Latest / CONversations with Coffee / S1 Episode 19: How to Tell If an Autograph Is Real (JSA Expert Explains)

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S1 Episode 19: How to Tell If an Autograph Is Real (JSA Expert Explains) · CONversations with Coffee

• British Liz: I don't don't necessarily go for the flavoured teas, just the boring tea, which Kent always teases me about. KENT: And I have it on tape right now. James Spence III: there's a there's a good tea British Liz: stop. James Spence III: yeah no but there's there's certain qualities of teas right you have twinlings what what is it called twin twinle twinings okay that that British Liz: Twinings. Twinings, yeah. James Spence III: just goes to show you how how my tea expertise but that's that's probably the most popular brand right of teas British Liz: I don't know. it's respected, certainly, but th James Spence III: Okay. British Liz: the tea I drink is called PG Tips. It's so KENT: Generic. British Liz: no, not generic. Baseline. Yeah. It's just a standard, it's James Spence III: Costco brand. KENT: It's a standard a baseline. British Liz: it's yeah, it's you know, when you go to the store and you're shopping this says tea, that's what you grab. You don't grab, you know, oolong, whatever. You just KENT: Yeah, you do. Good people get good quality stuff versus standard generics. I don't go and buy folgers. I go and get craft coffees and specialty coffees because I want to enjoy life and try different things and and experience different tastes and flavors. I don't want the generic. If I wanted generic, I'd British Liz: Well I find I find KENT: have folders every day for the rest of my life. British Liz: Well, I've found what I like and I stick with it. Does that make me boring? Does that make me boring? KENT: That's why you're for Briz, fake British James Spence III: No, that's just gotta be happy. KENT: Liz. British Liz: Ha ha James Spence III: Huh. Yummy fooled, British Liz. KENT: Well, awesome. I am your host, Kent, and this is Conversations with Coffee. And I am here with my co-host. British Liz: British Liz, the tea drinker, yes, KENT: Yes, she had to think about that for a second. British Liz: the tea drinker, except not this morning. Not this morning. KENT: what? You're actually drinking coffee? British Liz: I am drinking coffee. Well because because our guest James is a coffee drinker, a coffee connoisseur. So I thought in his honour I would actually go with tea. KENT: Have some coffee. British Liz: So yeah, go with some coffee. I mean it's just KENT: see. British Liz: curing. It's nothing special. But KENT: I know. James, I heard that you are a coffee connoisseur, so how deep does your coffee connoisseur run? James Spence III: Yeah, it's it's pretty wild. I I've got a whole chemistry experiment in my house and my wife and I, we We we we play, yeah, we play chemist every morning. We we make sure that our water is set to 195 degrees. We only use filtrated water, we use bleached filters. we do manual pour through devices called like the ChemX and a Kaleda Wave or a V60. KENT: Mm-hmm. James Spence III: It's it's a slow pour just to make sure that you know you're distributing the water evenly over the the freshly ground coffee beans. We we use a burr grinder as opposed to a a blade. And yeah, I mean I I only have one one one cup of coffee every morning and it it's perfect for me. And it tastes absolutely delicious. And I get all of my beans sourced from local local KENT: Guatemala. James Spence III: places. No yeah they and they get them s sourced from from farm to trade. Yeah KENT: I'm surprised you don't cook your own beans too. Or roast them. James Spence III: it That that's something that a couple of my buddies do. It just takes a lot of time and KENT: Does it James Spence III: I have to focus on on autograph authentication. I can't I can't be too hyper focused on on roasting my own beans and doing all that stuff. KENT: Yeah, but you have your buddies, so they can roast them and then distribute them to you and then you can make your coffee through the filters and everything else. this is how it's done, Liz. This is how it's done. British Liz: Yeah. James Spence III: Yeah. can can I'm already I'm already doing that. My my buddies do send me some of their their freshly roasted beans that they're getting sourced from, you know, anywhere anywhere along, I think it's it's the Tropic of Capricorn. so you have places in Guatemala, you KENT: Okay. James Spence III: have places in in West Africa, you have KENT: Yeah, yeah. James Spence III: places in Brazil, like a certain altitude is required to to grow like some of the best beans in the world. KENT: What's the most exotic coffee you've ever had? James Spence III: the most exotic, not the best tasting, but the most exotic is the the coffee that comes out of the Philippines. And you you guys have probably heard about this where the I guess they have some kind of primate that will eat the beans and then KENT: Mm-hmm. James Spence III: the the it they take the feces and they Yeah. I I reluctantly I reluctantly tried tried that. British Liz: And do what with it? Grind it up and make coffee? James Spence III: It's it's some kind of delicacy. I I didn't see the you know, I I it didn't taste bad, but it it did wasn't just mind blowing like like some of the stuff that I've Yeah, what did you think of it? KENT: Right. I had some of that when I was in Bali. And I didn't know. My buddy's like, let me get you this coffee. You're gonna love it. And he goes, It's a little different. He goes, Let me have you drink it first, and then I'll tell you about it. And I was like, What? Yeah. So there James Spence III: Yeah. KENT: the monkeys eat the beans and It's the monkey, so I'm not sure, but yeah, because it burns through their stomach and stuff like that when it comes out the back end, then they grab the beans out of the extraction and then they cook So yeah. James Spence III: Yeah, yeah they rose some is I guess it's not as barbaric as foie gras, but it's KENT: Right, right. James Spence III: it's a delicacy. British Liz: I it this is a world a world I I'm not sure that I need to go into. KENT: I brought s I brought some of that coffee home, James, and I shared it with a couple of friends and I was like, Here, you gotta try this coffee and they're like, it's so good. What is it? Then I told them, they're like, Nope, I don't want any more. James Spence III: Yeah. It's monkey doo doo. British Liz: that's funny. my goodness. KENT: Yeah. I'm like well, you've already you've James Spence III: So that KENT: already tried it, so the worst the worst is over. British Liz: Yeah. James Spence III: Yeah. British Liz: well, can't I should properly introduce you to Jimmy? KENT: yes, please. British Liz: Yes, okay, so James Spence the Third is Senior Vice President of James Spence Orn Authentication, the premier autograph authentication authority and a mainstay of conventions the world over. James is overseeing the technological evolution of JSA's authentication. Using data driven tools to enhance accuracy, which we will unpack later. An avid collector himself, he owns signed record albums, iconic items signed by Mr. T, Sean Connery, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, as well as lots of sports memorabilia. Now Jimmy, seeing that JSA has been around for four generations, I think you said. Yep. KENT: Hold hold up, Liz. Hold up. I I wanna give you a applause for writing getting that all done and written up and a great introduction for Jimmy. So Woo! I'm giving hey Liz, I'm giving you kudos on the on the podcast. All right, now go go ahead, Al British Liz: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Wow, for for once, for once. So seeing as how it's been around for quite a few years, did JSA get its start with sports memorabilia? James Spence III: It yes, it did. we we started JSA in May of two thousand and five and my father started the company, James Jr. was the actually technically the third James Spence. My great grandfather was a collector and his name is James Spence, but he had a different middle name. So so my father started JSA in in yeah over twenty years ago and We we we were sports enthusiasts. You know, we we collected baseball, boxing, hockey, football, Olympics and and and at the time, you know, a lot of like entertainment, a lot of comic related signatures just weren't popular to collect. Obviously comic book collecting was was huge and CGC comic grading was was around and and and thriving. but the the whole authentication of signed comic books just didn't