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Genuine or fake Stan Lee signatures
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55 posts in this topic

1 hour ago, eee91 said:

 

1 hour ago, eee91 said:

lol 

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2 hours ago, eee91 said:

Wow, they sure are! Thank you so much!

Edit to include: funny thing is, Gerry Conway had nothing to do with these issues other than he probably read them as a youngster. lol

Edited by iggy
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On 9/12/2019 at 5:32 AM, livingwater said:

Hello all,

This is my first post.  I mostly collect USA coins and silver bullion.  I understand slabs since some of my coins are in NGC.  I know very little about comics but I want to buy some Stan Lee signed comics for myself and step-sons.  I want to avoid fakes.  I'll likely buy CGC slabs with Stan Lee to be confident they are genuine.  I know Stan Lee had used his own COA card with hologram stickers.  I read on another blog a collector could buy Stan's COA/stickers at a signing but only if they had a comic signed by Stan Lee at the time.

On ebay a seller has Stan Lee signed comics with Stan's COA/stickers.that are very close in number sequence from 35919 to 35927.  The signatures look different from each other to me.  See pics.  I assume Stan signed these during the same sitting since the numbers are close together?  As I said I am a newbie to comics so I wonder....

1.  Are these genuine signatures and genuine stickers?  This means Stan varied his signature somewhat perhaps since he had a lot to sign, maybe was in a hurry or he was bored and purposely varied them?

2. The signatures are fake but someone was able to obtain Stan's genuine COA/stickers and use them?

3.  The signatures are fake and the COA/stickers are also fake?  In the coin collecting world the Chinese have made a lot of fake coins and some have made fake slabs with fake labels also.

Please offer your opinions,  Maybe I am overly concerned.  Thanks.  Mark.

 

Stan Lee.....jpg

Stan Lee...jpg

Stan Lee..jpg

Stan Lee.jpg

Stan Lee....jpg

I personally had the privilege of seeing Stan signing comics including my own and the different COA’s and holograms that Marvel had as well as Stan and the excelsior approved ones too. I was privileged enough to see him at events at least once a year from 1994-2008. I have a huge Stan Collection and many personalized. That became my desire to collect comics rather than filling in titles I didn’t own.
 

Honestly, they look real, here is another reason not to base the shakiness off of his stamped signatures or Signatures Pre-2010... He passed in 2018 at 95 almost 96. How stable would your hand be and especially when he had Max Anderson over his shoulder reminding him of what he was signing. I mean by 2015 they began putting a Q-Card of his signature beside him at tables just as a reminder of what his signature looks like. 
 

Lastly, at conventions they would tarp him off away from public sight as he would labor and sign hundreds of comic covers for Sellers who purchased hundreds of signature tickets at thousands of dollars at a time. 
 

So again, how stable would your hand be? He was in his 90’s when these were signed. You have a great set, be joyful to own some history ;-)

Edited by MVPcomics
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On 5/2/2021 at 8:22 PM, 1950's war comics said:

if it's not CGC yellow label then assume it is a forgery or ghost signature

 

This is a gross and disgusting attitude. Period.

 

People were getting signatures on books decades before the Heavens opened up and blessed us with the unmeasurable CGC Signature Series.

 

I also appreciate the CGC SS line, but I severely disagree with this mentality. It fosters elitism.

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What percentage of autographs are fake?
90 percent
 
The FBI estimates that anywhere from 70 to 90 percent of autographed sports memorabilia in the marketplace today is fake. With so much available online, it can be difficult to distinguish between an authentic signature and a bogus one.
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18 minutes ago, 1950's war comics said:
What percentage of autographs are fake?
90 percent
 
The FBI estimates that anywhere from 70 to 90 percent of autographed sports memorabilia in the marketplace today is fake. With so much available online, it can be difficult to distinguish between an authentic signature and a bogus one.

Yes, getting a witnessed signature is probably ideal but its not reasonable to assume anything not in a CGC witnessed case is a forgery.

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On 5/11/2021 at 6:33 PM, 1950's war comics said:
What percentage of autographs are fake?
90 percent
 
The FBI estimates that anywhere from 70 to 90 percent of autographed sports memorabilia in the marketplace today is fake. With so much available online, it can be difficult to distinguish between an authentic signature and a bogus one.

 

Again, I'm not saying that fakes don't exist, but this is still bending the argument.

 

The FBI warns that around 70% and higher. Not 90%.

Second point, it's specific to sports memorabilia. Also, old sports memorabilia, as in, Babe Ruth, Mickie, etc etc. These are not comic facts in any regard. I would agree that I'm sure fakes have increased substantially over the last few years with the quickly intensifying market, but I still have a hard time applying the above quote, to what's reality today.

 

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Autograph fraud on Stan is so much more common than you think, especially since he passed and his signature is so easily duplicated.

I just read a biography on Stan Lee and it was mentioned that when Stan was too tired to sign, his handlers who start forging items.

You take a .10 comic book and sign his name on it, you can easily make a small percentage of it's value (can you think of an easier way to make $20 or $30 or $50?) and Stan Lee forgeries are rampant since his passing because the authorities and sites like eBay don't care.

The % varies on the celebrity (not limited to sports) as fraud is in every genre of signature collecting and is north of 90% on figures like Michael Jordan, Bob Dylan, Neil Armstrong, Tiger Woods, LeBron James, The Beatles, Kobe Bryant etc. 

