This is the story I mentioned in the Batman video thread...

At the comic book show this weekend, there was a guy selling autographed pictures and albums from various bands. So I started flipping through the pictures. The first twinge that something may not be right was an ABBA picture. I don't know how many signatures were on it - I didn't pull it out of the box and I only pause long enough to realize it was ABBA, but my immediate thought at the time was "I wonder how many newer pictures signed by the four of them exist." More or less just a passing thought.

Then I found a picture of Kiss from the '96-'97 reunion period. All four original members - Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley, Peter Criss and Gene Simmons (as they appeared, left to right). And under each guy was a signature - Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley, Peter Criss and Paul Stanley.

That's right - a double Paul Stanley sig. Which means either Paul signed under Gene by mistake and/or he signed a picture twice.

$195.

A guy was looking at the picture after me. I pointed out the double signature to him because I didn't want to see someone fork over the money for that.

But the one that really made the hair on the back of my neck stand up was the signed copy of Blizzard Of Ozz. By all four band members - Ozzy, Bob Daisley, Lee Kerslake and Randy Rhoads. I'm far from an expert on signatures, but the Rhoads signature didn't look legit to me. For one, it didn't look like what I remembered his signature looking like when I've seen it online. Two, it was in blue marker (the others were in black). Three - and most telling to me - it looked brand new. For something that had to be 30+ years old, it looked brand new. Again, none of that means it's definitely a fake, but it just felt wrong.

On Sunday, I thought maybe I should have driven back out and asked to talk to the show promoter, but all I had was the table location - no business name or anything. And I wasn't comfortable saying the sigs were definitely fake, but they sure smelled bad.

So be careful out there!

Authentication is the main thing holding me back from selling my autographed Ovation roundback acoustic guitar (signed by Jon Bon Jovi and Ritchie Sambora). I won it from a radio station years ago, but they never gave me any paperwork (not even a photo of it being signed) to authenticate the signatures.

So it sits in a closet.

Vegas is loaded with signed memorabilia stores. I would never buy anything from them.

I always go for the signed CD from the artist if available thru their web sites. Steve Hackett is big on that. I have a few, Peter Frampton and Rick Wakeman off the top of my head. Had Mark Tremonti sign his signature guitar when I met him last year.
My Guthrie Govan guitar is signed by him.

Yeah - I prefer to get things in person or from an artist's site if possible. I haven't bought any autographs like I described - just haven't been able to convince myself that I needed anything I've found.

They offered certificates of authenticity for any of the sigs you picked up from show guests. I didn't get any (but I overheard a guy telling one of the workers everything that was wrong with their COA). None of the ones I've picked up are for sale, nor will they be. I got them because I wanted them for myself - nothing else.

It's a shame, particularly in that it can be especially hard to get a record or CD autographed in person by a musician. ('ve managed to get exactly two in my lifetime, and both were from signing events in which I waited in line--unfortunately, I didn't happen to have a Berlin album on my person that one time back in 1984 when I saw Terri Nunn being led through a hotel lobby,

It's a neat hobby, but a sleazy business.

Unfortunately, a certificate of authenticity doesn't always mean anything.

In the sports memorabilia world, there are plenty of horror stories about professional authenticating companies getting it wrong. I remember one story on the news where a reporter got an athlete to sign a photo at a show, then showed it to an authenticator who was also there - and the authenticator proclaimed it a fake.

I've never had any interest in purchasing autographed items. The few autographed items I have were all collected in person at in-store appearances. For me, it's meeting the artist that makes it special, even if it's only for a few moments.

*Correction: After posting that, I realized that I do have one autographed cd that I won from a radio station during a call-in, when the artist was making a promotional appearance on air. .

Me, too. That's part of the reason I've never bothered with the COA at this show - I was there, and I got to meet the artists. I don't need a certificate for that.

Best ones are the ones you get yourself.
I got Santana, Albert King and a few others

i wound never ever buy an item for an autograph. you just don't know, no way, no how.

i agree with ranasakawa, if i don't get it myself, i really don't want it.

i saw a neil young 'harvest' CD in a half priced books store this week......no authentication whatsoever, with $100 price tag on it.....

I was in a used CD store today, and one of the employees was talking to someone on the phone and telling them that the store would take something that was autographed, but they'd price it like it wasn't because they had no way to verify the authenticity of the signature.

I have a Harry Chapin program, signed in person. Also got a kiss.

There was a autograph/memorabilia store down the street from us years ago. The owner went to prison for forging the peace accord that ended WWII (and bilking a lot of wealthy people). I did buy a Bob Dylan from him. And wondered.....

Great story.

I can't find the news report I mentioned earlier, but here's another news report that goes the other way: they forged a signature of former baseball player Sal Bando, took it to a sportscard show where Bando was appearing, got a genuine autograph from him, then presented the fake to the two authentication companies that were at the show. Spoiler: both companies authenticated the fake as genuine.

Link to video: here.

If you liked that, you'll love this long report on the Hauls of Shame website documenting numerous mistakes made by authenticators, including a couple where an item supposedly signed by a player wasn't manufactured until after the individual had passed away! (Link)

Bottom line: if you didn't get the autograph in person, yourself, you have to really, really, really trust the person who got it for you or is trying to sell it to you. It's a situation where a half-assed scribble you got in person from a pressed-for-time celebrity might have more value to you than a neat, legible autograph accompanied with a certificate of authenticity, because while it may be just a scrawl or a couple of lines, at least you know the person really did make that scribble.