Fakes

When i first started Autograph collecting i didn't really understand how bad the problems were out there with fake autographs. I just thought like many others that what you see is what you get and you should be happy with it. Its now though with a lot of research and a growing interest in Football that i realise how bad the problem really is.

How many of you have gone onto a site like eBay and bought an autograph without even thinking twice about it? I know some of you probably have. But i learned only recently that 80% of all autographs on eBay are fake, can you believe it 80%!! and here i was considering buying something off their recently. But don't think its all bad, if you know what you are looking for then you can find some authentics but they are rare VERY rare.

There is one sad story with all this. I was recently going through a sellers list of satisfied customers and came across one who had bought a tiger woods autograph for his son. He had said his son was so excited and it was a great gift and thanked the seller. I took one look and could see it was a fake, its stories like these that make me so angry at what some people will do to make a quick buck.

I do have a few words of advice for anyone who is going to buy autographs online.

1) If a seller provides a COA it doesn't mean the autograph is authentic. 99% of the time COA's arnt worth the paper they are written on.

2) make sure you carefully read the description about the autograph, how was it obtained? was it through the mail or in person? and if it was in person check if that person was even in that area to sign at all!

3) If the price is very low sometimes that can be a bad sign, why haven't people been bidding on it? sometimes people just miss them but most of the time its not great.

4) and Finally if you can try and find an authentic example of what you are looking for. If you do your research you can find authentic examples through sporting shops and some peoples personal websites. If you are still unsure after this, stay away from the item.


Overall though i have learned that if i cant get the autograph myself through an address or in person then i wont bother and move onto something else.

That's my rant over

Happy Collecting

A Funny Story long forgotton about til now

Its funny, as Brett Geeves prepares to play for Australia in the upcoming 20/20 in South Africa, i discovered a bit of paper i thought i had lost. What does this have to do with Brett? well its how i met him nearly 8 years ago.

In early 2002 i was in year 9 at New Norfolk High School in Tasmania. This was my 2nd year at the school and my 2nd year in Tasmania and it had only been in the previous 6 months that i had become a big fan of the Tasmanian Tigers cricket team. I remember sitting in Art class with my 2 friends trying to survive the time because i was dying of boredom, until one of my friends noticed the year 7rs were having PE class on the Oval. As we watched we saw they were having cricket games which were being directed by 2 guys one of which was wearing a Tasmanian Tigers uniform. One of my friends commented on how good looking he was and how we all wished for once that we were in PE rather than Art class.

So on my suggestion we took off at the bell through the emergency exit to get to the Oval as quickly as possible. We were going to try and get the guys autographs and perve whichever came first. But at the very last minute my 2 friends chickened out and left me to go over and ask for autographs by myself, so i did. As i walked over ill admit i was nervous, i hadnt done this sort of thing before but i used all the confidence i had and had a lengthy conversation with Brett and Peter Dickson (the other guy) while my 2 friends poked their heads around the side to see what was going on.

So as i got my bit of paper signed and my other friends, i commented that one of my 2 friends thought that Brett was hot. What i didnt realise was that Peter then wrote Bretts mobile number on her bit of paper!. This shocked me when i took it back to them afterwards. But i thanked the guys and left to rejoin my friends. I cant really comment on what happened next because i dont really know from what i heard my friend texted Brett several times and got Bretts girlfriend annoyed. Now if anyone who knows Brett or if Bretts girlfriend reads this im sorry again i should have stopped my friend from doing it.

2 years later i went to college and in my last year before i took a year off i decided to go to the Tigers vs the Bulls 4 day game at Bellrieve Oval. And unfortunatly it started to rain and it was going to be hours before my dad was due to pick me up. When Brett came out to sign a few autographs for kids i decided to re-introduce myself, i was shocked when he remembered who i was. We ended up having a lengthy chat about what happened and he even told me he had to change his mobile number over it! (sorry Brett again!) I apologised on behalf of the others but he told me not to worry as i wasnt involved.

So now its 2009 and i was going through some folders and i found the bit of paper Brett autographed for me years ago. And then i remembered this story, i do plan on writing to Brett to remind him to see how things have gone haha.

I wish Brett the best of luck for the 20/20s and ODI's in South Africa, its nice to see his career go the way it has.

Anyways here is the autograph i got from Brett and Peter. And Bretts inscription makes alot of sense now doesnt it? haha

PIC: http://karissawebster.fotopic.net/p56881788.html

Enjoy!

