Bad Autograph Advice
 

Hey guys, awhile back I ordered a Pesci/Tomei dual auto on a website, very reputable. When I picked everything, I chose a blue pen on their dropdown option assuming that they had multiple kinds of blues for different photos. I was basically expecting that for this photo they would pick a light blue or a baby blue type. Since Joe only allows for blue or silver.

I emailed them with this concern and they told me that I should probably just switch it to silver. I responded and told them, yes let's do silver and they told me this was updated in their system.

I got it today and mannnnnn you cannot even read Marisa Tomei's signature at all. I feel horrible because technically I picked blue originally, but they told me it was changed to silver. Is this photo ruined? To me, I'll never be able to not think it looks good, but I want to like it. I was stoked to get this one for sure since I am an autograph collector and My Cousin Vinny is one of my favorite movies of all time.

I don't want to write an angry email, I never do that, but I'm not sure what else to do. The damage is basically done and we can't go back

*Joe Pesci's sig is on her arm sleeve*
[img]https://i.imgur.com/9sGWUBV.png[/img]

looks pretty good.

[QUOTE=bkcardcollector;19588073]looks pretty good.[/QUOTE]

I appreciate it. I'm trying to see the bright side because it is very cool, but it's just not what I was expecting

That's a cool piece, for sure.

From my past experiences, and I’ve dealt with them since the C2 ventures days in the mid 90’s, I feel that OPX has really good customer service and Ben wants to make sure everyone has a good experience. Someone definitely slipped up on marking the change to silver so I would send an email and mention the previous request to change the color. Probably nothing can be done with this one but maybe they can set something up for a future signing. It is a cool piece and a very nice choice but with how much you paid you definitely want it the way you envisioned it. Good luck!

[QUOTE=PoPCulture;19588129]From my past experiences, and I’ve dealt with them since the C2 ventures days in the mid 90’s, I feel that OPX has really good customer service and Ben wants to make sure everyone has a good experience. Someone definitely slipped up on marking the change to silver so I would send an email and mention the previous request to change the color. Probably nothing can be done with this one but maybe they can set something up for a future signing. It is a cool piece and a very nice choice but with how much you paid you definitely want it the way you envisioned it. Good luck![/QUOTE]

They do seem to have good service. The same rep who told me it was changed to silver in my email has helped me on a couple orders in the past and was very kind to me. I did write an email telling them my concerns, but I did keep it polite. It happens and there's really nothing we can do about this one.

You did ease my mind a bit, so I appreciate that

It's a bummer can't make out some of it unless angled differently. It's still a really nice piece imo. Is it personalized? I would definitely kindly inform them and maybe they can offer a partial refund or help with a future purchase.

[QUOTE=ScullyMills;19588701]It's a bummer can't make out some of it unless angled differently. It's still a really nice piece imo. Is it personalized? I would definitely kindly inform them and maybe they can offer a partial refund or help with a future purchase.[/QUOTE]

Yeah in the right lighting it looks okay. It is personalized, she wrote “For Kyle, Marisa Tomei, Mona Lisa Vito (character name)”

It’s still really cool and am grateful to have it, but just a bit bummed. I’ll see what they say to my email and let you guys know how it plays out

[QUOTE=Frog;19588704]Yeah in the right lighting it looks okay. It is personalized, she wrote “For Kyle, Marisa Tomei, Mona Lisa Vito (character name)”

It’s still really cool and am grateful to have it, but just a bit bummed. I’ll see what they say to my email and let you guys know how it plays out[/QUOTE]

Nice! I saw the “For” but wasn’t too sure. Awesome piece for sure. Hope it works out well with the company.

They offered to get me another Marisa Tomei personalized auto when they see her again, for free. All things considering, that is very kind of them and about all they can do.

I do wonder though with all that has happened, if it would be logistically that easy. How often do they even see her? Is this like a year wait? Will they even remember when this time does come? Just an odd situation in general.

That’s a great offer but yeah the down side with the uncertainty of if/when. It seems she’s doing more signings as of late so perhaps she will become a repeat signer for them so maybe the odds will be in your favor. A shame they couldn’t just give a partial refund or perhaps a future discount to make it easier.

It is hard to see, I would not call it "ruined". You have every right to be disappointed especially if you paid good money.

