What is the "real deal" with autographsamerica.com??

I have been doing some extensive online reading tonight regarding this company. To put it frankly: I feel ill. Over the past couple years i have purchase about 10 autographed record albums (total dollar value - $450 - $500) from them without ever contemplating the possibility of a fake (my fault completely!!). Some of them I still figure to be real because of the overall insignificance of the artists and the low dollar value.
However, I purchased an autographed album of Stevie Ray Vaughan for roughly $100 on a 75% off sale (again I feel like an imbecile!). I know that is quite inexpensive (and naive on my part) but I felt I was buying the real deal.
Just tonight I came across a pile of damning accusations toward these guys (autographsamerica.com) and, like I said, now I feel that at least half of the purchases I have made may be fake. For the money value I may as well chalk it up as a life lesson but what can I do to ensure what I do have is authentic without it costing me an arm and a leg? I am just a music fan who wants a few nice pieces of memorabilia for my listening room...now I feel like a dupe.

The artists autographs that are in question are as follows:

Stevie Ray Vaughan
ZZ Top
Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin)
Judas Priest
Def Leppard
Rory Gallagher
Journey

Any information or advice would definitely be well received and greatly welcomed...thanks in advance!

I can post photos of the aforementioned records if that may help with the situation.

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Permalink Reply by Brandon Mysinger on February 22, 2010 at 10:15pm

Well, EVERY single Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings they have listed is a fake. The only consistant part is that they were all signed by the same person. Just not Johnny or Waylon

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on February 22, 2010 at 10:45pm

Brandon,

You're absolutely right. They were signed by the same person. We believe it to be a cute blond real estate agent in the Seattle area. One of the best looking forgers I've seen in a while.

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Permalink Reply by Brandon Mysinger on February 23, 2010 at 6:17am

This might be where some of the fly by night Canadian "charities" obtain some of their items as well. With the writing style, it would not surprise me if this forger was not signing some of the NASCAR items I have removed from said charities over the years.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on February 22, 2010 at 10:40pm

Robert,

I'm sorry to say that Autographs America is a big problem, in my opinion. We recently helped a guy get a $20,000 VISA charge-back against them, because in our experts' opinion, none of their autographs looked right. If you bought with a credit or debit card (probably even thru PayPal if it drew on your card) within 60 days of your statement date, you may be able to get a charge-back, too. But PayPal only protects you against nondelivery off eBay.

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Permalink Reply by Bjarne Soderholm on February 23, 2010 at 5:10am

I would love to see some pictures. So I can compare your autographs with the ones that I have got in person during the last 25 years from those bands.

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Permalink Reply by James Green on February 23, 2010 at 9:11am

How come companies like this don't get shut down? Isn't this wire fraud? I wonder what government agency would police this kind of outright deception? These guys have been getting away with this for years.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on February 23, 2010 at 10:58am

Sounds like a bargain--that would be the only known Hendrix guitar.

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Permalink Reply by Robert Plante on February 23, 2010 at 1:41pm

Do any of you think that any of these autographs may be legit??? This is probably the most burning of all my questions.

To tell you the truth, i can't even begin to figure out which may be real and which ones aren't. The ones I bought that I am almost certain would be legit are my copy of The Babys first album because of the oddball inscription on it and my Robin Trower, Bridge of Sighs, because the autograph actually looks old (that and I think the combined cost of the two albums was about $50 - $60). However, the ones I first mentioned could be anyone's guess. I am sincerely bummed out but, like I stated, I didn't spend a whole pile of money on the entire lot of them. If I was spending a couple hundred dollars a piece on these things then I would be irate!

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Permalink Reply by James Green on February 23, 2010 at 2:15pm

Most of the experts I know say they do not sell anything authentic.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on February 23, 2010 at 2:23pm

Roger Epperson and (he's the expert, I'm just an educated collector) looked through about 300 items purchased from Autographs America in high-resolution scans sent by a customer of theirs. One looked damned good but was not in his opinion. The others were WAY off...and clearly signed by the same person.

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Permalink Reply by Stephen Duncan on February 23, 2010 at 2:24pm

Hi Robert,
Prices are one of the deadest give-a-ways when dealing with fake signatures. I have never ever EVER seen or heard of a signed Beatles drum head, let alone for sale, yet they have two of them??? Here is what real Robert Plant signatures look like (even when rushed):

http://www.rockandrollcollection.com/catalog/index.php?act=viewProd...
http://www.rockandrollcollection.com/catalog/index.php?act=viewProd...
http://www.rockandrollcollection.com/catalog/index.php?act=viewProd...
http://www.rockandrollcollection.com/catalog/index.php?act=viewProd...
http://www.rockandrollcollection.com/catalog/index.php?act=viewProd...

http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/autographs-america-c21360... - here is a write up about them already on the internet.

...................trust me my friend, all of us who have been collecting for any length of time have been duped in one capacity or another. Please hang out of the AM website as much as possible and learn as much as you can prior to purchasing any more signatures. You can always visit my site and compare the sig's that I have obtained in person.

Better & Smarter luck next time.....
Stephen

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on February 23, 2010 at 2:45pm

This is a pretty much a dead giveaway too. From Autographs America owner Brian Burkel to a cute blond real estate agent/suspected forger:

----- Original Message ----
From: Brian Burkel
To: Christie Carrroll
Sent: Thursday, May 15, 2008 9:36:19 AM
Subject: Guitars

Christie,

Hello!

I need you to pick out guitars in the garage for the following bands (not bass guitars)

Metallica (with Robert Trujillo, NOT Newstead, or Burton) songs, pics, etc.
AC/DC (2 guitars) Bon Scott and Brian Johnson
Rolling Stones (like the gold one) Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Bill Wyman, Ronnie Woods, and Charlie Watts
INXS
U2

Also, I need you to go to Office Depot and buy a Sony Cybershot Camera like the one we have here about 8 Megapixels, and get a 1GB card for it. We have these guitars sold for around $3,000 but if you can't take a picture of them, we can't sell them. IF you have a good one at home you can bring GREAT but if not we need to buy one.

Try to pick the guitars that best fit the bands, and use colors that show up with the camera, like WHITE

Brian