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Breaking News:
- July 30, 2010
-
- www.autographalert.com
Calls for UACC
- Presidents
Resignation A Second Time
- Numerous collectors and dealers have long predicted
the current state of the UACC. It is a horrible disaster!
Go back on this web site and read just some of the stories about
the UACC.
-
April 2005:
UACC Problems Continue to Escalate
January 2007: The Universal Autograph Collectors Club,
A Shadow of its Former Self
February 2007: UACC Latest Scandal? Deceit? Incompetence?
May 2007: UACC Takes One Giant Step Backwards
May 2007: UACC - Hello Anybody Home?
June 2007: UACC Problems Continue
July 2007: UACC and The Evil That Lurks Within
September 2007: UACC - Has The Club Become Delusional?
September 2007: UACC _ Problems Continue to Escalate
November 2007: UACCs Latest Blunder |
-
- Michael Hecht has been president of this club since
March 1, 2004. In the view of many, the club has deteriorated
tremendously. This is being witnessed by the Executive Board
who basically sit silent.
Some of the stories above refer to scandals and more such as
Hecht Gate and Michael's Folly. A lengthy
(must read) ethics charges were filed against Michael Hecht
and published in the September 2007 story on this web site. The
failing club which boasts of having an ethics board
would not even acknowledge receiving the ethics complaint. There
were several requests to act on the complaint but the Pick
& Choose ethics board sat silent and covered their
presidents derriere. The September 2007 story clearly called
for the resignation of Michael Hecht.
Members of the club can believe it, as bad as things were, they
got considerably worse. Empty promises continued and Hecht sang
while Rome (UACC) burned. Under Hechts presidential term,
membership fees have increased and the members got less. Promises
of an improved club journal fell very short.
The last several issues, of the journal that were actually published
(2008-9) are difficult to read and were based on single themes.
For example, if you are not interested in astronauts, that entire
journal was a waste of your time and money.
The club is overwhelmed with problems, many of which have been
ongoing for a very long time. The club boasts about having an
ethics board however few members are aware that not all
complaints are even acknowledged by the Board. Before Hecht,
the last two presidents of the UACC had serious ethics
charges filed against them. Not one was acknowledged by the ethics
board yet the club will waste much of its time attacking
non members of the UACC. All this allowed under the watch of
puppet president Michael Hecht and his Board of Directors.
Dwindling membership for years, yet the members watch as the
Board give themselves awards. This caper has become an industry
travesty.
Hecht appears to be so out of touch that he cant even list
the correct address for the UACC web site in his message in the
April 2010 issue of Autograph magazine.
Continuing Hechts Folly, 2009 was a disaster
for the club. During late 2009 he foolishly stated that the autograph
world has much to be happy about in 2010. He says: First,
it is no longer 2009. Is this guy even awake or is he capable
of talking while in a coma? Yes, 2009 was a horrific year for
the UACC. However, it is now halfway through 2010. For those
in the US paying a whopping $35 membership fee did anyone receive
a January/February issue of the club journal? How about a March/April
issue or a May/June issue? Hecht is still spewing words like
the UACC is moving forward
Enough is enough
of the pathetic BS! Whats funnier is they still are wondering
why the membership continues on its downward spiral. Is everyone
happy with Hechts New UACC?
Hecht finally admitted in the last issue of the club journal
way back in Fall 2009 our loyal readership
is down. Well how loyal were they, Mr. Hecht? They flew
the coup as they got little or basically nothing for their $35.
Hecht stated in the March 2008 issue that his goal was to double
the club membership and in the course of one and a half years
later, membership is DOWN! Its obvious they are gone! HECHT
WOULD NEARLY HAVE TO DOUBLE THE CLUB MEMBERSHIP JUST TO GET IT
BACK TO 1990S LEVELS.
In the same issue he states the Pen & Quill could not
hold to our vigorous publishing schedule, therefore missed issues
What vigorous printing schedule, the club has been publishing
the bi-monthly journal for decades? Hecht goes on
.the
panic is over
Really! That was said several months
ago and there has not been a journal printed since. A recent
insult to the membership was printed by Hecht: We are back
on track! Hecht, just show us one reason how?
Hecht also has stated in their club journal that the Autograph
community as a whole has fewer advertisers and for this reason
the club journal (for the same high membership fees) will now
be printed ONLY 4 times a year. For the record the club journal
has maintained the same amount of advertisers for many issues.
As a matter of fact one needs only to go back to 2006 and see
that UACC advertisers have increased over 20%. So more bloody
hot air from Michael Hecht.
Someone needs to wake up Hecht and ask him how one cannot have
a negative attitude watching a 40+ year club collapse? How can
you not have critics?
It appears whats left of the club is basically a web site
for the $35 a year membership fee. A web site that anyone with
a computer can access FOR NOTHING! The club has been around since
1965, tries to impress its members that the club web site
gets 425, 000 hits a year. That figure means very little. Its
not the number of hits that are important it the number of visits
that means something, a figure they dont reveal. For Hecht
who ran for president with the goal of increasing membership,
this is an embarrassment. For example, the www.autographalert.com
web site is enjoying and celebrating its fifth anniversary.
In a little less than the last twelve months, from July 2009
through the middle of June 2010 this site received 2,775,497
hits. Clearly more than six times the hits of the UACC web site.
Hecht continues his diatribe, stating others who are critics
of the UACC post lies and have negative attitudes. Easy to say
but why cant he just come up with one of the so called
lies? Simply more empty words and statements backed by nothing
but more hot air from Michael Hecht.
The UACC seems to thrive on posting mis-information, white lies
and fabricated stories about people who are not even members
of the UACC. To mention a couple, the UACC posted wrong information
on its web site about what they were told were so called
forgeries of autographs of the rare autograph of Charles Russell.
The club claimed the so called forgeries was coming out of Florida.
They were proven wrong by a non UACC member. Before publishing
the erroneous story, wasnt there anyone in the UACC capable
of correctly authenticating the signature of Charles Russell?
The story was removed with no apologizes. Just hopes that the
clubs blunder would fade away going unnoticed. Another article
on the club web site was about non UACC member Stephen Koschal.
The article was as inaccurate as any could possibly be. It was
basically fabricated. This story was also removed. They went
to the trouble of making it appear they were quoting from an
interview with another non UACC member, Mike Frost. They tried
desperately to get Frost to say negative things about Koschal,
actually trying to put words in his mouth. www.autographalert.com
spoke with Mike Frost and he clearly stated that he did not say
what the UACC wrote about Koschal. He stated Al Wittnebert wrote
the story. This is so unprofessional and deceitful, enough said.
All of this allowed while Mike Hecht as president of the club
wears a blindfold.
It certainly appears the Board of Directors cant get their
own club in order yet they continue to chase after non members
who only illustrate the clubs shortfalls. This can only
happen and will probably continue until the club has something
positive to say about itself.
The following are on the Executive Board of the UACC. Anthony
Pizzitola, Dave Ginsberg, Al Wittnebert, Andy Alas (see past
story on this web site about this character, a must read) Al
Hallonquist, Ben Benson and Dave Phillips (UK). Many feel these
people are also responsible for the last two years of disaster
of the UACC. Some we have spoken to feel there needs to be a
suicide watch for some of those on the Executive Board.
No magazines, no publishing costs, no mailing costs for six months,
this is a whopping savings for the club. Yet, Hecht in the last
issue of the UACC magazine that was published, way back in the
Winter 2009 stated: we would still be hiding under desks,
hoping to avoid ALL of the UACC creditors.
How many club members knew the club officers were hiding under
their desks? However, at the same time told you of all their
great expectations.
Many in the hobby would love to see an account of the clubs
finances. Not something thrown together from a club treasurer,
but a report from an independent accountant like they used to
publish in the Pen & Quill. When was the last time this club
published a report from the club accountant? Its been decades!
As an estimate, say the club is down to about 1,000 US members.
At $35 a pop thats $35,000. Lets say they have 100
foreign members at $50 each which equates to $5,000. Now take
a look at the registered dealer program. This membership has
almost collapsed to a low of about 166 members from 302 @ $75
each per year. Take that $12,450, plus $35,000, plus $5,000 and
the intake should be approximately $52,450.00. Lets not
even consider the huge amount of money being taken in by advertisers
in the phantom Pen & Quill and the money coming in from the
sale of back issues and the items in the UACC Warehouse. Go with
the very low figure of $52,450 and look at the so called expenses?
No magazines, no mailing costs, no shows, no membership directory
no anything and the president is hiding under his desk from ALL
the UACC creditors. How could this happen? The UACC Treasurer
has supposedly decades of experience? Wheres the club management?
Is anyone watching the cookie jar?
Those with publishing experience of small journals will tell
you that the revenue from advertising should easily pay for the
cost of the club journal.
