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Opinions on my Jimi Hendrix Autograph

Moderator's Note: The poster of this discussion removed the Jimi Hendrix autograph he wanted authenticity opinions on from the discussion opening, but we have added the full autograph back in.

jimi Hendrix autograph I purchased in 2002 from a reputable registered dealer.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by lightmover on May 31, 2013 at 8:14pm

COAs are worthless from registered dealers? wow!

Permalink Reply by Carl Ryan on May 31, 2013 at 7:06pm

Sean,

Unfortunately, the more you get to know autographs, the more you come to that exact realization ....COAs mean absolutely nothing. Walls of Fame by the way does not have a very good reputation in my opinion. You should search this site for threads on them. I can print off a COA right now at my house, as can you, and it mean the exact same as the one you have. They just arent worth the paper they are printed on, and in my opinion should only be used as an eduacted second opinion. And if i was going to pick a place to get an educated opinion on Hendrix, it would never never never by from Walls of Fame. Again, they have been discussed many times on this site. I would go with PSA, JSA, or Roger Epperson for a solid reputation. And i say this for several reasons.

For starters, you posting this example of Hendrix isnt uncommon at all, not even slightly. Hendrix signatures come up here all the time. They are extremely popular for forgers to go after, and their are fakes everywhere, and in my opinion this is one of those fakes. Hendrix falls into the same category as Elvis, Beatles, etc. Everyone wants one for the most part, and the forgers know this, and they forge him in mass. For this reason, JSA, PSA, Epperson and others, see tons of them. And b/c of their high value if real, in my opinion these companies have gotten very good at authenticating authentic Hendrix graphs. From my experience you have to spend alot of time on Hendrix to know him well, but once you do, fakes become apparent. And the members who have given you the thumbs down so far are very educated on him (as ive payed attenttion to all the hendrix threads, and the same people always comment, and these guys know their stuff). So if PSA gave a thumbs down on this item, then thats probably a rock solid opinion. Certainly fathoms better and more reliable than a Walls of Fame COA in my opinion. And PSA dont actually give a certain percentage of whether an autograph is real or fake. They just say fake or real, and may give you some points as to why the item failed. But they certainly dont give percentage rates, its either bad or good.

One thing you can take to the bank, is that the reason people said bad, wasnt b/c it was a Hendrix autograph. Again, they appear here all the time for questions. Just search the site and you will see Hundreds of threads asking for opinions. They really do come up very frequently. Hendrix autos are also not rare. He signed alot, and their are many out there. They just are expensive and often the purchaser wants to hang onto them for a while. And when a legit Hendrix pops up, again, it is very common. Nothing surprising about a legit Hendrix at all. And when they do come up, typically its pretty clear as to if they are authentic or not. When it comes to Hendrix, the angle of his lettering and baseline are very important, and unfortunately your signature is way way off on both of those. Hendrix was very consistent in these things, and yours lacks it.

If i were you i would do reasearch on Walls of fame and see what you come up with. I then would search this site for threads on Hendrix, and i think you will see the flaws in your item. If i was just looking for a Hendrix autograph and hadnt studied him that much, and just looked at yours and then compared it to an authentic autograph, i would probably think the same as you (that they are legit). But you have to remember, thats what the forgers are copying, and technically, they are hoping to get it as close to the authentic as possible. But forgers often dont have much knowledgea about the graph they are forging, as was the case with whoever penned your item. He messed up the baseline, the letter angles and formation, and several other key issues. If i knew how to make the lines come up superimposed in paint, i would show you these, but i dont know computers that well.

I would suggest asking Roger Epperson if you are not convinced and get his opinion, as he is an expert on Hendrix. If it were me, i would try and get a refund as quick as possible.

I hope this helps to explain a little about my thoughts on the item

Good luck

Carl

Here is Roger Eppersons comments on Walls of Fame:

Permalink Reply by roger epperson on September 12, 2011 at 4:59pm

Ok, I am going to speak out as I have seen many non authentic items In my honest opinion come from them. I used to think they were my friends but I have seen MANY questionable items including a Macca guitar that has made me turn away from them. They ran a Springsteen museum yet if you look at the Springsteen items they offer many have the word "Thanks" that is not even close to the way he wrote it. I don't know why they turned a closed eye on authenticity but it surely seems to be what they have done. Billy and Ruth who I once called my friends have not been my friend for many a year as to the things they have done in my opinion to the autograph community.

Pulled from here:

http://live.autographmagazine.com/forum/topics/walls-of-fame-a-good...

