Your opinion about signed posters on Ebay

[goliath]

I am looking for some nice posters to surround my LOTR collection.

I have found a ton of "signed by {so many}" posters like these:

Example1

Sample 2

Sample 3

There are many more to be found, and they all claim that the signatures are authentic, a COA is provided, lifetime money-back gauranteee and all the like.

I have contacted a lot of these sellers and asked if they could provide any detailled information as to where and when the posters where signed and for pictures of the signings, but none of them could give me an acceptable answer and they all refer to their great money-back guarantee (if you can prove that the signatures are not authentic...) etc.

This fella here is selling nothing but this kind of posters from Jaws, Blade Runner, Top Gun etc. to the latest movies like Pirates of the Caribbean 2...

Your opinion on this, does anybody have experience with this? Thanks for your help!

 

[Global]

I would NEVER buy an autograph on ebay. For the past two years I'v been working on a cast signed Lord of the Rings poster. Let me tell you, its been very time consuming but a lot of fun to meet many of the actors.

The problem with buying autographs is you miss the experience of meeting the actor and you are never sure if they actually signed it. I took a look at the links you posted and the autographs I could make out looked highly suspect when compared to the autographs I got in person.

 

[The Dwimmerlaik]

As Global i will not buy posters from ebay, i have only meet 2 actors of LOTR but feels really cool, i got the autograph of Sala Baker (x3) and Brad Douriff its great to see them an take a photo with them, also if you buy from Ebay you will never know if the autographs are legit ot not.

 

[bonsey]

I agree with the above.Its nice to have autographs but the whole point for me is meeting the person.A photo with a actor/celebrity says a lot more than a squiggle on a piece of paper.I have Star Wars autographs I want to sell but do not want to put them on e-bay because its SO easy to forge any of them.I have photos and some proof..EP2 premiere ticket etc but I would rather keep them for memories even if they are multiples.Try accessing Actors/Agent addresses on the net and send them pics and a SAE.This has worked for me countless times and costs a lot less than the usual 20 quid or so they have to charge at conventions etc.

 

[user 131]

The problem with buying autographs is you miss the experience of meeting the actor and you are never sure if they actually signed it.

Well said. I never understood the appeal of buying an autograph someone else got. I would rather have a plain poster. If I saw a poster signed in your house the first thing I'd ask would be how you got all those autogrpahs so I could hear your story, not how you bought it on eBay. Anyone can do that.

 

[King Darkness]

Well said. I never understood the appeal of buying an autograph someone else got. I would rather have a plain poster. If I saw a poster signed in your house the first thing I'd ask would be how you got all those autogrpahs so I could hear your story, not how you bought it on eBay. Anyone can do that.

I have to agree....get the sig in person is SOOO much better than getting one of ebay.....as far as their money back policy you would have to prove without a doubt that it is not the real sig. which is nearly impossible to do....autos off ebay are not a good idea IMHO....

 

[BDboystoys]

I have to agree....get the sig in person is SOOO much better than getting one of ebay.....as far as their money back policy you would have to prove without a doubt that it is not the real sig. which is nearly impossible to do....autos off ebay are not a good idea IMHO....

unfortuneatley not many of the stars are around my area in Australia...
I've bought 1 signed poster form ebay, from a reputible dealer. I wish I could actually meet them but alas, I dont see that happening.

 

[King Darkness]

unfortuneatley not many of the stars are around my area in Australia...
I've bought 1 signed poster form ebay, from a reputible dealer. I wish I could actually meet them but alas, I dont see that happening.

Dont feel bad DB, I live in New Mexico......There aint a whole lot going on in this state....No pro sports teams, no big party colleges and most certainly not any famous people....in fact I cant think of one thing that anyone would even know NM for....

 

[noelleon69]

it's almost impossible to verify if the signatures are real or not. it is just the seller's word. even then, if it is really a fake, the seller could have got it from someone else thinking it was real. but some still buy because they are not able to afford the time and money to go around hunting for the actors or just live on the wrong side of the planet.

what i think... if the price isn't absurd that you would feel you are over paying. if that poster really have lots of signatures... buy it if you like it. as long as YOU think it's real... then IT IS real... it is what you believe it to be.

 

[toffeepops]

Well said. I never understood the appeal of buying an autograph someone else got. I would rather have a plain poster. If I saw a poster signed in your house the first thing I'd ask would be how you got all those autogrpahs so I could hear your story, not how you bought it on eBay. Anyone can do that.

You are right Unique Soul.... its nice to tell a story behind each signature...

Dave i got a extra lotr signed poster by Peter Lyon if you want it... you can start from that if you want to get some other signatures

got pictures of the signing as well in my flat last year (Kelburn, Wellington)

I gave him a nice Wine...as a thank you note

anyway here is my first poster project 3 years in the making

 

[oxbeard]

Like everyone else has said, I would steer clear of eBay autographs. I love going to shows and collecting a variety of autographs. I've only been able to get 2 LOTR autos so far, JRD and Brad Dourif. But I've got pictures of both and can remember the details of the signing, the conversations we had, etc. Autographs mean and are worth a lot more in my opinion if you actually enjoy the experience of getting them in person.

