March 30, 2009 9:01 pm

American Memorabilia: Same Old Problems

Reprinted from AutographAlert.com

The amount of emails we have received during the last two weeks about American Memorabilia, a sports autograph and memorabilia auction house operating out of a private home in Las Vegas is astonishing.

Consignors to this auction house are begging www.autographalert.com to post a story about how poorly run this auction house is operating.

Our response to most was that you have read about this auction house on www.autographalert.com before, you have read articles warnings about those businesses who use third party authenticators yet you still consigned your material to one of these businesses. Can’t say you weren’t educated and warned.

American Memorabilia is basically run out of the first floor of a private home in Las Vegas. The principal of this business is Victor Moreno however a gal whose name is actually Susan runs much of the day to day operation. She will tell you her name is Kieta.

The Better Business Bureau (bbb.org) gives them an “F” rating. The BBB has a listing of 13 ratings and the “F” is the lowest. If you want a bird’s eye view of what consignors are complaining about (including one suggesting a class action lawsuit) we suggest you go to this website for a most interesting read American Memorabilia complaints

March 30, 2009 9:01 pm

Upper Deck SPx Adds Buyback Packs

Upper Deck's 2009 SPx Baseball debuted this week with some unexpected bonuses. The company says game-used and autograph buyback packs have been added to the product. Collectors can find one of these packs in each box along with four jersey cards and one autograph card, on average. The product also includes nine 20th Anniversary cards and four Joe DiMaggio "Career Highlights" cards per box.

The game-used and autographed buyback cards have been purchased from hobby outlets over the last several months. PSA has encapsulated 10 of the most limited cards in the buyback packs and they are now being offered as exchange cards. Some of those cards include the 1992 Upper Deck Ted Williams autograph card, the 2001 SP Legendary Cuts Joe DiMaggio Cut Signature card and the 2001 SPx Baseball Albert Pujols autograph rookie card.

Another addition to 2009 SPx Baseball is the return of mystery rookie autograph exchange cards. Collectors who pull these cards can find out which card they will receive by registering the cards online. Upper Deck will announce which players those cards are good for throughout the season. The first card (RR1) will be exchanged for pitcher Koji Uehara of the Baltimore Orioles, a former Rookie of the Year in Japan and two-time Sawamura Award winner for being the top starter in Japan. Uehara signed 25 of these cards in Japanese as well which should create some additional chase.

CONTENT HIGHLIGHTS:

o Find four (4) jersey cards, two which will be a Dual, Triple, or Quad swatch card, in each box, on average

o Find One Jersey Autograph or Rookie Signature per box, on average

o Find a 20th Anniversary buyback pack in each box

o One (1) 20th Anniversary Memorabilia card per case, on average

o Look for Three (3) patch cards, one which will be a patch auto per case, on average

o Look for four (4) Joe DiMaggio Career Highlight insert cards numbered to 425 per box, on average

o Look for nine (9) 20th Anniversary insert cards per box, on average

o Collect the complete 100-card SPx set printed with Light/FX technology

March 30, 2009 9:01 pm

Kate Gosselin Book Signing Events

Kate Gosselin, star of “Jon & Kate Plus 8″, will be signing copies of her book Eight Little Faces at the following locations:

* 4/14/09 1:00 PM at Barnes & Noble – Americana Way. Glendale, CA.
* 4/16/09 7:00 PM at Borders Books – North Blackstone Avenue. Fresno, CA.
* 4/17/09 7:00 PM at Borders Books – Crescent Drive. Pleasant Hill, CA.
* 4/28/09 7:00 PM at Borders Books – Jefferson Avenue. Newport News, VA.
* 5/4/09 7:30 PM at Barnes & Noble – Route 3 East. Clifton, NJ.
* 5/5/09 12:30 PM at Barnes & Noble – Warren Street. New York, NY.