register with a lot of comic collectors. You know, they almost see saw it as, yeah, you know, I met Jack Kirby. and yeah, he signed my book, but it really doesn't add any value. I mean, he just scribbled on my book. I mean it was almost like that that type of mentality and and it and that might still happen with with comic book collectors, but I think as As we grew as a company, and started to explore into the Comic Con world and I looked at all the autographs being signed and I saw the amount of forgeries in the entertainment industry and the music industry. And just from our dealings and going to different shows and traveling all all over the the country, we were introduced to some of the experts that that work for us that are consultants for us. You know, we we were introduced to entertainment, modern entertainment autograph enthusiasts, vintage Hollywood entertainment enthusiasts, people that just focused on Marilyn Monroe and, you know, Gene Harlow and you know, there's there's a lot of authentication work that is needed in that sector. So I I I think, as we grew, we we educated the the masses and there's new collectors on their way up and they saw value in signatures. They saw, hey, you know, I have this this book that's signed by Jack Kirby. This this thing should be worth more money. You know, he only went to a finite KENT: Mm-hmm. James Spence III: amount of shows. And most of the time, I'd say 99% of the time, he always signed one of the inside pages. he never would sign the front cover. It was it was taboo at the time to ever sign, you know, a front cover of a of a comic book. And Stan Lee did the exact same thing. In fact, it's really cool to see Stan Lee and Jack Kirby on the same page because some of these guys did cross British Liz: Yeah. James Spence III: paths at at at some of the local comic book shows. And they were very approachable. And I don't even think they charged anything for their autograph, they were just half. I'm happy that you were, a a fan and and you were buying the book. But KENT: Mm-hmm. James Spence III: that's that's that's in short, that's that's how we we evolved into who we are today and and that's how we got C C G's attention. British Liz: Now C C is the let's see, what what is w what what does that stand for? Cer James Spence III: I know there's so many acronyms. British Liz: certified collectibles group. Yes. James Spence III: Yes. Yeah. So that is our parent company. KENT: So what makes that them okay, so they're the parent company. 'cause a lot of our subscribers and listeners wonder what's the difference between C C G and JSA? Like James Spence III: Yeah. So CCG is is is the the parent company that that underneath that has all the different verticals that you see. CGC, PMG that does paper money, NGC, and that was the first vertical that that CCG developed for coin coin collecting. and we also British Liz: so they do everything. Okay. James Spence III: Yes, yeah. We we do almost everything. there there are a few there there are a few collectibles out there that we do not certify just because it's it's so hard to find respectable experts that will work for KENT: Mm-hmm. James Spence III: you full time and be able to facilitate that. so you gotta be ready. You know, if you're if you're you know, a a big company like C C G you have to be ready to To have the expertise available and announce that you are going to be authenticating tickets. Because there's a ton of fake tickets out there. And you know, if we authenticate a fake ticket, that's a black eye, you know, and we we want to reduce, in fact, eliminate any of those mistakes. it's it's British Liz: events tickets? James Spence III: event tickets, yeah, mus music British Liz: say Super Bowl and stuff like that. James Spence III: Yeah, they don't make them anymore. Everything's on your, you know, your Apple wallet. British Liz: True. Yeah. James Spence III: and it's so confusing on how to activate that thing. I don't know if you guys have gone to a recent like, you know, game or event, but it's like KENT: It's a pain in the butt. Yeah. James Spence III: you need two factor authentication. You need to download this app, you need to get email verification, and it's just but KENT: And and it's always ch changing too. Like it it you can't do a screenshot and hold on to it. It's always changing so that it can't be duplicated But people like me and Liz and and James Spence III: Yeah. KENT: probably you, Jimmy, you know, we're so used to tickets, you know, because we collected those things. We wanted to put it up on our our cork board, to show our friends all the concerts or all the places that we went. And nowadays What what do you have to show? you do a screenshot, I went here. that that's the way technology's going and it's like kinda missing the James Spence III: Yeah. KENT: old school stuff. James Spence III: Yeah, yeah. And yeah, it's it's a shame because the last thing I want to do at a concert and I see it happen all the time, people will just have their phone up filming the concert and they're not enjoying it. you gotta you gotta you're there for a reason. you're not there KENT: Yes. James Spence III: to look through your phone. You're there to watch Pink Floyd and just be totally enamored by the sound and the and the visuals. it's it's just a fantastic experience. And I I really enjoy going to concerts. I'm I'm an avid concert goer. You know, they we we get a pretty good lineup here in in West Palm Beach. So but and that's the reason KENT: Yeah. Well here James Spence III: why I collect signed signed albums, signed record albums. KENT: Yeah. Even here in Nashville, we get a lot of good music And I can attest to what you said. I just went to a post Malone concert at Nissan Stadium, and this girl sitting in front of me took a little video of it, was looking th at her phone, and then went into Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook and posted that video, and then the whole time she's sitting there. She's looking at her TikTok, her Instagram, and Facebook to see how many people are commenting, liking and stuff. And I'm I'm sitting there and wow, you are really missing the whole experience of this concert. And it wasn't just her, it was James Spence III: Yeah, I think KENT: several kids around. And I was like, Wow, the concert realm has changed because everybody's got their phones up, they're recording everything, but they're not experiencing the whole idea of what a concert's for. James Spence III: Yeah. Yeah, they're almost like not even British Liz: Well yeah, isn't James Spence III: listening to the music. They they're just KENT: Mm-hmm. James Spence III: waiting for that those short little dopamine rushes by seeing how many likes they get. And I very rarely go on social media anymore. It's it's I in fact I I took them off my my home screen. I just don't I I think it's just a giant waste of our time. it's it's great for businesses and you're getting the word out that your company's gonna be in Spain. but I just think it just makes us all so inefficient and it probably makes us less happy. So let's let's just continue to KENT: Yeah. Speaking Yeah, British Liz: Well, if you're waiting for waiting for likes is a very KENT: yeah. British Liz: emotional and risky business, isn't it? KENT: Well, Liz, he just brought up Spain. James Spence III: Yeah. KENT: And I know JSA CGC was in Spain because I was just there as well for San Diego Comic-Con Malaga. And wow, it was crazy. I actually, if you give me one second, Jimmy, I have this photo. Let me see if this comes up. I I want to show how how many people there were. there it is. It's showing up. Look at that. Look at all the people lined up around the table. people on the left have their phones. There's you can see the Funkos and everything like that. People were lined up around the booth. I went over just to say hi to Nick, because I had like 20 minutes to run over, say hi. He was at lunch, but I just had to take a picture of how busy your booth was. in how important it is that even in Spain people are getting pictures and and stuff like that. So James Spence III: Yeah. No, it it you know, any any time we we go to a new area of the world, I I'm always very curious on how you know how how the customer will react. You know, if they know us, if if they're going to if we're gonna get a ton of business there. And this is the second time we did SDCC in in Malaga and we We absolutely crushed it this year. Last year was was okay. and it was one of the reasons why we only sent one JSA representative out out there. I mean, we had a KENT: