From AutographAlert.com:

Global Authentication, Inc. who calls themselves "The Leader in Authentication" has filed for Chapter 11.

The company based in Tustin, California made claims that their autograph authenticators had over 100 years of autograph authentication experience. Their services included autograph authentication, vintage autograph authentication and modern autograph authentication. They launched the anti-counterfeit Certification Labels (very unpopular to affix anything to an original autograph).

Global has listed their assets of up to $100,000 with liabilities up to 10 million dollars.

Many educated collectors have been avoiding the use of third party authenticators and this is the result.

Global Authentication Files Chapter 11 Link To Original Post

Given his overwhelming success, it’s no wonder Gerard Butler can’t go anywhere without being recognized. And last night he was spotted arriving in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The “P.S. I Love You” actor arrived at the Philly Amtrak station to find a host of fans and paparazzi waiting for him. And like a good sport, Mr. Butler graciously signed autographs and posed for pictures before moving on

Gerard is in town to begin filming his latest project, a movie called “Law Abiding Citizen” about an everyday guy who decides to take justice into his own hands after a plea bargain sets his family’s killers free.

Earlier this month, the “300” star was living it up on the beach during his holiday in Miami, Florida, though it doesn’t look like he got much of a tan!

Gerard Butler Arrives In Philadephia, Fans Waiting Link To Original Post

By Tracy Lorenz

Just before Christmas someone asked me to autograph my book, and I have to tell you, autographing your own book is about as cool as it gets. The only thing cooler would be to autograph a baseball even if you've killed a boatload of people.

I've asked celebrities for autographs before but not for any other reason than proof-of-purchase. If you tell someone you rode on a plane with the Boston Celtics (which I did) or that you met Muhammad Ali at Woodland Mall (which I did) they tend to harbor disbelief until you produce a piece of paper with an illegible signature on it.

(Muhammad Ali said the coolest thing when I met him: "You shook the hand that shook the world." I realize he probably says that to everybody, but it still ruled.)

I didn't pay for an autograph until 1986. I was hanging out in Detroit with my brother and we decided to go to a baseball memorabilia show. Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Pete Rose, Ernie Banks and Bob Feller were there, so we bought some baseballs and got them signed. The price for the signatures was $5 apiece. I remember walking out into the parking lot and my brother saying "I can't believe we just paid a guy five bucks to write his name."

I just looked on eBay; a Mickey Mantle autographed baseball is going for about $600. I guess it wasn't such a bad investment. If I had known at the time I might've coughed up 10 bucks and had him sign two.

I got home from Detroit and started thinking about getting people to sign baseballs who weren't baseball players. The first one I got was from hockey great Gordie Howe. He looked at me like, "Um, I'm Mr. Hockey... But we ended up hitting it off and he even gave me his home address so I could send him more stuff to sign for free!

Which I did.

But I wanted to go to an even different level of baseball signing. I wanted a baseball that no one else in the world had. I wanted to move into "Advanced Memorabilia." I needed someone past his prime with a lot of time on his hands, someone who wouldn't be bothered and might even think it was cool. I came up with Charlie Manson. The way I saw it, reward tends to favor the brave, so what the heck. I figured the guy could probably use the mail.

After Manson, I sent letters and requests to other noted felons but the only one who answered back was serial killer John Wayne Gacy. He sent me a bunch of creepy letters but that was it. It seemed he wanted a pen pal, but unfortunately for both of us, (mostly him) they gassed the jerk before I got a baseball out of him.

After that I quit trying to assemble the Mass Murderer Baseball Collection, once they executed Gacy I took it as a ... sign. Link To Original Post

Scott Mortimer of Merrimack, N.H., is on a strange but noble baseball quest. Since 2006, the 37-year-old marketing manager has been trying to get every card in the 1983 Fleer set autographed. As of Dec. 27, he had collected 435 signatures, good for a 64 percent set completion percentage. A tough 36 percent remains.

After learning of Scott's project on Chuckie Hacks, I knew I had to contact the man himself for a very special Big League Stew interview. you can find our email Q&A session below.

You can also follow Scott's progress on his 83F Blog or spend time looking through his entire set at Morthas.com. And if all that doesn't satisfy your old school card mojo? Check out this great review of the set over at Sully Baseball.

