This was a pretty good deal: it came with no COA, a listing of the player named and “signed photo” with a description that was equally uninspired. However, I trading some questions with the seller and felt very comfortable that it was legitimate. With the photo being a little beat up and the signature barely visible in the photo, it went at it’s too low opening bid. I will definitely send it in to PSA (eventually) as I did not have any doubts on the signature once in hand and while it is a fairly light example, it’s still well placed and beautiful:
1958 Holiday Inn Photocard - Mickey Mantle
Curious about the rare, mysterious and beautiful 1951 Wheaties Premium Photos?
@bronzemat said:
I see it often, there was an autographed photo of old Hollywood actress, Leila Hyams I saw listed for $75, which I would have bought but another ebay seller bought it quickly and days later it was added by the new buyer for $400. It languished for a few months before someone bought it.
Luckily I found out it was secretary signed & I acquired a real one just on an album page for $50.
But still, it's annoying seeing things get relisted at astronomical markups.
And a real 8x10 signed photo of her shouldn't be more than $150 depending on conditions. She's pretty forgotten like many.
I have had similar things happen like that where I bid on something, lose it, see it reposted for more THEN DISCOVER IT WAS FAKE and feel so happy I lost the auction at that time.
@1951WheatiesPremium said:
This was a pretty good deal: it came with no COA, a listing of the player named and “signed photo” with a description that was equally uninspired. However, I trading some questions with the seller and felt very comfortable that it was legitimate. With the photo being a little beat up and the signature barely visible in the photo, it went at it’s too low opening bid. I will definitely send it in to PSA (eventually) as I did not have any doubts on the signature once in hand and while it is a fairly light example, it’s still well placed and beautiful:
1958 Holiday Inn Photocard - Mickey Mantle
That reminds me of a faded Neil Armstrong signed and inscribed photo at a show for $500. I passed on it then a few years later I saw a very similarly faded and inscribed Armstrong photo but this time it was authenticated and FAILED to sell for $300! I was glad I didn’t pay $500 for the Armstrong I was offered at the show — and I almost did. It’s a good price but the fading bothered me too much. So yes, you can get a good price on faded signatures but they don’t look as nice.
It looks like the signature in the center is printed? And the faded one at top the authentic one?
That reminds me of a faded Neil Armstrong signed and inscribed photo at a show for $500. I passed on it then a few years later I saw a very similarly faded and inscribed Armstrong photo but this time it was authenticated and FAILED to sell for $300! I was glad I didn’t pay $500 for the Armstrong I was offered at the show — and I almost did. It’s a good price but the fading bothered me too much. So yes, you can get a good price on faded signatures but they don’t look as nice.
Sometime (usually) it's better to pass on the "damaged" item at a lower price, and wait for a nicer one at a decent price.
It looks like the signature in the center is printed? And the faded one at top the authentic one?
Thx for pointing that out. I missed it at first glance. Maybe ballpoint pen? Anyway, for the right price that's a good item.
That reminds me of a faded Neil Armstrong signed and inscribed photo at a show for $500. I passed on it then a few years later I saw a very similarly faded and inscribed Armstrong photo but this time it was authenticated and FAILED to sell for $300! I was glad I didn’t pay $500 for the Armstrong I was offered at the show — and I almost did. It’s a good price but the fading bothered me too much. So yes, you can get a good price on faded signatures but they don’t look as nice.
Sometime (almost always) it's better to pass on the "damaged" item at a lower price, and wait for a nicer one at a decent price.
Sort of off topic, but I noticed a very nice Armstrong signed (NOT personalized) photo very similar to yours bring only $3500 recently. With everything seeming to go for crazy prices I was somewhat expecting it to bring $7500. I guess not everything skyrockets. Maybe now is a good time to shop around for a Neil Armstrong.
That reminds me of a faded Neil Armstrong signed and inscribed photo at a show for $500. I passed on it then a few years later I saw a very similarly faded and inscribed Armstrong photo but this time it was authenticated and FAILED to sell for $300! I was glad I didn’t pay $500 for the Armstrong I was offered at the show — and I almost did. It’s a good price but the fading bothered me too much. So yes, you can get a good price on faded signatures but they don’t look as nice.
Sometime (almost always) it's better to pass on the "damaged" item at a lower price, and wait for a nicer one at a decent price.
Sort of off topic, but I noticed a very nice Armstrong signed (NOT personalized) photo very similar to yours bring only $3500 recently. With everything seeming to go for crazy prices I was somewhat expecting it to bring $7500. I guess not everything skyrockets. Maybe now is a good time to shop around for a Neil Armstrong.
$3500? That's an outrage!
Not that I'll sell, but I am hoping it goes/stays high.
Sort of off topic: Have you ever purchased an autograph and regretted it later? Reasons could be you bought it because it was a “great deal” but you later realized you don’t really want it because it was not something that necessary fit your collection or you found something better later on signed by the same person and now don’t need the first one you bought? Buying an autograph and later finding out it was fake doesn’t count for this question.
For sure, especially with moderns. Few have been because the photo an autograph is on is much better or appealing then the one I may have picked up before.
Whats worse is when it's a fresh buy & delivered and a few days later, a better & cheaper one surfaces. Happens with coins too.
Sorry for not responding sooner and thank for the kind words.