Remaining members of the UACC should be outraged. Pretty soon,
in the months to come, it will be time to send your dues once
again. That will equate to another $52,000+ for a web site you
can access for free. How much abuse is the remaining members
of this club willing to take? How many of them would have sent
in their dues last year if they knew what was coming?
In an effort to wake up the board of directors of the UACC, at
least one autograph dealer is offering a 10% discount to all
non members of the UACC.
The UACC is a club that has since its inception counted its own
votes in the elections of club officers. This is the problem,
they were told this decades ago, solutions were given and ignored.
This UACC mess was predicted!
Hecht has been at the helm, he has witnessed his club go down
the drain under his time as president. It is also quite obvious
he has little power in making change.
In the best interests of the hobby, and to help get the club
off life support, its way past time for Michael Hecht
to step down and resign his position as president.
Breaking News:
- July 28, 2010
-
- UACC
President Strikes A Low Blow
What is going on with UACC
president Michael Hecht? Where is his head and where is he coming
from?
Has anyone read the latest words from his pen? Shocking doesnt
even come close to express the feeling for many of those we have
talked to. It almost appears that Hecht is doing things on purpose
to loose club membership.
You can probably count on one hand how many members of the UACC
want to be associated with one of the autograph hobbies bad
boy, the disgraced Herman Darvick.
This is the same Herman Darvick who was expelled from the UACC
over 20 years ago by the clubs ethics committee. He has
basically been in exile ever since
The whole situation seems to be some sort of joke. This disgraced
bad boy has been chased for years by those trying to get refunds.
Darvick was stressed using funds from his auction sales that
should have been given to consignors. He used that money to build
an extension on his house. At his young age, in December 1999
the stressed caused him to have a heart attack. It required open
heart surgery having a quintuple by-pass. Not a year later in
October 2001 the evil Darvick wrote to an author: Ill
write something great for the book jacket which will really upset
the UACC. This disgraced bad boy has truly expressed he
has no love for the UACC.
On January 27, 2001 Darvick continued to spew his venom. He talked
about Michael Hecht and how much Hecht was involved in Darvicks
expulsion from the UACC. At the time Hecht was a member of the
so-called Ethics Committee. Even as long ago as 2001 Darvick
was saying maybe one day the UACC will get back to its
roots. Maybe there should be term limits for officers. At least
one officer has been there too long. The officer that Darvick
referred to is still running the club from behind the scene.
Hence, the club has been in a downward spiral for quite some
time. Their huge loss of both collector and dealer membership
is embarrassing. The club journal that they promised to be an
improvement turned out to be a disaster. The club officers decided
to give some lame excuse why they will no longer run six issues
a year of the club journal and reduce it to four issues and still
charge the same high membership dues. Do they think whats
left of the membership is stupid?
- On the UACC website, Michael Hecht announces that
we are proud to have former UACC President Herman Darvick
back with us. Darvick will be writing a monthly column
for the clubs website.
Responses to Darvicks first article one dealer writes:
piggy backing of the deceased, how sweet. One witness you
cannot call to court to verify this story is the dead he writes
about. In doing so he attempts to use sympathy of the dead and
an organization as a pedestal for his personal vendetta
even
Roger Epperson called Darvick the biggest fraud rip off dealer
ever
- REMOVED FROM THE UACC WEBSITE IS THE NOTATION:
Mr. Darvick was expelled from the UACC for failure to pay
a member monies owed from a sale at his auction and failing to
return unsold items to the same member. We can assure you
this is not an isolated complaint as Darvick has done the same
thing to others through the years.
Darvick is one very sleazy character and a known forger of presidential
autographs. Forging autographs is something he cant even
deny! Darvick was very proud of his forgeries and would brag
to anyone who would listen at the old UACC shows. He would sign
many different presidential autographs and give the forged examples
to those who would ask for them. He has openly forged several
signatures in front of one of the officers of this website. We
still maintain Herman Darvicks forgeries in our files.
Forgeries of Darvicks signatures of Gerard R. Ford can
be found published in the Signature Study of Gerald R.
Ford. Darvick is also a well known liar and thief. Not
only did he not return autographed items to the person who filed
the ethics complaints but to others as well. As of this writing
Darvick still holds boxes of items he has refused to return and
much worse. We are saving that juicy story for a future article.
It certainly appears Herman Darvick has all the qualifications
to be a new member in Steve anti-semite Cyrkins
White Hat Gang!
Yes, Hecht in his own words is proud to have Darvick
back in the club. It certainly appears that Michael Hecht is
a few French Fries short of a happy meal.
How many additional club members and dealers will join the mass
exodus over the last decade and resign or not renew their membership
over this debacle?
Breaking News:
- July 27, 2010
-
- ROGER EPPERSON
- POSTER BOY FOR A LOSER
Emails are
coming in from all over the world about Roger Epperson, the self
proclaimed autograph authenticator. Various sites now carry stories
about many of Eppersons horrific and inexcusable mistakes.
They are even being posted on Steve (anti-semite) Cyrkins
Autograph site. However, when truthful negative messages are
posted about one of Cyrkins boys, they are usually immediately
removed. The following is a very recent email received. We believe
everyone who reads this message will get an understanding of
the meaning of a genuine loser.
-
- A BUSINESS LEADER SHARES
HIS 2 CENTS & WISDOM
ON DEALING WITH A LOSER
It has been disheartening for me to see a dealer named Roger
Epperson
throwing around fictitious comments on his site. It is not wise
to engage
those that have nothing to lose. Everyone can see from his writings
alone that he is not honorable nor forthright. Have you observed
that
legitimate autograph companies have one thing in common.....None
of them
use Roger Epperson for any reason!
I think Rogers comments about those more honest and successful
than
himself speaks loudly. It displays he will go to the lowest ends
of the
earth in an attempt to defend his shortcomings. None should be
intimidated by his duplicity.
Roger claims he calls it like it is. This is farcical
for he assumes he
knows what it is. He couldnt be more erroneous. What I
think he meant
to state is he calls it like he thinks or wishes it to be because
Roger is
a lifetime away from knowing what it is or is not.
Another point of interest that I notice when I read Rogers
ostentatious
ramblings. He cannot spell many words nor articulate his
anger and
hatred towards others very effectively. It is improbable that
he went to
High School but his hatred towards others, his peers in this
hobby is very
evident. I would like to direct your attention where he tells
his readers
to believe in him. There is a saying that if it walks like a
duck,
quacks like a duck, than its a duck. Most of us trust others
until we
come across someone who tells us to do such. If your dishonest
it would
therefore make sense to remind the sucker over and over again
of what you
are not (i.e. Trust me, I am honest etc.)
and this is what he does
which is detestable at best.
I think third party authenticators try to be accurate most of
the time.
There are many mistakes and nothing is perfect. I believe it
can be
important to get another opinion on an item that someone spends
a lot of
money on. It can give the buyer added comfort. But I do not believe
people like Roger Epperson should be in this role. There should
be
standards in authenticators but its a misfortune this is
not the case.
It has become apparent to me that Roger is a very unhappy and
miserable
human being. People that display such characteristics as found
in his
writings attract other angry and unhappy people all living in
denial of
their fate. An attorney once gave me great advice when I was
entertaining
going to court over a sucker like him in my sector which is the
rubber
mold manufacturing Industry and I quote him here; Going
after losers is a
losing proposition because they never pay the judgment because
they have
nothing, thats why they are losers.
My advice to autograph alert is keep up the good work for checks
and
balances are healthy in any industry but leave the losers alone.
They
thrive off the attention they do not deserve.
I think we have all seen enough about Roger Epperson to know
what is going
on. Its repulsive. I believe his own words and how great he thinks
of
himself have harmed him ten times more than anything I have read
on your
or any other website. I am confident that If every dealer were
like
Roger Epperson, nobody would collect. Let it go and move onto
important
issues for he is a zero. Thanks for listening.
Sincerely,
Walt R.
Breaking News:
- July 24, 2010
-
- Collecting
Rock 'n Roll Autographs
- A
Very Risky Business
When the truth is
found to be lies,
And all the joy within you dies.
-
- These are the opening words from the fabulous song
"Somebody to Love" by the Queen of Rock &
Roll, Grace Slick.
These can also be the words of every autograph collector who
has purchased a signature of a rock & roll celebrity that
came with a COA from some self proclaimed autograph authenticator.
Since the purchase, you probably discovered that your item is
not genuine.
Yes, the joy within you can die and you may no longer want to
collect autographs. More discouraging is when you obtained your
autograph in person and was foolish enough to spend
money to have some high profile authenticator look at it and
declare your item is not genuine. This happens very often, especially
with some of the incompetent authenticators used by eBay.
Many new collectors have left the autograph hobby strictly due
to the mis-authenticated autographs they had purchased. The uneducated
collectors trusted the guesses from the opinionators
working for the so called autograph authenticating companies.
