales; when we argued with Mr. House about the credibility of Mr. Morales he proceeded to badmouth yourself specifically insisting that you were responsible for all of the "untrue" claims against him. So far the information here has been the most helpful.
Have you ever seen the CEO of a company handle every complaint regarding the purchase of a single $20 Mantle photo? Looks awful funny doesn't it? Can't imagine purchasing something from a large company and having the President, CEO, Owner handling every single complaint when he has an employment staff of over 200 employees.
I got nowhere with AAFES on this mess. I spent a few bucks and spent alot of time trying. Back then it was me alone disputing these items with them. Didn't hold much weight. Now I just spend my time search EBAY and Craigslist for these items and send quick messages and links to this site to those trying to flip this garbage. I am in New York now and Craigslist here is full of this junk from AlwaysAtAuction.
I have seen two Soldiers here who have purchased Mantles and had them on the wall. They had no idea that these were forgeries. John House is making a killing. Like I've said previously he is fully aware that these items are not genuine. He will never say that. He is hiding behind the shaky authentications of STAT, TTA, AAU and now Morales who apparantly has giuven him a mass quantity discount. I've had one of the Soldiers call and complain. They no longer offer refunds like they have in the past once the 7 day period has elapsed. The Soldier I had call has not spoken to John but the Manager of the Sports Memorabilia department. We had him on speaker phone. He claimed that no authenticator trumped their guy and then used the whole this company is badmouthing Mr. Morales because they fear him dominating the authentication market and blah, blah, blah.
Even today with the information out about them and this site they continue to make a killing.Problem I see though with AAFES and the military police is the same as when I was contacting John. I am just a collector. Even though I have experience and can tell between an authentic Mantle from a fake I'm still a collector. AAFES and the military police are not. John shows them Morales pencil whipped resume about forensics and secret service and they are convinced it is just buyer remorse on the part of the complaintant. AAFES would have to be contacted directly by an authority figure or agency on autographs and such similiar to investigators like in Operation Bullpen.
Remember AlwaysAtAuction is making a killing on these forgeries. In turn AAFES is collecting a good percentage of these sells that come from the AAFES website.
I'm at a total loss where to go next. I've contacted AAFES, The Army Times and IG. He continues to convince them that we all are just conspiracy theorist.
Hi, steve, thanks for your reply,i bought a signed nirvana promo photo of all the band on eBay a few years ago from an american seller and the photo was purchased by them from heritage auctions.I know eBay is full of fakes but sometimes you get the real thing,the reason i bought it was i knew it came from heritage auctions.I checked the auction archive section and it was there so i was happy to buy it.The price was only $200 so very cheap for a nirvana signed photo.If you dont mind could you go into their site and check it out for me,its the one with them standing in a shower.I would appreciate your opinion on it.Thanks.
I bought 2 guitars from Legacy Hall. A Fender Starcaster signed by all 4 Eagles members & a Sunburst California signed by Paul Mc Cartney. I paid $400.00 each. The guy I talked to was Paul, he said his father passed away and they were selling out the family business. If this is a scam, and he used the death of his dad to rip people off, then he is a jerk and should spend some time in the slammer
I have photos with autographs of actors and actresses from 1992-present. Robin Williams, Farah Fawcett, Chevy Chase, Rutger Hauer, Brian Dennehy, Adrian Paul, Patrick Duffy, Jon Voight, David Hasselhoff, Michael Gross, Adam Sandler, Faye Dunaway and more. Some of them are personalized to me!
Thanks Steve. I have found this photo in my grandparents files. It appears to be authentic, but there is one identical, with identical signature on the mitchlllibrary.org site (Glasgow City council) page 779 record 927. This makes me wonder which of us has a copy. I appreciate any assistance with my research!
My friend Thom's great Aunt was a secretary to a lawyer who received the letter asking for donations. They took great pride in the letter and all that Helen was able to acomplish. They had a cousin who was blind and the efforts of Ms. Keller helped her and people like her all over the world. This letter is three typed pages and a list of contributors signed in pencil by Helen, Sent in 1939.
Hi Steve...thanks for the welcome. Though I mentioned my areas of expertise the item I'm researching is only tangently in my area. It is a 78 RPM opera record. As a collector I know that in general, it's rare that a 78 has any great value. The item I'm researching came with two boxes of records including one box of 78s all, in extraordinarly good shape. I won't get into what I know about them at the moment because there is only one of serious interest because it is inscribed: RCA Red Seal 14901 78rpm. Side A-Song of the Volga Boatman/Song of the Flea. Sung by opera singer Feodor Chalapin (1873-1938). On side A he has inscribed the following in the run-off: Fedor Chalapin/Feb. 6, 1936/Japan. According to Wikipedia his last live performances were in Japan. This recording was owned by a woman who traveled the world to see Opera performed (she is deceased). Her immediate relative is 90 years old and inherited this record from her. I've researched his signature and found several examples for sale...all on programs or other paper goods but none on an actual recording. I shot a few pictures of it: No problem viewing the recording but I'm having a hard time making the lettering stand out in a photograph...I'll finish doing that shortly and post the images. Thanks for your time and interest.
