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Pawn Stars, Drew Max (Forensic Document Examiner), Bram Stoker Signed "Dracula" Book

On September 9, 2011 the Pawn Stars reality show aired a segment in which they were offered a Bram Stoker signed "Dracula" book.

Corey (the same guy that purchased that ridiculously-funny Lou Gehrig signed jersey) was excited about purchasing the "Dracula" book signed by the author himself, Bram Stoker.

So Corey calls in "his buddy" Drew Max, Forensic Document Examiner, to examine the Bram Stoker signature. Mr. Max pulls out his Hubble-sized magnifying glass and begins to examine the signature of Bram Stoker. Below is the Bram Stoker signature from the show.

Now let's examine the above signature. The first item I notice is the shaky "B" in "Bram." The second red flag that hits me is the width of space between the vertical lines of the "B."

The overall spacing of the entire signature is way off and it is very slowly drawn.

The biggest red flag is the brown-colored ink. This, in my opinion, should have brought up a red flag immediately to Mr. Max and his "forensic curiosity." Brown ink is used to emulate "aged ink." Also, the angle of the "S" in "Stoker" is too vertical.

A quick review. How is it possible that Drew Max, with his Hubble-sized magnifying glass, did not notice the shaky "B," the overall totally wrong spacing of the letters and the brown ink?

In my opinion, the Bram Stoker signed "Dracula" book sold on the Pawn Stars reality show is not authentic.

And one more point. Mr. Drew Max commented that the value of the Bram Stoker signed "Dracula" book is valued at between $4,000 and $5,000. From what I understand an authentic Bram Stoker signed "Dracula" book is valued at a minimum of $15.000 plus.

[Steve Cyrkin: Here's a side-by-side comparison of the Pawn Stars Bram Stoker and the Heritage Auction one uploaded below from February 2006:]

Tags: Drew Max, Heritage Auctions, PSA/DNA, autograph, brams stoker, pawn stars

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Comment by CJCollector on September 23, 2011 at 3:50pm: "Drew blew another one?" How is that possible? Drew calls himself a "Forensic Document Examiner."

Comment by terrier8HOF on September 23, 2011 at 3:52pm: Maybe he should stick with forensic documents

Comment by CEE GEE on September 23, 2011 at 5:53pm: Just saw the episode in question....I never saw a Mel blanc auto but his price quote seemed kind of low....Idk...how can it be possible he can make so many mistakes ? He should be a shoe in down at GA with his track record...

Comment by CJCollector on September 23, 2011 at 5:59pm: Of course, I was being sarcastic, Terrier.

Comment by terrier8HOF on September 23, 2011 at 6:09pm: Christopher, I took it in way you intended. Cee gee I had a Mel blanc signature but sold it a few years ago. There are several on ebay that I looked at. The "a" is way off. There are other issues too in my opinion

Comment by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on September 23, 2011 at 7:18pm: Why don't we all pitch in and buy Drew Max a box of lens wipes?

Comment by CJCollector on September 24, 2011 at 5:09am: Here's another masterpiece "authenticated" by Drew Max, Forensic Document Examiner.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MICKEY-MANTLE-Signed-Black-White-8x10-w-coa...

Comment by Fuddjcal on September 24, 2011 at 10:18am: ah, what a beautiful Mess terpiece!

How can anyone in their right mind, doing this for a living, make such horrible "mistakes" on Mickey friggen Mantle? Because their not mistakes. WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF Drew Max, you dirty crook friend to the forgers??

Comment by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on September 25, 2011 at 2:24pm: I'll say one thing about Drew Max, he's remarkably fast. I have two pieces here with his LOAs, both signed December 30, 2009. The serial number on one is A10523 and the other, A13482. That means he signed LOAs for at least 2959 pieces that day! Morales claimed he only authenticated about 17,000 pieces in 10 years.

Comment by Brick Hunter on September 25, 2011 at 3:14pm: It's sad that a show like Pawn Stars gives him this legitimacy. Pawn Stars has a huge viewership and I'm sure most of them have taken the forensic document examiner and his COA's at face value because he's on the show.