Remember the name Frank Caiazzo? A handful of auction houses
promoted this guy as a authenticator of Beatles autographs. Dont
hear much about him anymore since his last problem regarding
one of his opinions. The other individual being promoted, by
just a few, as an authenticator of music, is Roger Epperson.
We have in our files a lengthy email from a noted autograph dealer
about a conversation he had with Eppersons competitor Frank
Caiazzo. Caiazzo said some very unbelievable things about his
knowledge of Eppersons dealings with someone referred to
as Mr. Clean. (In an email from Epperson dated May 23, 2009,
Epperson refers to Joe Long, known as Mr. Clean, a forger.) The
details are incredible and will not be made public on this site.
Well let Caiazzo and Epperson sort this one out!
We have emailed Mr. Epperson regarding his relationship with
Mr. Clean and asked him approximately how many items he has purchased
from Mr. Clean in the past. Mr. Epperson refuses to respond to
this question!
For many years, non genuine rock & roll autographs have been
appearing in auctions. One of the reasons is usually the owner/consignor
knows or feels the signature on an album is not genuine and does
not want to try and sell it under their name. They let the auction
house put their name to it. A handful of auction houses feel
the same and will use these incompetent authenticating companies
to authenticate the item. This way the auction house bears little
or no responsibility. They can all blame the authenticator when
the item is eventually found to be not genuine. Some of the auction
houses who played this game are no longer in business.
How many times we have seen the same rock and roll autograph
once declared genuine fail years later by the same authenticating
company. In many cases its not the autograph thats
being authenticated but who is submitting the item. This is what
can determine if the item is going to pass or not.
The person who now calls himself an expert in the
rock and roll field is Roger Epperson. His name seems to have
shown up on nearly every authenticating companies list of authenticators.
He was with Global, then moved on to PSA/DNA. According to an
email from Epperson dated Oct. 27, 2007 he said the following
about PSA/DNA:
.as to PSA, they didnt tarnish
my name at all, they tried to do so thats why I left. Also
they were very tough to collect my money
.
Now Epperson is with JSA but states in an email dated May 25,
2009:
.I wont be working for Jimmy (Spence)
forever and he knows it
..
Roger Epperson has rubbed many people the wrong way. One collector
recently emailed a dealer and wrote: I was asking him (Roger
Epperson) about a Bob Dylan today and we got to talking about
stuff, and brought up mistakes made by his company, RR and others
and he started to slam all the guys that I get stuff from
.
On April 16, 2002 the IACC/DA received an ethics complaint against
Roger Epperson. Filed by Marty Peters, the claim is that Roger
Epperson bought back a Beatles album which he had purchased from
Epperson in 1994. After many requests for payment and hearing:
the check is in the mail and he was out of
town and the check will go out tomorrow and
finally when the check didnt come he inquired about it
and Eppersons response was yea Marty Im going
to cheat you out of it!!!!
This was the straw that broke the camel's back. The IACC/DA was
holding shows around the United States for several years. Roger
Epperson had a booth at almost every show but often the show
promoters received complaints about the items Epperson was selling.
On May 6, 2002, Epperson was sent a letter notifying him about
the complaints during the last several shows and that he would
not be able to have his regular booth at the next show which
would be held in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, on November 23, unless
his autographs were vetted by a professional. Epperson did not
respond, therefore he was not allowed to do the show or any others
in the future.
Roger Epperson has a long history of purchasing fake items from
forgers. In a recent email from Epperson dated September 22,
2009, he states: I did buy a few items off Danny
one
was an Elvis LP which was fake
.when I realized he was starting
to sell some doggy stuff, movie stuff and Hendrix sigs I didnt
contact him again.
A few years later another high profile dealer was involved in
selling forgeries. His name is Bill Linehan. In a July 28, 2009
email Epperson writes in part: Bill Linehan supplied more
than a handful of dealers with forgeries. Thats a fact,
Luckily I didnt have much money then and bought very few
items off him
Interesting is that Epperson admits buying from forgers but it
always seems that he claims to be lucky stating he didnt
buy much.
How much can anyone believe what Roger Epperson says? Remember
in the paragraph above Epperson states he bought very few items
of him (Linehan). Not two months later, Roger Epperson was again
asked if he ever purchased items from Bill Lineman (forger).
Epperson responded in his email of Sept. 15, 2009: Did
I buy from Bill? No. Roger Epperson just got caught in
a lie!
Most parents tell their children: If you tell the truth
you never have to worry about what you once said, your answer
will always be the same.
When Epperson was recently asked about another forger he was
hanging out with his response via email was:
.again,
if I did do something wrong back then I apologize but I cant
comment either way what happened. That was too many radiation
treatments ago.
We try to avoid at all costs getting into personal lives but
Roger Epperson has recently been attacking some industry icons
on a personal level on his website. For him to spread stories
about someones 21+ year marriage while Eppersons
own marriage lasted only four years tells you a little about
Eppersons personality.
Epperson has admitted in emails that he has cancer and has had
many radiation treatments. This may be one of the reasons for
all his mistakes authenticating autographs. What cant be
explained is his claim to support Pez Candies and Vlasic pickles
on his website.
- Eppersons State of Hypocrisy
Roger Epperson must feel he is better that others who sell autographs.
He certainly holds some sort of disdane for only some of those
who sell rapists, murdering autographs. Epperson
says in his email of Sept. 16, 2009:
no dealer I
would call well respected ever sold such filth
. Epperson
was referring to a dealer who sold some autographs of John Wayne
Gacy. We checked our files and the following are just some of
the dealers who have sold items by John Wayne Gacy. Mark Allen
Baker, editor and publisher of the UACCs Pen & Quill
is presently selling a collection of bad guys including Gacy,
Berkowitz, Dahmer, the Menendez brothers and much more. Others
who have handled Gacy items are Lelands Auctions, Gallery
of History, Lone Star Autographs, Walter Burks Autographs, Stephen
Koschal, History Makers, JFF Company, Todd Mueller Autographs,
Remember When Auctions, RR Auctions and many more. Doesnt
Epperson work for RR Auctions? Im sure RR Auction is pleased
to know that Epperson doesnt respect them.
If this is what Epperson thinks of those who sell Gacy signed
items what does he think of those who sell Lee Harvey Oswald
or Hitler signed items?
www.autographalert.com checked its files and found many dealers
who have handled Oswald or Hitler items. They include Charles
Hamilton, Alexander Autographs, Robert Batchelder, Nates Autographs,
Remember When Auctions, Paul Hartunian Autographs, RR Auctions,
The History Buff, Lone Star Autographs, Mastonet, Gary Hendershott,
Signature House, EAC Gallery, Gallery of History, Profiles in
History, Smythe Auctions, Christies Auction House and so many
more.
Interesting Epperson stated: ..no dealer I would call well
respected ever sold such filth. Who else but a dummkopf
could make such a statement? Not only is Eppersons statement
stating some of the above are not well respected, in his opinion,
a handful of them use Epperson for his guesses and
or opinions. Very, very embarrassing!
Epperson continues to rant and states he only sells rock and
roll. Many of the rock and roll celebrity autographs he sells
are drug addicts, outlaws, many are associated with crime, attempted
murderers and some have committed suicide even by hanging. Some
of the autographs he sells are Pete Doherty who is now an artist
and will sign his artwork using his own blood, Jimi Hendrix,
Janis Joplin, P. Diddy, David Bowie, Johnny Cash, Keith Richards,,
Jim Morrison, Ozzy Ozborne, Kurt Cobain, Corey C-Murder
Miler, Richard Manuel, Lead Belly, Nichole Ritchie, Amy Winehouse,
Vince Neal, Simon LeBon, Steven Tyler, Britney Spears, Elvis
Presley and Michael Jackson. Is it possible that Roger Epperson,
based on what he sells, doesnt even respect himself?
Mr. Epperson claims he is an expert with the signatures of bob
Dylan. Lately, Mr. Epperson has been whining about a Bob Dylan
signed portrait he purchased from a reputable dealer in 1993.
Epperson who claims he only deals in music and is a Dylan expert
purchased this signed photo. He held this photo in his personal
collection for 16 years and now because he dislikes the dealer
who sold it to him, Epperson is claiming the Dylan is an
obvious forgery. Epperson will not say who stated the item
is a forgery and he has been asked this on three different occasions.
As expected, no response from Epperson. Interesting, Mr. Epperson
has recently emailed a music collector stating: I will
not authenticate any Bob Dylan material from after 1985...his
signature has become far too inconsistent
. This does
make Epperson look foolish as he purchased the above which was
signed in the early 1990s. In addition, Epperson was reminded
that when he purchased the photo, it came with a lengthy detailed
handwritten letter from an extremely well known in person
collector who lives in Brooklyn. The letter explained in detail
the time and place when Dylan signed the portrait. Mr. Epperson
cant recall the letter, maybe too many radiation treatments
ago.