Here are some other threads to check:

http://live.autographmagazine.com/forum/topics/bruce-springsteen-on...

Permalink Reply by Chris Piazza on May 31, 2013 at 7:23pm

Very well said as usual Carl, Roger' previous post kept me from purchasing a Rolling Stones signed album from them.

Permalink Reply by Carl Ryan on June 1, 2013 at 12:08am

I wish i could edit this, but the thread is passed its edit time table.

In any event, it has been brought to my attention that their are 2 companies, as Don stated. 1 Spelled Walls of Fame, and one spelled Wall of Fame. Unfortunately my comments were posted before a COA picture, and it turns out that this COA is different from the link that i posted where Roger Epperson comments. This could mean that the COA that came with this Hendrix item may be from a legit company who just got ahold of a bad Hendrix. But the Hendrix is still off in my opinion.

As many know I am no fan of Grant VanDerHoven or his other aliases. The way he conducts himself and his targeting of Epperson is ridiculous. But, for all of his b.s., he actually know Jimi Hendrix very well. Thats not to state that he doesnt use that to his advantage by trying to fool Roger with bad ones, or things of the like. But when he was initially a member here, he did a wonderful Hendrix Study. And i have to give it up to him on that, i think it was a great concise study. And i saved it and it taught me alot about Hendrix. And i do thank him for that info.

Right now Sean, he is a member at a site called Autograph News Live. Now i hate to even think about sending someone that way or recommending them, b/c they are basically the worst smear site on the net for legit dealers and authenticators. If you nose around their you will find horrid comments written about basically every member of this site. Now you could believe them, but i suggest not buying into it.

I do however recommend looking up Grant Vanderhoven and asking him if you can view his study. I would send it to you but i dont have permission to do that, as it is his. I think it will show you why this autograph you have is not authentic. This would be my recommendation if you still arent convinced the item is bad. I definetly am not trying to rain on your parade or deprive you of a nice graph, i just dont want you to be out 800 dollars. Thats alot of money, and if you can get a refund, then i would. Trust me, ive had some high dollar items come back as forgeries before, and its a sickening feeling that is hard to believe. But it does feel much better when you get that refund back.

Just as an example Sean: When i first got into collecting i was under the impression that COAs were golden, and that if a real company sold autographs online, they had to be authentic, otherwise the fEDs would shut them down. In comes a company like Prestige Autographs and NE Autographs. These companies sale basically 100 percent total forgeries. I have never seen a legit autograph their, literally, they are all fake in my opinion, and everyone else who has ever commented on them here. They have never ending Beatles, Elvis, Hendrix and you name it.

It looks like they have now changed their name from NE Autographs to AllAutograph. Check out their Hendrix poster up:

http://www.neautograph.com/inc/sdetail/15467

Now thats one horrible forgery right? But they do provide a nice COA, but the autograph is worthless.

Here are a few Hendrix examples from Autograph Central. These are not as bad as the above Hendrix but still bad in my opinion, and they also issue lifetime COAs. Youd think companies would get in trouble for this, but the gov appears to have little interest

Permalink Reply by lightmover on June 1, 2013 at 8:16am

Thanks Carl for your info and I agree there are fakes but to me, this is not as an obvious forgery as the autographs you pointed out - And the dodgy dealers out there. From what i am finding out about these PSA reports, they are not to be trusted either. They started out strictly with sports, but now they give "opinions" on all collectibles. These so-called "third party authenticators" that have popped-up everywhere are prone to say that items are "not authentic in their opinion", which makes them look like "experts". Also, the paper of this piece is old and ink has faded & aged, would have to be signed about 40 or so years ago..

Permalink Reply by Rock G III on May 31, 2013 at 8:07pm

That is not an authentic Hendrix I am sorry.

Permalink Reply by Cogo on May 31, 2013 at 9:31pm

I think you're talking about two different companies!!!

The one Roger Epperson gave his opinion on is Walls Of Fame (with an S in the end of the word Wall) from the US, with owners Bill and Ruth Smith.

The one that have issued this COA for the Hendrix autograph is Wall Of Fame (without a S...) from Australia! These are not the same companies. They were both UACC registered dealers a couple of years ago, but the australian company is not anymore!

I share the opinions that this is not a genuine Hendrix, but I think it's important to know that this is two different companies...

Permalink Reply by Carl Ryan on May 31, 2013 at 11:44pm

Thank you Don, i will edit the post accordingly.

I didnt know that and will look for it in the future.

Permalink Reply by matthew george on June 1, 2013 at 4:39am