MUSIC FESTIVALS

It is at this time of year that the line – ups for the music festivals that occur during the summer are announced. This introduces the prospect of being able to attend the festivals, not just for the enjoyment of the vast amount of musical talents but also for the ability to meet and collect autographs from the various musicians that attend.

 

The first event to kick off the summer festival spirit is Rockness. Situated in Inverness, not far from where Memorabilia 4 U is based, the event attracts music lovers from all over Scotland, and not forgetting some of the greatest names in music. So far the artists who have confirmed their appearance over the weekend include the likes of Kasabian, Paolo Nutini andThe Chemical Brothers as well as some fresh up and coming talents such as Two Door Cinema Club and Katy B. With my autograph collectors on guard I am hoping to catch the vast majority of celebrities who shall be attending the event and I shall hopefully be able to add to my collection of music autographs.

 

Next on my list of potential collecting grounds is the well-known Scottish festival T in the Park. The line – up for the festival this year is phenomenal. Announced to perform so far this year are; The Arctic Monkeys, Coldplay, Foo Fighters and Blink 182. This creates a fantastic opportunity for me to expand on my collection of rock autographs. Also set to perform are some of the biggest names in the chart at the moment such as TinieTempah, Jessie J and Ke$ha. To have the opportunity to have an item hand signed from artists as well-known as these would be readily welcomed.

Last, but definitely not least is Glastonbury. The biggest most highly anticipated festival of the year and this year it looks like it will be unforgettable. Currently, the only acts that have been announced are the headline acts. However, with U2, Coldplay and Beyonce as headliners who can complain? As always Glastonbury will be sure to deliver an incredible line up, as well as delivering the chance to collect as many famous autographs as possible!

I look forward to being able to offer these incredible artists autographs for sale.

BIFFY CLYRO COMES TO ABERDEEN

I was devastated to hear that the opportunity to purchase tickets to go to the Biffy Clyro concert, a Scottish rock band, had been and gone. So you can understand my excitement when a friend phoned me up saying that he had two spare tickets. Of course I jumped at the chance and no more than two hours later I was queuing to get into the venue to watch what promised to be an epic performance.

I was inevitably blown away by the act and throughout could not help thinking to myself that meeting the band would be an unforgettable experience. To my luck, my friends were having the same train of thought and were just as willing as I was to tolerate the harsh weather of Aberdeen in November and therefore decided to stand outside the stage door in anticipation of the band leaving the venue.

After approximately two hours we were preparing to give up on all hope, when finally Biffy Clyro emerged, quite obviously still exhilarated by the support they had received from the Aberdeen crowd. The band was willing to sign autographs for us and between us we came away with a large amount of autographed albums, as well as autographed photos.

As well as witnessing an exceptional performance by one of Scotland’s best rock bands I had also been able to collect memorabilia to add to my collection of rock autographs. As well as this, I managed to persuade Biffy Clyro’s front man, Simon Neil, to sign the Biffy Clyro shirt that I had bought at the concert. This will be a prized possession to add to my collection of signed shirts that I have collected at various concerts I have attended over the past few years.

Concerts are a great way to collect autographs, as I can enjoy the music that I am enthusiastic about and also meet the artists, providing myself with more autographs for sale.
If you are a collector of movie memorabilia, whether it be signed movie posters the occasional actor autograph or Frank Sinatra memorabilia, star trek autographs and star wars memorabilia, Attending award shows are a wide scope of celebrities enabling me to gain access to a range of famous celebrity autographs. So this will be a good opportunity to collect Star Trek memorabilia, such as signed Star Trek posters, autographed Star Trek merchandise and signed Star Trek collectables. I am keen to collect Star Wars memorabilia, signed Star Wars merchandise and Star Wars collectables as it is particularly popular form of movie memorabilia, attracting a wide range of attention from all parts of the world.

A DINNER WITH ABERDEEN FOOTBALL CLUB

I recently attended a dinner with Aberdeen Football Club as part of a charity event. Aberdeen being my home team I was extremely excited to get up close and personal with the squad and also hoped to be given the chance to get my hands on signed football memorabilia.