Not long ago we got another complaint from a female collector
who contacted us who works for a charity auction. She stated:
we only get our signatures face to face. She continues:
I recently had a gentleman win an item we provided to an
auction that was signed by U2. I know it was good because we
were face to face with the band. This guy Roger Epperson was
asked by the winner of the item to authenticate it and Epperson
stated it was not real. The pattern continues of Epperson
apparently being unable to authenticate autographs accurately
that were obtained in person.
There are many more complaints about Epperson however one thing
in Eppersons responses to collectors is his habit of being
crude. He tends to respond by calling his correspondent a moron
or the way I handled
was the way I handle idiots.
Sports and modern entertainment autographs at one time were the
fields of collecting to be cautious. With modern music selling
for high prices, collectors are walking through a minefield of
fake autographs authenticated as genuine by so called autograph
authenticators.
In some cases, depending on who you are and how much business
you give the authenticator, paying for their opinion can also
control the outcome of the opinion.
It certainly appears that Mr. Epperson does not think highly
of many of his peers. However, the following are two emails he
has written to www.autographalert.com. On Sept. 20, 2009 Epperson
writes: Ive learned so much from this site. Thank
You, I am now a real autograph authenticator
you are the
greatest. The very next day we received another email from
him. Sept, 21, 2009 he writes; I know I just cant
stop learning
.Im filled with new found knowledge!
I feel like I need to tell the whole world!
www.autographalert.com recommends collectors who want to purchase
autographed items in the field of rock and roll to only purchase
from a reputable dealer. It is most important to understand their
rules for return. Also recommended are those auction houses who
do their own authentication They do not rely on outsiders and
stand behind what they offer.
Breaking News:
- July 22, 2010
-
- RR
Auction Doesnt Do The Right Thing!
- Neil Armstrong's Customs Declaration Form,
- Allegedly Stolen, Seized From Auction House
-
- Whats
wrong with Bob Eaton of RR Auction? Does he not have common sense?
When someone comes to any legitimate autograph dealer or auction
house and they offer for sale an Official legal document
belonging to the United States of America, what is the first
thing you would think of? You are absolutely right, no question,
its stolen!
That light bulb doesnt go off inside Bob Eatons head.
Someone offered Eaton a United States Customs Declaration filled
out and signed by Neil A. Armstrong and Eaton went for it.
When was the last time anyone saw an original United States Customs
Declaration for sale, anywhere?
-
- Astronaut
Neil A. Armstrongs Stolen Custom Declaration Form Offered
by RR Auctions
-
- It is said
this form was allegedly stolen by a U.S. Customs worker who along
with a cohort tried to pass it off through RR Auction based in
New Hampshire.
The two men will face a federal grand jury and if found guilty
of stealing an official government record they could face 10
years in prison and a very hefty fine of a quarter million dollars.
What about the dimwit who tried to sell it at auction?????? Isnt
the seller part of this fiasco? It is our opinion, proper procedure
would have been to get as must information as possible from the
consignor, take possession of the item and immediately call the
authorities. That is the right thing to do, not participate in
the sale of an obvious stolen document that should be in the
files of the United States Government.
Armstrong was returning from his well publicized trip overseas
visiting U.S. troops as part of the Legends of Aerospace
Tour. His March 13th American Airlines flight 105 from
London to New York was diverted to Boston, Massachusetts due
to inclement weather.
One of the customs inspectors at Boston was Thomas Chapman and
he received the Customs Declaration from Neil Armstrong. Instead
of filing the form as required with Homeland Security officials,
it is said Chapman kept the document.
Chapman showed the form to his friend Paul Brickman and the two
located an unidentified individual who had experience dealing
in autographs. The item was consigned to RR Auction and with
a ridiculous opening bid of only $200 in their May 22, 2010 auction.
Bids exceeded $1,000 before the item was seized by Homeland Security.
One dealer commented it was refreshing to see a genuine
item being pulled from an RR Auction instead of the usual mis-authenticated
items.
Breaking News:
- July 20, 2010
-
- Autograph
Collectors, Autograph Dealers
- Looks
Like The Hobby is Going to Change For the Good
How many of you are frustrated
with buying and selling autographs on the internet? How many
of you have been removed from an internet site by incompetent
autograph authenticators? The alternative is coming!
www.autographalert.com had a private meeting for three hours
with someone who we believe will change this hobby for the better.
The new company will be a centralized depository of autographed
items to be managed and shared. Collectors can simply list their
items so they are Internationally documented. Dealers can list
their items for sale. In both cases there will be no charge for
any listing.
The only charge will be $5.00 when an item is sold. The $5 fee
is an ownership transfer charge and the fee will not be charged
until both the buyer and seller is satisfied. The $5 fee is a
flat fee. It doesnt matter whether the item sells for $20
or $20,000, the fee will only be five dollars.
It is in the best interest of the seller to put up as many items
as you can as the company encourages the seller to list their
website name in every item description. Simply if you list 100
items, there are 100 chances potential autograph buyers will
find your website.
The company will also have a searchable database for celebrity
information and addresses. Addresses will be listed for thousands
of celebrities where collectors have had success obtaining an
autograph.
Anticipated startup for the company is expected to be by the
end of this month. It is expected millions of autographed items
will be put up by sellers of autographs. The company will not
be taking advertisement from the autograph community but from
corporations like airlines who would want access to millions
of consumers.
The name of this company is MemorabiliaRegistry.com based in
Phoenix, Arizona. Available is their test site and you can access
it by going to: www.MemReg.com.
To see a sample of how a registered item for sale will look,
after you click onto the website, click on Go to Registry
then click on historical.
It appears to be a no-brainer that this company is the way of
the future in autograph collecting and selling. No more excessive
high fees for listing an item for sale. No longer will your genuine
items be removed because the incompetent so called autograph
authenticators are unhappy with the personality of the seller.
This company also trades on the public market. This may be the
opportunity to get in on the ground floor,
Finally something positive in this hobby we can all look forward
to.
Breaking News:
- July 19, 2010
-
- RR
Auction Problems Never Seems to End!
- The following email is received from another unhappy
RR Auction customer.
-
-
|
Subj: RR Auctions
Date: 7/10/2010 1:11:39 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time
From: sftony1@comcast.net
To: autographalert.com
Hi,
I also wish to tell you of an incident with Bob Eaton and RR
Auction.
-
- At one time I would bid and buy many
items from RR Auctions, until one day I decided to sell some
of my autographs. The two that come to mind are an Elvis Presley
signed military photo and a signed program by Louis Armstrong
and some of his band members.
-
- Before I submitted the Elvis photo I
spoke with Rich Consola and he told me to be very careful with
RR Auctions and any dealings with Bob Eaton, however he would
not go into detail other than be very careful.
-
- After I submitted some of my items I
received a letter from RR Auctions informing me that they would
accept my items for auction. I called them on the phone and spoke
Kay Burris and I mentioned that Rich Consola said the Elvis signed
photo was authentic, I could then hear Kay inform someone in
the back ground that Rich Consola authenticated the Elvis.
-
- Shortly after this phone conversation
with Kay,I received a letter from Bob Eaton informing me that
all my items were forgeries.
-
- I became upset over this and asked them
why did they say the autographs were authentic and then retract
and say everything was fake only after I informed them that Rich
Consola authenticated the Elvis, I don't remember the exact answer
other than Bob Eaton told me he had no personal vendetta against
Rich Consola.
-
- I then sent the items to Mastronet and
they sold them for me.
-
- Now, here is the kicker!
-
- A few years latter I am looking at some
of the items being sold at an RR Auction, and low and behold
there is my old Elvis photo being auctioned by none other than
Bob Eaton and RR Auction. I have never bought anything from RR
Auction since and I will never do ANY business with Bob Eaton
and RR Auction ever again!
-
- You can go here to see my old photo that
I am writing about. http://rrauction.com/past_auction_item.cfm?ID=3129569
Thank you for all your great work!
Sincerely,
Tony Lapshinoff 650 515-5961
|
-
- Tony, your story is hysterical. Its a great
lesson to all. Watch what you say as it may come back to haunt
you. We must admit we never heard of this guy Rich Consola. We
made a few phone calls and those we called never heard of him.
However, we did find that he is now working for RR Auctions as
one of their authenticators. How funny is that? The ultimate
embarrassment!
www.autographalert.com
-
Breaking News:
- July 12, 2010
-
- Herman
Darvick & John Reznikoff
- Autograph
Outlaws & Members of the U.A.C.C.
Team Up With The Brother Of A Presidential Assassin
Here we go, what seems to
be two of the most hated individuals in the autograph industry
team up.
Herman Darvick, is an ex Brooklyn School Teacher and long time
flunky in the autograph hobby. He was disgraced by being expelled
from the UACC over twenty years ago for serious ethics violations.
