It’s about time I tackle this subject. I must admit, though…I’m doing so with lots of second-hand stories and editorializing. It’s also after midnight (no Clapton reference intended). I’m a little tired and just typing off the top of me head!

A…

Two autograph things in the media recently that I thought I’d share. In the Union-Tribune in San Diego, they did an interview with Goth, alt-rocker David J (from the bands Bauhaus and Love & Rockets). His real name is David John Haskins, but he goes by his stage name. And he’s…

I’ve got some bad news, folks. I’ve been saying this for the last 8 years but…autographs are going to be harder and harder to get. It’s a mix of so many things. Paparazzi snapping pictures, or fans snapping pictures – and not knowing how their own cameras/cell phones work. That means the celeb you want a signature from has to spend even more time standing around being…

Lots of people collect autographs of the Presidents. There are lots of things you have to watch out for – secretary, autopen, etc. Oh, there’s also the guy that bought an autographed picture of the White House, signed by Presidents, Vice Presidents, First Ladies…yet the charity selling it got it from Charity Fundraising Packages – which deals in forged items.

That being…

I was all prepared to write the latest blog on this guy here in San Diego (well, Solana Beach) that keeps popping up in the news. Last time, it was for selling Hitler’s desk. This time it’s Hitler’s uniform (shirt, hat, medals), as well as stationery and other items. He bought these from a Long Beach collector for $1 million, and hopes to make over $3.5 million. You can go to HistoryHunter.com if you’re interested.

I decided not to write a big piece on that, because I did the story…

I remember the first article I ever read about autographs was when I was 11-years-old (I’m in my mid-40s now). It was pages and pages, all about sports signatures. I read about Ty Cobb signing in green ink. Lots of good stories on Babe Ruth.

There was one story about NFL players. It said that of all the athletes, they get asked for autographs the least often. They speculated that was because they wore helmets and were harder to recognize, without a jersey that had a last name on the…

There’s always controversy when Nazi and Hitler memorabilia hit the market. I thought I’d make a quick mention of the latest at the start of this story. It involved two rare editions of Hitler’s “Mein Kampf”, and they sold at an L.A. auction for $64,850.

The 1925 and 1926 editions were both signed, and of course, the purchaser wishes to remain anonymous.

Hitler gave the books to Josef Bauer, an early follower who participated in the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch in Munich. They were…

The big story regarding “valuables” happened recently and by now, everyone has heard about it. An older couple walking their dog in Northern California and came across a few buckets of gold coins from the 1800s. They’re worth around $10 million, and while they were smart in not saying who they are or where they live (don’t need a bunch of people showing up with metal detectors…

When I was a DJ at a classic rock radio station, my friends asked if I got sick of certain bands that seemed to get played endlessly. The answer was always no, because they have such a huge catalog of songs.

One of the bands that had over 10 songs always in rotation was Jethro Tull. They were also a band that would do great promotions and great concerts. I kept trying to get lead singer/flutist Ian Andersons autograph. It was difficult.

My friend Arnold, whose favorite band was…

You know how each year at the Oscars they show the guys that counted the ballots walking up the red carpet with the suitcases? I seem to recall a time when those suitcases were actually handcuffed to their wrists.

In movies we get the occasional scene with somebody carrying a suitcase that’s cuffed to their person…only to have the bad guy chop off their arm and carry…

We all know about the auto pen. If memory serves, I remember reading they were first used by politicians. Of course, anybody that goes for autographs in the mail has to worry about secretarial signatures. We know about the actors that have used them for long periods of time (Jack Lemmon and Clint Eastwood, to name a few).

When I was the sportscaster for a radio station, I ran into a number of athletes that told me great autograph stories. Sometimes when baseballs were handed over the…

The “love” part of my love/hate relationship with singer/songwriter/ Liz Phair is her music. She has amazing songs and I think her album “Exile in Guyville” is one of the best records ever made.

The “hate” part are the times I’ve tried to get her autograph.

The first time I ever attempted to get her autograph was a success. I was working in radio, and she was…

It’s funny how when you live in a city with somebody famous, you take them for granted. For autograph collectors, you probably got their autograph at one point, but you see them at so many functions you lose interest.

Here in San Diego, there are many people that are huge all over the world, but I’m at many events with. Those would include sports Hall of Famers like…

The first time I heard The Everly Brothers was as a kid watching Happy Days on TV in the ‘70s. I loved their harmonies and ballads. As a teenager, I was looking for a song called “Poor Jenny” from a German opera, and found a song of theirs with the same title. I had forgotten how much I liked them, and got a CD compilation of all their hits.

At the NAMM event in…

I can take or leave the band Kiss. I have a few of their albums, a few of their CDs, and as a kid always made fun of any of anybody that dressed as one of them on Halloween. That’s why it makes it so much more frustrating when I didn’t get guitarist Ace Frehley’s autograph. You see, as an autograph collector, the two most frustrating autograph attempts are: A) the…

I was surprised when I got home from work today, turned on the news, and saw that actor Ryan O’Neal won his long legal battle over ownership of an Andy Warhol portrait of the late Farrah Fawcett. He had an on again/off again relationship with her for 30 years and when she was dying of cancer, he always seemed to be lurking around. At the time, I found it all very odd. I…

Well, it seems like just yesterday we were talking about Bruce Springsteen lyrics going for 200k (you can read the previous blog about that). Now it’s a Bob Dylan guitar that went for a cool million!

Now, I know a little about guitars and what they sell for. My friend Greg Dorsett owns a business called “Rock Star Guitars” and they have dealt with a few Jimi Hendrix…

Often times, people tell me how lucky I am that I get to interview movie stars as part of my job as a film critic. Usually I’m just interviewing them over the phone, but it is fun when they do the press junket and you get 15 minutes with them.

One writer talked about being invited to George Clooney’s house to interview him, and loving the autographed photos he had on…

It’s strange how people get when it comes to collectables. Just today, I heard that the gold medal Jesse Owens won in the Berlin Olympics in 1936 (talk about a big F-U to Hitler), is on the auction blocks. He apparently gave it to Bill “Mr. Bojangles” Robinson. If I were rich, I’d pay millions for it (it’s currently around $200,000); easily one of the coolest pieces of sports…

Since music autographs are the favorite in my collection, and I’m thankful for the amazing collection I have, I thought I’d share some recent stories that popped up in the news.

Here in San Diego, Michael Buble had a concert at the Sports Arena. I’m not a fan of the crooner (and I turned down a free pair of tickets to…