Well, unless you're around to see Lincoln, Ruth or Galileo sign, better stick to signatures of John Travolta and Britney Spears...Meantime, if you like autographs and want authentic material, you still have a choice: buy a "slabbed" piece (when I hear "slabbed", I think of a morgue), or get an item from an expert who specializes in the field or individual you want to collect, and has been around long enough to know what he's doing.
A closer look at PSA/JSA timetables: ages ago, I did the same analysis as Travis. One autograph every two minutes just isn't possible, and I know - I've sold 45,000 pieces. Yes, the ones that are obviously bad, you can see right away, but what about the ones that REALLY need research, where you have to dig and dig and dig to find exemplars? Sometimes it takes me an hour or more, plus contacting others in the field, to find examples of a signature. Then, their letters mention slant, pressure, alignments, etc. so that means ethically they have to examine every one of those factors as well - not pull them out of their hat. Finally, they have to print out their letter, sign it, gather up the item and letter, and send it off to packing. In two minutes.
One thing Travis forgot - where do they get the time to offer their "Quick Opinion" service? They must get tons of requests, and if they're going to do it well, they have to spend at least a minute apiece just opening the email, looking at it, and responding.
Something stinks.
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