Meeting Hugo Weaving!!

Well this time last week i was getting very excited about going to my first world premier.

Its not often that a major Hollywood star arrives here in Adelaide, but when they do you cant miss out on the chance to meet them in person. I remember sitting in my bedroom last Monday bored stupid watching the news and the last 30 secs i heard were about the Adelaide Film festival. Now its not the biggest festival in Australia but its certainly becoming popular.

So after texting 2 of my insane friends who love Hugo we organised for the trip to the cinema for the 27Th of Feb the day of the premier. I don't think either of them believed me to start off with, considering my first text message to one of my friends was "Hey do you want to stalk Hugo Weaving with me?" LOL. Eventually both came round and were as excited as i was.

I remember showing up at 8pm and there wasn't anyone there, no press nothing it was empty. I guess when you go to a premier this isn't what you expect to see, but at least the red carpet was out that told me at least the day was right!.
With the Movie due to start at 9pm and the time ticking away i was starting to think we would miss our chance to say hi and get some autographs. But sure enough Hugo arrived at 8.55pm and the press swarmed like flies, one minute hardly anyone is there and the next minute its packed.

Eventually we got through the pack and waited for Hugo to finish posing for photos and then i took my chance. I present him with my Lord of the Rings photo and i don't think he was to pleased. He groaned at the sight of it, but still since we were the only graphers there he was still Good enough to sign them. As i watched him he began to sign the folder my photo was sitting on rather then the photo, so according to my friend the following took place because i cant remember!

Me: "Ah could you please sign my actual photo?"
Hugo: "Does it really matter?"
Me: "Ah yes it does you see i wanted to frame the photo"
Hugo " Oh alright then"

So he signed the shorter version of his name on the photo and long version on the folder so i have it twice!

Once my friends got theirs signed we left for ice cream. It certainly was a fun night!

Here are the autographs:

Folder: http://karissawebster.fotopic.net/p56635460.html
Pic: http://karissawebster.fotopic.net/p56635459.html

Enjoy!

Welcome

Well i promised myself that one day i would write a blog to put my thoughts out there about everything, and today i finally have.

So i guess i should start out by saying who i am and why the hell would you want to read my blog in the first place?

Well I'm Karissa I'm 21 and i live in Adelaide Australia. I spend most of my time trying to survive university and hoping that eventually ill finish. And guess what? i nearly have, i am officially in my final year of a BA Archaeology degree. I'm pretty proud of myself to, from what i know i am the first person in my family to go to Uni so i guess this is a big deal.

When I'm not going insane from essays and reports that i have to write i spend most of my time looking for jobs and collecting autographs (its my main hobby). I guess when you have spent the best part of 9 years collecting autographs it becomes more of an obsession rather than a hobby. I do collect mainly sport related autographs but i have started to expand my collection into music and actors in the last few years.

I got asked recently what is your most prized autograph? it would have to be the toughest question because i have collected every single one for a reason. But i guess the one that holds the most meaning to me is my Tasmanian Cricket Team sheet from 2003/2004. There is one guys autograph on there by the name of Scott Mason. Now most of you wont have heard of him but during the 2002 season he was a very important part of the Tigers side. I met Scott at Bellrieve Oval just before just before Easter in 2005, Scott was the last tiger i needed to complete my sheet and we had this very long chat about everything from how my schooling was going to the best way to hit a pull shot.

Only weeks after i met Scott i heard on the news that he had suffered a Heart attack in the nets while practicing. 2 days later he was declared dead and i was in total shock. He had been so nice to me and he seemed like a really sweet guy. He was only 28 years old and now every time i look at that sheet i can see his face smiling at me, so i guess its one of my most important autographs for that reason.
The autograph i get the most people jealous over would have to be Robert Pattinson. Most of the worlds female population will know who he is. I have had so many people email me and leave me messages on my website asking how i got it. And all i tell them is write to his agency and you might get something back! its that simple.

I guess finally ill say that my future blogs will be about how i have gotton certain autographs or simply if i need to vent i will lol. I am planning though to write a review of future fan packs that i hope to receive from football clubs and teams from Australia and around the world.
If you don't know what a fan pack is, well its simply a pack of free stuff that the club or team is willing to send you. An example of this are match day programmes, team posters, stickers and it some packs maybe a hat or autographed cards.

But that's for a future blog.

Bye all. I have research to do for University (bah!)