Mm-hmm. James Spence III: huge booth and there was a lot of CGC representation and we're all one company. We we're we're very cross functional. But our our guy our JSA guy got so slammed that he he had to grab some of his teammates that were Yeah, they were taking in comic books or or cards and it's just a wonderful, wonderful thing. And we're we're gonna continue to globally expand. You know, I I we're just talking about going out to Germany. There's a big Comic Con in Germany. I'm not sure if you guys have ever been to been to that one. It's it's coming up. I think it's coming up in November. British Liz: which show is that? James Spence III: it's yeah. No, it's it's a German KENT: German Comic Con? Just kidding. British Liz: Yeah. Is it Berlin or something? James Spence III: it it's a German name. It's but it's in Munich. Yeah, yeah, it's British Liz: in Munich. okay. Ooh. James Spence III: but if if you look up any of the big Comic Cons, especially the one that's gonna happen in November, it's KENT: Mm-hmm. James Spence III: probably one of Germany's biggest Comic Cons and I was I was on a call with the promoter a few years ago and and they were like listen the demand for JSA is here. We don't have any respectable authenticator here and and people want to certify their autographs, they want to certify their stuff that they bought online that they're still curious about. we we all buy autographs, right? and not all of them come with certification sometimes. People will go to a concert and get a an autograph from Dave Matthews and then say, All right, you know what? I I wanna make a couple bucks on this thing. Just throw it on eBay, uncertified, and it'll sell at value. And you know, it's that's kind of that's kinda how this this game works. but it but what British Liz: I was KENT: It it's Comic Con Stuartgard twenty twenty six. Stuttgart, British Liz: Stud okay. James Spence III: That's it. KENT: yes. James Spence III: Yeah, yeah, you said that perfectly, Liz. British Liz: What I was I was thinking about the whole resale thing, you know, because I always sort of assumed that if you get your autographs on something to resell, like often happens with pops or toys, stuff like that, that an authentication would be a good idea because it would add value. You'd know it's authentic. But if you're not a reseller or not a habitual reseller, like me, you know, I have files and files of autographs not authenticated. They're kind of for me. But at some point in the future, I mean, is it a good idea to get them authenticated? Because, you know, when I'm when I'm gone, you know, when those actors are gone. Which has is the case with some of them. Is it a good idea just to c cover my bases, make sure my investment is safe, I suppose? James Spence III: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, no, i it's inevitable. We're we're gonna have to give this stuff to somebody. We can't be buried with it. and we British Liz: maybe I can. James Spence III: and you know what happens a lot and I I see this all the time because we've been doing this for a long time and I do a lot of different house calls. I orchestrate a lot of lot of business all throughout the world. Most some of these calls, and most of them, but some of these calls are from the sons and the daughters of one of their parents that collected autographs. And they're KENT: Mm-hmm. James Spence III: like, I just have no interest in this. I'm gonna keep a few things that that mean a lot to me, but you know, my dad's got a a a house filled with signed comic books and I just you know, this is not my thing. but I I do wanna wanna move this stuff. It it's taking up so much room in my house and my father loved it, but And now it's just not their passion. So we we do see that a lot and none of it's authenticated. And we'll go in there and you know, everybody's collection isn't perfect. it'd be hard to find somebody that Has a bunch of autographs that got every single one of those autographs in person because you're always going to get a gift from somebody. Hey, I I heard you love Robert Downey Jr. Here's a Robert Downey Jr. signature. It's like, okay, thank you, but how do you it has no certification on it? How do you know that it's real? So there's always a few autographs in somebody's collection that fails. And sometimes it's the entire collection. I've been to certain house calls where every single autograph in their entire collection collection failed our authentication process. Yeah. Try to find good news out of that conversation. British Liz: how awful Ugh James Spence III: Try to be remain positive while you're while you're going through that authentication. But you know the I I always I always lean on, hey, where where did you get this stuff from? Is is the company KENT: Mm-hmm. James Spence III: still in existence? know a lot of companies out there you approach them with an autograph and it failed JSA no problem. I I wanna keep you as a customer. Here's a full refund. Here's a credit for your troubles. I hope to see you again soon. Sorry for the inconvenience. a lot of companies are now doing that. but you know back in early days of authentication. there was it people people it was so new that people didn't accept it and KENT: Mm-hmm. James Spence III: anything that failed, British Liz: yeah. James Spence III: they would get really upset and they just didn't want to believe that we failed their their Stan Lee autograph. And and there were times where, you know, I I've I've seen like, you know, physical altercations with some of our our teammates. Yeah. British Liz: Really? James Spence III: it just got that crazy. But now it's very rare to see something like that. We're so well established and British Liz: yeah. Yeah. James Spence III: we as accurate as as we we've ever been. And KENT: How many points or how many things do you have to look at to make it authentic? meaning like you you said that one family had nothing that cleared the the standards. So how many steps do you guys gotta go through to authenticate one autograph? James Spence III: Yeah. So in that particular situation they were all signed c guitars. So he had like a full sign Fleetwood Mac, he had a full signs Pink Floyd, he had a full sign Led Zeppelin and you just the list goes on. Like I think he he had like a a Jimi Hendrix signed guitar, which I've never seen. I don't think they even exist. but They and they were all on very similar guitars and he all bought them from the same person and the same company. And you know, there it was just like British Liz: For an astronomical amount, I imagine. Each one must have been astronomical. James Spence III: Yeah. And and an another point even though it's very expensive, some people some collectors think this, like I you know, the that piece was ten thousand dollars. It's only worth like eight thousand, but I paid ten thousand because how could you sell something for how can you sell a fake for that much money? Most forgers or most you know people are gonna try and push fakes, they're gonna sell stuff at at a very reduced rate, right? That's not British Liz: Yeah, yeah. James Spence III: the case all the time. You know, I see KENT: Mm mm. James Spence III: I see some stuff where it's it's terrible. I mean there's horrible forgeries, but the prices are so high and that that could fool that can play a little psychological trick on you and that British Liz: Absolutely. KENT: Mm-hmm. James Spence III: that was the case here where in fact it was right up in Delray beach i mean not too far away from here in in Fort Lauderdale where where we encountered that and it was it was an uncomfortable it was uncomfortable situation but British Liz: Yeah. James Spence III: he knew that this is good peace of mind. I have all this stuff that I bought. I spent a fortune on it. I'm gonna pursue getting some kind of recourse on it. And I know not to give this to my daughter. Like I I otherwise like that would be a terrible experience if the daughter had to rely on that that collection and it's worth nothing. And we've KENT: Mm. James Spence III: I've seen that happen before. So you see some some crazy stories. but you know we're we're just on a quest to to educate and I guess that's that's what we're doing now. British Liz: Yeah, absolutely. So so what is the process? Kent mentioned, the points of proof or whatever. But w w I give you a sheet of paper with Kurt Russell's autograph. What what would you do with James Spence III: Mm. British Liz: that? Apart from Kurt Russell's across the room and I just got it signed. Okay. James Spence III: Great, great example. Yeah, I know, great example. so yeah, no, I know Ken, you you asked this question. I kinda went off on a tangent. So try to pull me back sometimes. I got I get I you KENT: No, no, no. She clarified it better than me, so British Liz: Ha ha ha. James Spence III: could hear you could see the wheels turning in my brain every time I'm I'm asked a question on on autograph authentication because this is all I do. British Liz: Ha ha ha. James Spence III: And and brew coffee. But so we'll we'll we'll British Liz: Yeah. James Spence III: get we'll get Kirk Russ Kurt Russell, and we'll see what what item it's on. You know, if it's on a photograph, if it's on a prop, if it's on a cut, if it's an album page, and then we'll determine when when this piece could have been signed. there's certain photographs that have the date on the back. There's certain props that might have a a year on them printed on there. Or you just know by, you know, the movie that it couldn't have been printed before this because the movie came out in two thousand two. You know, and then you know a lot of album pages. Yeah, people used to collect autograph albums. I'm sure you've seen that. You see a lot of like Hollywood actors, a Ricardo Monthelbon, you know, the you know, people would would walk around with albums and and get them signed by by Hollywood stars. And it was all just to prove that you met this person before phones, before the, you know, I'm gonna get a picture with with Post Malone, British Liz: Before selfies, yeah. James Spence III: you would get him to sign your your autograph album. so and but most of the time they'll they'll date it. They they used to date They're they're in in addition to maybe personalizing, they would date. So British Liz: Yes they did, didn't they? Yeah. James Spence III: this helps our authentication process tremendously. It's very important to date the item. It's not fair to compare an autograph that was signed forty years ago to what it looks like today. Kirk Russell's did you say Kirk Russell or Kirk Douglas? Kurt Russell, right? Yeah, British Liz: Russell. Yeah. James Spence III: okay. So his his autograph has deteriorated over time. KENT: Mm-hmm. James Spence III: and you could see the the you know the evolution from you know when he first became famous and you know how how fluid it was and you know it's and British Liz: Well, he was a kid, wasn't he? So James Spence III: yeah, no yeah. and he's it's it's it's a highly collectible autograph. You know, he's got many movies out there that, you know, people they're cult following. So the demand is out there and forgers will target that. And they're gonna target certain They're gonna target if it's a photo, they're gonna target certain movies, the most popular movies, right? They're not gonna target his his his worst movies of all time. So that's another thing to just be cautious on. And what what we're hyper focused on too is that you know the percentage of forgeries goes up when if it's a popular item. We'll look at you know the fluidity of the autograph, the conviction, if there's any hesitation, if there's any odd pen lifts, is there's any like any type of retrace where there shouldn't be the transition between the letters, the baseline. Sometimes people have you know an elevated baseline on certain letters of their name when you compare and contrast the entire autograph. British Liz: What what what does that mean, elevated baseline? James Spence III: So say say you're writing your your your L in Liz and then as you make the I you you might dip the I below the bottom of the L or you might elevate the I. So if you look at like the bottom of the I and the bottom of the L, just watch how consistent you are with with that that positioning of of those letters. So that's that's one thing that we look at. British Liz: Okay. James Spence III: And then the spacing between the letters sometimes, you know, we'll we'll we'll notice that there's there's a certain gap between the first letter and the second letter of the first name, or you know, the last letter British Liz: Interesting. James Spence III: of a l a name. There might be a a a gap in comparison to the other letters. and then the sizing of and the sizing of the letters. So KENT: Mm. James Spence III: the L, the L might be biggest letter in in your name out of out of the three letters. or the Z. You might make this giant Z and it's always consistently bigger than the L. So British Liz: Right. James Spence III: forgers tend to not pick up on those little nuances that we you know this is a proven method of of how you authenticate a signature. British Liz: Right. James Spence III: and there's certain angling of your your autograph. you know if British Liz: And and you had you had mentioned yesterday like a database of examples of e James Spence III: Yes. So British Liz: yeah. James Spence III: that's our most important tool here at JSA. British Liz: Mm-hmm. James Spence III: It's it's the JSA exemplar database and it's filled with everybody you could possibly imagine. You know, any notable person that you know that was was available to sign autographs. You know, some of the earliest autographs out there, I think they you know some of the early signatures that we've authenticated, like William Penn, you know, going back to British Liz: Wow. James Spence III: to hundreds of years ago. KENT: Mm-hmm. James Spence III: and just different land documents that they would sign, just to prove that that this person had ownership of this this amount of land. but it's g it gets really cool, you know, with what we see and but a a lot of those things are are are calculated in our decision and some of them go very quickly. You know, there's there's certain autographs where, you know, I'll see a hundred Jim Lee's or a hundred you know, like fifty different comic books are all signed by John Romita Junior and we'll we'll be authenticating those and you know you'll see the consistency and we've seen his autograph so many different times is on the same comic book. but you know w w when we see a a dit go you know you have to really analyze it and get other opinions too. one authenticator, especially on a on a big item like a Ditko, you know, doesn't have the full say to make that conclusion. You know, we we wanna have we want to make sure that we're all aligned before we make that decision because once we authenticate it, once we put it in that CGC JSA slab, it sells for significant money and it should sell for s significant money because of the amount of forgeries that are out there. British Liz: So there really are a lot of forgeries. I mean, I suppose it makes sense if, you know, anybody could put pictures of Kurt Russell with a signature online and say, Hey, this is a hundred bucks or something. I mean, there's really many, many, many of them. Who w what would be the most common, would you say? Or is that hard to say? James Spence III: somebody, I saw I no, no, it's it it it all depends on the value of the autograph, you know, and and there are a good amount of Kurt Russell forgeries out there, but there British Liz: Really? James Spence III: are more forgeries of and I saw a statue behind you, Liz, Michael Jackson. There's tons of forgeries on Michael Jackson, especially with any British Liz: yeah, there he is. Really? KENT: Mm. James Spence III: type of movie that comes out where it gets people's emotions, you know, running and they want a Michael Jackson autograph. They a thriller album signed. They want one of those iconic albums. and now, you know, I just saw a piece, it was a it was a a photograph of when, you know, he was in the Jackson Five. He must have been seventeen years old and he already had a fan club, you know, he had a well established fan club. And If you won a certain contest, you would get a signed Michael Jackson photograph. But this is like a vintage Michael Jackson autograph, which tends to go for for more money 'cause there's fewer out there. And that style is is just, you know, it's it's a rare style of of signatures 'cause it's from his childhood. So I saw saw one of those sell for close to eight thousand dollars. And that's just a photograph signed by Michael Jackson that we authenticated. And I still think that that kind of stuff is undervalued. British Liz: Yeah, in fact when you said eight thousand it seems enormous, but really very rare. And obviously he's gone. So that w I would have thought maybe higher than that even. KENT: and this just sitting here listening and as you're talking about the autographs and stuff like that, and Liz and I work