Comment by DB on September 17, 2010 at 2:14am

Well, steve I hope this works as I just renewed a 3 yr print subscription. The problem with online is it is not the same as reviewing a print copy and you don't have the copy for reference thereafter. We'll give it a try and see how it goes but I am not very enthusiastic about this turn of events.

Comment by Mike Miller on September 17, 2010 at 2:33pm

Mike,
I agree, it has been estimated that as high as 90% of all mail autographs are fake. MOst employ one or more secretaries. I think it is kind of naive to think these celebrities making Millions $$ a year actually sit down and sign Hundres or thousands of autogrpah requests. Just ain't gonna happen. Now there were some that DID sign themselves. For example, about 12 years ago when Muhammad Ali was on 60 Minutes he told Morly Saffer that he did NOT allow ANYONE to sign hi sname and that he believed everytime he signed an autograph it brought him closer to God. But he is/was an exception.

Now, as for NOT buying ANY autographs, what if you are a collector of vintag eHollywood like Boris Karloff or John Wayne, You have no choice but to buy. The problem is most collectors are too lazy to educate themsevles on analyzing signatures. Maybe it is aprt gift and part experoence but I cna tell you without going into a LONG diatribe that GOOD authenticators can spot a genuine form a fake instantaneously. I have certain figures I collect and I am very confident no one could get a forgery by me on those particular celebrities.

Comment by Chris Klamer on September 17, 2010 at 6:54pm

WOW, so much for the joy of collecting!

Okay first off this blog/forum is about the magazine going from print to mainly online. So I think if we want to just take all of the fun out of collecting we can move that too another forum or blog and keep this just about people discussing the online versus the paper magazine.

Comment by Gary Williams Jr. on September 18, 2010 at 9:22pm

I was thinking about joining the autograph magazine online but after reviewing the forum and blogs, i think this will be nothing more then a waste of hard earned $$$.
Is there anyone that can be trusted in this hobby? Is there any type of fun or educational aspect to this site? I have enough headaches at work and at home. When it is time to relax with a book or with the hobby I enjoy, "Who Needs this????.
I think I am going to stop collecting autographs.
If you google some of the characters up that are writting and answering the blogs, you will find the who's who of crooks & thiefs and liars.
You all scare me!
Gary

Comment by Herman Darvick on September 19, 2010 at 6:48am

Gary, how do you collect autographs? Do you buy from dealers, get autographs through the mail, or obtain your autographs in person? I've done all three in my 50+ years of collecting. I've bought from dealers who knew exactly what I collected and helped me complete a collection of Vice Presidents' autographs signed as VP (except for King, but I had one written from VP Chambers), by offering items to me before they were listed in catalogs. I received a letter from Charles de Gaulle addressing me as "Monsieur le professeur" - I told him I taught 5th grade which I did. Tanzanian Pres. Julius Nyerere wrote me how disappointed he was that the western world was not helping Africa's colonies gain their independence. Through the mail, for my Twilight Zone collection, over 100 stars handwrote lines from their episodes, for free. At Hollywood shows, other TZ stars handwrote quotes for a fee and meeting them, talking with them, and taking photos with them are experiences I will never forget. That's some of the fun and educational aspects of autograph collecting. Autograph Magazine online is more than blogs. Join for a year and if you don't like it, don't renew.

Comment by Chris Klamer on September 19, 2010 at 6:52am

Gary I know what you mean! It scares the crap out of me also.
I still have fun doing this mainly because I do a lot of in person signings at conventions. So first off it is a lot more fun to actually get to meet the person and talk to them and see just how down home they are plus you know what is in your hands is 100% authentic. But you are very limited on the people that are out and about and willing to do conventions because some of the more popular are too busy and others think they are above doing conventions for money. Some however are starting to figure out that they can make really good money in a few days. As a matter of fact I didn't think I would ever meet Scott Bakula because he has never done a convention before and what do you know they talk him in to a first time appearance at DragonCon in Atlanta. But since I live in Alabama my meet and greets are very limited.
You are also correct when you say is there anyone you can trust and I truthfully cannot answer that. I am sure there are trustworthy people out there but unless you know them how do you trust them. The problem is all of the bad autograph sellers out there are killing the guys that are actually making the effort to sell us legitimate autographs.

Give the magazine a chance (I am). Let's see if we can help put the fun back in to this hobby.

Comment by Stephen Duncan on September 19, 2010 at 8:14am

Hey Herman, how can you have collected for 50 years when you are only 52? LOL
(Seriously, you make EXCELLANT points!!)

Comment by Gary Williams Jr. on September 19, 2010 at 8:20am

I work in sales and the rule of thumb is never knock you competitor. Not only does it make you look bad but it make your industry look bad. This is a 24 hour gossip and trash talk hotline. This is why the hobby is felling apart, this is why the magazine has folded and the auction houses are selling only about half of what they once sold. This is why the prices of autographs are falling. Soon if these autograph gods continue there will be supply but no demand. I am witness to a hobby putting itself 'Out of Business."

Comment by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on September 19, 2010 at 10:15am

I haven't been able to be online much recently but I'm back and will be joining conversations and posting blogs, FAQs and such. Sorry I was so scarce here.

Gary, the magazine hasn't folded. We had to make it primarily an online publication, but we're still publishing articles for subscribers--Autograph Magazine Live! isn't the entire magazine. We plan to start publishing print collectors editions a few times a year. The first will be Babe Ruth, early in 2011.

But you're right to be concerned about the hobby. The reason we had to stop publishing the printed edition is, like most magazines, advertising revenue has been going down dramatically for years and that's was our main source of revenue. What hit us the hardest, though, is that we're very careful about who we let advertise. We kicked a lot of advertisers out for selling forgeries, like Heroes and Legends (Myron Ross) and Autograph Central (Bryan Slaven), and we only let dealers we think are honest advertise. Unfortunately, the forgery dealers are taking the business from the legitimate ones, which means they can't afford to advertise.

I know there's a lot of negativity right now, but the autograph fraud industry is stealing hundreds of millions of dollars a year from fans and collectors. Do we let them continue...or do we try to get the word out to help consumers, and hopefully put these crooks in prison or at least out of business?

Comment by scott on September 19, 2010 at 12:14pm

What Steve says is very true. How can Roger Epperson or RR Auction compete with the merchandise at Autograph Central? Bryan Slaven never runs out of even the rarest fake merchandise. He just keeps making more Jimmy Hendrix, Rolling Stones, Beatles, AC/DC (Bon Scott), Pink Floyd (Syd Barret) memorabilia. Michael Dunn appreciate Bryan Slaven's hard work and diligence. However, the people who are getting ripped off do not.

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