Jerry Lewis-private signing-get real autograph!

[StevenQ]

My wife talks to Todd on FB sometimes. I talked to him at Komickaze last year and he seemed like a decent guy. It's nice of him to offer to get anything for anybody. He goes to just about all the shows. The "private signing" prices are to steep for me, though.

[jason1980s]

Todd is one of the most reliable guys in autograph collecting.

As for the price, they are pretty high but to get a normally tough signer like Lewis or Van Dyke or Ed O'Neill, they have to be paid a high price. Then normally promoter has to charge a certain price to make up/break even or make a little money. Aside from a few of the big sports collecting companies, I don't think too many people really make a fortune on doing autograph signings. These companies want to help people obtain normally difficult signers' autographs.

[Wordsworth]

The Hollywood Show at www.hollywoodshow.com recently did private signings with Van Dyke, Ed O'Neill and Tim Curry. Is this Todd person affiliated with them because it seems odd that two different signings would be set up with Van Dyke and O'Neill very recently.

[jason1980s]

Todd has gone to Hollywood Show since the very beginnings when it was Hollywood Collector's Show under other management.

He has been dealing with the show, and on occasion celebrities and their agents and was able to help people obtain the autographs for people who may not have wanted to, or known to, go through HS. Personally, I would trust my items with Todd more than the bigger party involved in putting on the signing. With Todd, there's more personal care.

[Wordsworth]

Is there something wrong with the Hollywood Show, though? It's still authentic, right? I only ask because something was mentioned above about a member not wanting to deal with the Hollywood Show.

[jason1980s]

Yes, Hollywood Show is authentic. They put on two or three shows a year.

I can't speak for someone else on these boards but apparently HS did a signing with Tim Curry and there were problems with the handling of someone's items, according to what I read.

Hollywood Show, is alright IMO but there shows are lackluster IMO. When it was Ray and Sharon Courts running things they seemed to get HUGE A list names. Now with HS, it seems like B list names are the headliners and the B list are really C or D list that I've never even heard of.

[Wordsworth]

Yes, they did a private signing with Curry a couple of weeks ago.

I was pretty sure the signatures were authentic, but I was curious as to what the negative experience had been. I had an odd situation develop the last time I ordered from them. The first time had no problems, but the second time rubbed me the wrong way.

Around this time last year, I used their pre-order service to buy ten separate autographs. About two weeks after the show, I asked about the status and was told they would arrive soon, but that some were on backorder.

Not understanding how pre-ordered autographs from a show that already taken place could be on backorder, I emailed again and was told three of the celebrities left early. Fair enough, I guess, but I would have assumed that pre-ordered autographs would be a priority while the celebs were still there. Nevertheless, I've attended a ton of conventions in my life, so I know that controlling celebrities isn't always possible. I waited for the seven that presumably weren't on backorder.

Three photos arrived. I checked in again and was told that the others were coming separately. Then I got an email stating that one of the autographs just couldn't be got and I was refunded. Oddly enough, it was not for one of the celebrities I had been told had left early. It would appear then that more than three took off. Apparently, the showrunner was all over the place trying to fill my order...

Three more autographs arrived. I checked in again to make sure everything was okay. Was told he was still trying to get the others.

Finally, I ended up with two of the "backordered" autographs. The remaining one could not be sent because the celebrity in question died suddenly.

In the end, it took over two months to get eight of the ten autographs I pre-ordered before the show even happened. I appreciated the work that the showrunner went through to track down the people and get the autographs he did, though, obviously, he didn't want to lose a sale.

But the lack of detailed communication was the issue for me. Don't get me wrong, I got an answer every single time I emailed, but it was only ever the answer to the question I asked. I never got the whole story which, from what I can piece together, involved at least six of the celebrities either not showing up or taking off early before the pre-orders could be filled.

So, while I wouldn't discourage someone from ordering from them, I would advise to stay on top of things if your complete order doesn't arrive at one time.

[jason1980s]

What I heard was one guys comments about the Curry signing, where he ordered an item for a present for a family member, believing it would arrive in time and it never did. There was back and forth, like you experienced, with the guy trying to get basic answers but always seeming to get the run around.


I've really been out of collecting for a while but still check out Todd's posts of the show names and they're generally pretty disappointing to me. The old Courts' HSC got big names but a number of stars they had have passed or are too old/ill or maybe haven't been reached out to be current promoters. Now I look at the list of HS names and only recognize a dozen at most.

[Wordsworth]

I recognize quite a few of the names at the shows, but I focus a lot on character actors, especially those from old tv shows. Nevertheless, there are a lot of obscure ones, you are correct. Also, I do think that some of the older celebrities may not be able to make it all the time.

That being said, sorry about your friend's experience. I'd considered the Curry signing as he never does conventions or things like that, but passed. Did he ever get the autograph?

[jason1980s]

I recognize quite a few of the names at the shows, but I focus a lot on character actors, especially those from old tv shows. Nevertheless, there are a lot of obscure ones, you are correct. Also, I do think that some of the older celebrities may not be able to make it all the time.

That being said, sorry about your friend's experience. I'd considered the Curry signing as he never does conventions or things like that, but passed. Did he ever get the autograph?

I can't remember if he got it but thinking he did.
It wasn't a friend of mine, just something I read.

Curry's a tough signer, from what I've read. He did a play, IIRC Spamalot around mid 2000s, and a number of ttm successes were coming from there and they looked like the IP. But after the play, I've not heard of many, if any, successes ttm.