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If you follow my Facebook page (and if you don't please fix that by clicking HERE) you know that every week I share what I have simply named "Star Wars Wednesdays" from Steve Grad's Facebook page (which you can "like" HERE.)  Grad should be no stranger to Star Wars autograph collecting circles and fans of the History Channel, as he is "principal authenticator at PSA/DNA and the resident autograph virtuoso on the History Channel's Pawn Stars."  Grad features different aspects of autograph collecting each day of the week and since late February has dedicated every Wednesday to Star Wars. 

I look forward to these weekly updates, as they are always fun, informative and feature autographs from signers long gone, or who are in such rarified air that it's unlikely I will ever have them in my own collection.  Here are just a few examples.  Clicking on each photo will bring you to Grad's Facebook page for that autograph.

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"Star Wars Wednesdays from Steve Grad" is consistently one of the most viewed and "liked" posts each week for my page.  On July 29th Grad's post featured over 20 Mark Hamill autographs, each with an inscription, and most of them very funny.  I shared his post, as I do every week, and went on with my day. 

On Friday afternoon a friend tagged me in a Facebook post which simply said "Frank-This True?"  His post was linked to an Imgur page from user Raggedrabbit titled "Mark Hamill Autographs Are Apparently Hilarious."  I instantly recognized the photo attached to the piece as one of the cards Grad had shared on Wednesday and told my friend they were real signatures.  I made a point to tell him they belonged to Steve Grad, because there was no mention of him anywhere in the Imgur post.  Later in the day I noticed former Lucasfilm Advertising Publicity Supervisor Charles Lippincott had shared the same story.

I spoke to Grad today, who was working at the National Sports Collectors Convention in Chicago, about his post and how big it had become. After doing a bit of digging I soon learned that at least 15 sites had picked up on his Hamill cards from Imgur, none of them mentioning the cards were from Grad's collection.

Even without proper credit the coverage has resulted in "massive exposure" for Grad, who has seen his post "liked" over 200 times and shared 389 times on Facebook with a reported estimated reach of over 50,000 people. 

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In his Facebook thread Grad revealed that he had over 100 similar cards in his collection and would be sharing those in the future.  When asked how he was able to get Hamill to sign so many inscriptions he simply confessed "I can't give away all my secrets."

I am thrilled to announce that Steve Grad will be our guest on the August episode of the Star Wars Autograph Collection Podcast.  Have a question for him?  Please send it to swautographcollection@gmail.com.

Now, in case you missed his post, here are the cards signed by Hamill that Grad shared on Wednesday. Not all of the cards are posted here, as some of them are for adult eyes only. Clicking a card will bring you to it's page on his Facebook page.