Posts: 310
From: Chillicothe, Ohio, usa
Registered: Mar 2004

posted 12-06-2004 08:13 PM               

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This seller "tswee1035" on eBay is getting a little out of hand. He has almost every astronaut hand-signed on an index card. Some like Armstrong he has sold a ton of. These cannot possible be real, can they?

He doesn't respond to emails and I even tried calling. I feel really bad for all the people that are buying this stuff. Can't anything be done about this?

I know it has been discussed before about tswee10305 but now it is very bold and clear. I don't know, maybe Armstrong only signs for him.

Posts: 1745
From: Atlanta-area, GA USA
Registered: Aug 2000

posted 12-08-2004 03:20 PM               

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Tim Sweeney, a.k.a. "Tswee10305," continues to be very successful on eBay with most of his anything-but-authentic astronaut signatures selling, but for moderate prices. He sold an Aldrin for around $30 and also had two Armstrongs selling for more. Yesterday he had over 30 astronaut signed cards available.

I contacted one of his dissatified buyers, who had left him some negatives on eBay, and this person is a general autograph collector who also has some serious doubts about Tswee's plentiful "hand signed" index cards. He provided a quote that someone posted about Tswee, without naming names, on a general autograph collector Website and here is part of it: "I know one eBay seller from MA who posts high end autographs, like Judy Garland, about every week. He signs them the same way on the same kind of material with his trademark forgery. He has over 10,000 positives because inexperienced buyers don't even realize it. So, when you see a $400 autograph like Garland's selling for $50, that is indeed a BIG "red flag." Don't you think the many autograph experts would be bidding on it? When I bid on a Sinatra autograph, it is usually selling for several hundred $$. Why? Because those who truly know his signature are also bidding."

This is also true with astronaut autographs, and there are plenty of shady sellers like Tswee out there who are more than happy to sell signatures to trusting and inexperienced collectors who figure someone with a 98.9% eBay feedback, with thousands of transactions, is reputable and knows his autographs. What can be done? Little, it looks like.

Posts: 141
From: Columbia, SC, USA
Registered: Sep 2002

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Posts: 310
From: Chillicothe, Ohio, usa
Registered: Mar 2004

Posts: 187
From: W.Sussex United Kingdom
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Posts: 861
From: Virginia
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Posts: 1745
From: Atlanta-area, GA USA
Registered: Aug 2000

posted 01-09-2005 03:24 PM               

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quote:

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Originally posted by KenDavis:
I've never been a collector of signed index cards, but looking back over my records I noticed I had bought a signed NASA lithograph of Owen Garriott from this person some while ago.

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Ken sent me a scan of his Tswee10305 "Owen K. Garriott" signature and Power Seller Tswee is maintaining his almost perfect record of rarely selling a genuine astronaut autograph, as the Garriott is an autopen.

Tswee does a very small business in astronaut signatures and is not a major problem for us space collectors, but going by his abysmal record with astronaut signatures, we really have to wonder about the celebrity signatures he specializes in & sells by the thousands. Just like with his astronaut signatures, most of his celebrity signatures are unpersonalized and are on index cards.

It looks like autograph collectors, in general, are trusting and rarely ask questions and are always looking for bargains.

Posts: 1091
From:
Registered: Sep 2003

posted 01-11-2005 01:04 PM               

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Tswee almost always sells signed index cards of entertainment celebrities though I've noticed he's branched out into signed photos now too. At one time he had four different Peter Sellers photos signed from the same movie all on at the same time. I run into his autographs a lot while looking at the autographs I collect and their always very bad forgeries (at least in the areas I collect).

Seems like a good business model though — buy a pack of index cards for a buck and make $500 off of the bundle. He's been doing the same thing for at least 2-3 years now so I wouldn't expect it to ever end.

Posts: 310
From: Chillicothe, Ohio, usa
Registered: Mar 2004

posted 01-14-2005 05:23 PM               

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Wow is he selling the real thing now.

The Worden looks better than the others he has sold but could you really trust the seller?

Posts: 310
From: Chillicothe, Ohio, usa
Registered: Mar 2004

Posts: 6
From: Maine
Registered: Jan 2005

Posts: 1368
From: Chester, Cheshire, UK
Registered: May 2001

posted 01-29-2005 01:23 AM               

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Yeah you're right, he's the best!

I'm going to hurry on over to eBay right now and waste all my cash on you — sorry, him.

Posts: 1104
From: Walsall, West Midlands, UK
Registered: Dec 2002

Posts: 310
From: Chillicothe, Ohio, usa
Registered: Mar 2004

posted 01-29-2005 10:07 AM               

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I am simply not going to bid on the items based on this guy's history of selling questionable items. Even though there may be some real stuff here, he has sold Armstrongs by the dozen all on index cards. He somehow manages to get just about anyone to sign an index card.

The reputation of the seller along with the fact that there have been many complaints on collectSPACE should be enough to establish that this seller is not trustworthy. I have bought from him before and found that my autographs were no good after the fact. He does not respond to emails and he is using this quality website as a reference to the selling of his autographs without approval.

Hopefully people reading his listing will come to collectSPACE and read the information on his auctions.

Posts: 6
From: Maine
Registered: Jan 2005

Posts: 3110
From: Paris, France
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 01-29-2005 11:09 AM               

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skywalker/tswee - I'm sure you realise by now that many of your item are not hand signed as you claim them to be, but autopenned.

Just one example among many: the Stu Roosa litho. A real signed version of this would be worth hundreds of dollars but yours is autopenned, as you can see from the patterns here.

Hopefully mentioning collectSPACE on your items will actually backfire on you as more potential buyers come here, read this thread, and educate themselves to spot fakes.