Kate Gosselin Book Signing Events

Book Signings & Events

March 30, 2009 9:01 pm

Sir Ernest Shackleton's Last Photograph and Autograph Sold at Auction

The picture is believed to have been taken in October 1921 by a holidaymaker who chanced upon Shackleton and his team in Madeira during his final Antarctic expedition.

Known as the Shackleton-Rowett Expedition, which left England in September 1921, it is considered to be the final episode in the heroic age of Antarctic exploration.

The crew travelled on a small converted Norwegian whaler called the Quest, and the expedition’s aims included oceanographic and coastal survey work.

The album includes a photograph of Shackleton going ashore to Madeira on board the Quest, along with his autograph and those of 18 members of his crew.

The autograph album was expected to fetch between £600 and £800 when it went under the hammer at Gorringes Auctioneers in Lewes, East Sussex on Wednesday.

But strong bidding helped push the price upwards and it was eventually bought on behalf of an unnamed English collector via a telephone bid.

A Gorringes spokeswoman said: “There were at least three or four interested people and it just goes to show that there still remains a fascination in Shackleton’s life.”

The identity of the autograph hunter is unknown but it is believed he chanced upon Shackleton while on holiday, as the album also contains watercolours of Madeira.

The expedition continued on its voyage to the Antarctic, but Shackleton was taken ill and died aged 47 on board the ship just after its arrival on the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia on January 5 1922.

They successful bidder also paid a 17.5 per cent buyer’s premium on top of the hammer price.

March 29, 2009 4:01 pm

Mikhail Gorbachev in Peoria, Illinois

Mikhail Gorbachev, former President of the Soviet Union and General Secretary of the Communist Party, is in Peoria, Illinois, today to visit Eureka College as part of Ronald Reagan Day at the college (President Reagen was a 1932 graduate of the college) and to speak at the college’s Ronald Reagan Day Dinner at the Peoria Civic Center. President Gorbachev worked with President Ronald Reagan to end communist rule in Eastern Europe and won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1990 for his efforts.

President Gorbachev stopped for this photograph as he was leaving his hotel this morning enroute to the college. My friend, Jay, spotted his interpreter, Pavel Palazchenko, a few minutes after we arrived at the hotel. He asked if it would be possible to get a photograph with President Gorbachev and Palazchenko said yes. With local police, state police, and his own security detail standing next to us, we waited patiently for President Gorbachev to arrive in the lobby. He was led into the lobby by another member of the security team and by Palazchenko. Palazchenko immediately motioned for us to come over for the photograph, telling President Gorbachev (in Russian) that we were the gentleman who had been waiting for the photograph. I extended my hand to greet him as I approached for the photograph and he returned the handshake. He continued to hold a firm handshake as the photo was snapped. What was remarkable was the size of his hands. They were extremely large and thick (visible in photo above). He seemed to genuinely enjoy the quick interaction he had with us. After the photographs, his security team quickly moved him out the door and into a waiting Cadillac for his trip to Eureka College.

Thanks Kevin!

March 29, 2009 4:01 pm

Alicia Silverstone Signing Report

by Mike Sametz

Today is Erica’s last day in Los Angeles, at least for this month, and consequently this is our last excursion out and about. Tonight we are trying to get Cher… I mean Alicia Silverstone (who of course was Cher in Clueless…Hello! As if!) who I personally love to death. Clueless is a personal favorite of mine, and I’ve been meaning to try and get her for a while now. She is in play called Time Stands Still at the Geffen Theatre in Westwood, and since Erica is the theatre expert (ask her about any play in the past couple of decades, I dare you!) I figure this will be a fun outing for us.

9:22 p.m. - We just arrived in Westwood. Shockingly, we found decent parking for a Friday evening. Erica is the theatre master so I am leaving everything in her capable hands this evening. We have heard from multiple sources that Alicia is very shy, and not being especially friendly after her show so I don’t have high hopes for this one.

9:31 p.m. - Erica went to the box office and got the skinny on the Vall party, I mean play (I plan on throwing as many Clueless references as I can into this report so bear with me) so we know it ends shortly after 10.

