Always Buy Authontic Autographs and Celebrity Memorabilia From Certified Dealers

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.

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 autographs, 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 !!

Get Original Hand Signed Autographs From Famous TV 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 Shows and Conventions

Over the years I have found it very useful in my hunt for celebrity autographs to visit memorabilia shows and conventions. There are many shows across the UK and it’s well worth a visit if you are selling autographs or buying autographs to take a weekend out and visit a show or autograph convention.

In November I will be going to the Memorabilia show at the N.E.C. in Birmingham. The main reason for my visit is to collect sporting memorabilia, namely golf memorabilia, tennis memorabilia and to increase my collection of historical autographs. If I have any money left over after my search for the above I will more than likely spend it on vintage autographs as there are several renowned dealers of very high standing at this show.

The November show also has several boxing world champions who will be there to autograph sports memorabilia and I will be paying them a visit to increase my stock of boxing memorabilia and boxing autographs. I will definitely be increasing my collection of signed boxing gloves and signed boxing photos, as Thomas Hearns and Iran Barkley are attending. 

At the show it is not all sports memorabilia, there are lots of stands that sell collectible memorabilia, autographed posters, movie autographs and even authentic autographed beatles autographs! I would exercise caution when buying a beatles autograph and suggest that you only buy beatles memorabilia from a reputable dealer, namely a UACC registered dealer or an AFTAL approved dealer as AFTAL and the UACC are always checking the dealers stock to make sure that there items are genuine. 

For those of you who like to get an autographed photo,celebrity memorabilia or sports autograph in person the show gives you many opportunities to do this as there is a vast choice of sports memorabilia stores, f1 memorabilia stalls, stalls dedicated to Star Wars memorabilia not to mention Star Trek memorabilia and of course Hollywood memorabilia. So it’s advisable to bring lots of money with you.

   

I am not only going to the show to get celebrity memorabilia or rare autographs, I will be calling in past my friends at the show to see how they have been keeping and to catch up on all the celebrity gossip. Many of them sell sports autographed memorabilia such as autographed footballs, signed shirts, but my favourite stall of my friends is Gary 

Harvey’s who sells autographed music memorabilia, I have bought several items of Queen memorabilia and have even purchased a Bob Marley autograph to add to my personal collection of black music stars.

The dates for the show are November 20th and 21st. If you are a collector of movie memorabilia, whether it be signed movie posters the occasional actor autograph or Frank Sinatra memorabilia, this is the place to be on this weekend as there will be loads of celebrities and a great chance for you to get them to autograph photos or even signed jerseys as I forgot to mention there will be stars of the football world attending and you can even collect autographed football memorabilia!

So be there or be square!!!!!!