We don't care if you want to make money in an honest way by selling goods on eBay. We only care if you misrepresent items as real when they are clearly not. That's theft.

Posts: 1778
From: Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland
Registered: May 2004

posted 01-29-2005 11:11 AM               

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Skywalker, you must be incredibly naive to think that the vast majority of members of collectSPACE are anything less than knowledgeable. There are members of this forum who are more than capable of distinguishing the genuine article from fakes or autopens.

Many of the index cards sold by this seller have clearly been traces or copies of autopen signatures and all appear to have pristine black signatures on the same white cards... kind of like if they'd been bought as a job-lot from the local stationary store.

Now here is a question for you... are you "tswee10305"? Simple question requiring a simple answer.

Members of this forum are quite capable of making up their own minds but one thing we collectively do not accept are sellers who have sold a vast number of "questionable" items and continue to do so. I think ANY seller who has 42 negative feedbacks within a month really shouldn't be allowed on eBay.

Maybe with 1125 items (wonder how many are the genuine article?) for sale on eBay the seller simply cannot cope with the amount of buyers.

Posts: 2732
From: Stuart, Florida
Registered: Jun 2000

Posts: 1745
From: Atlanta-area, GA USA
Registered: Aug 2000

posted 01-29-2005 12:30 PM               

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I just got back from eBay and checking out Tswee's vast amount of new astronaut autographs and must say that he's, at least temporarily, _mostly_ cleaned up his act. It looks like he's bought a collection or two and now is offering signed items from those.

Nope, no forgeries offered (also no index cards), but an impressive array of genuine astronaut autographs, including several very nice items, but with a generous heaping of autopens scattered all among the real material.

By offering real autographs with autopens mixed in indicates, at least, that he doesn't know astronaut autographs and doesn't know an autopen from a genuine autograph and is not a very knowlegeable or careful dealer of astronaut autograph material - at least.

I plan to later list the good and the bad, as there are a lot of good & great autographs available, but with a lot of autopens mixed in.

Posts: 310
From: Chillicothe, Ohio, usa
Registered: Mar 2004

posted 01-29-2005 12:43 PM               

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So skywalker is tswee10305? If you are, why don't you answer emails?

Do you stand by your autographs? If so are you going to offer a refund for all the bad autographs you have sold, I have some that are clearly bad that I have bought from you in the past.

Now, why didn't I leave him negative feedback? Because I don't want this guy to leave me negative feedback for me. That is why this guy has lasted, he holds his feedback so that others won't leave negative for him.

Posts: 6
From: Maine
Registered: Jan 2005

Posts: 1355
From: Cincinnati, Ohio, Hamilton
Registered: Mar 2001

posted 01-29-2005 10:37 PM               

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Have you purchase from tswee, skywalker? Do you any have any of his photo for supporting your believe?

I am eying two photos that I have been chasing that is being auction on his site. I do not care if is signed or not, am just after the photo. However, his disclaimer of this website supporting him (and I never heard of him before) and his volume of negatives has me hesitant til the last moment of the auction.

Posts: 1745
From: Atlanta-area, GA USA
Registered: Aug 2000

posted 01-30-2005 12:09 PM               

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Checking Tswee's huge volume of feedbacks, it appears that the large majority of negative feedbacks have to do with delivery - both slow and non delivery. So even with genuine material, a successful bidder may have some concern about getting what he pays for.

Approximately 1/5 of his current 98 astronaut lots are autopens, but with a lot of good and special material included. Many of his autopens follow:

• Both STS-5 crew lithos
  
• Both STS-6 crew lithos
  
• Probable autopens of Walker on 41D crew litho, Bluford on STS-8 and Lounge on STS-26.
  
• Mattingly and Payton autopens on 51-C postcard
  
• STS-9 crew signed postcard
  
• McDivitt WSS
  
• Dave Scott Business suit
  
• Roosa portrait
  
• Dick Gordon WSS and postcard
  
• Swigert postcard

But he is offering a number of genuine astronaut autographs, including STS-7 and STS-41C crew lithos; Aldrin handwritten letter; and a lot of Shuttle astronaut portraits.

The collector, or collectors, he got this material from had a lot of good autographs, but, as is often seen, with many autopens mixed in. When dealers don't know the autographs they are selling, it's common to see such problems.

Posts: 310
From: Chillicothe, Ohio, usa
Registered: Mar 2004

posted 01-30-2005 04:40 PM               

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The multi-signed cards contain autopens. Most of the crew signed contain autopens.

But yes there are some real stuff here also but you must examine everything closely — they are all clearly not hand signed.

Posts: 1745
From: Atlanta-area, GA USA
Registered: Aug 2000

posted 01-30-2005 06:06 PM               

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I've been directed to another eBay category where Tswee has more astronaut offerings. It's hard to track down all his space offerings with him now having 1,100 lots on eBay. In this category he has a lot of Shuttle and Apollo autopenned lithos, including STS-1, STS-9, 41-G, 51-G, 51-D and 51-J, etc. In most of these lot descriptions he does mention that while they are signed, in his opinion they are not hand signed. Also included are more astronaut portraits which are almost all autopenned. An exception is a nice, genuine Glenn that he states in his opinion is not hand signed.

It's nice that Tswee now visits cS - maybe he'll learn something. By the way, he has plenty of Johnny Carson signatures available.

Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
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Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

Posts: 1355
From: Cincinnati, Ohio, Hamilton
Registered: Mar 2001

posted 02-02-2005 07:01 PM               

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This free advertisement of him mentioning collectSPACE give the board exposure.

We should thank him.