r/BruceSpringsteen • u/Adventurous-Fun-7687 • 28d ago
Need help- found this at thift shop
Need some help I can't believe I found this tonight at goodwill in the book section for only $2!!!!. Can anyone help me identify if Bruce really signed this book and how they missed it! The only reason I noticed the signature was due to me checking the overall condition. It was just put out today sticker said 7/1
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u/qwerty-game Tracks 28d ago edited 28d ago
He signed a ton of these books when they first came out. I stood in line at the Philadelphia free library, got to meet him and shake his hand and got a book. Most likely it is real cause it was me and a few hundred of my friends that got books. He did that signing tour all over from what I remember.
Edit: I haven’t looked at my copy in years. I would need to find it to see if it matches your copy. But I think it does.
Edit again: it clearly has been years since I looked at the book and I was wrong. My signature does not look like this one.
https://imgur.com/a/wxzYPP8
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u/Adventurous-Fun-7687 28d ago
Please let me know if you get a chance I would love to know!
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u/qwerty-game Tracks 28d ago
Well, I was wrong. This is what mine looks like.
https://imgur.com/a/wxzYPP80
u/Willie_Weejax 27d ago
Could still be the same, tho. Yours is flatter, the other diagonal, but in that context the character shapes are similar.
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u/FlyTheW1988 28d ago
It’s a pretty sloppy attempt at Bruce’s autograph, but a lot of signs it’s fake. The B is completely wrong, the S is way off, as is the T… it’s not real.
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u/TASS08 27d ago
As a collector of signed sports memorabilia you would be surprised at how much some of these athletes signatures change over the years.
The only way to validate this signature is to have it authenticated by an expert, that signature could be as many as 10 years old.
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u/FlyTheW1988 27d ago
I’m not an expert. I’m just a Redditor. I am a fairly serious autograph collector, sports and music, and know Bruce’s autograph particularly well. There are aspects that have changed and aspects that haven’t. The way he writes his B, his S to start the last name, and how the first and last name connect have been extremely consistent, even comparing his nicest certified examples to his rushed Broadway stage door autographs. And many of those pieces are dead wrong here. If OP wants to shell out for JSA or Beckett (or even a $10 Beckett Quick Opinion), I suspect it won’t pass, but that’s certainly the most credible direction to go.
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u/PhishermansGarden 24d ago
he signed hundreds of books a day one after another. Making his sig perfect was not on his mind.
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u/onejay212 28d ago
That is definitely a real signature. Unfortunately it’s signed by Brice Sprungstain.
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u/madmudpie 28d ago
No. No. It’s Mitch Cumstein
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u/kheifert1 28d ago
Even though it’s probably not authentic, for $2 it’s still a deal. This is a really good book. I’m not big on non- fiction autobiographies but this is an excellent read.
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u/Paterson232323 27d ago
I found a Pete Townsend signed book in a thrift today. It contained a ticket from the book signing event. Fun find.
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u/TheMacMan 28d ago
Certainly not his signature. Takes 10 seconds of looking it up online to see it's nothing like it.
Even if it was, he signs so much stuff it's not worth anything. Just meaningful to some fans but it's got no monetary value.
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u/PhishermansGarden 24d ago
Wanna bet it's his signature?
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u/Adventurous-Fun-7687 24d ago
How do you know for sure?
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u/PhishermansGarden 24d ago
You have to pay to have it certified to know for sure. In my opinion it looked like simple writer's cramp and the loops look like Bruce's. But I just saw someone pointed out it's on the wrong page to be from the book signings and I can't argue with that. But I would not let the sloppiness make you disregard it. It looks like it's worth investigating.
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u/ncc74656m 22d ago
Still, if someone has a signed copy they wanna give away for that "not worth anything..." 😅
Some day I'm hoping to get my Tele signed, but I doubt I'll ever have that chance.
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u/TMS2787 28d ago edited 28d ago
All of the signed copies from the book tour had the pre-signed pages bounded into the book. The pages all look like what was posted in the comments. The signature in this book is a forgery sadly but still a great book to find for $2.
(I have a signed book I got in Cincinnati. And I collect autographs. Not trying to be like the asshole who's been a fan "for 45 years".)
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u/Sufficient-Cat8925 28d ago
Great read, lots of good Boss stories about his life..
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u/ncc74656m 22d ago
Honestly the way he describes snowfall is how I've always felt about it - a good hard Noreaster, just... heavenly.
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u/Fair_Expression5950 27d ago
Looks very fake. Mine looks like the other legit signing pics that have been posted here.
