I became a HUGE fan of this set once I learned of its existence, but there's a dearth of information out there about it. When I decided to start collecting them, I knew I had to do as much research as possible and share that knowledge with anyone else that might be interested. Star Pics autos are notorious for being easy to forge, but armed with this knowledge, collectors can make educated purchasing decisions. I hope to demonstrate how the forgeries differ from authentic copies, and how to…

On the afternoon talk show The Talk, there was a guest from Entertainment Tonight named Cameron Madison. He showed up to tell a story about Star Wars creator George Lucas. He showed clips of Lucas leaving a hotel and being asked for his autograph. Madison said they were autograph dealers trying to make money off his…

A handwritten letter to Sir Lew Grade from Paul McCartney on April 6, 1970. This was 4 days before he told the world that The Beatles were breaking up. He's asking for the for the "Deed Of Assignment dated Jan 12th to be sent to him IMMEDIATELY!!! This refers to Beatles royalties. This is a rare inter-office memo...and McCartney signatures from this time period are tough to find. What kind of value would you put on this? Has a letter from Frank Caiazzo. Just asking...Thanks.…

I saw this on the TMZ website. I swear, when it comes to autographs and memorabilia, there's so much bogus stuff going on. It's amazing that anybody still buys stuff anymore.

Turns out some of these items never belonged to Carrie, and her brother was just trying to cash in. Read the story here:

http://www.tmz.com/2017/07/10/carrie-fisher-auction-star-wars/

I had a girlfriend years ago that spent thousands of dollars for the opportunity to have dinner with David Hasselhoff at a charity event. She said he was a sweetheart.

But watching this video (despite that some of it isn't in English)...is the most heartwarming thing ever (and it ends with autographs, of course).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUgCpSbCTv4

I was listening to sports talk shows on the radio. They can be a lot of fun, but sometimes they drive you nuts. How many times can I hear people debate who is better between LeBron James and Michael Jordan? Or if the Lakers Lonzo Ball will be the next Magic Johnson, Jason Kidd, or … Todd Marinovich (anybody remember him? Last we heard, he was naked in a…

I saw this on TV today. I've never seen a commercial that deals with non-stop autographs. And it's pretty dang funny. Here it is:

https://www.ispot.tv/ad/ACUi/blue-emu-and-this-featuring-johnny-bench

I had a lot more misses than hits for June.  That's the way it goes sometimes.

The month started out with me traveling to Pittsburgh to see U2.  The Cleveland show was sold out, but there were plenty of tickets for the Pitt show. (The show was amazing.)  I arrived early because I had heard that Bono and The Edge signed before the show.  I met up with a nice family and started talking with them.  After hours of waiting, the four…

I only met Oliver Stone once. It was at CinemaCon in Las Vegas years ago, and a luncheon with a few big name directors (Guillermo del Toro being one). The directors had the most interesting things to say about filmmaking and it was an incredible lunch. 

As I saw him walking to the escalator the same time as me, I wanted to say, "Why did you make such a horrible movie…

I try to do blogs about current news related things involving autographs, as well as personal stories I have to share. This is one of those blogs where I talk about a current news story with some interesting items to be auctioned, and a bit of a rant by me.

Charlie Sheen, who at one time was a good actor and not just an insane…

This is Part 2 of showing various examples of Mickey Mantle forged photos.

Immediately below, is Part 1 and a second lick to forged Mickey Mantle photos/baseballs "authenticated" by Stephen Rocchi and his Guaranteed Forensic Authenticators (GFA) group.…

I was thrilled when Warren Zevon played a concert in San Diego, at a venue that’s easy to get autographs from. I’m a huge fan, and...it was be a few months after that that he announced his cancer. There was one other person waiting for an autograph. He had a great story. It was for his girlfriend of three years, and she was a huge fan. He was going to present the signed album, along with an engagement ring. Both of us were holding our “Excitable Boy” albums, looking like…

Since one of my jobs is doing movie reviews, I'm at the movie theatres 4 times a week. Well a few times, I've seen commercials (which seems crazy, having commercials in a movie theatre)...and it was for a high-end hotel that Marriott is doing. They're called "Autograph Collection." Now, as somebody that has thousands of amazing autographs...even if I opened a chain of hotels, or a restaurant, I wouldn't call it that.

So, here's a link to their website. Bizarre.…

I met Michael Jordan a few times. He was never very nice. At the time, I was a sports reporter for a radio station. On the first occasion, I just did a quick interview with him. There were other reporters waiting to get quotes or sound bites, and he was there with the “Dream Team.” It was the first time the United States allowed NBA players to join the Olympic team, and they had a great one: Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Patrick Ewing, John Stockton, to name a…

As a movie critic, and collector of movie and music memorabilia, I love the story about the late critic Gene Siskel buying the white suit John Travolta wore in “Saturday Night Fever.” Siskel had been on record as saying it was his all-time favorite movie and he had seen it 28 times. At a charity auction he bought the suit for…

I have two Olivia Newton-John autographs. The first one came about the usual way for us collectors -- I purchased it. It was a Grease soundtrack album, and it was signed by a few of the cast members, including John Travolta. I was able to get even more signatures on it (although very costly), at one of those autograph shows at the Marriott near LAX. I only went…

One of my favorite movies is “Casablanca.” So I was thrilled when a friend, upon hearing this, said, “I have a barstool from that movie. I bought it from a company selling Hollywood movie memorabilia for charity.”

She said she paid $50 for it, and it’s just sitting in storage. She said she’d give it to me, and...I’ve brought it up…

Not a bad spring on the musical front.  As usual, I had some hits and some misses while trying to add to the collection.  

First up was America.  This was by far the fastest and easiest autograph I have ever gotten.  I went right to the hotel after the show and as I was walking in, Dewey and Gerry were walking right behind me.  I asked if they could sign and both happily did.  Wish they could all be that easy.…

I was never the biggest Allman Brothers fan. I thought Duane Allman played a mean slide guitar. And their long, Fillmore style jams were okay, but I probably would’ve liked them better if I played a musical instrument. When I worked in radio, they were good songs to play when you were on the air because it gave you time to go to the bathroom.…

This morning I heard two stories that got me thinking, and now...blogging. First, singer Barry White’s son is suing his widow. She apparently spent all his money living a lavish lifestyle, and he had a trust that is no longer paying him.…