* I agree with that, Tommy.  I think I've owned just two one-sheets signed by a 
star.

* The one that stands out that I used to own - was a "Psycho" on linen signed 
by Janet Leigh many years ago - at an anniversary screening of "Psycho."  She 
ooohed and ahhed when my wife brought it - and was thrilled to sign it.  
Granted, Janet Leigh wasn't a big star, but it's always good when an actor - at 
the end of his or her career - can be linked to classic.  (She passed in 2004.)

* (BTW, some have written me privately since last night - that some of my web 
hosted images aren't showing up in my MoPo posts - but I've embedded what I'm 
talking about anyway below.  If you can't see it, she signed it, "To David, 
Psycho-tically yours, Janet Leigh."  Someone please let me know if this problem 
persists - as my images are web-hosted and are NOT attachments.)

* I know many collectors dislike signatures with inscriptions - but I prefer 
it, because the more words added before or after a signature, the easier it is 
to spot a fake - and the less likely you'll be stuck with an auto-pen or a 
secretarial.

* Fortunately, for whoever owns this poster now, he or she has the benefit of 
knowing the provenance is iron-clad - (it was mine) - as well as photo proof of 
Janet signing the poster here in San Diego.  In hindsight, I now wish I hadn't 
sold it for $1250 when I was downsizing my collection.  If by some chance 
you're out there and you want to sell it back, let me know. :-)  (Read more 
below...)

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img923/9606/bh8kZ1.jpg<https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fimagizer.imageshack.us%2Fa%2Fimg923%2F9606%2Fbh8kZ1.jpg&data=02%7C01%7C%7Cab969cb5ac394f3dd6c308d657637248%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636792481959577187&sdata=tC1izXN%2F2OfzXCncOgEusryjscDP%2FbVkCZk0rfPPjCU%3D&reserved=0>
[http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img923/9606/bh8kZ1.jpg]
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img921/5685/24OFL5.jpg<https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fimagizer.imageshack.us%2Fa%2Fimg921%2F5685%2F24OFL5.jpg&data=02%7C01%7C%7Cab969cb5ac394f3dd6c308d657637248%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636792481959577187&sdata=Tyn%2BLmZl8%2B36VnaJgKHwV7i5pZFXNSZngUpBdSTJvBM%3D&reserved=0>
[http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img921/5685/24OFL5.jpg]

* Meanwhile, I used to own signed letters and signed photos by Audrey Hepburn, 
James Stewart, Bette Davis and even Bogart, the latter a tough one to find 
that's legit.  But as an ex-news scribe, I still thoroughly vet everything 
before every purchase - because indeed there are so many fakes out there.

* (Anyone remember Hollywood Dreams - their tables in front of theaters selling 
autographed items?  Did you ever get taken by them?  My wife did.  I told her 
to toss what she bought in the trash, as there's no way the irascible Harrison 
Ford would sign a cast photo from Star Wars, not back then.  Hollywood Dreams 
was later shut down by law enforcement.)

* Then there was a time when a seller tried to get me to buy a photo from Gilda 
that was "signed" by Rita Hayworth.  It was handsomely framed and looked legit 
to the untrained eye.  But the signature looked "off" and the seller was vague 
about provenance.  But the killer was it was signed with a bold Sharpie, which 
was NOT the signing pen of choice until the 1980s.  By the late 70s, I told the 
seller, Rita wasn't signing much of anything, as she was riddled with 
Alzheimer's, which took her life in 1987.  I feel sorry for the person who 
eventually bought it.

* Admittedly, we're not talking forgeries of the magnitude of the horror poster 
fakes by Haggard - but I have lots of other stories about being scammed or 
almost scammed.  I once bought a repro Beatles quad from Sotheby's that caused 
a ruckus - and during my investigative writing and collecting years here at 
MoPo and at MCW - I wrote a lot of stuff about the so-called "destroyed" 
(ha-ha) six-sheets from "The Outlaw" that kept turning up in subsequent 
auctions, as well as writing about the Mannheim vs. Schacter fight that led to 
Ralph D.'s winning bid for his "Metropolis" 3-sheet, etc.