Steve, I keep getting a "sorry that upload won't work" when attempting to upload the image...It (and the next two I'd send) are small, i.e. 1mb or less. I'm not sure why though I use Zone Alarm Extreme and it can be a bit of a bully sometimes. I'll check back soon once I solve that problem. PS: I did NOT know that you were in the middle of a Jimi Hendrix conversation with someone else when I said "Hendrix" in my answers! Funny. I tell the story here (scroll down below the pictures to see my story) about seeing Hendrix: my first live concert http://www.garagehangover.com/?q=Dome
Hi Steve, thanks for the welcome. I'm not sure if I'm doing this right, but in response to that Billie letter all I can say is I can't imagine the self loathing that trumps my losing a 10 of 10, 5X7 Billie (Club Downbeat) souvenir card with an inscription about staying happy, a huge signature and a 'Lady Day' to boot for just about $1100 bucks, but you may have me beat. That's holy grail status in the Billie world. What did it end at? Had to be past 5 or 6K.
I love her and have a few things left, like the charts, some stuff from her desk (whatever that might have been) like autographed photos signed to to her and a simple hat (that I can't find!). These were all finds from a trunk that belonged to Louis McKay and supposedly ended up in cousins garage in NJ. I purchased the pieces in the very early days of eBay, when everything collectible flowed a little better. I took just what I could afford at the time. There were some beautiful items like gloves, sunglasses, costume jewels and her funeral receipts.
Thanks for the welcome Steve. I will share the details re: my forgery purchase soon. Don't want to go into it quite yet, as I am in the process of seeing if the dealer will make things right. Either way, trust that as soon as I can, I will share my story and the details, so hopefully others won't get burned from this specific dealer and learn from my mistake. Thanks again !
Mark C Schmidt-Fellner
Sorry Steve, I was a bit impulsive filling out my profile...just wanted to express my interest without being presumptous. I am more interested in autographs as an 'alternative asset class" to other investments than I am as an enthusiast. That being said, I am always interested in keeping an eye on the professionals and the industry as a whole.
My apologies for summarizing my voyeurism as 'watching the drama' - my profle has been revised.
Your efforts and the inherent allure of autographs, in my humble opinion, will continue to contributed to the integrity of a market that has great potential - and I am interested in forums like this that benefit the greater good (investors, authenticators, historians, autioneers, dealers and of course collectors).
Cream always rises to the top...thank you, and keep up the good work.
Best Regards,
MSF
Jan 3, 2011
Steve Everly
Thanks- that's a great idea (like I know).
Take digital photos of each and then upload in an album.
Are you restricted to the number you upload at a given time and what is the preferred size of the .jpg file?
Also, is there a market for the Playmate/Scream Queen items and what are the restrictions on the "nudity" issue?
Thank you!
Feb 9, 2011
Sandra Logan
Feb 17, 2011
Tom Thornburg
Apr 6, 2011
Tom Thornburg
Apr 6, 2011
Paul Bates
Thanks for the welcome Steve, this looks an excellent website . I am usually quite busy (in my professional job), but i will try to explore this website and add to some discussions
Regards
Paul
Apr 15, 2011
burt richards
hi not a game player thanks for your welcome . Not a game player and want to sell my items that was posted and have more than that . if we can get sales, fine if not remove me and my stuff . all my photos are authenticted by the photos sent to me and autographed by the star . Go see more on WWW.BURTRICHARDS.COM if you dought me
burt
Apr 23, 2011
burt richards
Apr 23, 2011
DB
May 6, 2011
David Kahan
Steve, thank you for the welcome. I'm moving on June 1 and will probably start uploading my autographs after that. But, if you want to see what I've collected, you can go to
http://s117.photobucket.com/albums/o74/Osasfedoche/Autographs/
and see them all except the ones I've received over the last week or so.
May 11, 2011
David Kahan
May 11, 2011
Mike Smith
Steve-
I've been catching up on all your past articles and discussions since joining the site yesterday. There is a ton of useful info on here for the beginning collectors all the way up to the advanced levels. The artices about forgers have been the most interesting as well as informative. I have completely stayed away from Ebay for autographs as even I, (just a collector, not a dealer) can easily spot fakes on that website. Almost all of the examples on Ebay are horrible. The printed COA's are worse! Keep up the good work.
