Tuesday, December 21, 2010

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

Graeme McDowell 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.
Rory McIlroy
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.

Kings of LeonGolf 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!

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Memorabilia Show at the NEC in Birmingham

Belinda CarlisleOn 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. 



Glasgow RangersThis 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.

 


Celtic 1967 (Lisbon Lions)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 !!

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

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. 
 Rubens Barrichello
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. 
 Jenson Button
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.


Thursday, December 9, 2010

LAUNCH OF MEMORABLIA4U NEW WEBSITE

On the 9th of November Memorabilia4U saw the re-launch of its website. In an attempt to make the site more customer-friendly we have added a few extra features, such as a selection of premier movie autographs, sport autographs and music autographs, making your searching less laborious and easier to navigate the autograph or memorabilia that you desire. This currently features an autograph signed by the musical genius that is Michael Jackson, a promotional photograph for the hit movie Titanic, signed in person by Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslett and also features a limited edition Ferrari cap signed by the formula 1 racing legend Michael Schumacher. As well as this we have formulated a product category list to assist you with more refined searches including categories such as ‘Dr Who Autographs’ and ‘Harry Potter Autographs’ making your search less time consuming and also to display our full range of autographs within these categories. So whether it is vintage autographs, historical autographs or especially rare autographs, you will find our adjustments make it easier for you to navigate around the website. Alternatively, you can contact us directly by clicking on the ‘contact’ category displayed along the top of the website.

Included in these improvements to the website is the ‘Online Framing Service’. This service allows you to preview your chosen autograph within a frame, producing a more attractive final result and also ensuring that you control the additions to the piece of memorabilia, in turn making it more suited to your taste and decoration in the home and also adding that extra wow-factor to the item, as well as adding that final special touch to a gift. By clicking on the ‘Online Framing Service’ icon on the homepage you will see instructions to follow in order to access this service.

Furthermore, we have added a ‘Scrapbook’, which can be located on the homepage, where you are able to view photographs of Celebrities that we have met and also photographs of the celebrities signing the certain pieces or memorabilia. This addition has been made as we fully believe that it is crucial that our customers can trust that the service we provide is 100% authentic. Included in the scrapbook are photographs of celebrities such as, Samuel L Jackson who can be seen signing memorabilia including Star Wars autographs, and many sports legends, including Ernie Els, Archie Gemmill and Colin Montgomery, signing autographs.

In addition to all these amendments, a link to Facebook can be used. By choosing a specific autograph, for example, Pele memorabilia, you can click on the ‘Facebook share’ iconand the autograph will appear on your Facebook, allowing you to display the desired item to friends on the site. You can also join the Memorabilia4U Facebook group and follow us through the social networking site, where new and exciting stock is regularly posted allowing our fans an exclusive first look and the advantage to purchase heavily demanded items before they are added to the website for the rest of the world.

AN EVENING WITH MIKE TYSON

I was recently invited along to an event in Aberdeen Exhibition Centre to a Gentlemen’s Dinner. The main guest being Mike Tyson former World Heavyweight champion, along with Mike was another former heavy weight champion Tim Witherspoon and an another World Title holder Lee McAllister who hails from Aberdeen. During the course of the evening I was fortunate enough to meet Mike and Tim and got a photograph of myself with Mike Tyson which is in the process of getting framed as I write this article.
 Joe Calzaghe
Throughout the evening there were opportunities to purchase boxing memorabilia, boxing autographs and signed boxing gloves via raffles, auction and a game called heads and tails. Amongst the items in the auction there were Muhammad Ali signed shorts, Mike Tyson signed gloves and also a great deal of signed boxing merchandise available at reasonable prices.

This was probably one of the biggest dinners I have attended with over 500 people turning out to see Mike and his fellow World Champions. As you can imagine he was in great demand to autograph memorabilia and he did do several signed photos for charity and for those involved in the organising of the evening. However his time was in great demand and not everyone got signed boxing memorabilia.
I was fortunate in so much as my friends did a private signing session with the champ earlier in the year where I obtained a signed photo, signed boxing shorts and a few unusual items of boxing memorabilia and a personalised autograph.