* Many years have passed, but memories linger.  I'd love to hear stories others 
might have of a similar bent, even if they're old and/or have been told before 
or are from the "mistakes made/lessons learned" category.  Hey, is that guy 
from Rochester still selling minty whites?  Where's "rodxmorgan, ambulance 
chaser?"  What about that linen-backing guy who wouldn't return posters to 
clients?  I once errantly sold a repro of the Lucky Strikes "Pulp Fiction" to 
Freeman Fisher.  I was stubborn and had to be convinced - but I refunded him.  
Man oh man, those were crazy years.  -d.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: MoPo List <mopo-l@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU> on behalf of Tommy Barr 
<tommymb...@gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, November 30, 2018 8:18 AM
To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
Subject: Re: OT: Beatles and Marilyn for sale - and a question (scroll down) 
about signed items.

I can see that an autograph on  a poster could be regarded by purists as a 
fault, but I imagine most people who are not avid collectors but only buying 
one or two items might be very well impressed by authentic signatures. I 
suppose also the size and position of the signature would be important.

Tommy

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: David Kusumoto <davidmkusum...@hotmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2018 10:46 PM
To: MoPo List
Subject: OT: Beatles and Marilyn for sale - and a question (scroll down) about 
signed items.

Not sure how popular the Beatles remain among MoPoers - (beyond the posters 
some of us in this group own) - but there are items from 1956 to 1964 - that 
intriguingly - have been bundled into a single lot (#2068) - and buried in the 
back pages of Profiles in History's massive movie auction catalog (Tues-Fri, 
December 11-14).

The marquee piece in the Beatles lot is a picture card signed by the group at 
the Plaza Hotel presser held the day after the Ed Sullivan show, with a 
document from Frank Caiazzo, who most believe (including myself) - is the 
leading authenticator of signed Beatle items in the world.  There's also a 
notarized provenance statement from the owner of the signatures - who was 
twelve-years-old when she won them in a WMCA radio contest in NYC, as well as a 
congratulatory letter to her signed by WMCA’s program director.  There's also a 
1964 Plaza Hotel postcard, some Plaza Hotel matchbooks, photos and related 
ephemera.

Other Beatle gems in this same lot - that are unrelated to Feb 1964 but are 
still seldom seen - include a 1961 Cavern Club membership booklet referencing 
the group before their stardom - (the year they were "discovered" by Brian 
Epstein) - and a 1956 Liverpool high school roll booklet that lists Paul 
McCartney when he was 14, George Harrison when he was 13, McCartney's brother 
Michael when he was 12, and Neil Aspinall when he was 15 (who would become a 
roadie and later the CEO of Apple Records) - all pupils at the same school at 
the same time. A bit wild the low estimate for this cache is $25K, esp. since 
items from the group's first U.S. visit have fetched up to $50K - (and even 
more when a signed album is included).

Only the signed Beatles' card is printed in the paper catalog.  I could only 
find mages of the other items mentioned in this lot - at the following Profiles 
link - (other web-hosted images are in this email below):

https://bit.ly/2AA0pSd<https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F2AA0pSd&data=02%7C01%7C%7Cab969cb5ac394f3dd6c308d657637248%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636792481959733440&sdata=fiudpOyCr5XiY2O0sHu2w8B8cv6KV3OmVvtbRkzU7c0%3D&reserved=0>

or

http://www.icollector.com/The-Beatles-extremely-rare-First-Visit-Set-of-signatures-on-a-fan-club-card_i31872336<https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.icollector.com%2FThe-Beatles-extremely-rare-First-Visit-Set-of-signatures-on-a-fan-club-card_i31872336&data=02%7C01%7C%7Cab969cb5ac394f3dd6c308d657637248%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636792481959733440&sdata=UASxcWdOWyo3R%2F8xWCJ5eSmCeSjaXHlv%2FdHFZPpJv1s%3D&reserved=0>
[http://media.liveauctiongroup.net/i/37021/31872336_1m.jpg?v=8D653C75D4F9DC0]<https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.icollector.com%2FThe-Beatles-extremely-rare-First-Visit-Set-of-signatures-on-a-fan-club-card_i31872336&data=02%7C01%7C%7Cab969cb5ac394f3dd6c308d657637248%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636792481959733440&sdata=UASxcWdOWyo3R%2F8xWCJ5eSmCeSjaXHlv%2FdHFZPpJv1s%3D&reserved=0>

