[fanficfan]

Hey, I just bought a 2008 Rittenhouse The Incredible Hulk Movie Expansion Card Set on ebay - with each set costing around $225 and having two autograph cards (Edward Norton and Lou Ferrigno) and six costume cards (Norton, Tim Roth, Liv Tyler, William Hurt, Tim Blake Nelson, and Ty Burrell). There are only 375 sets.

Info and Picture of the set here: http://scifihobby.com/products/marvel/incrediblehulk/

The card backs are sparse and just say "this is a costume card worn by _____" or "This limited edition card has been personally signed by ____." There are the traditional company logos on the bottom.

Now I get mine and I open it. I emailed Rittenhouse to insure that this was, in fact, a real set and that this WASN'T a facsimile autograph for Norton. They said that they did, indeed, have such a set and they really did get Norton to sign 375 cards, one for each set.

So I'm looking at this autograph. And it all seems too good to be true, really. I mean, the ONLY "official" Edward Norton auto?? You would think that something like this would be going for a lot more. I mean, come on. POSTERS go for around $100-$150 if they're authenticated. I take a close look at the autograph. Now I've never tried this before and I won't even pretend I can tell a real auto from a fake, but the blue ink looks too glossy. But it IS from Rittenhouse and it was in the Rittenhouse unopened clear wrapper when I received it from the Ebay seller.

My question is this. I have about two weeks of Ebay buyer protection to call foul if this is a fake Norton autograph - either by the ebay seller's design or by Rittenhouse itself. I want to get the Norton autograph verified. Can I send it to be graded by Beckett and have them authenticate it? Or does Beckett only look at the quality of the autograph rather than the authenticity? Would they send it back if they thought it was a fake? How can I tell if it's a fake?

Anyway, thanks in advance for any answers you might provide? All help is much appreciated!

- Joe

[alifaxwa2]

I will say with Rittenhouse, you have little to worry about UNLESS Norton had someone else do the signing for him.

But to answer your question, Beckett only does autograph grading, not authentication. You would have to send to PSA or JSA to have the autograph authenticated, but 2 weeks turnaround isn't likely without paying a premium.

Don't worry about the glossyness. I had that concern with a signed picture, I couldnt tell if it was a preprint or not. I used some acetone and tried wiping away a dot from an I and it wipe off. The glossyness is usual when dealing with Sharpies or Staedtler (sp?) pens.

Related to the pricing, you would be surprised how cheap these kind of non-sport sets autographs sell for, particularly for less popular films/tv shows, even when a big star may be included.
The fact is, more non-sport collectors prefer posters than cards.

[y2hood]

Yeah they sell pretty low. I had a BGS 9 of a recently departed celebrity short print americana card sell for under 5 bucks on Ebay.

[fanficfan]

So most likely, the card wouldn't be worth sending to PSA to grade? And I'm surprised on the poster leaning considering how difficult it is to ensure that an autograph is authentic even with a COA. Anyway, thanks, guys!

[joemarino20]

I will say with Rittenhouse, you have little to worry about UNLESS Norton had someone else do the signing for him.

But to answer your question, Beckett only does autograph grading, not authentication. You would have to send to PSA or JSA to have the autograph authenticated, but 2 weeks turnaround isn't likely without paying a premium.

Don't worry about the glossyness. I had that concern with a signed picture, I couldnt tell if it was a preprint or not. I used some acetone and tried wiping away a dot from an I and it wipe off. The glossyness is usual when dealing with Sharpies or Staedtler (sp?) pens.

Related to the pricing, you would be surprised how cheap these kind of non-sport sets autographs sell for, particularly for less popular films/tv shows, even when a big star may be included.
The fact is, more non-sport collectors prefer posters than cards.

Here's a picture of the card so it's easier to see what I mean. Thanks!