Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Marco Nobile on May 11, 2012 at 3:55am

Personally I consider Jason Cullen of rareandsigned.com to be a very trustworthy dealer. Especially concerning Queen, but he has lots of memorabilia and autographs from many artists, including Doors handwritten lyrics, Hendrix's scarf and plectrum, Rowling signed first editions etc etc.

Sadly some swindler out there used similar name on eBay to sell forgeries, but he was/they were totally unrelated with the original website.

Does anyone of you guys ever bought from him?

Marco
www.freddieautograph.com

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Permalink Reply by Rich on May 11, 2012 at 6:12am

Well, if he is supposedly reputable and strives for authenticity, he should probably get rid of the poor U2 fakes as soon as possible.  I counted 4 of them.  The other three items he's offering have a missing photo.

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Permalink Reply by Marco Nobile on May 11, 2012 at 7:00am

I can't speak for the U2's autographs, as I have no clue about their specific handwriting... But it surely wouldn't be nice if he'd have fake autographs for sale on his website...

You are referring to the two Bono's self portraits and to the two signed U2 lp's, I suppose.

As I said, I don't dare to speak about their authenticity as I have no experience on the matter, but at least the two sketches (that, however, appear to be fairly "easy" to forger) might seem original at first glance, if compered with other exemples on google images...

May I ask you if you are absolutely sure that those are forged U2's autographs?

Thanks.

Marco
www.freddieautograph.com

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Permalink Reply by Rich on May 11, 2012 at 7:26am

I won't rip him, as we all have our areas of expertise.  U2 obviously isn't his.  I can't get the UF, October or Live Aid examples to come up, so I don't know if any of those three might be legit.  But the two Bono sketches, Boy album and U2 by U2 book are forgeries. 

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Permalink Reply by BallroomDays67 on May 11, 2012 at 10:50am

Here's the original page of handwritten lyrics. I believe the one on that site was copied from this one:

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Permalink Reply by Marco Nobile on May 11, 2012 at 1:57pm

@Richard: Thank you for your contribution. I've read some of your previous posts and I'm persuaded that when it comes to U2, if you say they are fake, they definitely are.

@BallroomDays67: Thanks for your input as well. I can't argue on Jim's handwriting neither, but a quick search for "la woman handwritten lyrics" results in most cases in the same yellow paper that rareandsigned.com actually has for sale. It seems it was originally displayed at the Hard Rock Cafe NY and sold at a certain time by Paul Frasers. I mean this piece of paper here:

This is sold as the studio version of the lyrics. But, as I said, I can't argue about The Doors history or handwriting, so I really don't know.

What about the example that you are posting? Where it comes from? It seems quite new in my opinion.

It would be nice if some Elvis or Beatles experts, which I know can be found on this superb forum, could give a look and a judgment to the respective signatures on his website: I'd really like to have an opinion on this seller, as I've always considered him trustworthy and in good faith.

Thank you.

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Permalink Reply by BallroomDays67 on May 11, 2012 at 2:37pm

It actually wasn't sold by Paul Fraser. It was auctioned back in 2010 by Cameo Auctioneers. I would love to see the letter stating that it had been on display at the Hard Rock. I find that hard to believe. I had never even heard of Russ Estes, who supposedly owned these lyrics, and who it's claimed managed the Byrds (the auction house spelled it "Birds", which was a UK band) and Blue Cheer.

The example I posted has been around for quite some time. It was reproduced in the book "No One Here Gets Out Alive", and also the recent "Jim Morrison Scrapbook." 

By the way, Rare and Signed.com is on eBay's list of banned COAs.

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Permalink Reply by Marco Nobile on May 14, 2012 at 2:07pm

Yes, I've just discovered here that his COA has been banned from eBay. And sorry for the mistake with the auction house, actually Fraser only reported the news of the sale, here. And I've just found out about the "good" reputation of Cameo Auctioneers too...

Fortunately, for every scammer out there (mmm, maybe for every dozen of them) there's a reliable professional like Autograph Pros, Roger Epperson, Autografica etc.

But now, I personally feel that it is peremptory for the collectors' community to make clear if the website www.rareandsigned.com might be a good source for memorabilia and handwritten items, or if he should reather be classified along with business like Pop Culture Signatures, Autograph Central, etc...

First of all it should be pointed out if the website www.rareandsigned.com is the same as the well-known forger eBay account rarandsignedcom (formerly Cheviotsbook). The website, as far as I know, is run by Jason Cullen, based in Leeds/UK.

As far as I'm concerned, all of the Queen/Freddie signatures for sale on his website appear to be genuine; but all the warnings you guys are giving here about other artists' autographs, and the addition of his COA in the banned list, make me suspicious. Moreover, he has many literally first class items like Beatles, Elvis, Muhammad  Ali, JK Rowling etc...

These are some signed Queen lp's of his:

If these autographs (which I deem to be original from the middle/late 80's) are forgeries, they are probably the best existing anywhere in the world, the author should be awarded... And I would need an antidepressant... :) More examples here.

This is a Freddie solo signature, always from rareandsigend.com, which I think is an original from 1989:

If a Queen expert member (Greig maybe?) could give any insight about the pieces shown above I'd be grateful, and it would clarify something more about the reliability of Jason Cullen - www.rareandsigned.com as an autograph dealer.

Thanks.

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Permalink Reply by Jay Burstein on May 24, 2012 at 12:48pm

There is a company out of Massachusetts called JG Autographs and they have weekly auctions on EBAY that end on Tuesday nights. They have a lot of military stuff, and a lot of music, new guys, mostly, and some rare film and theater people. I just missed out on a HENRY FONDA signature card by a dollar because I wasn't watching, but have found some great items and good buys there. They have a 100% approval rating on EBAY.

Conversely, I recently bought a long-sought-after piece from a seller called MEMORABILIA UK, and am wondering if anyone has anything positive or negative about them. I'm hoping they are good. This particular piece is something I've looked for for several years and would like some confirmation from anyone who knows of them, how reputable they are. Anyone?

Jay Burstein

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Permalink Reply by Rich on May 24, 2012 at 1:46pm

Looks like Memorabilia UK might swing either way.  They definitely have some good stuff right alongside some garbage.  It might be better to ask about particular items than that dealer overall.

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Permalink Reply by Jay Burstein on May 24, 2012 at 3:07pm

Well, the piece I purchased from them was a signature card of character actor Strother Martin, matted with a photo of him with Paul Newman discussing, I imagine, "a failure to communicate." I've seen Martin's signature only once before, and lost the bid on R & R auction when it went up to close to $300 for a signed picture, but not from THE WILD BUNCH, a photo from which I will eventually matte and frame this signature. Does that Change the outlook for this piece?

Thanks,

Jay

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Permalink Reply by Rich on May 25, 2012 at 9:55am

I guess that would be harder to judge then, being that Martin was a character actor instead of a huge star whose autograph has been studied regularly.  My initial impression is that Memorabilia UK looks like it strives for authenticity and might be better at vintage autographs than contemporary items.  I think I was just looking at a couple of bad eggs out of a slew of good ones.  They seem to have a solid overall reputation, and the ACAF group lists them on their short list of recommended dealers.

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