* * *

Big League Stew: OK, first off. Why in the world did you pick the 1983 Fleer set? I showed your site to one of my friends and he said, "He picked possibly the ugliest set of all time." I told him that it was probably part of the attraction because everyone loves the first cards they truly collected. My favorite set, for example, is 1986 Topps.

Scott Mortimer: Simply put, I accumulated more '83 Fleer cards than any other set. I began collecting baseball cards in the early 80s. In the mid-80s, I bought a few boxes of 1983 Fleer common cards at local baseball card shows, bought a box or two with my allowance money, and before I knew it I had several thousand. Also back in the 80s, I did some through the mail (TTM) autograph requests and received about a half dozen responses to start me off.

For a project like this it is important to have a handful of each card. I usually send an extra card or two inviting the player to keep one or two for themselves. And sometimes it will take a number of tries before an autograph request will come back.

I completely agree with your buddy — it is a very ugly set. With the possible exception of '81 Donruss, it is perhaps the worst of them all during the 80s. Maybe that's why I was able to accumulate so many ... no one else wanted them.

BLS: Considering there are some players from that set who have died and may never have seen their '83 Fleer card, do you think it's possible to complete the set?

SM: I'm sure it is possible, but will I finish The Project? I don't know for sure. From my count, there are almost 20 players that are deceased — most recently Bobby Murcer of the Yankees and Dave Smith of the Astros. I was fortunate enough to obtain Vern Ruhle (Astros) and Joe Niekro (Astros) through the mail before they passed away. Deceased players from the set include Willie Stargell (Pirates), John Milner (Pirates), Rod Scurry (Pirates), Bo Diaz (Phillies), Tug McGraw (Phillies). Luis Sanchez (Angels), Rafino Linares (Braves), Darrell Porter (Cardinals), Dan Quisenberry (Royals), Steve Howe (Dodgers), Aurelio Rodriguez (White Sox), Rick Mahler (Braves), Eric Show (Padres), Alan Wiggins (Padres), Al Cowens (Mariners), Todd Cruz (Mariners) as well as some managers including Billy Martin (A's).

There are also guys like Damaso Garcia (Blue Jays). He lives in the Dominican Republic and is sick. Last I heard he is unable to speak or write.

BLS: You started this project in 2006 and are already more than two-thirds of the way done. Can you give us a few of the ways you've been so successful in tracking these players down?

SM: When I first started this project, I really didn't know how I would track former players down. I used Internet people-finder sites as well as contacting former big leaguers affiliated with major, minor, and independent league baseball (managers, coaches, front office personnel, scouts, broadcasters...). With a little sleuthing, I was able to track down former players who now have careers beyond baseball. Ken Smith (Braves), for example, works at a car dealership in Tennessee. Don Hood (Royals) works as a park ranger in Florida.

I slowly started to find web sites dedicated to autograph collecting including SportsCollectors.net. Other forum-based sites like The Bench have a section dedicated to autograph collecting. Members share their autograph successes and failures.

BLS: One thing I'm not sure of: Are you trying to obtain every autograph yourself? Or are you also trying to buy them off eBay, etc?

SM: Ideally I would like to obtain every autograph (or as many as possible) on my own. I have purchased a few off eBay — particularly cards of the deceased players. It is much more rewarding to obtain the autographs first hand. I keep my eye on eBay, but I prefer to try and get the signature myself.

BLS: Who was the first card you had signed? Who was the most recent?

SM: First one: Bob Bonner (Orioles). Most recent: Mike Fischlin (Indians).

BLS: Which is your favorite card in the set? Why?

SM: The final card of the 1983 Fleer set is a checklist of the "Super Star Special" Cards. It is a mixture of the "Best Of" players from that season. I figured the best person to autograph that card was the Commissioner of MLB at the time, Bowie Kuhn. He was kind enough to autograph the card and inscribe it with the years he was baseball's commissioner. Mr. Kuhn passed away less than six months later.

BLS: Surely you have a few good detective stories about hunting old players down and finding success. Which ones stand out to you?

SM: Two stand out ... one good and one not good. Tracking down Ken Smith was very rewarding. An individual named "Ken Smith" brings up plenty of search results in Google. It just took patience to scan through many pages of Google to track him down. I found he worked at a car dealership, sent him an e-mail through the dealer's web site, and he was nice enough to respond. I sent him a few extra cards for Mr. Smith to keep.

