[Bob Lemke]

This (circa 10:45 a.m. CDT, Wed., 5/27) is the first time I've been on the forum since mid-afternoon Friday, so the authenticity question raised by Jerry is new to me. I've had a chance to read the thread (including its tangents) and take note of John's analysis of the Halper piece versus the two that have since come to auction.

I have conferred with Collect.com's auction director Steve Bloedow and he has agreed that we should pull this item from the auction. We will undetake a more in-depth look at the S&D stand-up and seek outside assistance in determining or disproving its authenticity.

Let me be totally up front in stating that I am the one who passed judgment on the originality of this item. When I heard it had been consigned I was immediately concerned because I was aware that this particular ad piece had been counterfeited in recent years. My cursory poking around on the internet, however, indicated that the fakes seen in quantity on eBay, etc., were of a smaller size. I visited the Heritage auction site and studied the example sold there compared it with the consigned item. It was my considered opinion that the piece sold by Heritage was not the progenitor of the piece consigned to Collect.com; that is, nobody stole the image from Heritage and made a counterfeit from that source. I had never heard any indication that the Heritage piece was questioned.

If you look at the Halper piece as the possible "source" for both the Heritage and Collect.com examples, the concerns expressed here become understandable. As I said, further study will be undertaken and the consigned S&D standup is now off the market.

That being said, I have to concur with those who expressed the idea that I, or Steve, should have been contacted directly on this subject. To this moment, I have not received a single e-mail or PM from anybody referencing this matter. As you can see, I am not an everday visitor to this forum, and Steve is even less so. The professional courtesy of a heads-up from the original questioner or anybody else with a concern would seem to have been the way to go.

I also note the appearance of some new "faces" on this thread, hiding behind anonymity to pursue their tilt at the Coaches Corner windmill. They should properly take up their cause in a new thread that would likely rival the 400+ post-count of the last one and have the same impact on the way business is conducted in this hobby/industry.

We appreciate the vigilence of many of the experts who frequent this forum and you have my thanks for raising this concern; just know that in future any issues would be more timely addressed by a direct contact.