9:33 p.m. - We’re both getting a tad bit famished and since standing for forty minutes is hardly aerobically effective we’re heading over to the BK Lounge. Plus, I doubt we’ve worked off the calories in a stick of Carefree gum.

9:39 p.m - Erica was not prepared for this signing so I gave her my Clueless DVD insert and I have this kick ass UK Quad mini poster. We were also warned that Alicia doesn’t sign in blue and hates collectors/paparazzi. Again, we are not feeling terribly optimistic about tonight, but I told Erica she needs to show a little skin, this reminds people of being naked, and then they think of sex which makes them happy. (okay, that was more of a paraphrase but you get the idea)

9:44 p.m. - We tried those new mini slider burgers for a snack, and I’ll be damned… they were not half bad… Ah, the BK lounge… I really hope Alicia does not act like an evil troll from the math department…

9:53 p.m. - We’re in front of the Geffen now. It is a very cute theatre and if anyone reading this is in Los Angeles you should really check it out if you like the performing arts.

9:59 p.m. - I’m starting to get nervous. I know this is weird, cause I have had such wonderful opportunities with such huge stars, but meeting someone who played such an iconic character to me is an even bigger thrill. Like if I met Sarah Michelle Gellar, I like her, but I LOVE Buffy, and meeting SMG is the closest thing I could get to meeting Buffy considering Buffy is just a character. You dig?

10:11 p.m. - Oh, the play is over and here come the patrons exiting the theatre. We are really the only people waiting for Alicia to come out, and I always tend to hang back and let Erica do the approaching since she is smaller and therefore less of a giant than myself. Some of these actresses are so small I feel like I might step on them…

10:16 p.m. - Some of the other cast members are coming out… no Alicia yet…

10:22 p.m. - And there she is, Erica really goes for it, and just kind of walks over to her. I trail behind. She approaches Alicia with caution because we have heard she is quite skittish like I said. They talked for a few minutes, and Erica asks her if the play is going to go to Broadway. (Erica said it way more technical than I ever could with all these fancy names and Lord knows I can’t remember exactly what her quote was, I put this in here so I don’t get an email with the exact thing she said later, even though I know I still will… whew…) Alicia said they don’t know yet, and then Erica asks her if she would mind signing her Clueless insert. Alicia goes to sign it, and then I come up. She really looks me over and is kind of very wary of me. I pulled out my poster, and she really has her guard up. I ask her if she would mind signing my poster, and she is about to sign it, when I ask her if she would mind signing it in purple (I LOVE PAINT PENS!). She was curious about the both of us to say the least and then said okay, and then I ask her to make it out to Mike. When I asked her to make it out to me her whole demeanor changed. She asked me if I was Mike, and I was like… YES! and then I dorked out… I started babbling about how I had this poster for years, and I really wanted to get it signed, and blah blah blah… Yep, I’m a dork. She then apologized and told us there were paparazzi there after the show every night, and I think she usually just heads into her car. After she signed my poster, at the risk of getting brutally rebuffed, I asked her for a picture. She paused and then said sure. To my surprise, she put her arm around me and really kinda snuggled up. I was in heaven! She was very sweet, and I’m really happy cause I have wanted her for a long time. This was a perfect capper to a fun week with Erica. Now she has to come by next month cause there might be a Marcia Cross sighting and Erica’s good luck!

March 29, 2009 4:01 pm

1/18 Ferrari 575 GTZ Zagota - Hot Wheels Elite

Two trips to the Mattel Warehouse Sales by my bro was a disappointing one, as all of the Hot Wheels had been cleared, except for this car. So to avoid going back empty handed, he bought this car.

Unpacking it at home, things are enlighten, thanks to this car. It has superb details and could be on par with Auto Art models, the best thing was it only cost RM120 at the sales! To my surprise, there were quite a lot left there, I wonder why others didnt buy this beauty.

Front details:

Interior details:

Engine Details:

Rear Details:

Some fund shots