On the Holiday Inn piece, the top left is the legitimate though light signature, yes, and the center one is the facsimile. The image was used several times and on differing items, starting in 1957 as a team issue with a facsimile signature. You are also correct that when it was signed it was ballpoint on a glossy photo which doesn’t always take well.
And I think these two, now that they are encapsulated by PSA, would probably do substantially better than the price I paid on them because they’re now identified (which can be tough), they’re not all that easy to come by and the dual certification makes them Master Set eligible:
Curious about the rare, mysterious and beautiful 1951 Wheaties Premium Photos?
Sorry for not responding sooner and thank for the kind words.
On the Holiday Inn piece, the top left is the legitimate though light signature, yes, and the center one is the facsimile. The image was used several times and on differing items, starting in 1957 as a team issue with a facsimile signature. You are also correct that when it was signed it was ballpoint on a glossy photo which doesn’t always take well.
And I think these two, now that they are encapsulated by PSA, would probably do substantially better than the price I paid on them because they’re now identified (which can be tough), they’re not all that easy to come by and the dual certification makes them Master Set eligible:
They look great. Those grades on the underlying items seem a bit tough!
It’s stuff like this that I wish I found BEFORE it ended.
From the main auction lot photo you see this:
Title was “ US President Ronald Reagan Signed 8x10 Color Photo Collectible + Memorial Comm.”
When you click on auction there are TEN pictures and 8 of those focus on the Reagan Memorabilia instead of the actual prize which included just one picture of it, outside of the lot photo.
The hammer price? $110! For comparison, similar but properly advertised signed photos personalized of Reagan go for around $700 each.
I don't know if this is the deal of the century, but I was excited to see it.
I was in BJ's Wholesale Club today and I checked out the book section. Sometimes they have a signed edition of a new book.
Today they had signed first editions of a new book by Rob O'Neill, who is the Navy SEAL who took out Osama bin Laden, and Dakota Meyer, who is a Medal of Honor recipient from the war in Afghanistan.
I think both of these guys are tough to track down TTM, especially Rob O'Neill who stays hard to find for obvious reasons.
I got both signatures in one book for.....$16.49. I was pretty happy with that opportunity. 😀
I was in BJ's Wholesale Club today and I checked out the book section. Sometimes they have a signed edition of a new book.
>
That’s good to know about. I will have to check out the book section next time I go and see if ours has any signed books I want.
The signed books have a sticker or sometimes even a special book jacket.
Often/usually not all the books in the stack are signed. So, if I see a signed book I want, I dig through the stack to find one I like best.
BJ's doesn't always have signed books but I'll bet at least half the time I go in they do have at least one title.
The funny thing is that as I was walking in there yesterday I was fantasizing that they might have the signed Obama/Springsteen books on deep discount. They did have the normal version back when they first came out.
But the book I got was a huge score for me. I looked on another site that lists celebrity addresses and both those guys are currently not possible to get TTM.
I recently bought an encapsulated PSA authenticated letter signed by Jean Harlow. I paid $800 via a Leland's auction that had maybe 3-4 Hollywood autographed items deeply embedded in its latest sports auction catalog. I assume it is worth $5000 or more. Basically only two of us bid on it. Yes, I realize that Mama Harlow signed most of the Harlow autographs but the content of this one , combined with PSA's seal-of -approval makes me comfortable it was really typed and signed by the actress herself. The lesson I learned is always completely look through autograph catalogs even when they probably don't include what you collect. Sometimes there are outliers.
@kenboyer said:
I recently bought an encapsulated PSA authenticated letter signed by Jean Harlow. I paid $800 via a Leland's auction that had maybe 3-4 Hollywood autographed items deeply embedded in its latest sports auction catalog. I assume it is worth $5000 or more. Basically only two of us bid on it. Yes, I realize that Mama Harlow signed most of the Harlow autographs but the content of this one , combined with PSA's seal-of -approval makes me comfortable it was really typed and signed by the actress herself. The lesson I learned is always completely look through autograph catalogs even when they probably don't include what you collect. Sometimes there are outliers.
Definitely NOT a deal but a very interesting trend I noticed.
Betty White died recently and generally when a celebrity dies their autographs go up in value. HOWEVER, Betty White was a GREAT signer ttm and signed thousands upon thousands of autographs over the years. She also lived to nearly 100 so there were LOTS of years that she signed. Many celebrities who signed a lot in their lifetime don’t see a big increase in value of their autograph after they pass away. For example, Jimmy Stewart’s autograph can still be found routinely for around $50 (on a index card or generic photo not from any film as those types generally bring more). Anyway, I was shocked to see how much this index card signed by Betty White brought at auction on eBay:
$64! After shipping and taxes it’s over $70!!!
A signed 8x10 photo that she sent out ttm (which was also personalized) bought over $80 (after shipping and taxes). Shocked!
I know this seller who auctioned these off is very trustworthy so their auctions tend to bring more than other’s auctions so I did a look and although prices were lower than these two for similar signed Betty White items they were still higher than I expected ($30-$40 range for signed index cards). I remember over ten years ago when I got Betty White ttm her autograph was a dime a dozen and you were lucky if one sold for $5 for a signed index card. Times sure have changed. Looks like right now Betty White autographs are going for about the same as James Stewart autographs and he’s been dead for over twenty years!
I know I posted about the other Renegades signed book sold on RRAuction last month that ended up over $700.