with the talent all the time. obviously there's evolution of the autograph as well from the talent, because when they first start, they're writing really nice cursive And as they get more and more popular, the autograph probably gets more and more sloppier, and more of a just a scribble because they've got a instead of signing 20 autographs, now they're signing 200 autographs and they get tired of it. So they just like Johnny Depp, his autographs like that. And and you you can watch videos on social media where they come out of Saturday Night Live. And I've literally seen a couple where it's just a squiggly line. And it's like, how do you authenticate something like that? Like unless there's a picture of them actually signing it. James Spence III: Yeah, very very good question. we we don't. We we can't authenticate something like that. If if it's a squiggle, then we'll we'll go inconclusive on something. that that's just like a pen check. and that happens a lot, especially nowadays where you have a celebrity that's trying to appease fans and they think that they're doing something that, you know, is is benevolent, but they're really just destroying all these photographs with like a a pen check versus like ha you know, taking their time and signing a respectable autograph. British Liz: Well, and and signing your two hundredth autograph in a day, surely that's not gonna be the same as the first one. James Spence III: Yes, yeah, very good point. Yeah, yeah. KENT: I don't know. And Jimmy could probably attest to this. LeVar Burton has the most extravagant autograph you'll ever see. It's beautiful. James Spence III: It's beautiful. Yeah. British Liz: Really? KENT: He takes his time. it's a LeVar Burton. James Spence III: Yes. KENT: my God. And it's so much detail. James Spence III: I I'd love to ask him where where he learned how to do that. where he learned how to sign his his name. Because you ask a lot of celebrities and and athletes, it's like, how did you develop your signature? And it's usually the case of how their mother signed their signature, how their father signed their signature. That's how you in the in the infancy of your life, okay, you have to sign your name. Okay, well, you the first person you look at is like who's raising you? You know, what how do you sign? your name. So British Liz: Interesting. James Spence III: you you do have some very strong characteristics most of the time of your your mother, your father, your grandmother, who whoever was very close to you and and taught you how to how to read and write. And you'll see the same thing with your your your brothers and sisters. They they might have very similar handwriting and and similar sim similar signature style To to what you're doing. British Liz: You my my father's signature was an absolute mess of a squiggle. It was one of these, you know, just James Spence III: Yeah. British Liz: absolutely I'd I defy anybody to forge it. It was absolutely the worst. So growing up, my thought was, you're supposed to have a messy unreadable signature. That was my thinking. So I James Spence III: Yeah. British Liz: have a messy, unreadable signature. But Christy James Spence III: See that? British Liz: Christy Brinkley, I'm sure you've seen hers, James Spence III: Yeah. British Liz: is beautiful cursive. It's it's like she's just written her name in this beautiful hand. And and I was like, that's not messy James Spence III: Yeah, it's wild. British Liz: at all. I can read it. KENT: She's she's a model. It's gotta look good. Everything has to be perfect. British Liz: Well, true. And she is perfect. James Spence III: I heard I heard she's very, very nice and a pleasure to British Liz: yes. James Spence III: to work with and that's that's that's another cool thing about this business is you know you well sometimes uncool when you meet your idol. They this is this is like one of the worst things is to meet your idol because if you're if if that interaction doesn't go well, you're you're like absolutely crushed. but a lot a British Liz: Yes. I James Spence III: lot of the athletes and celebrities I've met have been just wonderful people. KENT: Yeah, speaking British Liz: Yes. KENT: of meeting the celebrities and idols and stuff, your personal collection is signed record albums from your favorite artist. And as the guy who's seen pretty much everything, what's the one album in your personal collection you've never you'll never let go of? And what's the one that got away that you're still hunting for? James Spence III: I'm a huge Stone Temple Pilots fan. and I've got the purple album. that's actually up there. KENT: I just saw those guys. James Spence III: You British Liz: you did? KENT: Yes, I did. yeah, yeah, yeah. Mm-hmm. James Spence III: can see it in the back. Yeah. So that's that's actually signed by Scott Wyland. And missing eric Eric Kurtz on that. So that I'm missing the drummer. I've got both the DeLeo brothers on there. So there's there's certain ones I I will absolutely never sell. And I just I there's certain albums that we grew up with that we're still listening to nonstop. And KENT: Mm-hmm. James Spence III: that's that's probably one of them. I I've got to try to think of another album, another set of albums that I I have that are just so special to me. you know, I've got I've got a few Depeche Mode albums. I I absolutely love that band. I saw them live a couple times. And yeah, no, it's it it's it's just a lot of fun collecting what you what you love, what you treasure and The fun thing about, collecting some of these albums is you can you can play them too. you can listen to them on your record player. That's KENT: Mm. James Spence III: another cool thing to just get rid of all electronics and and go rec an analog, yeah, exactly. That's the word I was looking for. KENT: Is there anything that you're really hunting for that you haven't gotten yet that you'd be like, I gotta find this? James Spence III: Yeah, I really I I I grew up with a fascination of Che Guevara when I was young and KENT: Mm-hmm. James Spence III: it's you know, the revolutionary leader born in Argentina and he's a revolutionary leader in Cuba. and there are a ton of forgeries out there of of a lot of Cuban material. There was one submission that just came into the office and we we see a lot of it too, because we're here in South Florida and there's a large population British Liz: yes. James Spence III: of Cuban Americans here and some of that stuff and it's it it's like highly illegal to have too. You know, y you know, British Liz: Is it? James Spence III: any type of any type of Cuban prop propaganda, even though it might be from like seventy or eighty years ago, the government is very funny about that kind of stuff. And I I think lawfully they can confiscate it from you. So when people correct, yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's just British Liz: You you mean our government? US government? Really? James Spence III: a product of Cuban. And I know that's lightened up a little bit over the past British Liz: Yeah. KENT: Mm-hmm. James Spence III: 50 years. And remember, we couldn't even have Cuban cigars here. that was that was taboo. But I think they're a lot British Liz: I think. James Spence III: easier to get now. but yeah, I would I would absolutely love like a like a photograph or or something, something with like some kind of like a any type of revolutionary like program signed by him and I I think it's fascinating. You know, I'm not not an advocate of, you know, everything that he was doing. He was, you know, he and I and I can't speak for that, but I I just I love history and I think it would be cool to have something like that. But there are a lot British Liz: Absolutely. James Spence III: of forgeries and and the it's funny, his signature is so small. And it's three letters. really didn't sign his full name. but it's it's one it's on my my want list. And they're out there and they sell for a lot of KENT: Mm-hmm. James Spence III: money, but I just have to find the right one where it's gonna display nicely in my office and you know I can can treasure continue to treasure his history. British Liz: Yes, extraordinary. And you mentioned the William Penn autograph. d do many of those come across your desk, you know, Washington or James Spence III: Washington, yes. there there are many out there. He did sign a lot of military appointments. You know, that was British Liz: that makes sense, yeah. James Spence III: that was a big thing for all the presidents to sign these these big documents and they weren't filled out by