The not good ... In a similar manner I located Omar Moreno via his philanthropy web site, the now-defunct FundaciónOmarMoreno.com. I emailed the site offering to make a donation to his cause in exchange for an autographed 1983 Fleer baseball card. I received a response from his daughter, Leury, providing me instructions for sending a donation (Western Union only) and the card. I sent the donation and the card in May '07. I sent a few follow-up e-mails to Leury in the following months. Occasionally I'd receive a response telling me the card will get signed, other times I was ignored. I stopped contacting Ms. Moreno in Sept. '08. The disappointing part is not the lost donation. I feel bad that perhaps Omar Moreno is completely unaware of my attempted contact and he had no control over it.

BLS: Have you told any players of your quest? If so, what do they think about it?

SM: Not too often. I've mentioned it to a few players, but the response I got was luke-warm at best.

BLS: You mention a few players have seemed to "simply disappear." Who's your biggest white whale? Has the thought crossed your mind that you might not be able to find everyone?

SM: Well, there's Omar. But perhaps the player I want to track down the most doesn't even have a standard issue card in the 1983 Fleer set. Terry "Bud" Bulling appears on a 1983 Fleer Super Stars Special card with Gaylord Perry (#630). Last I read he doesn't have a permanent address but lives in an RV on the west coast. I've even gone as far as sponsoring his page on baseball-reference.com looking for leads.

Other players that have been nearly non-existent to me: Porfirio Altamirano (Phillies), Luis Aponte (Red Sox), Salome Barojas (White Sox), Ernesto Escarrega (White Sox), Enrique Romo (Pirates), Dick Davis (Pirates), Luis Leal (Blue Jays), John Castino (Twins), Jack O'Connor (Twins), and Al Willians (Twins).

BLS: Final question: You said you're on vacation with your family. What does your family think of the project? Have they become involved? What about your wife? What does she think?

SM: My son, Andrew, is 3 years old and he just knows that Daddy likes baseball cards. My wife is indifferent about the whole thing. She smiles and nods her head when I tell her of the latest return. But I think she appreciates that I collect baseball cards instead of something much, much larger. Someday Andrew may be finishing up The Project.

* * *

Scott tacked on a couple of other thoughts plus an update related to his quest ...

• "Since I sent the answers back to you I've since had an opportunity to get the Terry "Bud" Bulling autograph I've been looking for! I could hardly believe it. Last night an individual contacted me via Baseball Reference saying his mom is Bulling's cousin. He sees Bud a couple times a year and is willing to get the card signed for me. What a surprise it was to read the e-mail!"

• "Sometimes I feel like I am single-handedly keeping the Post Office in business. To send out an autograph request, I always include a self-addressed stamped envelope."

• "There are other autograph collectors similar to me. For example, I'm helping a collector in Iowa who is working on the 1987 Topps set."

• "I will pay for autographs through private signings and baseball card shows. Some players charge for their autograph like Gaylord Perry, Dave Parker, Dave Kingman, Rollie Fingers, Johnny Bench, Steve Carlton, Nolan Ryan, Jerry Koosman, Frank Viola, and Bill Buckner. Most of them, like Dave Henderson, Earl Weaver, and Fred Lynn, donate the money they earn to charity."

• "The most unreadable autograph goes to Mark Brouhard. But he was nice enough to add his uniform number!"

• "Inscriptions are a favorite of mine. Lee Lacy put the 1979 World Champions "tag line" on his card, "We are family!" Wade Boggs added his HOF credential without my asking. Similarly, Bob Horner added his Rookie of the Year honors."

• "I usually ask players questions in the letters I write. Sometimes a player responds to questions like the toughest hitter/pitcher they faced, a favorite ballpark, or who is the best hitter/pitcher in today's game."

Scott Mortimer - 1983 Fleer Autograph Project Link To Original Post

Amy Fisher, "The Long Island Lolita" of Joey Buttafuoco fame, will make her feature dance debut at Scores Baltimore on Jan. 23 and 24. Fisher, 34, will be signing autographs and posing for personal photographs with guests following each of her performances.

Scores owner Andrew Alley stated, "We are very excited and thrilled to be the site of the beautiful and sexy Amy Fisher's debut feature appearance."

