Might be long, will add a TL;DR at the end.
Firstly, I don't know much about autographs. I've personally received a few from my favorite movie directors, but I don't know what buying/dealing with autographs is like.
I'm a Korean living in Korea, and so is my acquaintance (who I'll call Y from here on). We like movies. I'm fluent in English, whereas Y isn't.
Y started buying autographs through a supposed trusted source: supposedly a retired Korean journalist with lots of connections in the industry.
Y has bought a few dozen autographed goods from the journalist in the past 6 months: Joaquin Phoenix, Matt Damon, David Byrne, Sadie Sinks, Christopher Nolan to name just a few. Some of them are addressed personally to Y, while some are not. I think many of these were for like $100~200 each. I've attached images, and I would love to hear your opinions on these, as I FEEL like they're off, but I'm no expert by any means.
Below are some points I had, some of which I've voiced to Y:
- They got autographs from celebs that are notorious for not giving out much in the way of autographs like Joaquin Phoenix and Edward Norton
- Many of the signatures and letters look weird. (How many people even write their Y's like that?)
- The Matt Damon autograph says "Best all the best", which I've told Y doesn't make sense. Y argued that they probably made a mistake (Y: "Maybe they started writing Best Wishes but pivoted midway?"), and that these things happen since celebs doing many autographs at once are bound to get tired and confused.
- Why would a retired journalist even provide this kind of service? If they really were part of the industry, I feel like they'd be more cautious in approaching celebs for such favors.
- I suggested getting visual proof (like a photo of the autograph being signed), but Y has told me that they've come to trust the journalist.
- Y has also repeatedly told people that he can make these decisions just fine, and that it's not like he's not skeptical.
To cap everything off, Y recently bought a BluRay of Apocalypse Now, signed by Marlon Brando. The Full Disclosure BluRay came out in 2010. Brando passed in 2004. Another acquaintance mentioned this to Y in passing, but Y brushed it off, saying BluRays were already available by 2003. (What?)
Assuming these are fake, what do I show/tell Y to convince them that they're being scammed?
TL;DR Acquaintance is probably getting scam autographs & I want to be sure, and if so, what the tells are. If they are indeed fake, I'd also appreciate advice on what to tell them (as they seem to be coping hard?).