the president. The president would just sign the bottom. So you'll see A lot of those military appointments signed by George Washington, John Adams, Jefferson, John Quincy Adams. I mean, just go down the the list of all the presents. No sign Yeah, no no signed photographs. There's British Liz: But but no signed ph photographs, huh? James Spence III: there they're checks out there. There's signed checks of of George Washington. British Liz: Yeah, that makes sense. James Spence III: there's there's signed autograph letter stationaries, which are extremely rare where An autograph letter stationery is something that's completely filled out in the hand of the signer. And you can only imagine you only have so much time in the day for you to sit down and with your quill and and write out a full page. That's that's a good portion of George Washington's life right there. Which I think is really cool. you have British Liz: Mm-hmm. James Spence III: 15 minutes of this guy's life and you have it all on one page. but most of the time, you know, you'll see documents signs where it's just it's filled out by you know one of his secretaries and then he approves it and he signs it. And so we'll see a lot of cool stuff like that. But William Penn is is extremely rare. You know, we'll we'll we'll see that British Liz: I'm sure. James Spence III: once every like seven years. George Washington I probably see a real one probably every two months, three months, a new one will come across. British Liz: As often as that. James Spence III: Th there there are a lot of them out there. They've increased in value tremendously. and and so it's highly prone to forgery. I think And on on like a piece of paper or somebody the they used to cut the signature off of the documents before autographs became valuable. They would take like a full document that had all this historical significance and then they would cut the signature out. and that became a popular thing to to collect, you know, back in the early days of autograph collecting. So something like that that's like a a cut is probably the the low end of a George Washington autograph. And I don't think you could pick one up for less than like fifteen grand. British Liz: Wow. James Spence III: But even that, like like I said about the Michael Jackson, to me, that is undervalued. And if you look at a lot of these autographs, like George Washington, Jackie Robinson, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, just like the the goats of of life, like you you you you'll see an upward trajectory in their the value of their signature. Martin Luther King. you know could just name British Liz: yeah, my goodness. James Spence III: name anybody that that had an impact on this world. British Liz: Yeah. I I was wondering about you know, when somebody has passed away, is there an automatic increase in value? Say with Stanley, James Spence III: There's a certain s British Liz: for instance. KENT: Surge, probably. James Spence III: There's a surge. Yeah. A especially if it's unexpected. Kobe Bryant, for instance, KENT: Mm. James Spence III: when that happens, I've never seen such a a a long surge. it's continuing to surge. And he did sign a lot of autographs, but I don't think anybody would have predicted, him passing away at an early age. he was very healthy. His And and stuff like that happens and the autograph world reacts to it and the value just goes insane. British Liz: Yeah. So would you say William Penn would be the most valuable? What would be the okay, Kent's saying no. What would be James Spence III: Yeah. British Liz: the most valuable autograph you come across? James Spence III: So they're usually signed on something very significant. you know, we just I just was just taught just I I just wrote an article on Wilt Chamberlain's autograph. And he he had that famous hundred point scoring game and and you know, we scored a hundred points in one game and it was just absolutely crushing the record and and the actual scoring sheet. somebody owned and then had Wilt sign it. And in golden auctions that sold for over a hundred thousand dollars. But you know that that's there's there's autographs that have sold for millions of dollars. but I'm just kind of giving you like the i if if it were like a photograph signed by Wilt Chamberlain. It would be worth anywhere from two hundred dollars to a thousand dollars, just depending on how big the photograph British Liz: You're right. James Spence III: is, if you inscribe the stilt, if you inscribe HOF or anything like that. So it really has all to do with what is signed, how much handwriting is on there, and then the significance of the piece. British Liz: Well Yeah. So those guitars that unfortunately were fake, say you got a guitar, a genuine guitar s signed by all of Led Zeppelin, including John Bonham. What would James Spence III: Included John Bonham, yeah. I don't think I've ever seen one. British Liz: Yeah, they probably didn't do them. James Spence III: So like you gotta like let the market decide on that. People people British Liz: Yeah. James Spence III: get people get very crafty. You know, what they'll do is they'll take like an album page where people ran into Led Zeppelin because you could see it in all the different photographs when they were touring and people were getting like scraps of paper or programs or they didn't have like full albums. They just had KENT: Mm-hmm. James Spence III: anything that they would sign and you it was usually just a piece of paper. So Bonham would would sign that with the rest of the band and they'll get that bottom autograph and then they'll they'll embed it on a pit guard and you you can get Jimmy Page and Robert Plant and John Paul Jones to do that. British Liz: Yeah. yeah, so yes, n nothing so convenient as having I happen to have this guitar outside the stage door. Can you all sign it please? James Spence III: Yeah, it just it it it didn't happen like that. there might have been a British Liz: No. James Spence III: very particular situation where somebody had and it most of the time it's like a it's like a a performance played guitar that KENT: Mm-hmm. James Spence III: was gifted to them by Jimmy Page and then that person was just like, Yeah, you guys need to sign this now. Like it was just like a very special situation like that. seen on albums, album covers, but it just the autograph collecting wasn't as dynamic as as it is today. Like all you know you get so many different ideas of like what people are gonna sign and now they're doing their hand prints and then they're signing the autograph. I mean you see some pretty wild stuff. but Yeah, it's just how how creative you can get. And I I've seen British Liz: Yeah. James Spence III: people and dealers benefit from it tremendously just because they have an idea of how how they're going to get a celebrity that might be a twenty dollar autograph sign something that they could sell for two hundred dollars because of how special KENT: sure. James Spence III: this item is. KENT: just the Dukes of Hazards, they get the people who will car come up with the full car door and have them sign that or the hood or whatever it is. it's it's a rare, unique something different that it's not a piece of paper. Yeah. That's crazy. James Spence III: Exactly. Yeah. And we see we see a ton of that stuff. The the the cast of the Dukes of Hazard. British Liz: And and I've yeah, and I've I've yeah, the Dukes of Hazard, the Baby the Impala. there was I went to a show where they they had the car and they would have assorted actors sign the car from Supernatural. And so it's kind of they're building it and an authenticator is there every time with the little sticker. Can w wherever they sign it, you know, it's right there. So and then of course, you know, they they charge people to take a picture in the car and then they get in the car and there are all these signatures. So it's very fun for for people to s to see those on the on the cars, mystery machine and so forth. Yeah. James Spence III: yeah. No, it's it's it it's a big porn. KENT: So doing what you do, Jimmy, I mean, I I know you've seen a lot of stuff and I know you know, we're getting near our time to end our call with you and stuff because you know, you're a busy guy. But what's the most jaw-dropping or emotional charged item that's ever come across your desk or your team's desk where like everybody's like, dude, you gotta see this? I know it's You see so many things. James Spence III: Yeah, I was I wasn't prepared. I wasn't yeah, and you know, I get that question a lot and I'm always so