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Not satisfied with the quality of signature. What now?
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12 posts in this topic

Hello dear collectors,

I am in a tricky situation at the moment. I ordered a Rogue One comic which to get signed by Felicity Jones @ NYCC last year. I received the graded comic in march this year. Only now I had the time to take a closer look at it and realised that the pen, which was used for the signature, died and therefore the first part of the signature is barely visible. (see attached photos)

Personally I really don't like the signature at all. I contacted the seller and asked what we can do in this situation and he suggested to go public with my case, as this is very subjective. Therefore I would like to hear your opinions about this case.

Do you think this is eligible for a refund? Or is this the risk with signed comics? What about the 6 months which passed since I have the comic in hand: Do you see a problem with that?

My opinion is that the seller should have contacted me after the signing and warned me about the problem with the signature. In that case I still could have had the choice to not have it graded (to save money) or resign.

The other question is: Who's fault is it that pen was dying at the moment of the signing? The organiser of the signing? Or the seller? And didn't the seller had the right to ask for a refund directly after the signing as the signature was not clear?

Thank you in advance for your time and your opinions.

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IMO, six months is TOUGH, pretty far beyond any reasonable refund window, unless otherwise stated (or for selling a restored comic book that was awaiting grading).  Barring the small possibility that the recipient didn't check on the comic because of some extreme situation like a natural disaster or medical illness or being shipped off for military service.

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No refund, Howie.

Seriously, though, my opinion is based upon doing dozens (toward hundreds) of celebrity signings. There are too many variables, and with a new hot talent like Felicity Jones, I would be willing to be that there was little to no access to her or the handlers beforehand to negotiate colors or freshness of Sharpies.  The sig is a little light, sure, but it is hardly "barely visible." You can see the clear basic outline of every stroke of the pen, it just was a little dry.

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That’s HARLDY what I would call a bad signature. This is the risk that you take with getting ANY comic signed. Facilitators do everything they can to get signatures the way that best represents the service they are offering, but sometimes new pens don’t get “loaded” before they are used in the collectible. Sometimes a celebrity/creator is in a rush or gets interrupted or bumped mid signature and gives you a signature that doesn’t quite look right or “normal.”  This could happened if you personally took the book to the celebrity or used a facilitator.  

 

Compundig that (for your situation) is that Felicity Jones has terrible handlers and she doesn’t really do many public signings. So, getting it “fixed” for you is an unlikely proposition. 

 

Hinestly, the signature is legible and pretty clear. The ink wasn’t fully loaded and so it’s a bit dry at first but the last name looks like it came out solid. There is noting that is out of the ordinary for signed Comics when you look at this. It happens. I’d suggest if you hate it enough then but a copy online that you DO like, then sell your copy to make some of your money back. 

 

Welcome to signature collecting. If this is something that is too much of a risk for you, then I would maybe stick to the aftermarket purchases so you can get something your 100% visually happy with. Good luck. 

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I had a similar situation with a signature that was smeared by the celebrity. But the grading came out good and the yellow slab indicates that it is indeed the person listed. As long as it's legible and slabbed as what it is then I have no issue with it because it does happen. 

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Thank you everyone who responded.

I will not ask for a refund as I now got the idea how those signings happen. I also fully understand that the dealer only has little to no control during such big signings.

After all I have to admit that the signature isn't that bad at all. It was more my first reaction which led me to contact the seller. As someone suggested I will try to sell the book and look for a clean signature copy.

One more thing about the delay of 6 months: Due to the fact that all my items purchased in the US are gathered in a warehouse in the US (operated by shipito.com), I receive my items only months later once a shipment is sent to my home address here in Europe. I also recently became father of my first born daughter and therefore my time and place at home is very limited atm. I didn't mentioned those facts in the first place as that has nothing to do with the case itself and isn't a reason at all for a refund or sort of.

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