 Roberto Duran

Getting back to the items that were for sale in the auction there was some great Muhammad Ali memorabilia signed in person by the legend including signed pictures, autographed boxing gloves and even a signed boxing robe. All of the items in the auction were fantastic and well presented pieces of autographed boxing memorabilia. But my favourite item was of the greatest pound for pound fighter around at the moment Manny Pacquiao signed shorts which was in my opinion the best framed autograph that was up for auction.
The highlight of the evening was a question and answer session with Mike where he covered his career from start to finish including all of the ups and downs and even a few of the controversial moments in his life, all in all it was a very entertaining evening spent in the company of one of the all time Heavyweight greats.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

HOW TO COLLECT AUTHENTIC SPORTS MEMORABILIA

For those of you interested in collecting signed sports memorabilia, I will try and pass on some valued information I have acquired over the years collecting authentic sports memorabilia. It is very difficult to collect all types of memorabilia and autographed photos unless you have autograph collectors working for you. If you have you have got to make sure they are indeed collecting the autographs and not simply buying sporting memorabilia from another collector, which in turn could lead to the possibility of fake memorabilia. So with this in mind you have to know who is getting the hand signed autographs for you and check to make sure they are indeed collecting sport autographs and not buying them in. This you can do buy getting the collector to date when the signed shirts or autograph photos were collected along with visual proof if possible.

 

Arsenal

I prefer to collect my own autographed football memorabilia or for those in the States soccer autographs. I have managed to collect some awesome
Tiger Woods autographs as well as many items of signed sports memorabilia and have even collected Pele memorabilia on my travels overseas. This however is costly so to keep costs down try and collect locally and concentrate on visitors coming to your area. Another way you can collect is if a company is launching football merchandise they will often have autographed photos of players or the players themselves autograph sports memorabilia at the venue. One of my favourite haunts for collecting sports autographs are golf courses. I have managed to find a golf tournament which not only has sportsmen but celebrities playing as well and have collected autographed music memorabilia, autographed posters, movie autographs and many hand signed autographs all at one venue (a collectors dream!!) Another area where you can collect autographed footballs is at football stadiums I have a famous football team virtually on my doorstep, however I prefer to get an autographed football from the visiting team, what I do is find out which hotel they are staying at and try and get the visiting team to autograph sports memorabilia the night before the match, then I wait at the stadium before and after the game to get the signatures of the players I missed earlier. This is often very time consuming, you need loads of patience and warm drinks.

 

Celtic
Autographs memorabilia and f1 memorabilia are not always easy to collect, I spent years trying to get a Michael Schumacher autograph, I went to practice sessions, events, race tracks and after several years of trying I bumped into him in a hotel in London and got him to sign my favourite piece of formula 1 memorabilia….. the back of my business card. It was a strange weekend as I was going down to collect cricket memorabilia and hopefully get cricket autographs at Lords. I ended up having more success spotting celebrities in my hotel and the restaurant’s

I frequented. I got many famous signatures on menu’s, cards and even a signed shirt ( the one I was wearing) as I ran out of cards. But the highlight of the weekend was getting a Chelsea shirt signed for my nephew by Frank Lampard.

 

Fernando Torres
The one thing I have learned about collecting autographs is ALWAYS carry an autograph album and a sharpie pen with you at all times as you never know who you might bump into!!!

Monday, December 6, 2010

AUTOGRAPH AUTHENTICATION COURSE

One of the things that I pride myself on is the continuing need to keep up to date with all the current trends in the autograph and memorabilia industry. With this in mind I am going to attend an autograph authentication course on the 29th of October 2010, this course is being run by AFTAL (autograph fair traders association limited) of which I am on their Approved Dealers list. Although virtually all of my autographed photos are hand signed in person autographs, there are items which cannot be collected in person or by my agents as these celebrity autographs are either vintage autographs where the celebrity is deceased or customers asking me to authenticate their signed photos or famous autographs. The course is going to cover famous signatures, how to spot auto pen signatures, secretarial signatures and forgeries. At the end of the course provided you pass you will be elevated to a certified autograph dealer with AFTAL. 