He is known as a Forger, Liar and Thief. Copies of just some
of his presidential forgeries can be found illustrated in back
stories on this website.
John Reznikoff is known to many as being part of the famous sale
of over 8 million dollars of forged John F. Kennedy and Marilyn
Monroe autographs. His partner went to prison. He beats Darvick
by being permanently expelled from one of the major autograph
organizations because of ethics violations. Secondly, a major
dealer organization accepted Reznikoffs resignation which
avoided the embarrassment of him being expelled. He is also known
for the numerous amount of mistakes made in mis-authenticating
high value autographs. This includes authenticating the wrong
person and even one signature upside down. He came to this industry
from the stamp business where he had a dark side.
Its no secret that collecting the signatures of undesirables
is very popular. Many collect the signatures of famous forgers
like Cosey, Spring, Weisberg and Eugene Field II. Some collectors
are fascinated by owning items signed by John Wilkes Booth, Charles
Manson, James Earl Ray, Jeffrey Dahmer, Dr. Joseph Mengele, Adolf
Hitler and Lee Harvey Oswald. Very collectible and rare for collectors
would be something signed by Mark W. Hoffman, the forger of Mormon
autographs and a convicted murderer.
Now collectors have an opportunity to obtain the signatures of
Darvick and Reznikoff on the same item.
Darvick and Reznikoff have teamed together with Robert L. Oswald,
brother of Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated our beloved President,
John F. Kennedy in Dallas on November 22, 1963. They have created
a limited edition card which contains three original ink signatures.
One of Robert L. Oswald the other is of John Reznikoff as owner
of the item on the collectible card and Herman Darvick as Agent
for Robert L. Oswald. This is the only place where collectors
of undesirables can find genuine ink signatures of
Darvick and Reznikoff on the same card. Some in the industry
have purchased the collectible card and have added the photographs
of Reznikoff and Darvick to the item. Only 300 of these cards
were produced and are hot ticket items. One collector recently
said that when one of these cards is offered its easier
to get a ticket to a Lady Gaga concert than to be the lucky buyer
of one of these cards. We have seen these cards for sale on a
dealers website and in auctions.
-
- Reznikoff/Darvick both ink signatures
on the same card
-
- We have spoken to one collector in Indiana who
has purchased several of these cards. He feels, based on their
shady backgrounds, that Darvick and Reznikoff are both very capable
of making national news in a big way. Best to get their signatures
now.
It wont be long before this edition is sold out and if
youre a collector of weirdos or undesirables this
is you best chance to obtain one of these cards before they disappear
from the market.
Breaking News:
- July 9, 2010
-
- Roger Epperson Out of the Groove
Roger Epperson is back in the headlines. This is the same guy
still backed by Steve anti-Semite Cyrkin of Autograph
magazine. Cyrkin is well aware of the numerous embarrassing mistakes
that have been made by Epperson for over twenty years. He has
been told this by numerous collectors and dealers. The only reason
we can come up with why Cyrkin continues to back Epperson is
most likely because Epperson is a full page advertiser in Cyrkins
failing magazine.
How can you or anyone tell when a person doesnt know what
they are talking about? All you have to do is read what they,
in this case Roger Epperson, has to say. Statements like the
right hand doesnt know what the left hand is doing
is quite appropriate in this instance.
We quote from Eppersons profile. He clearly states in writing
that I learned that knowing the history of a person is
a very important part of authenticating their signature
The following, in Eppersons OWN WORDS was published on
the RR Auction site. This was taken right from PSA/DNAs
profile of Roger Epperson.
for instance, Jimi Hendrix would have never signed
Stay Groovy. It just wouldnt have happened.
So when I see something like that, I know its not in line
historically.
Lets go to the RR Auction of June 16, 2010. Item #893 Jimi
Hendrix. See illustration below.
-
- Stay Groovey, Jimi Hendrix
Certified as Genuine
by Epperson
-
-
- Description: Vintage ballpoint signature, Stay
groovey, Jimi Hendrix
pre-certified Roger Eperson/Real and
RR Auction. The item actually sold to some uneducated collector
or dealer for $2,339.00
There is no question Roger Epperson has a serious problem attempting
to authenticate autographs. He cant even remember what
he once said? How much more proof does anyone (including Cyrkin,
RR Auction and JSA Authentication) need to prove Epperson has
no clue what he is talking about?
In the past when Roger Epperson was asked about his mistakes
or memory lapse his response is too many chemo treatments
ago.
Could Epperson even be the consignor of this item? We have asked
RR Auctions a few times about items that may have been consigned
to their auctions by Epperson but RR refuses to respond.
The whole situation and association of Steve anti-Semite
Cyrkin and Roger Epperson smells, very badly!
Breaking News:
- July 7, 2010
-
-
- Collecting Celebrity Hair
- You Have Been Warned Again!
A few of
the biggest crooks in the industry got involved in selling hair
they claim are from the heads of celebrities. By now you know
who they are, as they are always involved in scandals, selling
forgeries of autographs and not having the ability to authenticate.
Some of the scoundrals felt celebrity hair is the
way to go, big profits and not really traceable. WRONG!
For example the sale of Elvis Presleys hair at the MastroNet
Auction held in Chicago. An educated buyer spent the money to
have the hair DNA tested. This is most unusual for a collector
to do so because of the expense of DNA testing. It was determined
the Hair was NOT from Elvis Presleys head and appx. $150,000
was refunded by Mastro. Not hard to figure out who the consignor
was?
Some estimate that more than 75% of all the hair being offered
is NOT as described. Some also say the amount of Washingtons
and Lincolns hair that has been sold over the last 25 years
is more than they could have ever grown in their lifetime and
still more of their hair is available in the marketplace.
When purchasing hair, rule of thumb is to know the source and
the seller. If the seller has had problems in the past selling
forgeries, etc, its best to stay clear of them.
Even when the source appears to be good it doesnt mean
the hair is genuine. For example, there was a lock of hair at
the Cleveland Museum that was said to be from the head of Amelia
Earhart. A group of adventurers looking for DNA evidence of Earhart
on a Pacific Island recently asked the International Womens
Air & Space Museum for a sample of the hair for comparison.
The museum executive director stated the analysis determined
the specimen was simply a piece of thread that looked like hair.
The executive director also stated the museum obtained the artifact
20 years ago from the Smithsonian Institution.
-
-
- Amelia Earhart Sporting
Her Locks
-
- www.autographalert.com predicts that
within the next twenty years DNA testing will be available inexpensively
and available to the general collector. It will be like sending
out a blood sample for testing with results coming back quickly.
Its going to be interesting to watch those who are dishonorable
in our hobby scramble when collectors know the truth about the
hair in their collections.
Today some sellers of hair outright lie about their acquisitions.
They will falsely tell you they purchased the hair directly from
the celebrity. They have a spin for everything. In a recent major
case the barber for Neil Armstrong denied even knowing the name
John Reznikoff. Yet, Reznikoff proclaimed he was the purchaser
of the hair.
For more on this read the article on www.autographalert.com,
September 27, 2008.
-
-
Breaking News:
- July 6, 2010
-
- RR
Auction Feels Bad For Collector, Huh?
The following email was received
from one of our readers. The writer signed his name to the email
which we have omitted to protect our readership.
-
| Wow
.all
these years I thought that R R was the most reputable autograph
auction around. Your articles really opened my eyes. I bought
a few things from them over the years and now Im nervous
about their authenticity. Although I did get a little suspicious
about them because several times I offered them items for sale
or consignment and they said they were not real. The funny thing
is they were items that I obtained IN PERSON along with photos
of the celebs signing them and they STILL rejected them. I wonder
how Bob Eaton sleeps at night (probably with his pillow stuffed
with money lol). Many years ago a relative obtained Abbott &
Costello autographs on a picture, and then gave it to me. I sent
it to R R and they told me it wasnt real but then offered
me $100 because they felt bad for me
HUH? Why would they
offer me money for something that wasnt real? Hmmmmmmm,
makes you think. Anyway, thank you for your wonderful site and
I will check back often. |
-
Breaking News:
- July 5, 2010
-
-
-
- Herman
Darvick:
The Autograph Hobbys
- Bernie Madoff?
Most anyone who has been
in the hobby for 20 years is familiar with the Herman Darvick
autograph auctions held in New York City. These auctions were
well known for picking up fakes at low prices. Some fakes got
through at high prices. Before the auction would start some dealers
would meet in a corner and discusss al the fakes that were in
the auction. Many felt Herman Darvick had to know of the fakes
but few knew at the time that Herman Darvick was also forging
signatures.
Darvick will never tell you why his auctions failed so miserably
but many who attended those auctions knew of the Darvick scam.
The following story is printed word for word from an email we
received from one of our regular readers from New Jersey.