May 11, 2011
Steve Zarelli
May 15, 2011
Johnny Mal
Hi Steve
Thank you
My girlfriend took the photo and he actually sang into the camera for her
He lives by me and we see him regularly at the local soccer matches and he is always willing to sign
When this photo was taken he had actually signed :
Zep 1, 2,4, houses of the holy and bbc sessions.
to cap it off i gave him a copy of destroyer 77 to sign and he looked at it and i thought oops but all he said was Hmmm one of the better ones and started laughing and duly signed it
hes really cool
I left a message to a member on here who has been stiffed by autographs america and said i will get him a plant signature if he sends me something to sign
good to be here ,
May 29, 2011
Janice Knechtel
Jun 4, 2011
Malte Aronsson
Jun 15, 2011
Teri Thompson
Jun 18, 2011
Bill Waterhouse
Thanks for the welcome. Actually, I'm looking to get more information about some vintage signatures. Possibly some Hollywood type items.
Jun 22, 2011
Jason Boyd
Jul 4, 2011
CEE GEE
Jul 19, 2011
Philip Timos
Thank-you Steve.. what a brilliant and exciting site... I hope to share alot with you and every other member.. Thanks for the add! cheers phil
Jul 26, 2011
CEE GEE
Jul 27, 2011
Morgan Rose
Much of this as possible since the lease on the air-conditioned storage unit is almost up
Jul 29, 2011
Gary
Aug 3, 2011
Gary
Aug 3, 2011
Fredrik Nyman
Aug 10, 2011
Fredrik Nyman
Aug 10, 2011
Matt Raymond
Thanks for the welcome Steve! Looking forward to participating in the community.
Aug 19, 2011
Christopher Wayne
Aug 28, 2011
Juan garcia
Sep 3, 2011
Darren Ruskin, III
Sep 9, 2011
Janice Knechtel
Sep 18, 2011
Sarah Steward
Sep 27, 2011
Rick Meyer
Steve,
Have you ever seen the CEO of a company handle every complaint regarding the purchase of a single $20 Mantle photo? Looks awful funny doesn't it? Can't imagine purchasing something from a large company and having the President, CEO, Owner handling every single complaint when he has an employment staff of over 200 employees.
I got nowhere with AAFES on this mess. I spent a few bucks and spent alot of time trying. Back then it was me alone disputing these items with them. Didn't hold much weight. Now I just spend my time search EBAY and Craigslist for these items and send quick messages and links to this site to those trying to flip this garbage. I am in New York now and Craigslist here is full of this junk from AlwaysAtAuction.
I have seen two Soldiers here who have purchased Mantles and had them on the wall. They had no idea that these were forgeries. John House is making a killing. Like I've said previously he is fully aware that these items are not genuine. He will never say that. He is hiding behind the shaky authentications of STAT, TTA, AAU and now Morales who apparantly has giuven him a mass quantity discount. I've had one of the Soldiers call and complain. They no longer offer refunds like they have in the past once the 7 day period has elapsed. The Soldier I had call has not spoken to John but the Manager of the Sports Memorabilia department. We had him on speaker phone. He claimed that no authenticator trumped their guy and then used the whole this company is badmouthing Mr. Morales because they fear him dominating the authentication market and blah, blah, blah.
Even today with the information out about them and this site they continue to make a killing.Problem I see though with AAFES and the military police is the same as when I was contacting John. I am just a collector. Even though I have experience and can tell between an authentic Mantle from a fake I'm still a collector. AAFES and the military police are not. John shows them Morales pencil whipped resume about forensics and secret service and they are convinced it is just buyer remorse on the part of the complaintant. AAFES would have to be contacted directly by an authority figure or agency on autographs and such similiar to investigators like in Operation Bullpen.
Remember AlwaysAtAuction is making a killing on these forgeries. In turn AAFES is collecting a good percentage of these sells that come from the AAFES website.
I'm at a total loss where to go next. I've contacted AAFES, The Army Times and IG. He continues to convince them that we all are just conspiracy theorist.
Sep 27, 2011
Joe Galiardi
Steve,
I saved my last unpublished blog, but can't find how to bring it back up to finish my story. Help. Joe
Nov 12, 2011
Jason Boyd
hi Steve,
I hope you have a wonderful Holiday season.
-Jason
Dec 8, 2011
Alastair Mulholland
Dec 10, 2011
Alastair Mulholland
Dec 10, 2011
mark johnson
I bought 2 guitars from Legacy Hall. A Fender Starcaster signed by all 4 Eagles members & a Sunburst California signed by Paul Mc Cartney. I paid $400.00 each. The guy I talked to was Paul, he said his father passed away and they were selling out the family business. If this is a scam, and he used the death of his dad to rip people off, then he is a jerk and should spend some time in the slammer
Dec 20, 2011
CJCollector
Thank you, Steve. We're all part of the same fight. Don't ever let the bad guys get you down. Their personal attacks mean you're winning.