Well this month’s ends tonight and with 6 hours still going, I am SHOCKED to see where it is at now:
$1026 and that is BEFORE their 25% premium is added with fees and shipping on top of that! The other interesting thing is the Springsteen signature is a bit light due to pen running low on ink so in my opinion a little less desirable than most Renegades signed books. And what’s crazier is I saw some of these on eBay bring around $500 (original retail price) recently.
Will be interesting to see if this even goes higher.
Some people don't use ebay. That might be part of it.
But that Springsteen is horrendous.
Makes me want to consign the extra Springsteen cut I have to RRAuction if I can’t sell it elsewhere.
I was watching some of the auctions close, man Old Hollywood continues to bring some fairly sad prices compared to years past. Some, I am surprised, went unsold.
You won’t believe this but that Renegades book finished at $2669! That’s BEFORE the premium which brings the total to $3336. This is insane especially considering the same book, with a BETTER looking Springsteen signature, sold for just over $700 on the same site just one month earlier. Never mind the fact you can buy them on eBay right now easily for around $500. This is what I call a true bidding war. Reminds me of when I got caught up in one ten years ago when buying a Humphrey Bogart signature for $1800 that was normally worth $500-$700 then.
Some people don't use ebay. That might be part of it.
But that Springsteen is horrendous.
Makes me want to consign the extra Springsteen cut I have to RRAuction if I can’t sell it elsewhere.
I was watching some of the auctions close, man Old Hollywood continues to bring some fairly sad prices compared to years past. Some, I am surprised, went unsold.
That is very sad and interesting at the same time considering that every other field of autographs are going up in price. Makes me wonder what a Bogart signature costs these days. Maybe I should be happy I got $525 for it ten years ago instead of still having it today trying to sell it.
I originally thought this was probably authentic but but turns out it’s likely secretarial. It was $1500 and failed to get a bid. Later relisted for $1500.
@bronzemat said:
I wouldn't have known that these high quality copies just by the photos online.
I think I messed up in my post. I meant to say the one I found on eBay for just $1500 I believe to be authentic. I found a similar but with different inscription and signature (also authentic) sell for over $6000 on RR Auction. I probably should had purchased the eBay one for $1500 (it ended with zero bids) but I was afraid it could somehow be a trick or something as it definitely seems to good to be true.
@bronzemat said:
I wouldn't have known that these high quality copies just by the photos online.
I think I messed up in my post. I meant to say the one I found on eBay for just $1500 I believe to be authentic. I found a similar but with different inscription and signature (also authentic) sell for over $6000 on RR Auction. I probably should had purchased the eBay one for $1500 (it ended with zero bids) but I was afraid it could somehow be a trick or something as it definitely seems to good to be true.
That happens, there's been OH autographs listed that I have seen and saw listed at reasonable prices. I always go back and forth if I want to spend it and sometimes it's just a few minutes and poof, they're sold.
What's sadder is seeing the same one listed by the buyer listing it for triple of what they bought it for. That's where it stings. Happened with two recently in one week.
@bronzemat said:
I wouldn't have known that these high quality copies just by the photos online.
I think I messed up in my post. I meant to say the one I found on eBay for just $1500 I believe to be authentic. I found a similar but with different inscription and signature (also authentic) sell for over $6000 on RR Auction. I probably should had purchased the eBay one for $1500 (it ended with zero bids) but I was afraid it could somehow be a trick or something as it definitely seems to good to be true.
That happens, there's been OH autographs listed that I have seen and saw listed at reasonable prices. I always go back and forth if I want to spend it and sometimes it's just a few minutes and poof, they're sold.
What's sadder is seeing the same one listed by the buyer listing it for triple of what they bought it for. That's where it stings. Happened with two recently in one week.
Or when you see the autograph for the first time (but it is actually like the third time it’s been listed) and the previous two times it went unsold with zero bids then when you discover it upon its third listing not only does it get bids but it goes for more than the unsold listings AND you lose the item because someone else was willing to pay more. You think “if only I found this last week I could had been the only bidder and got it and got it for less than what this just brought!”
@bronzemat said:
I wouldn't have known that these high quality copies just by the photos online.
I think I messed up in my post. I meant to say the one I found on eBay for just $1500 I believe to be authentic. I found a similar but with different inscription and signature (also authentic) sell for over $6000 on RR Auction. I probably should had purchased the eBay one for $1500 (it ended with zero bids) but I was afraid it could somehow be a trick or something as it definitely seems to good to be true.
That happens, there's been OH autographs listed that I have seen and saw listed at reasonable prices. I always go back and forth if I want to spend it and sometimes it's just a few minutes and poof, they're sold.
What's sadder is seeing the same one listed by the buyer listing it for triple of what they bought it for. That's where it stings. Happened with two recently in one week.
Or when you see the autograph for the first time (but it is actually like the third time it’s been listed) and the previous two times it went unsold with zero bids then when you discover it upon its third listing not only does it get bids but it goes for more than the unsold listings AND you lose the item because someone else was willing to pay more. You think “if only I found this last week I could had been the only bidder and got it and got it for less than what this just brought!”
Oh yeah, that's happened several times too.
How about this. Looking up something and viewing the "sold listings" just see if you missed out on something or get a feel of where the market is on someone, and sure enough, if you had just been online 5 - 20 min earlier could have scored a sweet deal or something much more special.
