Damn, I thought for sure I busted the guy!
I compared the scan to my 30 or so genuine signatures, and the ebay sig was missing a loop that is in every one of my signatures.
I'm weary of book plates for a number ofd reasons...
#1. Book plates, even signed ones, do not add much value to the book and in some cases can diminish the value.
#2. There are just way too many fakes out there. A good forgery can bring in a lot of cash for someone selling these, even at just a buck a pop. At least with a signed book, the schmuck has to fork out some dough to the book store.
#3. Several years back I came across a First Edition of Harlan Ellison's Slippage with a signed book plate in it stating 1 of 50 signed copies (or something like that) for about $40. I promtly picked it up and put it out on Ebay to see what it would fetch...and what it fetched was Harlan Ellison himself, claiming that it was a fake. At Harlan's request, I stopped the auction and forwarded the bookseller's info to Harlan. So, I was out $40 and got stuck with a forged bookplate in a first edition book that was now worthless because of the sticker. On the upside, I did get to speak with Harlan Ellison on the phone for a bit, and if you've ever heard him speak, you know what a trip he can be.