The dinner went smoothly and the players seemed to be enjoying themselves as much as the guests, probably partly to do with the amount of champagne that was flowing! After the dinner the guests were given the opportunity to meet the players. Of course, I jumped on the prospect of being able to broaden my collection of football signed memorabilia.

I got talking to two players in particular, Fraser Fyvie; who is set to be Aberdeen’s next big player, and Jamie Langfield; Aberdeen’s goalkeeper. The guys seemed very genuine and were extremely helpful in terms of getting the other players to autograph footballs. They also introduced me to their manager Craig Brown, who was kind enough to sign photographs. This was set to be an interesting piece of football memorabilia to add to my collection.

It was obvious that the team was very appreciative of the support that they received from the guests and this was shown by the amount of signed football shirts and autographed photos that we were able to come away with.

Not only are dinners with footballers and other famous names a good way of raising funds for charities, they also make a useful contribution to the amount of autographs for sale within Memorabilia4U’s sports autographs’ collection. It was a very enjoyable evening and I will definitely be looking forward to more of these events in the near future.

How to Buy Authentic Autographs and Signed Photos of Famous Celebrities

Buying autographs has now become a very risky business, what with bogus autograph dealers and forgeries rife in the market place it is very difficult for the collector of signed memorabilia and hand signed photos to garner authentic sports memorabilia, music memorabilia or movie memorabilia. With this in mind I have tried to put together a guide below for the novice to obtain authentic autographs and memorabilia and eliminate the collectors worst nightmare a FORGERY!!!     

The easiest thing in the world is for somebody to get a photograph and forge a famous signature and low and behold a piece of Frank Sinatra Memorabilia or item of music memorabilia which to the untrained eye looks like a genuine collectible autograph.

 My advice to anyone who wants to collect a genuine autograph is try and get the celebrity to sign the item for you. I would strongly advise that you do not try and get signed movie posters as these are easily damaged in a crowd looking for famous autographs (made that mistake already!).This is not always possible and the next best thing is to use a trusted autograph dealer especially if you collect vintage autographs or even more so if you collect rare autographs.    

There are several associations that promote genuine autographed memorabilia the most famous being the U.A.C.C. ( Universal Autograph Collectors Club). They have two types of membership, Registered Dealers and members.  

For example if you are looking to buy a signed Manchester united shirt or a signed Chelsea shirt it would be advisable to buy it from a British UACC registered dealer or an AFTAL approved dealer. You are probably wondering why? AFTAL and UACC are governing bodies who check regularly on there dealers and both organisations have strict policies as to the buying and selling of autographs. Also that is the country where those teams play! Over the years I have stood outside football stadia to get the occasional football autograph, signed football jersey, signed footballs or for those in the U.S. soccer memorabilia. In the UK that can be a cold and thankless task as the sport is played during the winter.

For many years I have collected celebrity autographs in all kinds of weather, waiting for movie stars at film premieres to get authentic autographs or waiting in line at sports memorabilia shows to meet the occasional sports personality and after many hours of queuing coming away with a smile on my face and genuine autographs.

I have on occasion had the time to jet off to the U.S. and do some collecting there, when in the U.S. I concentrate on collecting actors autographs, Hollywood memorabilia, actresses autographs and if I have time I trail round the stores in L.A. for horror movie collectables.

In fact the last time I was in the States I attended several conventions and memorabilia shows where I picked up loads of collectible memorabilia namely, star trek memorabilia, star wars memorabilia and several celebrity addresses of which I will be writing to in the upcoming months.

Happy collecting............

   

Collect Golf Memorabilia and Movie Autographs During Spring Vacation

Every year everybody starts planning holidays as soon as the New Year celebrations are over and like everybody else I have started planning my bi annual visit to the United States. Normally I go to the big apple or Los Angeles to collect celebrity autographs I cannot get in the U.K. however, this year I am going to do something different! I am going to go to Arnold Palmer’s golf tournament in Bay Hill Florida to collect some golf memorabilia. The reason for this is I have had many requests for American golfers and scores of requests from my golfing buddies for an Arnold Palmer autograph. So in March true to form I will be spending a week in Florida, but not all of it is work I plan to bunk off for a couple of days down to Miami to check out a couple of autograph dealers my friends have bought items from before.

After a week in Florida I am off to my favourite haunt L.A.