If it was silver, you might spend the rest of your life thinking "gee, I wish Pesci had signed in silver as well". Most autographs are never going to be those picture perfect things you see for sale in Vegas shops. And when I see one with all of Led Zeppelin in all perfect width with no mistakes, same angle, same pen ... I'll say it's fake even when I don't know their autographs.

There are autograph groups you can find online that will help you understand if you have the option to try removing it. It may not be possible depending on the finish of the photograph. Basically if it's glossy you can take something like Mr. Clean magic eraser and take just a tiny bit of that and surgically remove the ink and a tiny bit of finish on the photograph (first try on the similarly dark corner). This does technically remove some finish but if the photo remains protected and not heavily exposed to UV, it should be fine indefinitely. You could then resubmit it for silver through them.

But me, personally? I'd leave it. I have star wars photographs signed in person displayed in my home where you have to walk to the side to see the full autograph. Less than perfect? Yeah. But you get to choose what you lose sleep over at night and I no longer have control over where that pen was signed in what color so ... c'est la vie.

[QUOTE=eldavojohn;19591849]But you get to choose what you lose sleep over at night and I no longer have control over where that pen was signed in what color so ... c'est la vie.[/QUOTE]

Pretty good post.

[QUOTE=ScullyMills;19591812]That’s a great offer but yeah the down side with the uncertainty of if/when. It seems she’s doing more signings as of late so perhaps she will become a repeat signer for them so maybe the odds will be in your favor. A shame they couldn’t just give a partial refund or perhaps a future discount to make it easier.[/QUOTE]

I did make that offer to them yesterday. I feel like it is just easier. I have grown to not really mind it as much over the last few days. I have many autographs without issues and whatnot, so in the grand scheme of things, it is not a huge deal

[QUOTE=eldavojohn;19591849]It is hard to see, I would not call it "ruined". You have every right to be disappointed especially if you paid good money.

If it was silver, you might spend the rest of your life thinking "gee, I wish Pesci had signed in silver as well". Most autographs are never going to be those picture perfect things you see for sale in Vegas shops. And when I see one with all of Led Zeppelin in all perfect width with no mistakes, same angle, same pen ... I'll say it's fake even when I don't know their autographs.

There are autograph groups you can find online that will help you understand if you have the option to try removing it. It may not be possible depending on the finish of the photograph. Basically if it's glossy you can take something like Mr. Clean magic eraser and take just a tiny bit of that and surgically remove the ink and a tiny bit of finish on the photograph (first try on the similarly dark corner). This does technically remove some finish but if the photo remains protected and not heavily exposed to UV, it should be fine indefinitely. You could then resubmit it for silver through them.

But me, personally? I'd leave it. I have star wars photographs signed in person displayed in my home where you have to walk to the side to see the full autograph. Less than perfect? Yeah. But you get to choose what you lose sleep over at night and I no longer have control over where that pen was signed in what color so ... c'est la vie.[/QUOTE]

Appreciate the advice. I'm definitely going to leave it as is. The thing about the silver/blue is both were supposed to be silver. I made the order as a dual signature, so when it was supposed to be changed to silver, it was for both.

All in all though, I am happy I have it and it'll just be maybe a conversation piece if I ever display it!

Frog, and I want to say I 100 percent agree with you and am frustrated by the situation from a customer standpoint. eldavo's post resonated with me in an outside-this-post-way and I wouldn't want to mistakenly project that your feelings are invalid in this scenario. It's definitely disappointing and also a great picture. Glad to know you're on the upswing about it.

Nice autos ..

Well, if you don’t criticize the company, just say something about you know they have no control over the celebrity and where they sign, you can nicely ask for a portion of your fee back. I had the same thing happen to me with a Miranda Otto signing, and they gave me a full refund.l She had a ton of room to sign on a light part of the photo I selected, but she chose to sign over her dark clothing. Total waste.