Chris
Dec 23, 2011
Elva M.
Hi Steve,
I have photos with autographs of actors and actresses from 1992-present. Robin Williams, Farah Fawcett, Chevy Chase, Rutger Hauer, Brian Dennehy, Adrian Paul, Patrick Duffy, Jon Voight, David Hasselhoff, Michael Gross, Adam Sandler, Faye Dunaway and more. Some of them are personalized to me!
Thanks!
Jan 4, 2012
Christine Estes
Jan 9, 2012
Christine Estes
Thanks Steve. I have found this photo in my grandparents files. It appears to be authentic, but there is one identical, with identical signature on the mitchlllibrary.org site (Glasgow City council) page 779 record 927. This makes me wonder which of us has a copy. I appreciate any assistance with my research!
Jan 9, 2012
Don Tesoro
My friend Thom's great Aunt was a secretary to a lawyer who received the letter asking for donations. They took great pride in the letter and all that Helen was able to acomplish. They had a cousin who was blind and the efforts of Ms. Keller helped her and people like her all over the world. This letter is three typed pages and a list of contributors signed in pencil by Helen, Sent in 1939.
Jan 10, 2012
Don Tesoro
I would like to find out what it is worth and any other information that would be helpful. Tomorrow I will upload the scans of the letter.
Jan 10, 2012
Charles W. Taylor III
Hi Steve...thanks for the welcome. Though I mentioned my areas of expertise the item I'm researching is only tangently in my area. It is a 78 RPM opera record. As a collector I know that in general, it's rare that a 78 has any great value. The item I'm researching came with two boxes of records including one box of 78s all, in extraordinarly good shape. I won't get into what I know about them at the moment because there is only one of serious interest because it is inscribed: RCA Red Seal 14901 78rpm. Side A-Song of the Volga Boatman/Song of the Flea. Sung by opera singer Feodor Chalapin (1873-1938). On side A he has inscribed the following in the run-off: Fedor Chalapin/Feb. 6, 1936/Japan. According to Wikipedia his last live performances were in Japan. This recording was owned by a woman who traveled the world to see Opera performed (she is deceased). Her immediate relative is 90 years old and inherited this record from her. I've researched his signature and found several examples for sale...all on programs or other paper goods but none on an actual recording. I shot a few pictures of it: No problem viewing the recording but I'm having a hard time making the lettering stand out in a photograph...I'll finish doing that shortly and post the images. Thanks for your time and interest.
Jan 11, 2012
Charles W. Taylor III
Steve, I keep getting a "sorry that upload won't work" when attempting to upload the image...It (and the next two I'd send) are small, i.e. 1mb or less. I'm not sure why though I use Zone Alarm Extreme and it can be a bit of a bully sometimes. I'll check back soon once I solve that problem. PS: I did NOT know that you were in the middle of a Jimi Hendrix conversation with someone else when I said "Hendrix" in my answers! Funny. I tell the story here (scroll down below the pictures to see my story) about seeing Hendrix: my first live concert http://www.garagehangover.com/?q=Dome
Jan 11, 2012
Chris G
Hi Steve, thanks for the welcome. I'm not sure if I'm doing this right, but in response to that Billie letter all I can say is I can't imagine the self loathing that trumps my losing a 10 of 10, 5X7 Billie (Club Downbeat) souvenir card with an inscription about staying happy, a huge signature and a 'Lady Day' to boot for just about $1100 bucks, but you may have me beat. That's holy grail status in the Billie world. What did it end at? Had to be past 5 or 6K.
I love her and have a few things left, like the charts, some stuff from her desk (whatever that might have been) like autographed photos signed to to her and a simple hat (that I can't find!). These were all finds from a trunk that belonged to Louis McKay and supposedly ended up in cousins garage in NJ. I purchased the pieces in the very early days of eBay, when everything collectible flowed a little better. I took just what I could afford at the time. There were some beautiful items like gloves, sunglasses, costume jewels and her funeral receipts.
What can I say?
Jan 12, 2012
Joe Galiardi
Steve,
Thanks for the heads up about my blog. Hope you can retrieve it. If not, don't lose any sleep over it as I won't. Joe Galiardi
Jan 30, 2012
Steve Morton
Thanks for the welcome Steve. I will share the details re: my forgery purchase soon. Don't want to go into it quite yet, as I am in the process of seeing if the dealer will make things right. Either way, trust that as soon as I can, I will share my story and the details, so hopefully others won't get burned from this specific dealer and learn from my mistake. Thanks again !
Feb 10, 2012