“The Beatles” extremely rare “First Visit Set” of signatures on a fan club 
card. 
<https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.icollector.com%2FThe-Beatles-extremely-rare-First-Visit-Set-of-signatures-on-a-fan-club-card_i31872336&data=02%7C01%7C%7Cab969cb5ac394f3dd6c308d657637248%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636792481959733440&sdata=UASxcWdOWyo3R%2F8xWCJ5eSmCeSjaXHlv%2FdHFZPpJv1s%3D&reserved=0>
“The Beatles” extremely rare “First Visit Set” of signatures on a fan club 
card. - Profiles in History
www.icollector.com

Beatles:
https://imageshack.com/a/img921/7369/czDZOh.jpg<https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimageshack.com%2Fa%2Fimg921%2F7369%2FczDZOh.jpg&data=02%7C01%7C%7Cab969cb5ac394f3dd6c308d657637248%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636792481959733440&sdata=GOLHgTjgGES2Zforg%2B9BIINRvCWeQZEQCG63lp2ZZxo%3D&reserved=0>
[https://imageshack.com/a/img921/7369/czDZOh.jpg]

https://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img923/4640/pOOUgb.jpg<https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimagizer.imageshack.us%2Fa%2Fimg923%2F4640%2FpOOUgb.jpg&data=02%7C01%7C%7Cab969cb5ac394f3dd6c308d657637248%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636792481959733440&sdata=D2M%2F%2BOyuqbT7%2FqDbzsoh7CrSCLDiCR1Y0Jh79xaptPc%3D&reserved=0>
[https://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img923/4640/pOOUgb.jpg]


https://imageshack.com/a/img924/4180/CdHFrf.jpg<https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimageshack.com%2Fa%2Fimg924%2F4180%2FCdHFrf.jpg&data=02%7C01%7C%7Cab969cb5ac394f3dd6c308d657637248%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636792481959733440&sdata=%2BZb8OfYEsMwdG%2FjLdwW4wTMBHXeCiCR96satVd5vPoA%3D&reserved=0>
[http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img924/4180/CdHFrf.jpg]

https://imageshack.com/a/img923/9933/JhinwP.jpg<https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimageshack.com%2Fa%2Fimg923%2F9933%2FJhinwP.jpg&data=02%7C01%7C%7Cab969cb5ac394f3dd6c308d657637248%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636792481959733440&sdata=Smtyj%2BrtddnIGdQxGZSO3BBvWV3hrEoV7RAUGnbOoKA%3D&reserved=0>
[http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img923/9933/JhinwP.jpg]
https://imageshack.com/a/img921/4004/QtJkX6.jpg<https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimageshack.com%2Fa%2Fimg921%2F4004%2FQtJkX6.jpg&data=02%7C01%7C%7Cab969cb5ac394f3dd6c308d657637248%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636792481959733440&sdata=DeFkdceFzuypqMEdsUgDjvsmGt3wSIuPtdSi9WWk2Cw%3D&reserved=0>
[https://imageshack.com/a/img921/4004/QtJkX6.jpg]

https://imageshack.com/a/img924/6177/QyGkz2.jpg<https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimageshack.com%2Fa%2Fimg924%2F6177%2FQyGkz2.jpg&data=02%7C01%7C%7Cab969cb5ac394f3dd6c308d657637248%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636792481959733440&sdata=9DFYrBxkWy2B1mGtgjvg%2F01qyEyr8%2BNWYes9JM8WiYE%3D&reserved=0>
[http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img924/6177/QyGkz2.jpg]

