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23 Apr, 2007
2007-4-23 12:28:03 PM UTC
Saw the items earlier and reported them to Ebay. If a few others also report the items, it may speed up their removal before someone is taken in. (Link to Report Item is at bottom of Auction Listing).

Still, you gotta be a little amused at such a poor effort! LOL!!
23 Apr, 2007
2007-4-23 12:48:49 PM UTC
Trotter wrote:

"How long before the first COH signed by J.R.R. Tolkien appears?"

I'm waiting to bid on a signed copy until I see one signed "Turin Turambar." I heard he was at a signing event in Oxford this weekend with his wife.....or was it his sister? I'm not sure.
23 Apr, 2007
2007-4-23 4:34:56 PM UTC
I've heard of forged J. K. Rowling bookplates being sold (in addition to the many forged signatures on Harry Potter books). It's pretty easy to scan a copy of the bookplate since it just has the helm in black and white.

I reported it to eBay too--those listings have to get pulled!
24 Apr, 2007
2007-4-24 4:59:26 AM UTC
The main listing has been pulled, I have also reported the bookplates, but they are still available, sadly one has been sold. If you have not already reported them to Ebay then please do so.

Forged Bookplates
24 Apr, 2007
2007-4-24 11:55:22 AM UTC
Hopefully with enough reports he can be "NARUed." If the auction gets pulled, does Ebay contact those who have already made a purchase?
24 Apr, 2007
2007-4-24 2:11:12 PM UTC
I was indeed troubled by the nature of the bookplate. It does look incredibly easy to reproduce in facsimile. One must wonder how many other fakes are out there already. Collecting autographs is always risky. I am partial to the limited and numbered deluxe editions that have been released in the past. These would seem much more difficult to fake, since these books are specifically made to be released as signed/deluxe copies, thus none exist which are unsigned.

I have sent reports to EBay for both the book and the bookplates that were listed. I wonder how EBay determines whether the signatures are forged. Do they just base their decision on receiving a multitude of complaints, or do they have to prove it further in order to suspend this guy's account? The signed book was very obvious, but unless you were a Tolkien collector, the plates might be more difficult to disprove. I have certainly never seen anything like them and would be skeptical based simply on their random nature as well as the timing.
24 Apr, 2007
2007-4-24 4:33:10 PM UTC
Sadly, it now appears that two of the fake bookplates have sold on EBay and the item has not been de-listed.
24 Apr, 2007
2007-4-24 4:59:24 PM UTC
If you look at the seller's other items, he also has 'Boris Yeltsin' Signed Bookplates. How timely!!! I wish Ebay would be speedier to remove items which have been reported. At least suspend the listings until they are investigated... It is such a shame how people continue to be taken in by these fakes.
24 Apr, 2007
2007-4-24 6:47:31 PM UTC
To make it even more laughable, his auction for the 'Boris Yeltsin' bookplates says that Yeltsin passed away on "July 23, 2007."

To make it even more shameful, though, the item actually has a bid.
24 Apr, 2007
2007-4-24 8:48:18 PM UTC
He's also well-stocked on Vonnegut bookplates, timely once again.

Incredible how such people get away with it!
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