Steve Zarelli Space Authentication: Virgil "Gus" Grissom Autograph Study

Steve Zarelli Space Authentication has published an online signature study focusing on Virgil "Gus" Grissom.

Included are a number of verified signature exemplars that span the short period Gus Grissom was signing autographs, as well as Autopens, secretarials, pre-prints and suspected forgeries.

In my estimation, Grissom is in the top five risky autographs of flown astronauts. Hopefully, you'll enjoy the study and it is of value to the community.

As always, comments and feedback are welcome and thank you for your support!

True Story About The Forgeries Sold By Bergen County NJ’s Baseball Memorabilia Auction: Expose by WPIX TV

WPIX Channel 11 in New York ran an expose of the forgeries sold in the Bergen County, New Jersey Baseball Memorabilia Auction. The three part piece is excellent and well-researched. Kudos to the reporter, Howard Thompson, who really did his homework.

Charlton Heston Secretarial Study: Redux

Hard to believe it's been three and a half years since I published the Charlton Heston secretarial study on this blog.

As a footnote, since the study was introduced, the Universal Autograph Collectors Club, most credible dealers, collectors, JSA, PSA and SGC have all accepted the study. The UACC published a version of the study in the Winter 2014 edition of the Pen & Quill.

Don Larsen, the Perfect Yankee

The World Series resumes tonight with game 6. While it has been an enjoyable series, I am rooting for Kansas City to win. Not that I am a Kansas City Royals fan, but they are a spirited, scrappy team and smaller market teams need to win once in a while to keep baseball interesting.

Hard to believe that at one time, the World Series would have been over for weeks by now.

Don Larsen was a journeyman pitcher who likely would have been largely forgotten by now if not for one extraordinary feat. It was 58 years ago that for one day he was The Perfect Yankee.

George Lucas signed photo - May the Force be with you

I'll take a vintage personalized photo inscribed "May the Force be with you" any day over the contemporary George Lucas scribbles.

The difference between a "proxy" signature and a "forgery"

A forgery is an unauthorized reproduction that is created for fraudulent purposes.

A proxy signature (clubhouse / secretarial) is an authorized reproduction that emanated from a source known by the intended signer.

With autograph collecting, there should be a clear distinction between forgery and proxy and they should not be used interchangeably.

Some collectors argue they are one and the same. Perhaps they both have an equivalent level of desirability to some (zero), but that does not make them the same.

From a personal perspective, if there was an multi-signed item that had a proxy signature mixed in with a group of authentics, it is an item I would not necessarily rule out for my collection. However, a forgery mixed in with authentic items would be totally undesirable in my opinion.

I like Ike (signed photograph)

I am very pleased to add a Dwight D. Eisenhower inscribed signed photo to my collection. It has whet my appetite for adding more presidential material!

Steve Zarelli Space Authentication: Neil Armstrong Autograph Study

If you haven't had the chance to check it out, please take a look at the Neil Armstrong Autograph Study from Steve Zarelli Space Authentication.

Upcoming astronaut autograph studies include Gus Grissom and Edward White.

Autographed Fantastic Four Marvel Masterworks

Fantastic Four Marvel Masterworks signed by Stan Lee, Joe Sinnott and Dick Ayers. Sinnott and Ayers obtained in-person. Stan Lee from a private signing.

Are modern baseball autographs "signatures" or "personal branding?"

Good article from the New York Times on the difference between signatures of players from yesteryear and today:

In an Era of Squiggles, You Can’t Tell the Players Without a Handwriting Analyst

You're gonna need a bigger boat

Ok, I know that line was spoken in Jaws by Roy Scheider, but it's such a great line I look for any excuse to use it.

Very happy to add a Richard Dreyfus signed Jaws pose to my collection.

Are Steiner holograms compromised?

On July 21 of last year I wrote about a suspect Derek Jeter autographed hat with a Steiner hologram. In the interim, there have been more scattered reports of suspect items bearing Steiner holograms.

This item is currently on eBay with a highly suspect Mariano Rivera autograph and bearing a Steiner hologram.

 

I'm not implying any wrongdoing on the part of Steiner because it is clear they are a reputable company who sells authentic material. But have their holograms been compromised? Is someone counterfeiting them or have dishonest people devised a way to remove them from authentic items without damage and place them on bad items? 

Steiner has a very valuable reputation to protect and they need to get to the bottom of this. As I wrote in my previous post, if collectors begin to lose confidence in first party autograph distributors like  Steiner, it would be a significant blow to the entire market.