Scores Baltimore is a trendy adult nightclub and steakhouse. This popular gentlemen's club is often frequented by professional athletes, musicians, entertainers, Hollywood stars, business leaders, jetsetters and other A-list clientele.

"Scores is a place where you want to see and be seen," continued Alley. "It's the perfect spot for Fisher's sultry debut show."

Fisher, a media tabloid queen and top-selling adult film star, has appeared on Entertainment Tonight, The Insider, Good Morning America, The Howard Stern Show and many other television and radio shows over the past two decades.

Scores Baltimore
615 Fallsway near Centre Street
Baltimore, MD 21202

Amy Fisher Debuts Dance Performance at Scores Baltimore Link To Original Post

When Irmgard Neuman discovered that there was a celebrity artist living next door, she bought a book of his work, and, rather boldly, asked him to sign it. Marc Chagall, the pioneer of Modernism, went one better.

Not only did he oblige the autograph-hunter and her husband with their own personalised illustration on the inside leaf, he continued to decorate pages of their books for the next 30 years.

Russian and Israeli art collectors are now circling as the compendium, bearing the stamp of one of the most celebrated artists of the 20th century, is prepared for sale for the first time.

The collection of 49 illustrated texts spans the 30-year friendship between Chagall and his neighbours in Saint-Paul de Vence, the medieval town in the French Riviera, where he settled after the Second World War.

They also feature many of the signature images, from fiddlers, floating brides and life in the shtetl, that led to Chagall’s reputation as “the quintessential Jewish painter of the 20th century”. Together, the books are valued at £250,000-£300,000.

“It would have been like going up to the biggest celebrity artist of today, for example, Damien Hirst, and asking him to do 50 works for free,” Alexander Hayter, of Bloomsbury Auctions, said. “It was done very much as a personal favour, and doesn’t happen very often. They were obviously very close. Every couple of weeks, they would meet up for tea, and Chagall would do a drawing for them. As he got to know them better, the drawings became more elaborate.”

They range from simple pen and ink sketches to vivid watercolours, depicting many of the same images from Yiddish folklore celebrated in the most famous works by Chagall, born Mark Zakharovich Shagal to a poor Hassidic family in 1887 in Belarus.

They are incorporated with lithographs, biographies and art history books about Chagall. Even the artist himself was proud of the Neuman archive. “He took a personal interest in it, and was delighted to see it grow,” Mr Neuman recalled, before his death. “You know,” he would say, “this collection is unique.”

Shielded from public view, the books were eventually bequeathed to the Leo Baeck College, London, in 1993, where they were archived among the private collection of ancient Hebrew texts and religious scriptures.

The college, which was one of the first seminaries in Britain to provide training for rabbis, has decided to sell the collection to raise funds for its training programmes, which send scholars to teach across Europe.

Also included is a portfolio of unpublished photographs, taken by Mr Neuman between 1974 and 1984, depicting the artist in his studio towards the end of his career.

The collection will be sold at auction on January 29.

Books Illustrated by Artist Marc Chagall Expected to Fetch £300,000 Link To Original Post

Tampa, Florida -- The first signs of Super Bowl XLIII are showing up outside Raymond James Stadium.

In the lot on the south side of Raymond James Stadium, crews with cranes and trucks have begun setting up the NFL Experience.

The sprawling tent campus will eventually cover 850,000 square feet with entertainment, passing and kicking challenges, as well as dozens of exhibits.

Right now, a handful of massive tents are already standing, and workers are erecting a series of tall metal frames that will enclose some of the fan festival's football skills events.

According to enthusiastic bullet points posted on NFL.com, the festival will include:

Free autograph sessions with more than 50 NFL superstars --10,000 free autographs!

Kids, learn the skills of the game in the Play60 Youth Football Clinics!

Donruss Super Bowl Card Show, the largest football card show ever!

Live television programming from the NFL Network!

Visit the Super Bowl Store for official Super Bowl XLIII merchandise! (Open Jan. 26 and 27, no ticket required)

See the Vince Lombardi Trophy up close!

Visit the Kids Zone for scaled down versions of the adult games!

The NFL Experience is going to be open to the public on the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday before Super Bowl Sunday, as well as the weekend before that. The dates are January 24, 25, 29, 30, and 31.

Tickets, which are available at this site, cost $18.50 for adults and $12.50 for kids.

Super Bowl NFL Experience Link To Original Post