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.

January Clearance Sale - Save 25% off on Autographs and Memorabilia Collections from Film/Hollywood, Music and Sports Celebrities

 

Coupon Code:  CLEAR25

Memorabilia 4U is proud to announce its first ever Memorabilia and Autograph sale. We are opening this January Clearance sale to all its existing customers to have the pick of all of the memorabilia on the website at 25% off. So if you have had your eye on a specific autograph or autographs for a while then this is the time to purchase this item from Memorabilia4u.com at rock bottom prices. This is an excellent chance to buy autographs for your memorabilia collection at reasonable prices as we will be slashing 25% off of all stock prices!

For more information about autograph collections, signed memorabilia and Memorabilia4u.com's special offers and discounts, please visit Memorabilia4u.com

POSTAL CHAOS IN THE UK

The U.K. is suffering one of its worst winters in years, with all of the country hit for the second time with arctic conditions the couriers and the postal services are struggling to get the Christmas mail delivered, affected by black ice snow drifts and freezing conditions for nearly a month with only a slight reprieve in between the whole distribution network is at a standstill.

 

I have recently had a customer for an item of sports memorabilia which was sent out express delivery say it took 5 working days for his memorabilia to arrive on a next day service! Recorded delivery packages are taking even longer all parcel services are hit even harder especially the door to door services, another customer of mine for a very expensive item of music memorabilia informed me only today that his item is still in transit after several days. I can only imagine that this is a similar story all over the U.K. I have several very big overseas customers who are requiring orders to be fulfilled for the Christmas rush and their items including golf memorabilia, football memorabilia and several signed football shirts has not even arrived at the airport, nor cleared customs after being in transit for 4 days!

It looks like there are going to be a lot of internet customers disappointed on Christmas day or should I say before Christmas day. I have even started doing deliveries of signed memorabilia to customers in my local area, braving the conditions to make sure they have their Christmas presents for the 25^th.  

I can only hope that the situation gets better along with the weather over the next few days and all the internet shoppers get their goods in time for Christmas. Well let’s look on the positive side at least we will have a White Christmas if not the Christmas presents!

  

How to Collect Autographs and Memorabilia During Snow Season

What about this weather? I have not seen a winter this bad since I was 5 years old back in 1963. It looks like the third ice age is coming!!!!
I have not been out collecting autographs since the middle of November.
My Daughter who is across from Cyprus just now (leaving behind balmy temperatures of 25degrees centigrade) was going to a Peter Andre concert at the AECC last Friday, where I was going to try and get Peter Andre autograph for her at the stage door on a photograph or get a signed album, well that was the plan until arctic conditions made it impossible to even get the car out of the driveway. Not only did she not get an item of music memorabilia, she did not even get to see him in concert!

 

If you are an avid autograph collector like me you may be wondering, how do you collect autographs in this weather? Well the answer is you don’t. There is no point not only will your signed photos get ruined but you run the risk of getting stuck in the snow with no way of getting out or home.
My advice to you at this time of the year when you are faced with adverse weather conditions is to catalogue your memorabilia collection and make sure that if you are storing any items outdoors to make sure that they are above ground level and well wrapped in a waterproof covering. Items that are indoors be careful that burst pipes will not damages your autographed memorabilia in these freezing conditions. Where I stay we have recorded temperatures at -15 degrees centigrade!

 

With Christmas just round the corner I have loads of things to do like everybody at this time of the year, I think the next time I will be out looking for famous autographs will be next year. I am planning a trip to the States in March to collect golf memorabilia in Florida and then across to L.A. for some movie memorabilia and a couple of days up in Vegas to hopefully get a few music autographs and finally over to the big apple to meet a couple of autograph dealers and collect autographed photos at Broadway stage doors.
I hope the weather will be better than it is here in the States in march!!!!

Wishing you all a Happy New Year in 2011.

Sporting Memorabilia, Autographed Football, Autographed Shirts and Jerseys For Sale

BOXING DAY SALE IMMINENT!

Memorabilia 4U is proud to announce its first ever Boxing Day Sale.

On the 26th December we will be opening this mammoth sale to all its existing customers to have the pick of all of the memorabilia on the website at a bumper discount price. So if you have had your eye on a specific autograph or autographs for a while then the 26th is the time to purchase this item of sport memorabilia. The sale initially will be for previous customers who have purchased items over the years however new customers looking for bargains they will be able to peruse the goods for sale on the 27th of December.

This is an excellent chance to buy autographs for your memorabilia collection at rock bottom prices as we will be slashing 25% off of all stock prices! Unlike most internet companies who are trying to get rid of old stock we have loaded up the shelves with lots of goodies. To give you and idea of what’s in store we have autographed football jerseys from the premiership and also legendary players shirts like a Diego Maradona signed jersey, Pele signed football jersey and Eric Cantona signed shirt.

Golf memorabilia has 100’s of golf autographs including a Rory McIlroy autograph, Martin Kaymer autograph and a Graeme Mcdowell autograph. From the world of film and screen we have several clasic movie autographs including Top Gun memorabilia, Titanic memorabilia and loads of comedy autographs at greatly reduced prices. Last but not least we have an incredible collection of music memorabilia and autographs included in the sale, namely Michael Jackson autograph, Kings of Leon autograph and even an Elvis Presley autograph.

So if you have nothing to do on the 26th or 27th of December why not have a look at what we will have up for sale a bargain basement prices!

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 !!