@bronzemat said:
I wouldn't have known that these high quality copies just by the photos online.
I think I messed up in my post. I meant to say the one I found on eBay for just $1500 I believe to be authentic. I found a similar but with different inscription and signature (also authentic) sell for over $6000 on RR Auction. I probably should had purchased the eBay one for $1500 (it ended with zero bids) but I was afraid it could somehow be a trick or something as it definitely seems to good to be true.
That happens, there's been OH autographs listed that I have seen and saw listed at reasonable prices. I always go back and forth if I want to spend it and sometimes it's just a few minutes and poof, they're sold.
What's sadder is seeing the same one listed by the buyer listing it for triple of what they bought it for. That's where it stings. Happened with two recently in one week.
Or when you see the autograph for the first time (but it is actually like the third time it’s been listed) and the previous two times it went unsold with zero bids then when you discover it upon its third listing not only does it get bids but it goes for more than the unsold listings AND you lose the item because someone else was willing to pay more. You think “if only I found this last week I could had been the only bidder and got it and got it for less than what this just brought!”
Oh yeah, that's happened several times too.
How about this. Looking up something and viewing the "sold listings" just see if you missed out on something or get a feel of where the market is on someone, and sure enough, if you had just been online 5 - 20 min earlier could have scored a sweet deal or something much more special.
Absolutely has happened to me. I missed out on a Buy It Now by like ten minutes. It was an Ruth Bader Ginsburg signed Supreme Court photo (definitely authentic, no question) that normally goes for $1200. This one sold for just $100! When I saw I had only missed it by ten minutes I was so mad at how close I was to getting the “deal of the century!”
@JMS1223 said:
Absolutely has happened to me. I missed out on a Buy It Now by like ten minutes. It was an Ruth Bader Ginsburg signed Supreme Court photo (definitely authentic, no question) that normally goes for $1200. This one sold for just $100! When I saw I had only missed it by ten minutes I was so mad at how close I was to getting the “deal of the century!”
I think you mentioned that before and that would have been a steal of the century. Sadly, it just isn't meant to be. 😭
When it happens, I mentally think "I hope it's going to a collector who will appreciate it". One of things I, personally, dislike, is hoarder collectors. It's usually with coins but occasionally autographs. They just hunt, buy it, & store it away to never look at it or enjoy ever again.
I know coin collectors who have thousands and thousands of coins just stored in SDB and they buy more forgetting they had it.
With me, I rotate my framed autographs and switch them out when I want a change.
Back in 2012 I was fortunate to find these two Neil Armstrong signed covers. The first was signed on the back of of a Waimea, Hawaii, Kokee Tracking Station cover which was signed by some of the NASA people stationed there for one of the Gemini missions. The seller apparently was not familiar with Neil Armstrong's signature. It was an auction and I won the cover for $15 and sold it later for $1300.
The second is a cover with a German postmark that was listed as featuring a Neil Armstrong autopen signature. I won that auction for $115. That one sold for nearly $1500 a year later.
Interesting how someone thought something that was autopen turned out to be real. I guess people that saw it for sale just assumed it was autopen and didn’t go “wait, I don’t remember any autopen pattern looking like that, maybe that’s real.”
Although not an autograph I remember buying a coin that was advertised as counterfeit for $30. When I showed it to a few dealers and experts and I told them it was counterfeit they said “I don’t see how this could be counterfeit, the mint mark is exactly as it should be.” All of the dealers and experts I had shown it to said the same thing. No one thought it was counterfeit. It was an 1884 CC Morgan Silver Dollar. I ended up selling it for like $200 to a collector. I explained that I purchased it as a counterfeit so he would know but he examined it and said it was authentic, just cleaned. He was happy to buy it.
So I guess the same can happen with autographs. Maybe I should start examining Sandra Day O’Connor autopen signatures for sale and see if I spot an authentic one being misattributed as autopen when in reality it’s authentic.
I just purchased a Sandra Day O’Connor personalized signature off eBay for $50. It showed up as a Buy It Now earlier this week and I saved it because I needed to think about if I wanted to spend $50 on it. $50 is my limit for her but this one was personalized so I was thinking it should be cheaper but then I realized it’s probably best to buy personalized when it comes to O’Connor since she used autopen and this signature definitely looked like her handwriting and signature so I bought it. I was all excited about it and then a few hours later I get an email from the seller saying my purchase was canceled due to “item no longer available or damaged.”
I had a similar thing happen to me earlier this year on eBay with a different Buy It Now item. For auctions, it seems 99% of the time I get outbid and never win anything on eBay anymore. I noticed this pattern a lot recently. Of the ten or so items I bid on or purchased only ONE actually happened (Michelle Obama signed book). I am starting to think eBay is useless. I can rarely find what I want and when an item I like finally does show up, it goes for way more than I wish to spend or the seller cancels my order (sometimes I THINK the real reason is another buyer messaged them offering a better price so they cancelled my sale and resold it to other person for much more).
Anyway, just wanted to vent. I guess my search continues for O’Connor for under $50. I wish there was another outlet to buy authentic trustworthy autographs at reasonable prices.
Authentic SDO'Cs are out there. Your best bet for a reasonably priced one is to find someone who is selling off a TTM collection. But, those will be unauthenticated so you'll need to be ready to do your own review.
