Luke Skywalker himself is authenticating signed Star Wars merchandise on Twitter, and it seems some fans have paid top dollar for fake autographed items.
After being mentioned by a Twitter user in a post regarding a signed copy of The Black Pearl (a comic Hamill co-authored in the mid-nineties), he responded by quoting the tweet and stating, “With so many forgeries out there, I’m happy to tell you that this one is real.”
The 64-year-old actor then received a number of inquiries from concerned fans looking to verify the authenticity of their Star Wars memorabilia, reports Business Insider. Luckily, Hamill was more than happy to help, setting in motion an impromptu question-and-answer session that resembled a geeky version of The Antiques Roadshow.
Unfortunately for some, Hamill spotted a fair number of fakes along the way. Speaking of the forgeries in one tweet, he warned: “There’s so many fans spending their hard-earned money for fraudulent signatures.” He also held up examples of real signed merchandise in order to help fans identify what to look for when purchasing items carrying his own signature.
At present the actor, who maintains a vocal Twitter presence, is still verifying autographed memorabilia on the platform. To make the process less time-consuming, he has added that he will “like” the tweets that contain real items. At one point he even helped a fan authenticate a live eBay listing. Check out a selection of his tweets below.
Memorize this REAL signature and you can start spotting the phonies yourself! #BeatTheDealers https://t.co/yB0aVXY74E
— Mark Hamill (@MarkHamill) December 28, 2015
In a word- NO. I'm so sorry there's so many fans spending their hard-earned money for fraudulent signatures. #FAKE https://t.co/717Bv02ASA
— Mark Hamill (@MarkHamill) December 27, 2015
That one is REAL- go for it! (but only at a reasonable price!) #Authentic https://t.co/SxZw59MDti
— Mark Hamill (@MarkHamill) December 28, 2015
Hamill has a notably warm-hearted attitude toward Star Wars fans. Recently, a number of his signed Star Wars trading cards made it online, each carrying humorous, self-effacing messages. Uploaded to Reddit by user RagedRabbit, one particular card containing an image of Hamill as Luke Skywalker talking to Star Wars creator George Lucas on set, read: “Yes George, but just try acting with these scripts!” Another stated: “This Vader guy is a loser, hope he doesn’t have kids!”