underprepared to answer it because there's just so much that flows through that we see that's that's incredible. you know, we we've seen we've seen some some really, really cool stuff come through and and it could be, you know, music related, you know, I've I've seen Janice Joplin Love Letters. they KENT: Mm. James Spence III: she was in correspondence with one one person. And and it was you know, when she was traveling, she was always writing to this one this one guy and they were released. KENT: Lucky guy. James Spence III: They were they were released by, you know, I guess her family that held or the the person that she was writing to eventually let them loose and then they went into auction and now they're They're all separated now because I think they were they're selling them per lot. But that was interesting to see, you know, what what she was talking about, what you know, what was going on during her touring, how much she missed him. You could see like this the emotional connect. It wasn't just an autograph, it was her like her current state of of feeling like and and and what connection there is. So I British Liz: What an insight My goodness yes James Spence III: I find that stuff really cool. you'll see stuff that generals and military leaders, you know, throughout the world are are are commanding their their crew to do. And and you'll KENT: Mm. James Spence III: see that in you know printed on on a on a type letter stationary or a handwritten document like the George Washingtons that I saw. So I think that that that personal touch where it actually has a meaning or like a direction or or or s or purpose and then they sign it, I think that's some of the coolest stuff that we see here at JSA. KENT: Mm. British Liz: Yes, well it's literally you say slice of life, but it's a slice of somebody's life, an insight into James Spence III: Yeah. British Liz: who they are. that's much more than a scribble on a photograph, isn't it? Yeah. James Spence III: Exactly. Yeah. That's that's the way I always explain it. you're you're getting a slice of their life. You're that's a portion of their time that a person that you either admire or you just find interesting. it's it's it's cool to me to collect something like that versus like a trading card where it was manufactured by a company somewhere in the United States and that that that celebrity never had any inter interaction with that card. So why to me it's like why why is that worth something? KENT: Mm. James Spence III: it it was manufactured like in a printing press. British Liz: Yeah. James Spence III: but but I I still do collect a lot of unsigned stuff. I I collect c some some some comic books unsigned and some trading cards that I just follow the player. I just, you know, love the player. KENT: Mm. British Liz: So so I'm in closing, I know we we we're near the end of our time here, but if you had advice to one of our listeners going to a con, KENT: Mm-hmm. British Liz: possibly for the first time, what would you what would you say to them if they were had a list of celebrities that they wanted to collect autographs of? James Spence III: Develop a budget before you walk into the Comic Con. Cause this British Liz: Okay. James Spence III: this cause this can get completely overwhelming. And it's an addiction like gambling. I I've seen a lot of people just spend an insane amount of money on signed collectibles. And you know, to the point where they're hiding hiding it from their wife. They're like, They're they're not they're not, being so so transparent with how much money they've spent in in this in this industry. It's so yeah, definitely walk before you walk in, develop a budget and then develop a focus on what you are looking for. Because it's easy to walk down the aisles of New York Comic Con and be like, my god, look at that comic book. I want that. it's a thousand dollars. you know what? Yeah, no, I've always wanted that. And then you know, you walk down the other aisle and you see Assigned Funko Pop by Mark Ruffalo and you're like, wow, that's so cool. I'm a huge Hulk fan. I'm gonna buy that too. That's $500. And then it's just you're randomly buying stuff. So have a focus and collecting is is so enjoyable when when you're able to like you know come up with a theme and then you're always looking for that. that one grail that's so hard to find. And it might take you 10 years, but the moment that you find one, it's like the most overwhelming feeling in the world where you're you're like you now have that in your collection. I think that that just that quest of of finding something so rare and then you find it is just it's like a treasure hunt. KENT: Yeah. It's something that you want to put on your mantle and show everybody that comes over to your house. James Spence III: Yeah, exactly. Other other autograph enthusiasts 'cause I I'll KENT: Yes. James Spence III: I'll often you know, I a lot of the listeners to this podcast are are all collectors, you know, so it's easy to talk to this community and they understand exactly what we're saying. They all have, you know, cool stuff behind us. I see signed bats and you know, all cool signed figurines. I've got Mr. T signed figurine over here and I I just I love it. But you know, I'll bring some of my buddies that you know that don't collect this stuff and they they kind of look at me like I'm crazy. But when I show British Liz: Ha ha ha. James Spence III: when I show somebody that that has an interest, like that, that's that's cool. I and it sometimes it sparks them to to collect. They're like, this is this stuff is amazing. I want to do this, where can I buy this stuff? Where do where do I go? it brings that nostalgia back in their in their life. And it's it's just it's cool. I I love looking at my collection all the time. KENT: Yeah, I I actually I'm gonna move my camera just kinda over here. James Spence III: there you go. I didn't know you were a huge KENT: That's a mean Joe Green. James Spence III: I didn't know you were a big football fan and a baseball fan too. KENT: yeah. I I collect baseballs, footballs, basketballs, jerseys. I've got it. I like you, I've James Spence III: Yeah. KENT: kind of started in the sports realm and then moved into the celebrity realm. So I've got quite a collection. yeah. Like a lightsaber James Spence III: Yeah. Yeah. I l I love it. KENT: signed by David Prowser and James Earl Jones and you know, yes. Yeah, yeah. So yeah. James Spence III: Yeah, that's cool. British Liz: Really? Okay, that's impressive. Wow. I didn't know you had that. You know my birthday's coming up, Kent. Just saying, just saying. James Spence III: There you go. She needs a lightsaber behind her. KENT: Nope. Nope. You already have swords. James Spence III: Ha ha ha. British Liz: Well, I yeah, I have I have lots of I would say random autographs. I mean my big fandom is Lord of the Rings, but just over the years working with the different celebrities, meeting lots of celebrities, I've collected. lots and lots and lots of autographs. Not as many as Kent. But for me the yes, look at that. Lovely. for me I think the the the big the big want would be probably in McClellan but you James Spence III: Mm. British Liz: know obviously he doesn't do cons so much so James Spence III: He doesn't, but he signs he used to sign his mail. And he does a lot of signings for charity. Like I I don't KENT: Mm-hmm. James Spence III: think he believes in in profiting from his signature. So I I would look into that, Liz. I think that that's that's very attainable. KENT: Yeah, you to get creative for his stuff. James Spence III: Yeah. Yeah, you can just British Liz: Yeah. Yeah. James Spence III: simply just write a nice letter to him. Write a handwritten letter to him and you know, make sure it's going to the right address. And if it's Yeah, if if I I think handwritten letters like really hit hit you. When you receive a handwritten letter in the mail, you're KENT: Mm-hmm. James Spence III: you're gonna read that thing, right? You're like, whoa, this is this is kinda cool. Exactly. Yeah. KENT: 'Cause nobody does it. 