thanks for sharing your experiances!
best, Tom
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Interesting that many people think a signature on a vintage piece may more often than not hurt instead of help. I think the nay-sayers have never really had any experience with that. I would file this in THEORIES THAT COLLAPSE UNDER EXAMINATION where such declarations like "Always buy a mint folded onesheet over a linenbacked version, it's rarer and far more in demand" are filed away.I was fortunate to have a CITIZEN KANE insert consigned to me signed by Orson Welles. The provenance was beyond reproach. Insert was NMint folded with one fold fairly deep where insert was folded back the wrong direction in order for Welles to sign easier while sitting at a table. Insert was purchased with buyer fully aware that a mint rolled version would be up for auction only 4-5 days later at Heritage. But I estimated what it would sell for and then felt strongly Welles' signature worth a 20% extra premium based on the results of signed 3 sheets years earlier I was able to track down.I followed live on-line with great anticipation and when bidding stopped so did my pulse. Heritage's insert sold for almost three thousand dollars LESS. All of a sudden acid reflux is causing a burning inching its way up my esophagus while thoughts of client dissatisfaction extrapolating to a drive by hit or a smart bomb on my head were beginning to seem perfect legitimate scenarios in my immediate future. I was in agony. But in one of the most considerate actions ever made on my behalf that I had ever experienced in this business, while the auction at Heritage was still going my phone rang and it was my client. Immediately launching into "I know you and you are probably upset over the sale etc. ....... Do not worry I am thrilled with my signed insert and I have no regrets what so ever" That was class. Insert has since been sold at an even greater premium, again keeping in mind this over a mint rolled version.So maybe Wells is one of only a handful that a signature can so impact positively the sale of a vintage item. But the same dramatic difference as a percentage of sale price over the average price has occurred for me with a Lucas signature on THX-1138, Charleton Heston on anything from Ben Hur, Patrick Swayze on Dirty Dancing and David Lean big time on Lawrence of Arabia. But I was lucky as these are materials with directors or actor associations that are so cool. My most recent example was I had the great italian super-photobusta on linen for JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS and had listed on Ebay twice possibly three times with no sales or even solicitations for an off Ebay purchase. With the help of fellow Mopoer Ron Magid at the Spring Courts, while I manned my table he got Ray Harryhausen (for $20 ) to sign the piece along the bottom with a bold black marker. I listed on Ebay and it sold in 5 hours Buy It Now at a higher price than I had originally listed the first time.But on the whole, singling out the Courts Shows or the upcoming Chiller theatre, these events host a ballroom full of forgettable 20 seconds of fame personalities that rarely qualify as household names.. Hell if you farted on live TV back in the 60's they'll have a table waiting for you if desired. But people seek their autographs and pay to have them.....But I made a very interesting observation at the last Courts Show. The two big "draws" were Mickey Rooney and Debbie Reynolds. They actually caused lines to form especially Rooney on Saturday. What I noticed going down their lines besides the fact that 80% of the people were as wide as they were tall and the event again 100% white, was that no one was having original studio material signed. Most were blank 3 x 5 cards the balance stills or magazines. I had Rooney and Reynolds lobby cards as low as $10 and not one sold. So it does beg the question why mix? But clearly its the autograph seekers the dog and poster vendors the tail..each drawing their own collectors.But would anyone there or at Chiller Whatever in Jersey, their signature actually undermine the sale of a vintage piece? I don't think so, at worst the impact would be no measurable increase in sale price. And when offering a signed piece, its just another positive to encourage a purchase over a competitor.But it would be great to hear from Rich and Grey on the following. Rich, say you had a comic book slabbed and graded a 9.2 of the third Batman comic book. If it were signed by either the illustrator or author on the cover.....how much if any penalty in grade points would be levied? What if it was Walt Disney's signature on a Donald Duck comic book?Or to Grey, a nmint to mint folded Double Indemnity onesheet is in the offer by Heritage. If it was signed by Fred MacMurray would you alter the onesheet's grading downward or simply ignore its presence and grade the poster as submitted by its condition?freeman fisher
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west hollywood, ca
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