Authentic SDO'Cs are out there. Your best bet for a reasonably priced one is to find someone who is selling off a TTM collection. But, those will be unauthenticated so you'll need to be ready to do your own review.
I agree. Unfortunately a lot of those types of auctions I get outbid on at the last minute even when I put in a high bid. I don’t want to overpay so I can only put in a bid a little more than my $50 max for O’Connor. The thing I often see are stickered authenticated ones listed for outrageous prices. Sadly I see this thing much more often than someone listing unauthenicated ttms. I know my best bet when buying a ttm is to go for personalization since it has a better chance of being authentic instead of autopen.
The seller got back to me; it was sold earlier this morning. So I guess I should had bought it earlier this week but I wanted time to think about spending my max on it. I kept thinking I would find one for $20 later on and regret buying this one, but then realized I never seen any for $20 other than probable fakes. Very rare to find cheap deals on eBay anymore. Everything is expensive due to less sellers selling on eBay due to crazy fees scared them all away.
Very rare to find cheap deals on eBay anymore. Everything is expensive due to less sellers selling on eBay due to crazy fees scared them all away.
That, and the new $600 and you gotta pay taxes next year system now. I know I don't sell as much as I did.
Agree. I was curious about something. Due to buying and getting refunded for multiple items this year, I have over $600 in transactions now. These are not sales but refunds. Do they count towards the $600 limit and I will be getting the form in the mail? I know buying itself is not included nor are family gift transactions but couldn’t find anything about refunds.
Very rare to find cheap deals on eBay anymore. Everything is expensive due to less sellers selling on eBay due to crazy fees scared them all away.
That, and the new $600 and you gotta pay taxes next year system now. I know I don't sell as much as I did.
Agree. I was curious about something. Due to buying and getting refunded for multiple items this year, I have over $600 in transactions now. These are not sales but refunds. Do they count towards the $600 limit and I will be getting the form in the mail? I know buying itself is not included nor are family gift transactions but couldn’t find anything about refunds.
Can't help you there. That's something you may have to ask in the main U.S. coin forum, some have gone through the terms with a fine tooth comb over there. Most of it went over my head.
@JMS1223 said:
I think you might call this the worst deal of the century:
Just compared to the exact same thing sold a month prior. And the March one had better looking signatures.
This one from March sold for $723
This one from April sold for $3336
This one from May sold for $1875
And the one that ended last night sold for $750
So it seems the Obama/Springsteen signed book has cooled down price wise on RRAuction. A LOT less than in April and May but similar to March. Looks the consigner they won’t be making much money, if any, considering they only get a percentage of the $600 hammer price after fees. So party’s over.
Thought I would share this. Same format - one without authentication and one with JSA authentication. Really? That MUCH of a jump in price for someone’s opinion?
I am having trouble posting my comment that I was going to post in the values forecast thread so I will try it here so it doesn’t keep going poof.
Even though the auction doesn’t end until August 10th, that MLK Jr. autograph is already above $2500. It’s now $2805 with premium added. The autograph is not even ideal so I definitely don’t want to spend more than $2500. RRAuction lots always go for way more than they should in my opinion.
On another note, I am watching (and definitely no longer bidding) on a few historical autographs I found on eBay. Someone must had bought an old collection or something but they came across some very historical autographs. They started them all at $9.99 each. A few in particular that I am watching are an Albert Einstein signed letter with a handwritten post script (already over $5000 despite there being 3 days left and letter not in great condition), a lot of two P.T. Barnum handwritten letters (over $800 right now), and a Mark Twain handwritten letter (over $1000 right now). That’s just a few of the highlights. They have many others and will be listing more in the future. I doubt I will be getting any deals on any of these as they seem to attract a ton of watchers and bidders so I figured it was probably okay to mention them on here (but still won’t share their eBay name quite yet). If a really great autograph shows up on eBay, you can pretty much bet you won’t get a deal on it…unless it’s fake. The only deals I still see at all are those relatively inexpensive autographs and taking risks with a possible autopen/secretarial on something like George Bush Sr. signed letters or photos.
Comments
This was a pretty good deal: it came with no COA, a listing of the player named and “signed photo” with a description that was equally uninspired. However, I trading some questions with the seller and felt very comfortable that it was legitimate. With the photo being a little beat up and the signature barely visible in the photo, it went at it’s too low opening bid. I will definitely send it in to PSA (eventually) as I did not have any doubts on the signature once in hand and while it is a fairly light example, it’s still well placed and beautiful:
1958 Holiday Inn Photocard - Mickey Mantle
Curious about the rare, mysterious and beautiful 1951 Wheaties Premium Photos?
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/987963/1951-wheaties-premium-photos-set-registry#latest
Looks like a nice (dark enough) signature to me.
I have had similar things happen like that where I bid on something, lose it, see it reposted for more THEN DISCOVER IT WAS FAKE and feel so happy I lost the auction at that time.
That reminds me of a faded Neil Armstrong signed and inscribed photo at a show for $500. I passed on it then a few years later I saw a very similarly faded and inscribed Armstrong photo but this time it was authenticated and FAILED to sell for $300! I was glad I didn’t pay $500 for the Armstrong I was offered at the show — and I almost did. It’s a good price but the fading bothered me too much. So yes, you can get a good price on faded signatures but they don’t look as nice.
It looks like the signature in the center is printed? And the faded one at top the authentic one?
