Why Do They Do This?

Ron Eggers

SPFG, Supreme Picture Framing God
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We've had discussions about - and sometimes with - collectors on TG. I ran into a new one today, and I'm in a state of shock.

Someone brought in a gold record today that was framed with a plaque as an award to present to the producer. The plaque had worked loose and he wanted me to re-attach it. He was very emphatic that nothing else should be altered. Changing even the dust seal was an unfortunate necessity.

The dust seal paper is mildewed and water-stained. The brads holding the chipboard backing in place are rusty. The gold record itself is glued to a piece of black standard pebble board. The large engraved plate was hot-glued to a piece of regular corrugated which, in turn, was glued to the pebble board. The frame - about 12x16 - has a sawtooth hanger and the brads are poking out of the dust seal. Three of the four frame corners are sprung and do not appear to have been joined properly to begin with.

The customer has a buyer waiting for this item who will be paying several thousand dollars for it. He told me there are a limited number of companies licensed to frame these awards.

I guess the license examination is not very challenging.

In fairness, this is a Donna Summer record from 1979. Maybe gold record awards are framed more carefully now.
 
Those awards are mass produced for the record industry and given out to radio stations etc you get what you pay for.
 
Kwote from Ron:

The customer has a buyer waiting for this item who will be paying several thousand dollars for it.

SEVERAL THOUSAND DOLLARS!!??!!

Man, had I known THAT I would have held out for more than the $39.50/each that I charged to build those puppies!! :D :cool: :D

Ron, I swear, those brads were almost new when I hammered them in!! It must have been that sudden storm that did it.
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Actually, In '79 I was in my second year of teaching and hadn't a clue that I would someday be rubbing elbows with the likes of you and Mark and Charles.

(What was I thinking, getting out of the education field?? ........... Oh, yeah, the independant lifestyle of the entrepreneur, I almost forgot.)
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Framerguy
 
Ron

We get stuff like that in all the time - signed autographed sports jerseys & photos. Real crappy framing. Even today!
 
Fair question, Dermot.

I probably would have used regular matboard, since the selection of colors was pretty limited with the good stuff.

I don't think I would have included corrugated cardboard in the package and I'm almost certain I would have found a way to attach that gold record in there without gluing it down. Though, for the life of me, I'm not sure how I would have done that in 1979.

It's all academic since I have never been licensed to frame these things.

What was appalling to me was that I wouldn't be allowed to fix even the few things I could fix after all these years. If I could have come up with a piece of water-stained, mildewed kraft to replace the dust seal, the customer would want me to use it.
 
Ron, how old is this customer?

I'm hoping that she isn't thinking something framed in 1979 is an antique.

Kit

Edit: Oh yeah, the original question. Why? Because she sold it on Ebay and her buyer is expecting something that looks like it was framed thirty years ago - not last week.

Don't put your shop sticker on this puppy. Once the buyer receives it, he/she will realize that it needs to be taken to his/her favorite frame shop to be re-done. And we wouldn't want anyone thinking you had glued down Donna's gold record.
 
I am going to start offering what I have here instead of just taking.
The guy got ripped off, there are knockoffs of these all over the place. If he thinks it worth thousands,its not your place to tell him different. My neighbor thinks he made a killing because he found a bunch of these for 29.99. I didnt have the heart to tell him what he had. Ken MCCann
 
I know a guy who lives in Florida for the winter and he thinks the the S. Dali hanging in his bedroom is an original... he said he found it at a flea market down there for like $10... I don't think he's heard about the truckload of fakes from way back when (or however that story went)... I don't have the heart to tell him he probably owns just one of thousands of signatures... I think there's a way to tell by looking at the watermark...
 
My usual policy is to only tell the customer they have a dud if they evidently bought it just for the "investment" or to try to resell for a bundle.

Usually, they just want to hang it on the wall and think they have something wonderful. I won't spoil that for them.

It sounds like your guy got his money, so it isn't really a dud after all.
 
I gather that the laboratory that does the gold plating is in New Jersey some place…….

Where did this myth come from that you need to be licensed to do this sort of work…..this is just another form of framing that the record/cd publishers/company’s have done on a regular based……..my near neighbour framer and good friend does a bucket load of work for the Irish/International (he ships all over the world….. very nice business) music business…….he does nice work…..but I have never been allowed to see the whole process from start to finish……he protects his business niche with a vengeances……because of ALL those other framers trying to get this work……he retains the business on quality and presentation….NO Licence is required….
 
I told the customer about my concerns, especially regarding the materials and the way the record was attached to them. He was, at one time, the buyer, but now he is the seller, so he wasn't interested and there was nothing to be gained by lecturing him.

Whether this thing is authentic or not, it would likely become very valuable if I lost or damaged it, so it's going to be in my shop for less than 24 hours. That is my policy with items of significant claimed value.
 
Ah yes and you can bet the framing is done by the lowest bidder.
 
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