-
|
"The
Herman Darvick story was interesting. Im sure youve
heard all this before, but I figured Id give you my take
on some of what was going on back when he ran his auctions.
I consigned a number of items
through Herman over a couple year period. What I found really
odd was that Herman very much encouraged consignors to use their
sales from that night as a credit against winning things from
that same auction! So Id attend the auction in NYC, get
there early, and Herman would tell me some of the mail bids that
had already been placed on my items. Id then be able to
bid knowing I wouldnt have to come up with any cash. At
the end of the night, Id just collect my winnings and leave.
I stuck with a lot of presidential documents, so hopefully avoided
the chunk of fakes he was passing through the auctions. At one
point I wanted cash, but it just never seemed to arrive, so I
went right back to using the credit and taking stuff.
After a while I just got the
feeling the entire auction was a huge ponzi scheme. Here I was
not paying for things others had consigned, and they in turn
may not have been cashing up for the bids they placed on my items.
As each month went by, more and more people were just using credits
and taking things rather than actually come up with cash. Hermans
way of handling the credits was crazy too. Id just walk
up to the table, tell Herman what I won was even with what he
owed me, and hed just shake his head and say Oh,
OK. Never crunched any numbers. I never got a statement
later on that said either I owed him a little, or he owed me
a little. It was all just done real loosey goosey, and thats
not the way you run an auction house!
I cant even imagine
how many people who were waiting for their cash were stuck at
the bottom of that scheme. If you told me Darvick worked for
Bernie Madoff, I wouldnt be shocked!
|
-
- Note: At one point Darvick used money from his
auction sales to put an addition on his house. Dumb Darvick when
confronted actually admitted to this to the irate consignor.
The sleazy Darvick still holds onto consignments from his auctions
that to this day he refuses to return to consignors.
Breaking News:
- June 29, 2010
-
- Herman
Darvick Linked to
Forged Al Capone Memorabilia
The disgraced former president
of the UACC who was expelled by the clubs ethics committee
twenty years ago is back in the news.
According to a news report printed by the St. Petersburg Times
on Friday, June 16, 2010 a Christmas card was signed by Al Capone
and came with a Certificate of Authenticity stating the signature
was genuine.
A South Florida collector found the item on line and paid $2,500
for it. Several months later the same collector bought another
Al Capone item from the same dealer. This time he paid $6,500
for a baseball signed by Al Capone. The money was sent but the
baseball never arrived. The buyer suspicious, had his Capone
Christmas card examined. The examination stated the signature
of Al Capone on the Christmas card was fake, a forgery.
The purchaser of the card notified authorities. A Pasco County
Sheriffs Officer arrested Kenneth Edward Lane of Port Richey,
Florida on a charge of grand theft.

Photograph of Kenneth Lane
-
- The article doesnt mention these facts but
when the officer entered Kenneth Lanes home they spotted
a .45 fitted with a silencer stuck between the cushions of his
living room sofa. He observed Lane inching closer to it at which
point nearly gave Lane two (bullets) in his head. The officer
also found a high powered rifle, also fitted with a silencer.
Because of the unusual weaponry, Lane is now being investigated
for a potential homicide.
Interestingly but not surprisingly, the Christmas card with the
forgery of Al Capones signature came with a Certificate
of Authenticity stating the signature was genuine by none other
than the autograph hobby bad boy Herman Darvick.
Darvick is well known as a forger of autographs and seller of
many forged autographs through his auctions during the 1990's.
Readers should also know that the funky Herman Darvick is presently
on the team of James Spence Authentication and working in the
office of John Reznikoff of University Archives.
Our thanks to a dedicated reader of www.autographelert.com for
alerting us to this story.
Breaking News:
- June 24, 2010
-
- Stephen
Koschal Declines Award
-
-
-
- The votes are in for the www.autographalert.com
International Award for Excellence.
-
- Stephen Koschal of Miami, Florida is the winner
of this prestigious award.
Koschal was notified of the Award after his return from a 8 country
tour spreading the good word about autograph collecting.
-
- Koschal (second from left) at the June
12, 2010 meeting of the
ADA1986.de International Autograph Club meeting held in Kesswil,
Switzerland
-
- When advised of the Award, Koschal responded: I
am proud and humbled that the autograph community has voted for
me for this most prestigious award. I feel this award was not
offered to me, the person, but for the work I have done exposing
those who do not have the best interest of our hobby in mind
and for promoting those individuals and groups who are trying
to get our hobby back on track. I believe there is very little
leadership in the United States regarding cleaning up the problems
in this hobby. An auction house recently wrote they were getting
consignments from a gentleman quite active in the hobby for years
but to be honest the hobby has soured him and he didnt
want anything to do with it anymore. Koschal continues:
I politely decline accepting this award as I believe there
are others who deserve it more. I also do not feel it is appropriate
accepting this most prestigious award while I am associated with
www.autographalert.com
Some of the comments attached to votes for Koschal:
I nominate you (Koschal) simply because of all your service
to the hobby for all the decades
writing all the books to
help educate those
and for teaching the only online course
you (Koschal) are one of the few left to cringe at the
scams. You have led the fight against corruption, against those
that sell bad items under the cover of third party scams. You
have called out the jokesters
I nominate Koschal for best contribution to improving
our hobby
Koschal writes a story about the scams these guys
pull off and thousands read it. So the corrupt respond in anger
on Cyrkins blog site which few read. Its pretty funny
to see all these rats scatter, scream and call him names over
him exposing them. He (Koschal) has single handedly pissed off
the entire industry of scam artists and scoundrels
.
in the good guys vote lets face it there can be only
one that makes any sense (Koschal)
keep up the good work
Koschal has been the recipient of many awards, commendations
and prizes through his 40 plus years of service to the hobby.
The UACC awarded him the Sixth Annual H. Roger Phillips Award,
the IACC/DA awarded him several distinguished awards and he won
The Gold Coast Autograph Club Presidents Award. He was
voted by Compuserve the 1994 Philographer of the Year.
Breaking News:
- June 19, 2010
-
- www.autographalert.com
Sends Thanks To Our Loyal Readers
Its so hard to believe
we are just shy of a few months before our fifth anniversary.
During October 2005 we were extremely excited to receive a few
hundred visits. There was no advertisement for this site, the
good word was spread by honest collectors and professional dealers
who had a thirst for learning the positives and negatives of
the autograph hobby.
There is an autograph group that have been around since the 60s
and still have only a little over 1,000 members. When www.autographalert.com
received a few hundred visits in our first month, our management
considered this a colossal achievement.
www.autographalert.com is now averaging over 10,000 visits per
month. Thats many more visitors than if you combine all
the worlds autograph clubs memberships. Adding to that
you can throw in the paid subscribers to the industrys
autograph magazine.
Just as important as the number of visits to this site is the
sincere support from our readers. Our files are bulging with
emails, sending thanks for the educational information we have
supplied . Many have thanked us for saving them thousands of
dollars because of what they discovered on this site. We have
helped law enforcement on all levels with information from our
files.
Most importantly, we must mention, that much of the information
found on this site is supplied to us by our faithful readers.
We cant thank all of you enough for your vast amount of
emails sending us information or directing us to certain sellers
of autographs or to specific items in auction catalogs.
www.autographalert.com has been referred to by many, Internationally,
as the trusted source of autograph information.
Intelligent readers are well aware of the difference of this
site compared to other blogs or sites. When we offer you a story,
we back it with the facts. If its a bad item being sold
at auction, we tell you the date of the sale, the catalog name
and the item number. When we tell you someone is constantly authenticating
as genuine newly made items and the signatures on
the item are of persons who have been dead for over 10 years,
we show you the illustrations and identify the incompetent authenticator.
When we show you a secretarial, machine signed signature, rubber
stamped signature even a printed signature authenticated as
genuine by an incompetent seller of autographs, an auction
house or an autograph authenticating imposter working for some
company who claims they authenticate autographs, we list their
name and illustrate their ignorance.
This is the difference between www.autographalert.com verses
clubs or magazines who are very careful to protect their paid
advertisers.
The management team of www.autographalert.com wants to thank
all 10,000 plus visitors for making us so successful. We look
forward to continue to supply you with updated information about
those who in our opinion do not have the best interest of our
hobby in mind and of course of ways to educate yourselves and
avoid wasting your hard earned dollars.
We continue to look forward to your support. Lets hear
from you when you see information thats educational and
can be informative to our readers.
Breaking News:
- June 10, 2010
-
- Petition
for eBay to Suspend PSA/DNA?
The following is an email
from one of our readers. Any comments from our readers would
be great appreciated. Send you comments to either the writer
or www.autographalert@aol.com
-
- Hello,
I recently got stung by the PSA/DNA quick opinion service and
it resulted in my 4 year, powerseller, 100% FB ebay account being
suspended. This was my main source of income and it is likened
to being fired from work on the shady opinion of another company
which is ridiculous.