As far as COA's go, anybody can make one. All it is is another sheet of paper with someone else signature on it. Not worth much IMHO. There can be no doubts if you acquire the auto yourself. Sure you may not get all of the auto's you want, but the integrity of your collection can never come into question.

 

[Global]

I'll just add a little more about buying autographs.

When I lived in Los Angeles, there was a group of autograph hounds that earned their living getting autographs. They would then sell them to dealers with good reputations. Some of the dealers were very honest and wouldn't buy the autographs unless they had a picture of the celebrity signing the photo in question with the person obtaining the autograph.

So I was waiting with the autograph hounds for Jessica Alba to come out of an event. When she came out her manager said she would only sign one per person. Which was great for me, but the autograph hounds want as many as possible because they get paid more. They typically bring about 10 of the same picture. So as she signed, one of the hounds took lots of photos as she signed each item. She signed for everyone and everyone was happy.

After she had left and everyone was leaving, I watched as the autograph hounds started signing their remaining 8x10s and I overheard one of the hounds say he was keeping the original for himself.

It made me think that even if the dealer is 100% honest and totally believes the autograph is genuine because one of his "agents" got the autograph with photographic evidence, there is still a decent chance it is not genuine.

 

[Jesseawilson]

99% of all multiple autograph posters on Ebay are fakes. As long as you understand that you are just buying a reproduction for the $100 or so dollars then more power to you. A proven authentic poster of all the LOTR crew would be worth ten times that.



Jesse


Your friends will never know the difference anyway..........

 

[Darth Madden]

Dont feel bad DB, I live in New Mexico......There aint a whole lot going on in this state....No pro sports teams, no big party colleges and most certainly not any famous people....in fact I cant think of one thing that anyone would even know NM for....

How about the Balloon Fiesta, Carlsbad Caverns, White Sands? Ok, those aren't very good. I lived there for 27 years and that's about all I can come up with.

 

[toffeepops]

99% of all multiple autograph posters on Ebay are fakes. As long as you understand that you are just buying a reproduction for the $100 or so dollars then more power to you. A proven authentic poster of all the LOTR crew would be worth ten times that.

Jesse

Your friends will never know the difference anyway..........

Ten Times? Wow.... Dave... i can sell you my 2nd Poster Project (Weta Crew Members) for that amount...hehehe

Includes Letter from Daniel Falconer and Picture for Authenticity
RT Holding the Poster-24 Autographs

Missing.... Signatures Cris Guise, David Meng, John Harvey, Peter Lyon, Heather Kilgour, Ryk Fortuna, Neil Schrader and Rodney Ford <--- i can get the signatures but need more time... they are all live here in Welly

Following Crew signatures is impossible to get...unless the Hobbit starts filming and they are here for the project

Xander Forterie (sculptor Witch-King True form Figure) he lives in Holland.
Roger Lewis (sculptor MOA and MOS) he lives in Germany
Mike Asquith (sculptor Aragorn son of arathorn) Kiwi but now lives in Canada

 

[King Darkness]

How about the Balloon Fiesta, Carlsbad Caverns, White Sands? Ok, those aren't very good. I lived there for 27 years and that's about all I can come up with.

...yeah its really hard to find someting interesting about old NM...but all in all its not that bad of a place to live...

 

[hairlesswookiee]

nothing else to say that hasnt been said. just take your time and try to attend some conventions. in the end at least you'll feel better about it.

~~another thing to do is try to locate an autograph shop, there's a legit one by me and i know the guy. he's been doing it for a long time now. he also organizes special signing events in his store, and if anyone questions his integrity he says he will give the full price paid for anything back.

 

[Beren]

Don't do it, is my opinion...

I bought a poster on eBay, signed by 40 (or so) cast and crew, the listing stated it was bought off Newline Auction website and came with COA, so I thought that would be an excellent referral, if it came from NewLine!

I paid the $250 US (open auction) and then checked the autographs against the ones I had personally collected (E. Wood, Craig Parker, Mark Waid and a few others)... except for Craig Parker they all looked dead-on. The COA looked fairly official, with contact info for New Line Auctions. On the website it stated that their COAs came with holographic seals. Mine didn't have that. I thought perhaps because mine was from 2 + years earlier, the old ones might not have had that. I could have let it be and framed and enjoyed my signed poster. I called the number on the COA and it was correct! Still, I had to know and contacted New Line Auctions a few times before I finally had someone look into it and give me a straight answer. Forged!!

I could have let it at that and as someone suggested, "your friends would never know"... but I couldn't bring myself to frame it for $$ and put it up, knowing it was forged even though it could totally pass for real.

Luckily, I got my money back from my CC company.

And BTW, stay away from "premieresigned", they sell LOTR autographed posters about once a week!!

Beren

 

[user 131]

anyway here is my first poster project 3 years in the making

Awesome.

 

[Fritz]

Personally, I'm not a big fan of signatures (unless they're on a cheque made out to my name) . However, having items signed by the creator is kind of cool. Like a book or a statue. For example, I wouldn't want Billy Boyd to sign a Pippin Bust but I wouldn't mind if Mike Asquith signed it.