Nat Lofthouse autographed book - good value?

Hey there. My gramps is always going on about Nat Lofthouse, fair to say he loves him, and so I've been looking for a signed item for his birthday. I came across this item on ebay which is a book written by NL and signed by him and many others from the 1954 team.

As a new member I'm not allowed to post links here, so to find it instead just search ebay for "Signed Nat Lofthouse (Bolton Wanderers) 1954 book "Goals Galore" - 22 autographs". It'll be the first item that pops up.

Is this good value do you think? The seller's only asking a tenner, which seems cheap (to me). Not that I'd be able to afford much more than that anyway (I suppose some of these items end up going for quite a bit).

My gramps birthday is in three weeks time so any advice would be great, thanks!

Brad

If it is only a tenner it may not be genuine. On the other hand it may be a bargain and I would be tempted to buy it anyway for your gramps.

It looks like the tenner is just a starting price for the auction - the seller might be hoping it goes for much more (he might get his wish, for all I know!) Looks a legit item to me.

Boncey is our memorabilia expert, he would know if it was genuine i bet. A tenner does sound cheap to me as well.

Welcome to Nuts by the way Kenalty 

Thanks Norpig. Can you tag Boncey in, in some way? I'm still finding my way around the forum (seems good though!) Oh I'm not really doubting the authenticity of the item, I'm sure it's genuine enough (no one is gonna make a fortune by mocking something like that up!) but I'm more interested in what the going rate for something like that is :-) Overall I guess I'm just not sure how rare or commonplace these sorts of things are... this book seems to have 20+ signatures, which I'm guessing puts it into the fairly rare camp...

Boncey will be around later after he's finished falling into ponds and injuring himself randomly, he has a lot of BWFC stuff like this so should have an idea.

I've just had a look at it and it's not in great condition and no proof of signatures but if you want it, stick a bid in, you may get lucky 

There was another one listed that had a cover and was signed by Nat that was £39.99 so that may be more realistic on price?

you've now opened it up to other BWFC fans so if anything it will push the price up if anyone else wants it...

No one else on here would be that devious would they (apart from Nat)?

BoltonTillIDie wrote:you've now opened it up to other BWFC fans so if anything it will push the price up if anyone else wants it...

I may have a cheeky bid on it now! 

Ha ha! Okay let me be clear... I'm happy for other people to bid, I'm far from 100% certain I'm going to bid on this item myself, I'm just at the 'research' stage and have a couple of other options I might choose for presents. I'm not trying to freeze anyone else out, I promise! If anything, I'm just glad it's brought it to more people's attention if it's the sort of thing that's of interest to you all  :-)

Norpig wrote:No one else on here would be that devious would they (apart from Nat)?

I'm "watching" it. It will make a great addition to my BWFC memorabilia collection. It will look cool alongside Steve McAnespie's toenail clippings and Gerald Cid's kidney stone.

Brilliant Natasha, though I'm now wishing I'd used "Steve McAnespie's Toenail Clipping" as my username!

Still has nine and a bit days to run so serious bidders will wait until final day, except the odd probing bid to tease the hidden ones. Only real concern is all the signatures are in the same colour ink but if they were all gathered and signed then that could explain it. £10 starting bid so I would predict it will go for close to £50, even £100 if two want it badly. Wonder if BWFC will bid for it.

Welcome to Nuts Kenalty. I've had a look,and the autographs look genuine,despite the book being in poor condition. The book you're looking at has a starting price of ten quid,but there are nine days left of the auction,so it will probably go higher.
Might I suggest this would be better value,and you wouldn't have anyone bidding against you.

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Thanks Mr Bonce, I appreciate the input. Whilst I do like the other item you guided me towards, I think the added incentive of having 20+ signatures from the rest of the '54 squad sets the book item apart. Food for thought though of course  :-)

KenaltyPick wrote:Thanks Mr Bonce, I appreciate the input. Whilst I do like the other item you guided me towards, I think the added incentive of having 20+ signatures from the rest of the '54 squad sets the book item apart. Food for thought though of course  :-)

The book is a decent item,but not something you can display. And you'll have to accept that the price will creep up,although most of the activity will take place in a frantic five minutes as the clock ticks down.

You're right, I'm sure. I might set a warning on my phone half an hour before the deadline is due to expire, and monitor the bidding / maybe chip in with a few bids myself (as long as I'm sensible, oh dear....) Perhaps whoever wins it will purchase a dust jacket to help tidy up the front. The unique selling point is all those signatures inside, I imagine.

I got hold of a page of an old autograph book a few years ago,but the guy only wanted a fiver,because he wasn't into football,and just wanted rid for the price of a few pints. (Pints were cheaper then).
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Google ebay sniping tool

You set your limit and it bids up at the last second but then you dont go over your budget

Still at £10,no bids,and six days left.

The tension is killing me.