Anyway I have been researching PSAs dodgy practices and
to no surprise they have done it to many others as well, there
is a lot of talk about we need to take them to court
but no one actually seems to be doing anything about it.
I propose to set up a website for all of the people just like
me and any others that have been done wrongly by PSA/DNA, I already
have a fair few contacts, its not only to voice their concerns
but to make an official international petition to have ebay remove
them as approved authenticators and also an official
sign up page for those that are willing to take it all the way
in regards to being apart of a international class action against
them, we may need temporary sponsorship down the road so I need
to get a site going to show potential sponsors we mean business,
Im sure there are certain legitimate authentication companies
out there that would be willing to lend a helping hand.
Would you be interested to pass on to me or pass on to them anyone
who is disgruntled with this scam company so I can start to get
the site rolling, also once its up and running would you
be happy to post it up with a little description on your site?
Great work by the way, keep it up and may much good fortune come
your way.
Best Regards,
Faber Wilson
email: ebay0717@tpg.com.au
-
Breaking News:
- June 2, 2010
-
- Lets
File A Law Suit Against PSA/DNA
We are hearing this more
often than you would expect. Readers of www.autographalert.com
are saying enough of the autograph authenticating scams. Millions
of dollars are made by companies who claim to authenticate autographs
and they have proven over and over they cant even tell
genuine ink from a printed signature.
Where the hell is law enforcement?
The following is an email from a reader named Jeff. It says what
other emails state, just clearer.
I enjoy your site. I wanted to point out yet another reason
some sellers use PSA and JSA. PSA has the ability to email eBay
with their Quick Opinion findings, and eBay will
then immediately hit a button and close the item down and remove
it from the system. All based upon an email from PSA, without
any info being given to the seller. If you have 5 Sophia Lorens
listed, and PSA decides in their infinite wisdom they dont
like them, eBay then (because of multiple closures) sends you
an email that REQUIRES you as the seller to get every item you
list in the autograph category pre-authenticated by one of their
approved companies. And even worse, Ive also heard
from sellers who have been completely suspended due to these
emails from PSA. Only PSA has this system set up with eBay
.PSA
charges $7.50 a pop, then shares the info a potential
buyer paid with eBay. This really does give PSA sole authority
over what is, and isnt listed on eBay. There are tons of
cases where PSA closes an item thats 100% authentic. The
seller is left holding the bag. eBay wont share the email
they got from PSA, and wont give more than a canned response
to any requests for info.
The only way to stop PSA from doing this is for sellers who have
items closed down, and have been financially damaged, to file
suit against PSA. A seller basically cant sue eBay, as
they have a ton of rules set up to protect them as part of the
user agreement. IF enough people go after PSA, maybe the $7.50
an item wont feel like enough to go through all the trouble.
www.autographalert.coms response is that many, for years,
have been calling for a law suit to be filed against PSA. Some
attorney needs to come forth and take on these incompetent authenticators
who are scamming collectors. Collectors and dealers who have
been harmed will come forward! For the record, eBay largest seller
of autographs (over 100,000 feedbacks) got caught up in this
authenticating scam. 100% authentic autographs were removed on
eBay from the sellers site and they closed him down. He could
not get back on unless he paid one of eBays incompetent
autograph authenticators to go to his office and authentic the
autographs he would put back on eBay. Could this be collusion
between eBay and their so-called authenticators? Could the authenticating
company have shared the money with eBay, sort of like a finders
fee? It cost the dealer $5,000 to have an autograph authenticating
imposter, approved by eBay to come over and attach stickers to
every item the seller showed him. The seller told us that the
authenticating imposter was not aware of many of the names he
was placing the silly stickers on. After the scam was said and
done the seller got a lousy tea shirt. You may find this hard
to believe, but the same authenticating company asked this seller
of autographs to be one of their authenticators. This seller
is willing to tell his story to a judge in court.
For the record, this seller opened his own website, is holding
weekly auctions, and after a year, sales are much better than
they ever were on eBay. Not to mention no longer paying the buying
and selling fees and being held hostage to Payal (owned by eBay).
A fabulous and we mean fabulous, alternative to eBay is coming.
Scheduled for October 2010, in our opinion, sellers of autographs
will be ecstatic when they hear the news.
Breaking News:
- May 31, 2010
-
- RR
Auction/John Reznikoff, An Autograph Train Wreck
Has anyone seen the latest
RR Auction catalog? We have to thank our readers who notified
us of just a few of the horrible mistakes made and we didnt
even get past item # 45 in the first section.
You have to just giggle when you read that the items come with
the COA from RR Auction and to make you feel real secure (ha,
ha, choke) John Reznikoff is the authenticator for the presidential
autographs. You know, the guy who has screwed up authentications
on most every president or some refer to him as the guy who needs
to be in the Guinness Books of Records for being involved
in the JFK, 8 millions dollars worth of sold forgeries.
Ever wonder what has to be the real reason behind RR Auction
still using Reznikoff?
We received an email from a person who would not sign their name.
One other from a person using a fictitious name. They both state
we are picking on RR Auction. Further from the truth! We are
dedicated to enlightening our readers to the awful high volume
amount of mistakes made by self imposed experts. Hopefully our
readers, in a timely manner (before auction ends) will be educated
and not bid on bad items being offered for sale.
The first embarrassment in the current a RR Auction is item #
37. Dwight D. Eisenhower. See illustration below.
RR Auction, June 16, 2010, item #37
-
- This item has been professionally authenticated
by the infamous Reznikoff who also represents PSA/DNA. It not
only comes precertified by his magnificent set of
unusual eyeballs, but this card is also backed by the RR Auction
COA. Whats even laughable is in their description where
RR states what they are selling appears to be close to a know
Autopen example and they are selling it anyway.
Now just take a look at the following illustration. Everyone
we asked, who is not an autograph authenticator agrees
this is a darn close match. Slight differences because different
pens were used on both cards. Most importantly the placement
of the signature. Take notice in the h of Eisenhower
and where it falls on both cards, proving its not the same
card. The experts we talked to all agree the Eisenhower signature
on the above two cards are variants of the machine signed Eisenhower
signature #7 illustrated in the book Presidents of the United
States, Autopen Guide by Stephen Koschal and Andreas Wiemer.
-
- A different Ike card bearing a machine
signed signature
-
- The second RR/Reznikoff gaff is in the same section
of the catalog, item #45. You got to love the description: Official
White House card WRONG! Only Theodore Roosevelt signed
White House cards. Roosevelt later in his term changed
them to The White House cards and every President
since (some very occasionally) has used The White House
card. RR continues to illustrate their lack of expertise in autographs:
Ford is quite scarce in authentic White House
cards. This makes you believe that the one they would like you
to bid on is one of the scarce cards. Its not. Its
not even signed. Its a very common card which contains
a printed signature! See illustration below.
-
- Gerald Ford The White House
card in RR Auction, item #45
-
- RR Auction and their presidential experts still
cant tell a printed signature from real ink. Matter of
fact if RR Auction would build a useful reference library on
autographs they will easily find this same card illustrated twice
on page 105 of The History of Collecting Executive Mansion,
White House and The White House Cards Signed by the Presidents
and their First Ladies by Lynne Keyes and Stephen Koschal.
See illustration below.
-
-
-
- Two different Gerald R. Ford cards with
the printed signature.
Sick to our stomachs we tossed the catalog in the garbage and
didnt read further. Years ago this website asked John Reznikoff
to PSA PLEASE STOP AUTHENTICATING. This long term
flooding of bad material into uneducated collectors hands
by wannabe authenticating imposters is an abomination
-
Breaking News:
- May 13, 2010
-
- Steve
Cyrkin and Roger Epperson
- Is
a Divorce On The Horizon?
Steve Cyrkin publisher of
Autograph Magazine may be best known for putting anti
semitic remarks in writing and being dumb enough to falsely accuse
an accepted autograph expert of being a forger. In both instances,
Mr. Cyrkin has been given multiple chances of apologizing to
those he has harmed. He refuses.
Mr. Cyrkin has a history of making these types of serious mistakes
with the hope that they will just go away.
Mr. Cyrkin knowing well of the failures and embarrassments of
Roger Epperson with regard to authenticating autographs still
accepts full page ads in his struggling magazine from Epperson.
In an email sent by Cyrkin during January 2010 he writes in part:
"Im the publisher of Autograph Magazine,
and Im appalled by these relentless, desperate attempts
by the autograph fraud industry to destroy the reputation of
Roger Epperson."
Mr. Cyrkin, take off the blinders, the autograph fraud industry
was right! Epperson destroyed himself with all his mistakes in
authenticating. Epperson authenticated as genuine and sold signed
albums (U2, Beatles, Bob Dylan, Eagles, Rolling Stones, etc.)
to collectors several years ago. Years later when Epperson was
shown the same albums he said the signatures were not genuine.