I am really lucky as I have an old friend who stays there and puts me up free of charge every time I go across which is a great help to the wallet! On my visit this time I will be frequenting a couple of VIP nightspots to increase my stock of movie autographs and movie memorabilia. I am hoping that I will be able to pick up a couple of vintage autographs to add to my personal collection before I jet back to the U.K. although I may have to buy autographs from other collectors if I am going to make this a very successful trip. 

I was just thinking about the last time I was in L.A. out drinking with my friends we walked into a bar and stumbled across a celebrity for obvious purposes will remain nameless, as we had a very drunk night drinking tequila every way possible until the early hours in the morning!!!  

Hope you all have a great year and are lucky enough to plan holidays overseas.

Martin Kaymer Autograph- Martin Kaymer Memorabilia- Sporting Memorabilia

How To Collect Original Hand Signed Autographs from Famous Film Stars and Celebrities

For many years now I have collected celebrity autographs in all kinds of weather, waiting for movie stars at film premieres to get authentic autographs or waiting in line at sports memorabilia shows to meet the occasional sports personality and after many hours of queuing coming away with a smile on my face and genuine autographs.     

In October I am braving the cold Scottish wind in St Andrews at the Dunhill Links Championship to collect golf memorabilia, mostly signed photos and with luck some signed football shirts along with the occasional piece of movie memorabilia, as the Dunhill Links Championship is a golf event which attracts celebrity amateur golfers as well as the professional golfer. I have collected many items in St Andrews over the years I have even managed to get the most famous James Bond autograph, Sir Sean Connery on the steps of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club.                                            

Buying autographs has now become a very risky business, what with bogus autograph dealers and forgeries rife in the market place it is very difficult for the collector of signed memorabilia and hand signed photos to garner authentic sports memorabilia, music memorabilia or movie memorabilia. With this in mind I have tried to put together a guide below for the novice to obtain authentic autographs and memorabilia and eliminate the collectors worst nightmare a FORGERY!!!     

The easiest thing in the world is for somebody to get a photograph and forge a famous signature and low and behold a piece of Frank Sinatra Memorabilia or item of music memorabilia which to the untrained eye looks like a genuine collectible autograph.

 My advice to anyone who wants to collect a genuine autograph is try and get the celebrity to sign the item for you. I would strongly advise that you do not try and get signed movie posters as these are easily damaged in a crowd looking for famous autographs (made that mistake already!).This is not always possible and the next best thing is to use a trusted autograph dealer especially if you collect vintage autographs or even more so if you collect rare autographs.      

The question you are probably asking yourself now is who can I trust?

That is not so easy if you are a novice but these words of advice may help you get that item of authentic sports memorabilia without the worry of “Is it Real?” There are several associations that promote genuine  autographed memorabilia the most famous being the U.A.C.C. ( Universal Autograph Collectors Club). They have two types of membership, Registered Dealers and members. The first is highly recommended as the selection procedure is very strict and to add  substance to this statement there are less than 275 members worldwide who have achieved this lofty status. Memorabilia 4U, my company is RD 292. A person who is a U.A.C.C. member is just someone who has joined the club and has no accreditation other than being a member. 

So if your penchant is for  collecting or buying, football autographs, boxing memorabilia or even music autographs I hope this article will help you obtain a genuine item of memorabilia.

Memorabilia Show at the NEC in Birmingham

On the 20th and the 21st of November I will be going to the Memorabilia Show at the NEC in Birmingham. This is an event which I attend every year and find it an extremely valuable way of collecting autographed memorabilia, meeting fellow autograph dealers and autograph collectors. I have often acquired rare autographs andmany genuine autographs to add to my personal collection. In addition to this I get the opportunity to meet the celebrities in person and discuss business with fellow autograph dealers at the show.

Attending this show are a wide scope of celebrities enabling me to gain access to a range of celebrity autographs, such as signed photos, signed movie posters, autographed footballs, as well as other signed sports memorabilia, such as sport merchandise, including signed boxing gloves, signed shirts and signed jerseys. 