I truly believe that you can never be too careful when it comes to providing your customers with authentic autographs and authentic Holly wood memorabilia. Memorabilia 4U provides a lifetime money back guarantee with all of its items and signed memorabilia. As an autograph dealer making sure all my framed autographs go out in pristine condition with a certificate of authenticity is a priority.
I was just looking through some ebay autographs the other day and I was shocked to see how many badly forged items there were in the following categories; sports memorabilia, music memorabilia and movie memorabilia. In my opinion I would have said that 90% of the items for sale were not real hand signed autographs signed in person by the celebrity. With this in mind and a statistic I heard the other day saying that 80% of all signed memorabilia is fake it is very much “Buyer Beware”.

So with this in mind when you are looking to buy autographs please make sure you research the autograph dealer thoroughly before purchasing your football autograph, sport memorabilia or movie star autographs. On the up side there are organisations out there which give the buyer guarantees, if you deal with a UACC registered dealer or and Aftal approved dealer they are monitored regularly to ensure that the items they sell are of the highest standard and although they cannot guarantee that every item is an authentic autograph they do give the buyer peace of mind in the fact that if it is not you will get your money back.

As I always say the best way to get authentic autographs or authentic memorabilia is to collect the item yourself, however that is not always possible as it takes a lot of time and patience to collect signed memorabilia whether its autographed albums, autographed photos or signed posters you certainly need time to collect and if you are buying autographs please check out the dealer who has too many famous autographs for sale, especially beatles autographs and beatles memorabilia. As these are the most copied and forged autographs and running them a close second is Elvis Presley autographs and then Frank Sinatra memorabilia. So make sure you do your homework when it comes to purchasing autographed memorabilia and signed sports memorabilia.

Careful Collecting!!!

GOLF MEMORABILIA

I have just recently spent a week at St Andrews collecting golf memorabilia and golf autographs. I took a week out to go and collect autographed photos to enhance my personal collection of signed photos and autographed memorabilia. While I was out collecting during the practice days at the Dunhill Links Championship I also managed to collect a nice piece of Star Wars memorabilia. A signed photo of him as Mace Windu.
It is not often that you can pick up a celebrity autograph on a golf course in fact the last famous autograph I got at a golf course in Los Angeles was a Robbie Williams autograph! I know imagine Robbie playing golf. It’s strange but I have actually collected autographs of all types on golf courses. About the only autograph I have not collected is Star Trek autographs and Lord of the Rings autographs.
Robbie Williams
Playing golf myself I started to collect the odd item of golf memorabilia and signed photo, once I started I then got the autograph collectors bug and now have a vast assortment of Ryder Cup Memorabilia, signed golf photos, signed golf prints and signed golf memorabilia. The week at St Andrews has added to my collection, a Martin Kaymer autograph, a Rory McIlroy autograph and a Graeme McDowell signed photo.



Martin Kaymer
My main aim of the week was to get signed Ryder Cup photos and Ryder cup autographs in my autograph albums, however, with most of the Ryder Cup stars not arriving until Wednesday it meant I had a lot of collecting to do in between watching the golf and travelling, however I had quite a successful week I even managed to get a few items of cricket memorabilia and selection of signed football memorabilia as well. David Howell
I am going to an auction of golf memorabilia and ephemera next week and with a little bit of luck I might be able to pick up a few vintage autographs and one or two autographed albums at a reasonable price? Well here’s hoping anyway! The auction is not only selling golf memorabilia it also has tennis memorabilia, sport memorabilia, music memorabilia and a very small selection of movie memorabilia. Auctions are great fun but you do have to be careful as there is no guarantee that you will be buying genuine autographs and authentic memorabilia. Buying autographs can be a costly affair depending on whose autograph you are trying to buy, lets say you were trying to buy a Tiger Woods autograph or a Jack Nicklaus autograph. They would cost anything from £200- £1000 depending on what they were signed on.
You could look on ebay, but unfortunately there are a lot of forgeries on that site and it’s the easiest thing in the world to pick up a pen and forge a famous signature. If you do go on ebay the best way to ensure you are getting a genuine autograph is to look out for UACC Registered dealers and AFTAL approved dealers as they are governed by a strict code of ethics and are reputable autograph dealers.
So if you tramp the fairways like me and like collecting memorabilia hopefully the above will improve your collection of golf autographs and increase your chances of obtaining genuine golf memorabilia.