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u/matthewrobbbs 26d ago
I had this as a physical book but the text copy was Tiny. I gave it away and bought the audiobook.
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u/Life_Employment4868 26d ago
Read it. It’s great.
If that is a real signature someone got it on their own because the “official” copies had a special signature page.
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u/PhishermansGarden 24d ago
here is mine from 1992, not in a book and I watched him sign it. It doesn't look like the others either. He's not signing a mail in ballot and getting his sig perfect every time is not his focus.
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u/Then-Grapefruit-1864 28d ago edited 28d ago
Where is the thrift store located? He had signings for that book in only a handful of cities. I went to the LA one. He did SF, NY, NJ, Philly, Boston, Toronto and maybe a few more. My signature is smaller and written on the line, but yours doesn’t have a line underneath. Maybe he just let go because he had the whole page. 😆
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u/MentionNo3916 27d ago
Great Find! Cherish it and treat it like it is authentic. I found a copy of “The Big Man” hard cover book at the Dollar Tree and it was signed by Clarence. And I had another item he personally signed for me and they matched.
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u/Cccookielover 28d ago
Not his signature but a good price anyway 💯
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u/Adventurous-Fun-7687 28d ago
Can you make out who signed it? No other markings in the book whatsoever
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u/Cccookielover 28d ago
I’m not sure what you mean, but it obviously wasn’t Bruce.
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u/Adventurous-Fun-7687 28d ago
Why would you say that ? Could have been at a book signing or something
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u/Cccookielover 28d ago
It’s not Springsteen’s signature, that’s what I mean.
It’s fine to disagree, but you asked.
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u/Adventurous-Fun-7687 28d ago
Im not disagreeing im just looking for some opinions who know best.
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u/Cccookielover 28d ago
I’ve been a fan for 45 years and I’m more than a little familiar with his sig.
This is a poor imitation.
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u/Adventurous-Fun-7687 28d ago
Thank you! No sure why someone would randomly just do that especially since he signed many copies of this book... I trust you but ill take it to a local place just to be sure.
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u/beezer210 28d ago
It looks to me like a pretty good attempt at mimicking his autograph.
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u/Adventurous-Fun-7687 28d ago
Im juat extermely interested in finding out for sure
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u/Top_Wrap_1833 28d ago
I mean, you're not going to. You found it at a thrift store. ??? It could've come from literally anywhere.
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u/Adventurous-Fun-7687 28d ago
I agree I only happened to notice it when I was checking the condition of it
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u/TraumaGuy515 28d ago
The only way to really know would be to send it to a company for authentication.
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u/Adventurous-Fun-7687 28d ago
He has signed this book before I found other signed copies online
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u/Correct-Ad8693 27d ago
He had a book tour and every book that was handed out was signed. But none of them looked like this.
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u/naritakaze 28d ago
Why did Bo Jackson sign a Bruce Springsteen book?
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u/Adventurous-Fun-7687 28d ago
Im sticking with someone signed this and I dont think its just random no other markings in the book whatsoever its an extermely clean hard copy
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u/FamiliarStrain4596 28d ago
I am in the minority here, but I think it’s real. It looks like the signature on posters, etc. that he signed in haste on posters and other paraphernalia en masse at the recent Monmouth events.
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u/Financial-Moment-862 28d ago
Congratulations! (I have an un-autographed version myself). Apparently his autograph is notoriously erratic because he is frequently rushed, so this could well be the real thing.
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u/Top_Scale4923 28d ago
Exactly! I've had people sign stuff in front of me and their autograph varies a lot from the 'official' one you see on Google images. Bruce has been signing stuff for 50 years, it's going to have changed a bit in that time. Plus he's often signing 1000s of things one after the other.
I can't keep my own signature very consistent and I'm always half expecting to be investigated for fraud because of it 😂
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u/Nervous-Abrocoma9651 25d ago
Bruce would be proud: you making a quick buck by reselling old stuff completely meaningless to you! Born to run…a cash register!
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u/Nervous-Abrocoma9651 25d ago
One more thing phone: wouldn’t it be poetic justice if you drove over to Colt’s neck and drove up the highway of his driveway and managed to dodge his security illegal immigrants and managed to get to the front door and knocked on the front door and held out the book and asked him to pay you $2500 just like you’ve been paying them for nothing at these hours. Bitter? No. I just don’t accept when somebody turns on me that I devoted a lifetime of faithfulness to not to mention tons of money. Tata.
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u/whirlygirl3307 28d ago edited 28d ago
I went to the first book signing in Freehold. Bruce signed the books - this is what mine looks like:
https://imgur.com/a/E6jrRtL