...or check out Con Men, by Mike Wallace of 60 min fame which can be
summed up by Andy Rooney's query in a closing essay: "why there are
so many semihonest people in business, and why the rest of us are
such suckers."
On Feb 7, 2008, at 5:25 PM, Robert D. Brooks wrote:
Hey All,
NONE of the major auction houses should be trusted. If you ever
get a chance, read the book Drawn To Trouble. It's about one of
the best art forgers of all time. He made pen and ink drawings in
the styles of old masters, and sold them through all the big
auction houses. The thing is, he was an honest art forger. He
never made any claims about his pieces' authenticity, and he never
forged a signature (he left all his fakes unsigned). He'd just
take them to the auction house and wait for the cheques.
Almost without exception, when his pieces finally hit the auction
block, fake signature had magically appeared on them...
Cheers,
Bob
----- Original Message -----
From: Patrick Michael Tupy
To: [email protected]
Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2008 5:05 PM
Subject: Re: [MOPO] Heritage Auction's Prop Bust
This is a tragedy for those who honestly covet and choose to
collect props, etc. But it is a cautionary tale and is also why I
don't collect autographs, etc. after buying some that turned out to
be forged. If you need any basis to question art 'experts' one
need look no further than Orson Welles' great and honest film on
forgery, F FOR FAKE.
If I hear the call to collect anything but it's a judgement call on
authenticity, I don't accept it.
Patrick
On Feb 7, 2008, at 2:11 PM, Richard Halegua Comic Art wrote:
Of course I echo Sue's feelings
As far as Grey Smith, John Petty and the rest of the movie poster
& comic book/art divisions I have nothing but respect for them.
They do such a great job & by proxy, such a great service for the
hobby, that you have to feel sorry that at least on some small
level, it reflects on these folks. The guy at Heritage whose job
it is to vet these items has clearly done a poor job, especially
in light of the fact that I know this story was also reported last
summer
In so far as LA Props.. Clearly their intention was to defraud & I
suspect they will be filing a bankruptcy sometime soon because
their company will in all likelihood be charged criminally by
Texas and probably Mississippi authorities for auction fraud,
misrepresentation etc. as well as being the likely target of a
civil suit by Heritage. Buyers cannot sue LA Props because they
have no contract with LA Props and so bidders can only sue
Heritage - if it were to get that far. It is clearly in the
interests of Heritage to clear this issue out by giving refunds to
all who ask - even if their purchases are not suspect and did not
source from LA Props. Heritage in turn would sue LA Props, or
submit losses to their insurance company.
But you have to ask.. how many other people did LA Props sell to
over what period of time?
Also, if LA Props has a store of truly real Hollywood props, they
have devalued these items by connection to themselves
By the way, I have also heard that Profiles in History has also
been accused of similar issues in their auctions
it's a real sh*tstorm
Rich===============
At 01:56 PM 2/7/2008, Susan Heim wrote:
Very good post Freeman. It is a shame that the shadow is now
cast on Heritage with all the hard work and honest effort in most
of their divisions and, unfortunately, you will have people that
hear this story and it will affect their decision to consign
anything to Heritage. As this story unravels, I'm sure even more
will come to light. My question is the legal ramifications to
this company LA Props. Obviously there was an intention to
defraud. The owners or perpetrators are guilty of criminal
activity. There has to be something more that can be done to them
other than just suing them. I'm wondering how they thought they
could get away with it. Perhaps greed was just too much and they
couldn't stop continuing to pass off these items to an obviously
willing auctioneer.
I have had nothing but wonderful experiences with Heritage
and Grey is one of the most upstanding people I have ever known.
I'm sure this incident will make all at Heritage "over alert" at
this point and I, personally, would not hesitate to consign
something to them.
Sue Heim
www.hollywoodposterframes.com
----- Original Message -----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: [email protected]
Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2008 11:33 AM
Subject: [MOPO] Heritage Auction's Prop Bust
You know, I hate to see Heritage get caught in any scandal what
with the hard work of our buddy Grey dedicating immense effort
to get his poster auctions to the caliber they presently enjoy as
well as many of the other divisions that have worked hard to
plant their tent pole auctions including coins, comics,
Americana, jewels, minerals, antiques etc. But the guy running
props was warned time and again on his listings by people I know
personally, as well as a website for props that undertook
astonishing documentation that called into question a shocking
number of their so called certified items.
On this one website, one intrepid member knew the user ID LA
Props would use to purchase items on Ebay. He could actually
trace items purchased on Ebay (this is a non-specific example)
but say a simple cowboy hat would be purchased, exact item would
later be "authenticated" as John Wayne's. I know that sounds
incredible but this individual sited numerous situations exactly
like this. These findings and calls into question would be
arrogantly ignored by the director at Heritage props much to the
frustration of dealers who specialize in such items knowing such
a scandal could hurt the hobby as a whole. How many even know
LA Prop is not even in California?
The guy at Heritage should be terminated, he was warned and
challenged time and again and now his declarations of protest in
the press are a joke. He knew, he knew the entire time. The
implications hopefully will nipped in the bud unique to this
individual and LA Props. But Heritage will have their work cut
out for them on future endeavors. What's the saying, "lay with
dogs you get fleas, or in this case, ticks." It's fraud on
the grandest scale and a shame for an organization that has
worked so hard to be one of the best.
freeman fisher
8601 west knoll dr. #7
west hollywood, ca
90069
310-6579426
Who's never won? Biggest Grammy Award surprises of all time on
AOL Music.
Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com
___________________________________________________________________
How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List
Send a message addressed to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L
The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com
___________________________________________________________________
How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List
Send a message addressed to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L
The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at
www.filmfan.com_______________________________________________________
____________How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing ListSend a
message addressed to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] the BODY of
your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-LThe author of this message is
solely responsible for its content.
Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at
www.filmfan.com_______________________________________________________
____________How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing ListSend a
message addressed to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] the BODY of
your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-LThe author of this message is
solely responsible for its content.
Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at
www.filmfan.com_______________________________________________________
____________How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing ListSend a
message addressed to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] the BODY of
your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-LThe author of this message is
solely responsible for its content.
Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com
___________________________________________________________________
How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List
Send a message addressed to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L
The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