'Cause nobody does it. British Liz: That's true. That's true. That's true. Hmm. KENT: Dolly was very famous British Liz: Yes. KENT: for that is if you hand wrote a letter, she'd sign sign a photo and then write back a letter to you. British Liz: Really? KENT: Yeah. James Spence III: Doll Dolly Dolly was a wonderful person. she did have a secretary that used to sign a lot for her. So just KENT: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. James Spence III: just you know, all the Dolly Parton fans out there, do a little bit of research and you if you're ever curious about the authenticity, you know, feel free to reach out to us, see where we're gonna be. We travel all over the country, all over the world. And pretty accessible to to check that out for you. KENT: Shouldn't you be on a flight to New York? James Spence III: No, I I I shouldn't say fortunately, but or or we British Liz: Ha ha ha. James Spence III: have a crew we have a crew up there. I've I've actually never been to New York Comic Con. I I would love to go, maybe next year. but I gotta be very selective. KENT: He's the president vice president of the company's like, no da He's busy enough. British Liz: Yeah. James Spence III: No, you know what? My my brother, there's a Spence there, so it we're we're good. My brother Ryan, he's gonna be doing a panel there and he's gonna be there up there with one of our authenticators, Chris Fisher, who actually manages the CGC JSA Comics division and he's one of our lead KENT: Mm. James Spence III: authenticators there, making sure that all the Stan Lee autographs that are getting encapsulated are real and there's a ton of fake Stan Lee comic books out there. There's KENT: yeah. British Liz: are they? James Spence III: Yeah, so just be very careful when buying Stan Lee. We all know how wonderful of a man he was. And he would sign anything for anybody and just wanted to make the world happy, but yeah, there are people that took advantage of of the of his signature and so British Liz: Yeah. Yeah, well when when I got mine he was it wa I got the you know the package, the Stanley thing for Fan Expo years ago and it came with authentication. So so James Spence III: yeah. Yeah. British Liz: signed and then KENT: yeah, they used to sit next to us. sorry, Jimmy, I used to work with Stan Lee. So I would pass off the photo to Stan, James Spence III: Cool. That's awesome. KENT: Stan would sign it, Max would be would be on the side, and then the authenticator would be right there authenticating it. James Spence III: Yeah, with the silver stickers, the rounded silver stickers. Yeah, KENT: Yep. Yep. James Spence III: yeah, we'll see those. that's very cool. I didn't I didn't know that that you used to work with with Stan. You'll have to you guys will both will have to send me examples of the ones that you got in person. so we can add those to the JSA Exemplar database and and that goes for any any any, you know, big celebrity that you guys have met and and got signed in person and then British Liz: I can send you my Kurt Russell. James Spence III: And then you I I what's very important too, Liz, is to to let me know when you got got it signed. Because that British Liz: Yeah? what's that? James Spence III: right there will be in chronological order. That's Cheech and Chong. British Liz: Yeah. James Spence III: Those KENT: Yeah. James Spence III: guys are cool. Yeah. They KENT: Guys are awesome. James Spence III: they market themselves so well, for for how many movies they had. it's just it's a cult following. Just like Army of Darkness and Evil Dead and Maul Rats. I mean it's it's cool. I love that movie, Maul Rats. We're having Jason no no he's gonna be signed. We're KENT: Jason Mews. James Spence III: Jason Muse, he's gonna be signing at the JSA booth at New York Comic Con. So definitely KENT: Nice. James Spence III: if this if this podcast gets released before the end of the week, swing by, say hello. We're gonna have a bunch of other signers at with two two booths too. I think one is upstairs with Sig series. It's JSA and and CGC Sig series. And then there's the main booth with both JSA and CGC. And you KENT: Nice. James Spence III: could submit your anything and we'll we'll be there. We got a a full crew. KENT: Look at that. G S A L O A. British Liz: What's the LOA? What does that say? James Spence III: Yeah. So let yeah, letter of authenticity. KENT: Letter of authentication. British Liz: How duh course James Spence III: Yeah. Yeah. KENT: Ha ha ha. James Spence III: No, we we we I get that all the time. Like they always attribute it to AO AOL, you know, America Online. You heard that? You got mail. British Liz: Yeah. Yeah. James Spence III: You get those discs in the mail, they have like 500 free hours and then two weeks later it says thousand free hours. How how could you forget those pieces of mail that we used to get? KENT: Actually I've found one of those AL metal disc cartridge things they used to send in the mail. James Spence III: Yeah, who knows. I'd be curious to see what what they're selling for on eBay. It's weird. KENT: that's crazy. James Spence III: Like some some stuff sells for a lot of money and people have no idea that it sells for that much money. Like sealed KENT: Yeah yeah. James Spence III: VHS tapes, especially if it's like a first edition. If we if we can authenticate it at first edition, like back to the future. my god, these things sell for crazy amounts of money. British Liz: Really? KENT: Star Wars one. James Spence III: If it's C if it's sealed, if it's like we all opened the the cellophane on it. but yeah we we authenticate that stuff too. We CGC has a division of home video, we do D V Ds, we do Blu-rays, and we do VHS. Yeah. British Liz: Actually, I I was at a show a few years ago and I brought in a book that I had purchased at a yard sale. It was Into the Arena by Charlton Heston. And at this yard James Spence III: Mm-hmm. British Liz: sale, this lady says, Well, I put two dollars on it because it's signed. I went, I'll take it. And amazingly I took it and Ryan, I asked Ryan, I said, I have this book. What do you think? And he said was it signed in blue Sharpie? And I went, yeah. And he said, Well, possibly. So he took a look and he authenticated it and it was the real deal. I was I was just amazed. James Spence III: That's awesome. Yeah. You're talking about my brother Ryan, right? Yeah. Yeah, we've British Liz: Your brother Ryan, yes. Lovely. James Spence III: got like f five five Ryan's at at JSA. So British Liz: Yeah. James Spence III: we call them R one, R two, R three, R four. Otherwise it's that's why I'm British Liz: And is that why you're J three? James Spence III: J three. Yeah. My my dad is J two. Yeah. British Liz: I love it. KENT: Yeah. British Liz: Well, I it's been a treasure talking to you. Thank you so much for coming on. I feel like I could talk no, no worries, no worries. James Spence III: Absolutely. My pleasure. Sorry sorry for the mishap yesterday. it was it was I thought it was gonna go a lot smoother than that, but yeah, I'm happy that we rescheduled and we should t totally do this again because I feel like we we probably missed a few questions. KENT: Yeah, yeah. We always ask well, there's always more questions and the subscribers are our list our one listener. We British Liz: Yeah. KENT: always say one listener. you know, we always ask them, what would you like to hear? What would you like to learn? Because again, they might have a question that we didn't think of. And so, you know, by listening to this podcast, they can put comments in in the social media or in the podcast and let us know what would you like to ask Jimmy. next time he's on the show so that we can ask for you. So yeah, British Liz: Yes. KENT: that's that's awesome. And we'd love to have James Spence III: Yeah. KENT: you back because again, we'll bump into you at several shows and and we'll have some stories from that. And yeah, it's awesome. British Liz: And and listeners and watchers, please stop by JSA and get your autographs authenticated. you will not regret it. Absolutely. J JSA is it James Spence III: I appreciate that guys. Very warm, warm welcoming. British Liz: Yes, there are tons of shows all over the country, so do check them out for sure. KENT: Definitely. Awesome. Well, that is our time. I hope you guys British Liz: Yes. KENT: if you're listening, don't forget to like and subscribe. check out JSA when you're at the Comic Cons. Even if you don't have an autograph, go by their booth, say hi. Sometimes they have stuff on display that you can see that's been authenticated and and whatnot. It it's a cool booth to check out at least and just to see. what you can do w as you grow your autograph collection and stuff like that. So thank you, Jimmy, for coming on the show. British Liz: Thank you. KENT: Liz, it was great talking to you. James Spence III: Thanks guys. British Liz: Yeah, great talking to you as always. And KENT: All right, everybody. British Liz: we will see you next time. KENT: Bye. British Liz: Bye. James Spence III: Drink good coffee.