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Breaking News:
July 30, 2010

www.autographalert.com Calls for UACC
President’s 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: “UACC’s 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) ethic’s 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 president‘s 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 Hecht’s 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 ethic’s board however few members are aware that not all complaints are even acknowledged by the Board. Before Hecht, the last two president’s of the UACC had serious ethic’s charges filed against them. Not one was acknowledged by the ethic’s board yet the club will waste much of it’s 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 can’t even list the correct address for the UACC web site in his message in the April 2010 issue of Autograph magazine.

Continuing “Hecht’s 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! What’s funnier is they still are wondering why the membership continues on its downward spiral. Is everyone happy with Hecht’s “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! It’s obvious they are gone! HECHT WOULD NEARLY HAVE TO DOUBLE THE CLUB MEMBERSHIP JUST TO GET IT BACK TO 1990’S 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 what’s 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 it’s members that the club web site gets 425, 000 hits a year. That figure means very little. It’s not the number of hits that are important it the number of visits that means something, a figure they don’t 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 it’s 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 can’t 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 it’s 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, wasn’t 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 can’t get their own club in order yet they continue to chase after non members who only illustrate the club’s 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 club’s 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? It’s been decades! As an estimate, say the club is down to about 1,000 US members. At $35 a pop that’s $35,000. Let’s 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. Let’s 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? Where’s 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, it’s 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 doesn’t 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 club’s 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: “I’ll 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 Darvick’s expulsion from the UACC. At the time Hecht was a member of the so-called Ethic’s 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 what’s 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 club’s website. Responses to Darvick’s 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 can’t 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 Darvick’s forgeries in our files. Forgeries of Darvick’s 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” Cyrkin’s “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 Epperson’s horrific and inexcusable mistakes. They are even being posted on Steve (anti-semite) Cyrkin’s Autograph site. However, when truthful negative messages are posted about one of Cyrkin’s 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 Roger’s 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 couldn’t 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 Roger’s ostentatious rambling’s. 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 it’s 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 it’s 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, that’s 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. Don’t 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 Epperson’s competitor Frank Caiazzo. Caiazzo said some very unbelievable things about his knowledge of Epperson’s 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. We’ll 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 it’s not the autograph that’s 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 didn’t tarnish my name at all, they tried to do so that’s 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 won’t 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 didn’t come he inquired about it and Epperson’s response was ‘yea Marty I’m 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 didn’t 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. That’s a fact, Luckily I didn’t 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 didn’t 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 can’t 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 someone’s 21+ year marriage while Epperson’s own marriage lasted only four years tells you a little about Epperson’s 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 can’t be explained is his claim to support Pez Candies and Vlasic pickles on his website.
Epperson’s 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 UACC’s 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 Leland’s 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. Doesn’t Epperson work for RR Auctions? I’m sure RR Auction is pleased to know that Epperson doesn’t 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 Epperson’s 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, doesn’t 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 1990’s. 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 can’t 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 Epperson’s 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: “I’ve 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 can’t stop learning….I’m 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 Doesn’t Do The Right Thing!
Neil Armstrong's Customs Declaration Form,
Allegedly Stolen, Seized From Auction House

What’s 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, it’s stolen! That light bulb doesn’t go off inside Bob Eaton’s 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. Armstrong’s 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?????? Isn’t 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 doesn’t 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. It’s 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 Reznikoff’s 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. It’s 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 it’s 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 dealer’s 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 won’t be long before this edition is sold out and if you’re a collector of weirdo’s 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 Cyrkin’s failing magazine. How can you or anyone tell when a person doesn’t 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 doesn’t know what the left hand is doing” is quite appropriate in this instance. We quote from Epperson’s 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 Epperson’s OWN WORDS was published on the RR Auction site. This was taken right from PSA/DNA’s profile of Roger Epperson. “…for instance, Jimi Hendrix would have never signed ‘Stay Groovy’. It just wouldn’t have happened. So when I see something like that, I know it’s not in line historically.” Let’s 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 can’t 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 Presley’s 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 Presley’s 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 Washington’s and Lincoln’s 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, it’s best to stay clear of them. Even when the source appears to be good it doesn’t 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 Women’s 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. It’s 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 I’m 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 wasn’t real but then offered me $100 because they felt bad for me…HUH? Why would they offer me money for something that wasn’t 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 Hobby’s
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. I’m sure you’ve heard all this before, but I figured I’d 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 I’d 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. I’d then be able to bid knowing I wouldn’t have to come up with any cash. At the end of the night, I’d 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. Herman’s way of handling the credits was crazy too. I’d just walk up to the table, tell Herman what I won was even with what he owed me, and he’d 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 that’s not the way you run an auction house! I can’t 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 wouldn’t 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 club’s 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 Sheriff’s Officer arrested Kenneth Edward Lane of Port Richey, Florida on a charge of grand theft.
Photograph of Kenneth Lane

The article doesn’t mention these facts but when the officer entered Kenneth Lane’s 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 Capone’s 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 didn’t 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 Cyrkin’s blog site which few read. It’s 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 It’s 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 60’s 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. That’s many more visitors than if you combine all the world’s autograph clubs memberships. Adding to that you can throw in the paid subscribers to the industry’s 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 can’t 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 it’s 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. Let’s hear from you when you see information that’s 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 PSA’s 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, it’s 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, I’m 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 it’s 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

Let’s 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 can’t 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 Loren’s listed, and PSA decides in their infinite wisdom they don’t 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, I’ve 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 isn’t listed on eBay. There are tons of cases where PSA closes an item that’s 100% authentic. The seller is left holding the bag. eBay won’t share the email they got from PSA, and won’t 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 can’t 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 won’t feel like enough to go through all the trouble.” www.autographalert.com’s 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 eBay’s 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 didn’t 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. What’s 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 it’s 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. It’s not. It’s not even signed. It’s 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 can’t 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 didn’t read further. Years ago this website asked John Reznikoff to “PSA” PLEASE STOP AUTHENTICATING. This long term flooding of bad material into uneducated collector’s 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: "I’m the publisher of Autograph Magazine, and I’m 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 Epperson’s 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 Magazine’s 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. Cyrkin’s 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 Cyrkin’s 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, it’s 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 Cyrkin’s 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 it’s 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 Epperson’s incompetence. Cyrkin’s 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 Cyrkin’s blog by a collector. It’s all about Roger Epperson who let’s 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 eBay’s 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 haven’t 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. Shouldn’t an inexperienced autograph authenticator know how to spell Hudson. How unskilled are these bloks/pirates. Let’s 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 can’t blame me for selling something bad, we are selling it because the authenticating company said it was good." Others have said: "I don’t care if the item is good or bad, blame the authenticating company." A few smart ass responses were: "If you don’t like the authenticating company, don’t buy it." We think we’ll take that advice!

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