Sometime (usually) it's better to pass on the "damaged" item at a lower price, and wait for a nicer one at a decent price.
Thx for pointing that out. I missed it at first glance. Maybe ballpoint pen? Anyway, for the right price that's a good item.
Sort of off topic, but I noticed a very nice Armstrong signed (NOT personalized) photo very similar to yours bring only $3500 recently. With everything seeming to go for crazy prices I was somewhat expecting it to bring $7500. I guess not everything skyrockets. Maybe now is a good time to shop around for a Neil Armstrong.
$3500? That's an outrage!
Not that I'll sell, but I am hoping it goes/stays high.
Sort of off topic: Have you ever purchased an autograph and regretted it later? Reasons could be you bought it because it was a “great deal” but you later realized you don’t really want it because it was not something that necessary fit your collection or you found something better later on signed by the same person and now don’t need the first one you bought? Buying an autograph and later finding out it was fake doesn’t count for this question.
For sure, especially with moderns. Few have been because the photo an autograph is on is much better or appealing then the one I may have picked up before.
Whats worse is when it's a fresh buy & delivered and a few days later, a better & cheaper one surfaces. Happens with coins too.
@JBK
@JMS1223
Sorry for not responding sooner and thank for the kind words.
On the Holiday Inn piece, the top left is the legitimate though light signature, yes, and the center one is the facsimile. The image was used several times and on differing items, starting in 1957 as a team issue with a facsimile signature. You are also correct that when it was signed it was ballpoint on a glossy photo which doesn’t always take well.
And I think these two, now that they are encapsulated by PSA, would probably do substantially better than the price I paid on them because they’re now identified (which can be tough), they’re not all that easy to come by and the dual certification makes them Master Set eligible:
Curious about the rare, mysterious and beautiful 1951 Wheaties Premium Photos?
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/987963/1951-wheaties-premium-photos-set-registry#latest
They look great. Those grades on the underlying items seem a bit tough!
It’s stuff like this that I wish I found BEFORE it ended.
From the main auction lot photo you see this:
Title was “ US President Ronald Reagan Signed 8x10 Color Photo Collectible + Memorial Comm.”
When you click on auction there are TEN pictures and 8 of those focus on the Reagan Memorabilia instead of the actual prize which included just one picture of it, outside of the lot photo.
The hammer price? $110! For comparison, similar but properly advertised signed photos personalized of Reagan go for around $700 each.
You ruined my day.
INSANE!!
I don't know if this is the deal of the century, but I was excited to see it.
I was in BJ's Wholesale Club today and I checked out the book section. Sometimes they have a signed edition of a new book.
Today they had signed first editions of a new book by Rob O'Neill, who is the Navy SEAL who took out Osama bin Laden, and Dakota Meyer, who is a Medal of Honor recipient from the war in Afghanistan.
I think both of these guys are tough to track down TTM, especially Rob O'Neill who stays hard to find for obvious reasons.
I got both signatures in one book for.....$16.49. I was pretty happy with that opportunity. 😀
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That’s good to know about. I will have to check out the book section next time I go and see if ours has any signed books I want.
The signed books have a sticker or sometimes even a special book jacket.
Often/usually not all the books in the stack are signed. So, if I see a signed book I want, I dig through the stack to find one I like best.
BJ's doesn't always have signed books but I'll bet at least half the time I go in they do have at least one title.
The funny thing is that as I was walking in there yesterday I was fantasizing that they might have the signed Obama/Springsteen books on deep discount. They did have the normal version back when they first came out.
But the book I got was a huge score for me. I looked on another site that lists celebrity addresses and both those guys are currently not possible to get TTM.
I recently bought an encapsulated PSA authenticated letter signed by Jean Harlow. I paid $800 via a Leland's auction that had maybe 3-4 Hollywood autographed items deeply embedded in its latest sports auction catalog. I assume it is worth $5000 or more. Basically only two of us bid on it. Yes, I realize that Mama Harlow signed most of the Harlow autographs but the content of this one , combined with PSA's seal-of -approval makes me comfortable it was really typed and signed by the actress herself. The lesson I learned is always completely look through autograph catalogs even when they probably don't include what you collect. Sometimes there are outliers.
Would love to see a picture of that autograph.
Definitely NOT a deal but a very interesting trend I noticed.
Betty White died recently and generally when a celebrity dies their autographs go up in value. HOWEVER, Betty White was a GREAT signer ttm and signed thousands upon thousands of autographs over the years. She also lived to nearly 100 so there were LOTS of years that she signed. Many celebrities who signed a lot in their lifetime don’t see a big increase in value of their autograph after they pass away. For example, Jimmy Stewart’s autograph can still be found routinely for around $50 (on a index card or generic photo not from any film as those types generally bring more). Anyway, I was shocked to see how much this index card signed by Betty White brought at auction on eBay:
$64! After shipping and taxes it’s over $70!!!
A signed 8x10 photo that she sent out ttm (which was also personalized) bought over $80 (after shipping and taxes). Shocked!
I know this seller who auctioned these off is very trustworthy so their auctions tend to bring more than other’s auctions so I did a look and although prices were lower than these two for similar signed Betty White items they were still higher than I expected ($30-$40 range for signed index cards). I remember over ten years ago when I got Betty White ttm her autograph was a dime a dozen and you were lucky if one sold for $5 for a signed index card. Times sure have changed. Looks like right now Betty White autographs are going for about the same as James Stewart autographs and he’s been dead for over twenty years!
