Rockford, Ill, October 25, 2011—Six men have been charged in similar but separate fraud schemes involving the sports memorabilia business and the purchase and sale of equipment and uniforms used by professional and collegiate athletes. Today, in U.S. District Court, four defendants were charged in criminal informations and two defendants were charged in indictments.

According to court documents, each case involved the sale, consignment, or auction of jerseys, in which each defendant…

CELEBRITIES:  There are two facts that are not going away any time soon.  Fans who want your autograph to keep, and "fans" that want your autograph to sell.

Spare me please while I get you a tissue for all your sob/sob stories of how you are tired of being chased, pursued, hounded, bothered, threatened, harassed, embarrassed, from all those folks that ask you for your signature whenever you stick your nose out your front door for anything from going for coffee or a meal  to letting…

After seeing Bruce Springsteen in concert on 1980's "The River" tour, I knew I had just seen an amazing artist. However, it was the 1984's "Born In The USA" tour and the genesis of starting up my autograph collection at about the same time that I knew I just had to obtain his signature. But how?

Like many people fresh into collectability, I wrote to him. I wrote to him via CBS records, to Jon Landau Management, and to addresses found in Hollywood Celebrity shops that listed…

A question that is constantly raised and constantly debated, is when all the discussion ends and the dust settles, at the end of the day does any celebrity really ever owe an autograph to those that request it?

We all know the argument, and we all know the value of signed items. We all see the demand and we all see the scams. We all know about Ebay, and so does the celebrity. We all see the increasing number of autograph style conventions, and we all see the amount of…