The George H.W. Bush autograph session seems to continue. Last month I blogged about an email I received from signingshotline.com for this dealer special.
I received emails this week from the guy who originally sent the email via the Signingshotline.com subscriber list. According to him, there are still items for purchase and additional items that were not on their "catalogue." I put that in quotes because his "catalogue" was a 4-page Word Document in bold, italics, all capped.
Again, I asked him for photo proof of the items and of Bush signing the item. And again, he refused saying that it providing that evidence could cause forgery. I don't really understand the forgery issue by providing evidence of Bush signing the item. The reason the autograph collecting community requires this is because of forgery.
There have been some good discussions on the signingshotline bulletin boards about this subject too. Some people have bought the items and say they look great. While others (myself included) are looking for the dealer to prove his dealings are legitimate.
I don't know if he's legit or not, but I know that (personally) I haven't seen enough proof that he is legitimate for me to spend my money on his items. I know, it's unfortunate that our industry needs to prove innocence, but that's where we are.
My recommendation to anyone buying an autograph item from a private signing:
- Get photo proof of your item getting signed.
- Get photo proof of previous items being signed by the guest.
- Review the return policy.
- Can you use a credit card instead of a paying via personal check?
- What is the COA? It should be more than a special certificate.
- Is the item JSA authenticated?
They sold their subscriber base to him so he can email the group. So far, signingshotline has not responded to any of my emails or said anything on the message boards. They are hurting the integrity of the industry and their site if they have no opinion, didn't do any due dilligence or wash their hands of the situation.
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3 comments:
This is Howard, the owner of SigningsHotline.com.
I PERSONALLY called the White House regarding this signing. They directed me to the George Bush 41 library in Texas. I then called the library who told me that this signing was indeed legimate and taking place just as advertised in the SigningsHotline.com email.
So before you make comments about anothers' "due diligence", maybe you should do some yourself. It would have been very easy to make the same calls as I did.
And lastly, we do not "sell our email lists". We send them out from our server. The vendor never has access to our email list.
It is these types of comments from your blog that is tarnishing the hobby as much as any fraudulent promoter.
Howard - that's fantastic. Thanks for reading the blog and posting the comment. I really appreciate it.
I also appreciate you answering some of the questions.
To be honest, I did due diligence by emailing signingshotline when I received your email and didn't get a response. I also did some due diligence by checking your promoter rankings and starting the discussion board thread. When I didn't see the promoter on the rankings or get an answer, this had me and others in the hobby concerned (as you can see from the discussion thread).
It's these types of discussions and questions that give the hobby strength - not weaken it.
With all do respect, I don't think questioning the authenticity and validity of promoters and their products tarnish the hobby.
Thanks again for the reply and discussion. I think you have a great product and appreciate all you do for the hobby.
Sounds like someone can't be bothered with silly little questions until they find out that those questions are from someone who has a little power. Seems like sour grapes on the part of signingshotline.com. Next time answer the freakin e-mails.
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