Since Stan signed so much, so much unverified, to say undocumented signatures are fraudulent is pure lunacy.

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I actually have a couple in person received Stan Lee signatures, including comics signed on the old school inside style and way before an Excelsior sticker, that of course can never be CGC signature series but are part of my collection. I can provide my provenance if I ever sell but unless I send off to PSA or something, a buyer could never be 100% sure. 

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On 5/13/2021 at 3:54 PM, D2 said:

 

Again, I'm not saying that fakes don't exist, but this is still bending the argument.

 

The FBI warns that around 70% and higher. Not 90%.

Second point, it's specific to sports memorabilia. Also, old sports memorabilia, as in, Babe Ruth, Mickie, etc etc. These are not comic facts in any regard. I would agree that I'm sure fakes have increased substantially over the last few years with the quickly intensifying market, but I still have a hard time applying the above quote, to what's reality today.

 

On Average probably 70%...Being in the graphing game for 30+ years I would say a little lower, but some sites like Ebay will always have that stigma of being 90% fake if it's not a certified autograph card, or one of the other many top third party authenticators out there (but with these 3rd person authenticators they have there issues here too, but that's another story). If you find some posts on the FBI you may see it relates to only to sports memorabilia, but if you dig further (or if you remember all those early to mid 2000's/2010's autograph stings and busts) it actually pertains to other genres as well and specifically movie & music signed memorabilia ...Anyone remember Operation Bullpen? That included tons of fake Michael Jackson, Spielberg autographs, etc.

One Of The rules of thumb in the autograph game (and really applies to many collectibles) if there is money to be made on an item then expect there to be forgeries.

Out of all the comic related people to be forged ...Stan Lee is a big one and easy to duplicate especially his later years with that blobby black ink/silver sharpie mess 

 

Edited by Golden Pete
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On 5/14/2021 at 11:48 AM, rexinnih said:

I actually have a couple in person received Stan Lee signatures, including comics signed on the old school inside style and way before an Excelsior sticker, that of course can never be CGC signature series but are part of my collection. I can provide my provenance if I ever sell but unless I send off to PSA or something, a buyer could never be 100% sure. 

Yes, I would recommend to send to PSA/DNA or send to CBCS to get verified (which BAS does their sign verification and the TOP BAS guys are from PSA/DNA)

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On 5/13/2021 at 11:27 PM, Monstertruck97 said:

Autograph fraud on Stan is so much more common than you think, especially since he passed and his signature is so easily duplicated.

I just read a biography on Stan Lee and it was mentioned that when Stan was too tired to sign, his handlers who start forging items.

You take a .10 comic book and sign his name on it, you can easily make a small percentage of it's value (can you think of an easier way to make $20 or $30 or $50?) and Stan Lee forgeries are rampant since his passing because the authorities and sites like eBay don't care.

The % varies on the celebrity (not limited to sports) as fraud is in every genre of signature collecting and is north of 90% on figures like Michael Jordan, Bob Dylan, Neil Armstrong, Tiger Woods, LeBron James, The Beatles, Kobe Bryant etc. 

Since Stan signed so much, so much unverified, to say undocumented signatures are fraudulent is pure lunacy.

Yes, I have seen many Stan Lee forgeries over the years along with tons of good examples. He's an easy one to forge and many bad examples come up on Ebay on any given day.

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On 9/13/2019 at 2:06 PM, Monstertruck97 said:

That is false. I used to work closely with the fraud division on eBay (over fifteen years) and amount of items and feedback don't matter. Ebay cares more about you getting that item on time then it being authentic. I can point out a dozen autograph sellers who have 10,000-15,000 fake signatures with spotless feedback. Ebay doesn't much care if you buy a fake or not and it's rare for anyone to leave negative feedback due to authenticity issues. Most forgers threaten litigation because it's difficult to prove authenticity being an opinion based collectible. 

Spot on! Remember when GAI was one of Ebay's approved thirty party authenticators? :roflmao:

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3 hours ago, Golden Pete said:

Yes, I would recommend to send to PSA/DNA or send to CBCS to get verified (which BAS does their sign verification and the TOP BAS guys are from PSA/DNA)

Thanks - I never considered sending to CBCS as I have pretty much only gone through CGC on grading.

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1 hour ago, rexinnih said:

Thanks - I never considered sending to CBCS as I have pretty much only gone through CGC on grading.

 I have yet to send anything to CBCS, but I know they are under the Beckett umbrella and BAS is pretty solid. I personally prefer (CGC as well) buying the CGC SS slabs as they are "witnessed" v.s. getting a verified signature yellow label at CBCS (however I also like the witnessed slabs from CBCS though). 

In the past before I knew about the CGC witnessed SS slabs I would send signed comics and magazines to PSA/DNA. However, since finding CGC...I'm loving the CGC slabs especially those special character labels.

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I just came across this thread and wanted to show you mine.
I was there, and paid & watched Stan Lee sign this comic, and then paid more right after for this COA.  Is the COA itself legit? Probably... but with out a tiny bit of doubt, Lee's signature on my comic is absolutely legit. 
Mind you, it was signed in April of 2017 and he was 94 years old... *and still kickin arse*  so it's not his usual clear & legible signature, but his none-the-less.
He died the following year, so I am grateful I got it. :) Hope this helps in determining your authenticity... I personally think yours are the real thing.
 

IMG_0718.jpg

IMG_0719.jpg

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