https://imageshack.com/a/img921/1733/LklgWv.jpg<https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimageshack.com%2Fa%2Fimg921%2F1733%2FLklgWv.jpg&data=02%7C01%7C%7Cab969cb5ac394f3dd6c308d657637248%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636792481959733440&sdata=9bQuHDgwfcVuh81Z9WAZmLYEQ%2FIhOXe%2BJlYTTVHXIRw%3D&reserved=0>
[http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img921/1733/LklgWv.jpg]

https://imageshack.com/a/img924/4359/Pa0Ins.jpg<https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimageshack.com%2Fa%2Fimg924%2F4359%2FPa0Ins.jpg&data=02%7C01%7C%7Cab969cb5ac394f3dd6c308d657637248%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636792481959889728&sdata=B0IlFaC%2FFKVLyCfyWF3GDgsZWRVJQ05L3d8ncK0m7QA%3D&reserved=0>
[http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img924/4359/Pa0Ins.jpg]

In the same sale, there is a 1947 document (Lot #27) - signed twice by Marilyn 
Monroe as "Norma Jean Dougherty" AND "Marilyn Monroe."  It "starts" at $6K, 
something I'd love to own if this price was final.  I think it will sell for 
more:

https://bit.ly/2DVoupA<https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F2DVoupA&data=02%7C01%7C%7Cab969cb5ac394f3dd6c308d657637248%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636792481959889728&sdata=5ErFXiPfPEZtT1BPe%2Bqj2u1YMrQ1h0Y408AK6nQsmgg%3D&reserved=0>
Marilyn Monroe power of attorney document twice-signed as Marilyn Monroe and 
Norma Jeane Dougherty. - Profiles in History

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img922/508/B89IKV.jpg<https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fimagizer.imageshack.us%2Fa%2Fimg922%2F508%2FB89IKV.jpg&data=02%7C01%7C%7Cab969cb5ac394f3dd6c308d657637248%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636792481959889728&sdata=g0CVzgYAw3me37mlwaZrPhxrT0cDBAGNOb3RTH06CP8%3D&reserved=0>
[http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img922/508/B89IKV.jpg]

If you scrolled down this far (most won't) - here's my ponderable.

Years ago a question came up on MoPo about whether signatures on posters or on 
similar items enhance or detract value.  The consensus (at the time) - was 
autographs were undesirable on posters and the like.  Has this opinion changed 
for collectors and dealers?  What are your impressions about the autographed 
items market today?

eMoviePoster for example, has since demonstrated that there is indeed a robust 
market for signed items on posters and related memorabilia - so long as 
authenticity is unquestioned and/or guarantees are in place, e.g., recent 
standouts include posters signed by Spielberg, John Williams, etc. - and 
pictures or cards signed by Marilyn or Bogart.

However, a top person in the field recently told me that while the autograph 
market remains strong - it is still replete with the "slimiest" people in the 
business - and a check at eBay and at other auction sites confirm this.  
Blatant fakes designed to defraud the unsuspecting consumer are out there.  
Look at the one below that closed THIS WEEK - a signed Beatles album which is 
an obvious counterfeit - yet represented as genuine.  It didn't meet reserve - 
but even with a "high bid" of $450, this is pathetic. - d.

http://www.icollector.com/The-Beatles-Signed-Butcherblock-Album_i31969663<https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.icollector.com%2FThe-Beatles-Signed-Butcherblock-Album_i31969663&data=02%7C01%7C%7Cab969cb5ac394f3dd6c308d657637248%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636792481959889728&sdata=3gPxR%2B%2FaRF4za6hKhGPqH7SIS%2B9lxmfRlpsa%2FuQzzeE%3D&reserved=0>

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img922/6302/bCc57b.jpg<https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fimagizer.imageshack.us%2Fa%2Fimg922%2F6302%2FbCc57b.jpg&data=02%7C01%7C%7Cab969cb5ac394f3dd6c308d657637248%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636792481959889728&sdata=u%2Bv64I6F3OeSts7Pz7hPiMPuJMkxp4MBVgZNbI1c8R8%3D&reserved=0>
[http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img922/6302/bCc57b.jpg]

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