This year I am intending to meet and collect signed memorabilia from the likes of the boxing legends Thomas ‘The Hitman’Hearns, Iran Barkley and Barry McGuigan. It would be ideal if I could build up my collection of boxing memorabilia with signed boxing gloves, signed photographs and other signed boxing merchandise. Other sporting legends that are set to attend the show are Superbike legend and arguably the best ever motorbike rider from Britain, Karl Fogarty, Dennis Taylor who is best known for winning the 1985 World Snooker Championship final and Ron Flowers, known for his time at Wolverhampton Wanderers and a member of England's victorious 1966 World Cup squad, this will hopefully lead to collecting autographed footballs, football autographs and other forms of soccer memorabilia. Many other famous sporting legends shall be attending, enabling me to collect an extensive range of sports autographs and signed sports memorabilia.

 

I am also intending to collect many actor autographs and actresses autographs. Attending this show are celebrities including David Warner, the actor known for his performance in Dr Who, Titanic and Planet of the Apes, and also the actress Martha Cope who hopefully I can persuade to sign some Dr Who memorabilia as well as other movie memorabilia. Also attending is the actor David Bradley, who is best known as Argus Filch in all Harry Potter movies. The addition of this actors autograph to my collection of Harry Potter memorabilia would be readily welcomed, and hopefully will come in many forms, such as autographed posters, signed DVD cases and autographed photographs. Richard Herd is also set to attend the show. I am intending to add to my collection of Star Trek autographs, so this will be a good opportunity to collect Star Trek memorabilia, such as signed Star Trek posters, autographed Star Trek merchandise and signed Star Trek collectables. Furthermore, the actors Kiran Shah and Warwick Davis, both known for their roles in Star Wars will be signing memorabilia. I am keen to collect Star Wars memorabilia, signed Star Wars merchandise and Star Wars collectables as it is particularly popular form of movie memorabilia, attracting a wide range of attention from all parts of the world.

So if you are looking for something interesting to do that weekend you could do a lot worse than visiting the show, you never know you might even and up speaking to me !!

Always Buy Authontic Autographs and Celebrity Memorabilia From Certified Dealers

OPERATION BULLPEN

I have just recently started reading a book about autograph forgery in the United States, the title of the real life account of a F.B.I. investigation is called “Operation Bullpen”. Although I am not finished the book I could not help but get on my keyboard and make people who have not read the book aware of the amount of forged memorabilia that was confiscated and also sold from this illegal activity. 

 

It was not just the forgers who profited from the sale of autographed memorabilia but several large autograph dealers who either unknowingly purchased these items or worse still knowingly purchased fake famous signatures.Amongst the most popular autographs to get forged were baseball autographs, basketball autographs and NFL autographs. The forgers did not stop there after initial success with the aforementioned items they progressed on to Hollywood memorabilia, historical autographs, sport autographs and movie star autographs. The extent of how much of the items forged that is still in circulation or hanging in someone’s home is debatable but it amounts to millions of dollars. 

The subject of fake memorabilia is one which I must confess makes me very angry and every time I hear of it I feel the need to write about it. I hate when I see a fake autograph at a memorabilia show or fund raising dinner. I feel that it is often a crime which goes unpunished most of the time in the U.K. Although there have been several convictions for fraud in the U.K. concerning fake signed memorabilia and autographs to date there have been only light sentences and fines imposed. Some of the these forgers of football memorabilia and football autographs have been making hundreds of thousands of pounds on a regular basis off a poor unsuspecting public. 

 

The forgery is not limited to autographed football memorabilia, there have been cases of music memorabilia, vintage autographs, rare autographs, golf memorabilia, formula one memorabilia that have landed in court.

Today it is not enough to have a certificate of authenticity, anyone can put one of them together and attach it to a forged signature. I t makes sense to research your autograph dealer and ask how he gets his items it is also prudent to deal with autograph dealers who are AFTAL dealers and also UACC registered dealers, at least you can complain to the aforementioned organizations and they will investigate your complaint. Most autograph dealers will send a certificate of authenticity with their items but it is only of value when it has the dealers address, e mail, telephone numbers and affiliations to autograph organizations, if the certificate does not have this then it is worthless ( how are you going to contact them to complain!!).

I have been collecting autographs for over forty years and I must inform the prospective autograph collector to be very careful of who they buy autographs and celebrity memorabilia from as there are vast amounts of fake autograph dealers and those only too quick to take your hard earned money fraudulently.