Epperson refused to issue refunds. Epperson has admitted in writing
he purchased autograph albums from known forgers. Epperson authenticated
signatures on many albums as genuine, the albums were produced
after the celebrity had died. These were the final nails in Eppersons
autograph coffin.
How low can Steve Cyrkin stoop for advertising dollars?
Roger Epperson wearing a Five Gallon White Hat
on what looks to be a One Pint Head
-
- Cyrkin continues to ramble and cover up for one
of his last full page advertisers: "Roger Epperson is Autograph
Magazines lead music authenticator.."
Mr. Cyrkin, it seems like most everyone in the autograph community
is wise to the incompetence of Roger Epperson except you. This
may be just one of the reasons many no longer subscribe to your
magazine and why so many advertisers have left.
Cyrkins email continues: "
we state our reputation
on him (Epperson) every month with every magazine we publish."
Mr. Cyrkin, your reputation?????
The dumb mistakes Cyrkin has made includes using his magazine
to go political and attack dealers (who refuse to advertise or
even be associated with the magazine) were just the beginning
of ruining his reputation.
Many still want to know why Cyrkins autograph company StarBrite
basically disappeared. Cyrkin did admit his inventory contained
forgeries! Everyone wonders how he would know which items to
pull? The StarBrite website has been shut down for nearly two
years.
The magazine is failing, its no secret possibly the worst
story printed in any autograph magazine was the story written
by a UACC Director. It was about how he obtained two dozen signatures
of modern musicians on his guitar. Cyrkin did not do his homework
and check the facts before publishing the story. The signatures
were all forgeries and Cyrkins face will forever remain
red. Now, all paid subscribers got screwed, no February 2010
magazine was published. StarBrite has basically failed and now
Cyrkin complicates his own matters by creating a website where
people can post messages.
It is certainly clear its not only the "autograph
fraud industry" that has successfully exposed Roger Epperson
and his horrific mistakes. Now the educated collectors are joining
in and are speaking out regarding Eppersons incompetence.
Cyrkins own magazine website comes back to bite him in
the ass. A knowledgeable collector who appears to be a genuine
expert on musical autographs joins those exposing Epperson.
The following message is posted on Cyrkins blog by a collector.
Its all about Roger Epperson who lets not forget
is the one who Cyrkin states his reputation. Ooooooouch!
Have you read
the latest blogs on Autograph live web site?
Comment by S. Maxwell on April 29, 2010 at 9:41pm
Another thing that was mentioned in this blog (by Josh) was Roger
Epperson who also wrote a Zeppelin article for the magazine a
couple months ago. I was quite thrilled to see that an "expert"
had finally done an article on Zeppelin autographs. This is a
band who's autograph history is almost as enigmatic as their
musical career, so I was really excited to read it. Boy was I
disappointed (read: pissed, frustrated and more or less insulted)
by the article and the supposed "expertise" of Epperson.
It was mostly a really vague overview of the bands history with
so much BS that I couldn't even believe it. Many key dates that
he listed in the article were wrong!! According to him, Zeppelin
both toured AND broke up in 1979!?!? This is wrong on both counts.
He shows a signed copy of Presence with examples of their "1978"
signatures. Funny, because they were totally out of the public
eye during this whole year and didn't play a single date making
it virtually impossible for someone to have aquired these signatures
in '78. As for the '79 thing, the band only played in two places
in 1979: two dates in Copenhagen and 2 dates at Knebworth. They
did not however break up in the 70's. How could anyone possibly
trust Roger to authenticate signatures by a band that he doesn't
even know the most basic of information on? I picked out all
of these year mistakes off the top of my head upon first read,
but for those "classic rock experts" who need a little
help, these are all very easily varifiable dates. And being that
Zeppelin is in the top three biggest, most important bands of
all time, how could you not even know the year that Bonham died
thus forcing their break up.?!?? Or do you also think that John
Lennon died in 1979 too? And once questions like this are raised
it puts a serious cloud over his whole operation in my mind.
In the article he claims to have met Led Zeppelin and to have
gotten an album signed by them. Why was this not pictured in
his article? A signed ticket stub from Dundee, Scotland with
a 'November 13" date on it is attributed to 1973 by Epperson.
Wrong. While the band did indeed play Dundee in 1973, it was
in January. This stub is actually from the Dundee show they played
on November 13 1971, two years prior. Now, these might seem like
minute details, but for someone who not only claims to be an
expert in these matters, but who is also writing an article that
compares (and varifies) band signatures from different years,
this is a major blunder. Getting the time frames and years and
touring history straight would be essential information to do
the kind "authenticating" that Roger claims to do.
I call MAJOR BS. And if this isn't proof enough, then maybe Roger
should go work at Antiquities. Not only do his ethics appear
to be on par with theirs, but maybe he can then tell us what
year all of their Zeppelin albums were signed. |
-
-
Breaking News:
- May 9, 2010
-
- PSA/DNA,
an eBay Approved Authenticator
- Continues
To Be A Disgrace
The self appointed wannabe
workers at PSA/DNA who call themselves autograph authenticators
are at it again and failing big time.
The numerous mistakes they make can no longer be called mistakes.
It is nothing less than incompetence. Some call it an authenticating
scam, others plain fraud perpetrated against ignorant collectors.
Just follow this one example and learn how dangerous it is to
purchase any autograph supposedly "examine" by the
high profile third party authenticating companies. eBay. Item
#330420191533 is being sold by a seller using the name authentigraphs-ink.
This hot dog has 5,369 feedbacks. This story alone will prove
that selling bad items, mis identified items on eBay has nothing
to do with good feedback. So you can basically ignore sellers
feedback in the future. It does not prevent you from being taken
by a bad seller.
In this sellers description they clearly state: "We acquire
our autographs in person! If we do not see it signed we will
not sell it!" Hogwash is what we have to say. In this case,
looks to be an outright lie.
This seller is offering a Kate Hudson signed index card slabbed
by PSA/DNA with an opening bid of $149.00.
Anyone dealing in modern autographs can tell you a genuine Kate
Hudson index card should sell for about $15.00.

Geniuses at PSA/DNA authenticate a Kato Kaelin signature
as Kate Hudson's
- So moving along, this seller of autographs (we
certainly cannot call him a dealer) gives their Kate Hudson card,
they got in person, and the geniuses at PSA/DNA authenticate
the card and put it in their silly plastic holder.
The seller of autographs states in their description (to make
you feel secure) PSA/DNA is the Top Third Party Authenticator
and is eBays Pre Approved Authenticator.
Ebay, you must be so proud!
Actually this so-called "in person" signature of Kate
Hudson is a signature of Kato Kaelin of O.J. Simpson fame. Mr.
Kaelin was contacted regarding this signature and he confirms
it is his. As for the expert authenticators, they obviously havent
the slightest clue of what a signature of Kate Hudson looks like.
However these incompetent authenticating companies will still
take money from ignorant collectors and corrupt sellers of autographs.
Shouldnt an inexperienced autograph authenticator know
how to spell Hudson. How unskilled are these bloks/pirates. Lets
remove they eye patches and start with the spelling of Hudson.
Hudson starts with an "H" not a "K." Kaelin
hastily dots the "i" in his last name. There is no
"i" in Hudson. These unqualified "experts"
need to walk the plank!
This is only one of many similar inexcusable blunders to be found
made by PSA/DNA. How much more proof does anyone need that the
people they hire to authenticate are totally incompetent. Shame
on eBay for their continuing relationship with such an incompetent
group. We have to wonder since this incompetence is acceptable
by eBay for autographs, what is going on with the rest of eBay.
The following are the names of the so called authenticators associated
with PSA/DNA.
Steve Grad - Principal Authenticator
James Camner - La Scala Autographs
Bob Eaton - RR Auctions
Kevin Keating - Quality Autographs of Virginia
Kevin Low
John Reznikoff - University Archives
Zach Rullo - Senior Authenticator
Bob Zafian - Green Jacket Auctions
How much more ridiculous can this get. The seller still blowing
smoke rings on his eBay description continues: "Once the
item has received the Thumbs Up by PSA/DNA we offer it to the
public." They started their description by saying they got
the item in person, why would anyone want to pay an incompetent
authenticator to examine a signature they got in person. And
to get it wrong adds insult to injury.
Shame on the seller, shame on PSA/DNA and shame on eBay! Potential
bidders BEWARE!
Note: We have interviewed many sellers of autographs who push
third party authenticators. They are all very well aware of the
incompetence of the authenticators. Some still use them and their
excuse is "you cant blame me for selling something
bad, we are selling it because the authenticating company said
it was good." Others have said: "I dont care
if the item is good or bad, blame the authenticating company."
A few smart ass responses were: "If you dont like
the authenticating company, dont buy it." We think
well take that advice!
|