[QUOTE=Frog;19592723]Appreciate the advice. I'm definitely going to leave it as is. The thing about the silver/blue is both were supposed to be silver. I made the order as a dual signature, so when it was supposed to be changed to silver, it was for both.[/QUOTE]

Ahh sorry, shoot, I misunderstood this as you got pesci in blue through some other source and then sent that in to get signed by Tomei and were wondering if your pesci was ruined. I just assumed you had a Pesci you thought was ruined. But my point remains, if it they were both silver you might spend the rest of your life wishing it was blue above their heads. I suffer from the same thing: it's always something. Here's a personal example: I have a rare piece signed by both Mark Hamill and James Earl Jones and I got it encapsulated since it has a binding that I realized was quickly drying out and I wanted it to be hermetically sealed. Okay it comes back and the UV plastic has this weird shimmer to it when you look at it from an extreme angle like it'd been flexed incorrectly or experienced twisting when cut to fit the piece. Well, I can either pay to get it redone or just live with it. Yeah I'll admit I thought about it wayyy too much. Now it's kind of like an aspect of the piece that belongs to me? If that makes sense? I guess it's not the same since I could always crack it out but ... take a [URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wabi-sabi"]wabi-sabi[/URL] approach and it's not so bad.

Another option is since they're offering you another silver Tomei, could you find a photograph of a different outfit from the movie that's the same size? That way in the future if you chose to do a double matte of the two images in a frame it could look pretty cool with a Tomei that pops presented next to these two lovebirds. You wouldn't have to go that far but you'd always have the option in the future.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I did ask them if they would consider letting me order something else of similar value to the Tomei (not the tomei/pesci together) and I haven't gotten a response. I'm pretty much just over it. It's okay even if I don't get anything in return. I don't want to keep going back and forth with email. I just honestly didn't trust the company to remember that they "owe" me a Tomei auto assuming she probably isn't gonna sign for them in awhile. If they forgot to change my request to silver, I have no faith they would remember to get me a new autograph.


[QUOTE=eldavojohn;19597042]Ahh sorry, shoot, I misunderstood this as you got pesci in blue through some other source and then sent that in to get signed by Tomei and were wondering if your pesci was ruined. I just assumed you had a Pesci you thought was ruined. But my point remains, if it they were both silver you might spend the rest of your life wishing it was blue above their heads. I suffer from the same thing: it's always something. Here's a personal example: I have a rare piece signed by both Mark Hamill and James Earl Jones and I got it encapsulated since it has a binding that I realized was quickly drying out and I wanted it to be hermetically sealed. Okay it comes back and the UV plastic has this weird shimmer to it when you look at it from an extreme angle like it'd been flexed incorrectly or experienced twisting when cut to fit the piece. Well, I can either pay to get it redone or just live with it. Yeah I'll admit I thought about it wayyy too much. Now it's kind of like an aspect of the piece that belongs to me? If that makes sense? I guess it's not the same since I could always crack it out but ... take a [URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wabi-sabi"]wabi-sabi[/URL] approach and it's not so bad.

Another option is since they're offering you another silver Tomei, could you find a photograph of a different outfit from the movie that's the same size? That way in the future if you chose to do a double matte of the two images in a frame it could look pretty cool with a Tomei that pops presented next to these two lovebirds. You wouldn't have to go that far but you'd always have the option in the future.[/QUOTE]

Got any pics of the Star Wars one? I'm sure it looks fine! But yeah as for the Tomei, there is no way I am getting one. They became unresponsive and I'm really just done with this issue and will just enjoy what I have

[QUOTE=Frog;19597595]
Got any pics of the Star Wars one? I'm sure it looks fine! But yeah as for the Tomei, there is no way I am getting one. They became unresponsive and I'm really just done with this issue and will just enjoy what I have[/QUOTE]

Ah I don't display it (because of fear of fading), I don't actually keep it at my house even. I pulled it at blowout's Virginia store though (yeah I know they're stickers so it seems dumb to consider them the "same" signed piece) here are scans before I sent it in to BGS for encapsulation:
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/YtPV9Qpl.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/EsXlC0Ql.jpg[/IMG]

The glue on that black strip binding had me super worried and I live in a state where the winters are dry AF so ... it wasn't for display purposes but longevity.

I wonder how their Chinese food is?





Bummer for sure that the updated order wasn't followed through with. Assuming they work together more than once, maybe they will replace it with a copy where you can see her auto next time? I would think it would be worth the wait if that's the case.

Simple. Contact them, tell them the issue, be quiet, see what they say. They are at fault if you are allowed to change.

That said - It should have been silver all the way based on the background. Never assume anything.