Happy Collecting!!!!


Wednesday, November 24, 2010

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.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Autographed Boxing Memorabilia, Signed Photos and Boxing Gloves for Sale

I was recently invited along to an event in Aberdeen Exhibition Centre to a Gentlemen’s Dinner. The main guest being Mike Tyson former World Heavyweight champion, along with Mike was another former heavy weight champion Tim Witherspoon and an another World Title holder Lee McAllister who hails from Aberdeen. During the course of the evening I was fortunate enough to meet Mike and Tim and got a photograph of myself with Mike Tyson which is in the process of getting framed as I write this article.

        

Throughout the evening there were opportunities to purchase boxing memorabilia, boxing autographs and signed boxing gloves via raffles, auction and a game called heads and tails. Amongst the items in the auction there were Muhammad Ali signed shorts, Mike Tyson signed gloves and also a great deal of signed boxing merchandise available at reasonable prices.
This was probably one of the biggest dinners I have attended with over 500 people turning out to see Mike and his fellow World Champions. As you can imagine he was in great demand to autograph memorabilia and he did do several signed photos for charity and for those involved in the organising of the evening. However his time was in great demand and not everyone got signed boxing memorabilia.
I was fortunate in so much as my friends did a private signing session with the champ earlier in the year where I obtained a signed photo, signed boxing shorts and a few unusual items of boxing memorabilia and a personalised autograph.
Getting back to the items that were for sale in the auction there was some great Muhammad Ali memorabilia signed in person by the legend including signed pictures, autographed boxing gloves and even a signed boxing robe. All of the items in the auction were fantastic and well presented pieces of autographed boxing memorabilia. But my favourite item was of the greatest pound for pound fighter around at the moment Manny Pacquiao signed shorts which was in my opinion the best framed autograph that was up for auction.
The highlight of the evening was a question and answer session with Mike where he covered his career from start to finish including all of the ups and downs and even a few of the controversial moments in his life, all in all it was a very entertaining evening spent in the company of one of the all time Heavyweight greats.

Friday, November 19, 2010

Memorabilia Show at the NEC in Birmingham

Michael SchumacherOn 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.
TitanicI 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 !!

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Certified Autograph Dealers - Autograph Authentication Course

One of the things that I pride myself on is the continuing need to keep up to date with all the current trends in the autograph and memorabilia industry. With this in mind I am going to attend an autograph authentication course on the 29th of October 2010, this course is being run by AFTAL (autograph fair traders association limited) of which I am on their Approved Dealers list. Although virtually all of my autographed photos are hand signed in person autographs, there are items which cannot be collected in person or by my agents as these celebrity autographs are either vintage autographs where the celebrity is deceased or customers asking me to authenticate their signed photos or famous autographs. The course is going to cover famous signatures, how to spot auto pen signatures, secretarial signatures and forgeries. At the end of the course provided you pass you will be elevated to a certified autograph dealer with AFTAL. 
I truly believe that you can never be too careful when it comes to providing your customers with authentic autographs and authentic Holly wood memorabilia. Memorabilia 4U provides a lifetime money back guarantee with all of its items and signed memorabilia. As an autograph dealer making sure all my framed autographs go out in pristine condition with a certificate of authenticity is a priority.
Pele Pele Signed ShirtsI was just looking through some ebay autographs the other day and I was shocked to see how many badly forged items there were in the following categories; sports memorabilia, music memorabilia and movie memorabilia. In my opinion I would have said that 90% of the items for sale were not real hand signed autographs signed in person by the celebrity. With this in mind and a statistic I heard the other day saying that 80% of all signed memorabilia is fake it is very much “Buyer Beware”.