Those are both nice signatures signed with thinner pens.
I have a photo signed with a fat old Sharpie. Still happy to have it, but her nice handwriting gets swallowed up by the wider line.
Betty White is a legitimate star, but I suspect that as time passes she'll drop in price.
The ones I got ttm were signed with this thinner pen. Didn’t realize she used thicker sharpies to sign occasionally.
I know I posted about the other Renegades signed book sold on RRAuction last month that ended up over $700.
Well this month’s ends tonight and with 6 hours still going, I am SHOCKED to see where it is at now:
$1026 and that is BEFORE their 25% premium is added with fees and shipping on top of that! The other interesting thing is the Springsteen signature is a bit light due to pen running low on ink so in my opinion a little less desirable than most Renegades signed books. And what’s crazier is I saw some of these on eBay bring around $500 (original retail price) recently.
Will be interesting to see if this even goes higher.
That's crazy.
Some people don't use ebay. That might be part of it.
But that Springsteen is horrendous.
Makes me want to consign the extra Springsteen cut I have to RRAuction if I can’t sell it elsewhere.
I was watching some of the auctions close, man Old Hollywood continues to bring some fairly sad prices compared to years past. Some, I am surprised, went unsold.
You won’t believe this but that Renegades book finished at $2669! That’s BEFORE the premium which brings the total to $3336. This is insane especially considering the same book, with a BETTER looking Springsteen signature, sold for just over $700 on the same site just one month earlier. Never mind the fact you can buy them on eBay right now easily for around $500. This is what I call a true bidding war. Reminds me of when I got caught up in one ten years ago when buying a Humphrey Bogart signature for $1800 that was normally worth $500-$700 then.
That is very sad and interesting at the same time considering that every other field of autographs are going up in price. Makes me wonder what a Bogart signature costs these days. Maybe I should be happy I got $525 for it ten years ago instead of still having it today trying to sell it.
I think you might call this the worst deal of the century:
Just compared to the exact same thing sold a month prior. And the March one had better looking signatures.
I originally thought this was probably authentic but but turns out it’s likely secretarial. It was $1500 and failed to get a bid. Later relisted for $1500.
Edit: Discovered likely fake
This appears to be a clipped Lincoln signature. Typically as clipped signatures Lincoln sells for around $4500.
Sale price? Only $1000!
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I wouldn't have known that these high quality copies just by the photos online.
I think I messed up in my post. I meant to say the one I found on eBay for just $1500 I believe to be authentic. I found a similar but with different inscription and signature (also authentic) sell for over $6000 on RR Auction. I probably should had purchased the eBay one for $1500 (it ended with zero bids) but I was afraid it could somehow be a trick or something as it definitely seems to good to be true.
That happens, there's been OH autographs listed that I have seen and saw listed at reasonable prices. I always go back and forth if I want to spend it and sometimes it's just a few minutes and poof, they're sold.
What's sadder is seeing the same one listed by the buyer listing it for triple of what they bought it for. That's where it stings. Happened with two recently in one week.
Or when you see the autograph for the first time (but it is actually like the third time it’s been listed) and the previous two times it went unsold with zero bids then when you discover it upon its third listing not only does it get bids but it goes for more than the unsold listings AND you lose the item because someone else was willing to pay more. You think “if only I found this last week I could had been the only bidder and got it and got it for less than what this just brought!”
Oh yeah, that's happened several times too.
How about this. Looking up something and viewing the "sold listings" just see if you missed out on something or get a feel of where the market is on someone, and sure enough, if you had just been online 5 - 20 min earlier could have scored a sweet deal or something much more special.
Absolutely has happened to me. I missed out on a Buy It Now by like ten minutes. It was an Ruth Bader Ginsburg signed Supreme Court photo (definitely authentic, no question) that normally goes for $1200. This one sold for just $100!
When I saw I had only missed it by ten minutes I was so mad at how close I was to getting the “deal of the century!”
I think you mentioned that before and that would have been a steal of the century. Sadly, it just isn't meant to be. 😭
When it happens, I mentally think "I hope it's going to a collector who will appreciate it". One of things I, personally, dislike, is hoarder collectors. It's usually with coins but occasionally autographs. They just hunt, buy it, & store it away to never look at it or enjoy ever again.
I know coin collectors who have thousands and thousands of coins just stored in SDB and they buy more forgetting they had it.
With me, I rotate my framed autographs and switch them out when I want a change.
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Back in 2012 I was fortunate to find these two Neil Armstrong signed covers. The first was signed on the back of of a Waimea, Hawaii, Kokee Tracking Station cover which was signed by some of the NASA people stationed there for one of the Gemini missions. The seller apparently was not familiar with Neil Armstrong's signature. It was an auction and I won the cover for $15 and sold it later for $1300.
The second is a cover with a German postmark that was listed as featuring a Neil Armstrong autopen signature. I won that auction for $115. That one sold for nearly $1500 a year later.
Interesting how someone thought something that was autopen turned out to be real. I guess people that saw it for sale just assumed it was autopen and didn’t go “wait, I don’t remember any autopen pattern looking like that, maybe that’s real.”