Michael SchumacherSo with this in mind when you are looking to buy autographs please make sure you research the autograph dealer thoroughly before purchasing your football autograph, sport memorabilia or movie star autographs. On the up side there are organisations out there which give the buyer guarantees, if you deal with a UACC registered dealer or and Aftal approved dealer they are monitored regularly to ensure that the items they sell are of the highest standard and although they cannot guarantee that every item is an authentic autograph they do give the buyer peace of mind in the fact that if it is not you will get your money back.
As I always say the best way to get authentic autographs or authentic memorabilia is to collect the item yourself, however that is not always possible as it takes a lot of time and patience to collect signed memorabilia whether its autographed albums, autographed photos or signed posters you certainly need time to collect and if you are buying autographs please check out the dealer who has too many famous autographs for sale, especially beatles autographs and beatles memorabilia. As these are the most copied and forged autographs and running them a close second is Elvis Presley autographs and then Frank Sinatra memorabilia. So make sure you do your homework when it comes to purchasing autographed memorabilia and signed sports memorabilia.

Careful Collecting!!!

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Autographed Sports Memorabilia - Collect Favourite Sports Star’s Autographs

After the Ryder Cup I set off for a week collecting down at St Andrews at the Dunhill links championship with the intention of collecting the odd celebrity autograph and one or two pieces of golf memorabilia. After meeting up with a few fellow collectors we headed out on to the golf course to try and obtain some signed photos and collectible memorabilia. After a couple of hours in the wind and cold it was decided to call it a day and with a few golf autographs in my autograph book and a signed poster (which unfortunately got damaged in the wind). Tuesday morning was no better weather wise however there were several opportunities to collect Ryder Cup memorabilia and the occasional golf autograph.

This proved to be difficult as the team was not due to arrive until the Wednesday, so we had to concentrate on cricket memorabilia and rugby autographs with the odd piece of movie memorabilia. Up to 5pm on Tuesday I had collected two signed movie posters, an autographed photo, and several pieces of sports memorabilia. Wednesday would hopefully bring a few Ryder Cup autographs and a team signed photograph. It is really strange how sometimes you can go out collecting and end up with something completely different, on Wednesday I tried to get a Johan Cruyff autograph and football memorabilia but ended up with several items of autographed memorabilia(a signed golf flag, signed golf balls, autographed photos and a large collection of celebrity autographs in my autograph album). But still not any Ryder Cup autographs.
Thursday was the start of the tournament and everybody who was due to play had arrived, I succeeded in getting a Rory McIlroy autograph and a Samuel Jackson autograph to add to my autograph collection also managed to get a couple of photographs with celebrities as well as a couple of signed autographs from the Ryder Cup team. I decided to go and watch some golf as it was such a nice day and afterwards waited at the clubhouse to try and get some film memorabilia I had with me signed by Andy Garcia, but unfortunately I had missed him and would have to try again tomorrow. It was quite amazing how quick the week had passed and I had only 2 days left in which to collect my missing pieces of collectable memorabilia.
Friday was the worst day for weather at St Andrews so I decided to get closer to home and went down to Kingsbarns to collect sport memorabilia and some football autographs, it was to wet to use photographs so I got a couple of signed football shirts and an autographed football jersey by Ruud Gullit. It was the first time I had ever had a Ruud Gullit autograph and it is going straight to the framer on Monday.

During the week I managed to collect quite a few new famous autographs, a selection of sport autographs including an Ian Botham autograph and a Bobby Charlton autograph which I would have to say is a beautiful signature and all in all it was a good week despite the weather not being too kind to the golfers nor the autograph collectors.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

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!!! 


Bernhard Langer

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. 


Michael Jackson

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.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

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!!!!!!