Although not an autograph I remember buying a coin that was advertised as counterfeit for $30. When I showed it to a few dealers and experts and I told them it was counterfeit they said “I don’t see how this could be counterfeit, the mint mark is exactly as it should be.” All of the dealers and experts I had shown it to said the same thing. No one thought it was counterfeit. It was an 1884 CC Morgan Silver Dollar. I ended up selling it for like $200 to a collector. I explained that I purchased it as a counterfeit so he would know but he examined it and said it was authentic, just cleaned. He was happy to buy it.
So I guess the same can happen with autographs. Maybe I should start examining Sandra Day O’Connor autopen signatures for sale and see if I spot an authentic one being misattributed as autopen when in reality it’s authentic.
I just purchased a Sandra Day O’Connor personalized signature off eBay for $50. It showed up as a Buy It Now earlier this week and I saved it because I needed to think about if I wanted to spend $50 on it. $50 is my limit for her but this one was personalized so I was thinking it should be cheaper but then I realized it’s probably best to buy personalized when it comes to O’Connor since she used autopen and this signature definitely looked like her handwriting and signature so I bought it. I was all excited about it and then a few hours later I get an email from the seller saying my purchase was canceled due to “item no longer available or damaged.”
I had a similar thing happen to me earlier this year on eBay with a different Buy It Now item. For auctions, it seems 99% of the time I get outbid and never win anything on eBay anymore. I noticed this pattern a lot recently. Of the ten or so items I bid on or purchased only ONE actually happened (Michelle Obama signed book). I am starting to think eBay is useless. I can rarely find what I want and when an item I like finally does show up, it goes for way more than I wish to spend or the seller cancels my order (sometimes I THINK the real reason is another buyer messaged them offering a better price so they cancelled my sale and resold it to other person for much more).
Anyway, just wanted to vent. I guess my search continues for O’Connor for under $50. I wish there was another outlet to buy authentic trustworthy autographs at reasonable prices.
Sounds suspicious for sure.
Authentic SDO'Cs are out there. Your best bet for a reasonably priced one is to find someone who is selling off a TTM collection. But, those will be unauthenticated so you'll need to be ready to do your own review.
I agree. Unfortunately a lot of those types of auctions I get outbid on at the last minute even when I put in a high bid. I don’t want to overpay so I can only put in a bid a little more than my $50 max for O’Connor. The thing I often see are stickered authenticated ones listed for outrageous prices. Sadly I see this thing much more often than someone listing unauthenicated ttms. I know my best bet when buying a ttm is to go for personalization since it has a better chance of being authentic instead of autopen.
The seller got back to me; it was sold earlier this morning. So I guess I should had bought it earlier this week but I wanted time to think about spending my max on it. I kept thinking I would find one for $20 later on and regret buying this one, but then realized I never seen any for $20 other than probable fakes. Very rare to find cheap deals on eBay anymore. Everything is expensive due to less sellers selling on eBay due to crazy fees scared them all away.
Very rare to find cheap deals on eBay anymore. Everything is expensive due to less sellers selling on eBay due to crazy fees scared them all away.
That, and the new $600 and you gotta pay taxes next year system now.
I know I don't sell as much as I did.
Agree. I was curious about something. Due to buying and getting refunded for multiple items this year, I have over $600 in transactions now. These are not sales but refunds. Do they count towards the $600 limit and I will be getting the form in the mail? I know buying itself is not included nor are family gift transactions but couldn’t find anything about refunds.
Can't help you there. That's something you may have to ask in the main U.S. coin forum, some have gone through the terms with a fine tooth comb over there. Most of it went over my head.
This one from March sold for $723
This one from April sold for $3336
This one from May sold for $1875
And the one that ended last night sold for $750
So it seems the Obama/Springsteen signed book has cooled down price wise on RRAuction. A LOT less than in April and May but similar to March. Looks the consigner they won’t be making much money, if any, considering they only get a percentage of the $600 hammer price after fees. So party’s over.
Thought I would share this. Same format - one without authentication and one with JSA authentication. Really? That MUCH of a jump in price for someone’s opinion?
$110 without JSA authentication
$699 with JSA authentication
But you get a free sticker (even if you didn't want one).
I am having trouble posting my comment that I was going to post in the values forecast thread so I will try it here so it doesn’t keep going poof.
Even though the auction doesn’t end until August 10th, that MLK Jr. autograph is already above $2500. It’s now $2805 with premium added. The autograph is not even ideal so I definitely don’t want to spend more than $2500. RRAuction lots always go for way more than they should in my opinion.
On another note, I am watching (and definitely no longer bidding) on a few historical autographs I found on eBay. Someone must had bought an old collection or something but they came across some very historical autographs. They started them all at $9.99 each. A few in particular that I am watching are an Albert Einstein signed letter with a handwritten post script (already over $5000 despite there being 3 days left and letter not in great condition), a lot of two P.T. Barnum handwritten letters (over $800 right now), and a Mark Twain handwritten letter (over $1000 right now). That’s just a few of the highlights. They have many others and will be listing more in the future. I doubt I will be getting any deals on any of these as they seem to attract a ton of watchers and bidders so I figured it was probably okay to mention them on here (but still won’t share their eBay name quite yet). If a really great autograph shows up on eBay, you can pretty much bet you won’t get a deal on it…unless it’s fake. The only deals I still see at all are those relatively inexpensive autographs and taking risks with a possible autopen/secretarial on something like George Bush Sr. signed letters or photos.