lauantai 17. elokuuta 2013

Collecting hobby, to start or not to start?

Recently I got this message on Youtube:
I really want to start collecting Lady Gaga items, but do you think it is too late to start? Im asking this because some of her things are numbered and I don't think there are anymore left :(

And this was my answer:
That's an interesting question! No, it's not too late to start any hobby at any time or any age!
Collecting-hobby becomes more difficult the later you start it, since the more time has passed after the release of the things you are collecting, the more difficult it will become to find those things. They might have been sold out, and things appear less and less frequently on Internet auction sites as times goes by, since the things at last end up to collectors who don't sell them onwards anymore.

I would like to continue that answer here, because of Youtube's very limited comment space:

Collecting is a very nice hobby. It's fun, it requires patience, hard work, sometimes detective work, which is very interesting, sometimes, but not always, money. Sometimes a lot of it.
Certainly not all collecting hobbies require large amount of money. Some are even completely free and will be free forever.
I am a passionate collector. I have been collecting all kinds of stuff throughout my life. And I will certainly continue to do so until I die. Maybe someone can start up a museum of my weird collections after that. Would be fun. I have been collecting things, which to some people would be complete rubbish, some things which are considered valuable, and some things which have only sentimental value to me.
Collecting something is a very nice and advisable hobby to everyone, but you should first decide what to collect. I am a good example and indeed you can collect everything, but that's going to be hard. Not hard at all to collect everything, but hard as ever to store the things anywhere. My collections fill up every place in my room and apartment. I have had to gave up collecting some things, because the space is not nearly big enough to sustain all my collectable items.

You can of course collect everything, but I don't recommend you to do so. My collections have included postal stamps, post cards, phone cards, books, comic books, films on DVD, PC-games, movie tickets, amusement park wristbands, museum visitor stickers, pins, interesting newspaper articles, old maps, crown-bottle corks, wine-bottle corks, seashells, nice cones, nice stones, nice branches and roots, multi-leaf clovers (four and up), all the flowers in our garden (pressed), photographs of all the plants in our garden (about 200 different species!), photographs of beautiful sunsets from a window of my previous apartment, self-made games (board games, card games, role-playing games etc.), self-made miniature soldiers, self-made books, ancient Roman, Greek, Egyptian, Persian, Mesopotamian etc. related pictures from Internet, symbols of all kind, ancient Roman equipment (self-made), Indiana Jones-film props (self-made props, bought clothes), other movie- and game props, materials of all kind for future prop making, Lady Gaga drawings (self-made of course) and Lady Gaga records on CD, LP and other formats. And I don't even have a vinyl-player!
And information, data, facts and everything which increases my knowledge of everything!
That is most probably not all, but I can't remember every collection I've ever had, and some of them are quite hard to describe, like my collection of all the nice little things I've ever got in my hands.

That is quite many collections, over thirty. Maybe you can start with one collection. Start by choosing which one it will be. Considering the nature of this blog and it's readership's mutual and quite narrow interests, I suppose you all want to collect Lady Gaga records. Mostly on CD, since most of them are released on CD, some on LP, some in other sometimes quite bizarre and peculiar forms, like singing toothbrushes and pins. I only collect the real records, not the kinds of singing toothbrushes, which have inferior sound quality and are only made to milk money out of little girls ('s parents).

Now when you have decided that you want to start to collect Lady Gaga records follows the next question, how?
First it's very easy, go to a record shop and buy every Gaga record they have. You can also ask if they have some in storage which are not displayed on the shelves. Older records are usually storaged somewhere, so they almost always have them despite the fact that you don't see them in the store. Just ask for them. If they are sold out, they can most probably order some more from a distributor, that will take from days to weeks. Better to check other stores first if you can find the records there more quickly. It's also advisable to compare the prices a little before buying everything from the same store, since you could save a big penny by buying them from some other store. Big super-markets and the like also often have sales, in which they put sometimes a ridiculously low price tag on the records. That's the time to buy the old records if you haven't bought them already. Smaller record stores can also have sales. Best sales are usually after Christmas, in January.
The older a record gets, the more cheap you can usually get it from regular stores. This applies to all regular mass made items, which are priduced of unnumbered copies, meaning that they will make them infinitely more when they are sold out of the stores. You can get almost all Gaga's music in regular CD:s and mp3 downloads. None of them will sell out since they can be produced more infinitely.
Then there's the collectable items. The ones that "serious" collectors are really interested. Or should I say only interested. I used the word serious inside quotation marks because I think everyone who are serious about their collecting hobby is a serious collector, but many of the so called serious collectors despise those people who collect things which are not valuable in the serious collectors mind. Which' monetary value doesn't rise up when time goes by, that is. That means all the regular items you can get from stores from now to infinity. Their price will only go down, so they are not interesting to the "serious" collectors, who are only interested in the calue of their collection and increasing the value through time.
I am not interested in the value of my collections. Or, yes, I am interested in how much I have spent money on my collection and how much it have gain more value through time, but I am not interested in its value in that sense that I would be selling it to anyone, ever. I am not selling my Gaga record collection ever. Period. So don't ask that, not even a single object. I am not giving them away either and I am not changing them for other objects. Don't propose that anymore, some of you have tried to do that.
I only collect Gaga records, as well as all the other things I'm collecting, for my own amusement. And maybe for a possible future museum exhibit, perhaps. I collect Gaga records because I want to have them all, I want to be able to say that I have them all and I would like to have the best Gaga record collection in the World. I know that it is not possible because there are more privileged people in existence who are collecting Gaga records as well and their goals are exactly the same as mine. People who have much more money than I have to put in this collecting hobby, and people who have started earlier and got something which is impossible to find anymore and people who live in New York, who have even met Gaga when She was not so famous and bought or got Her early records then.

The collectable items can be devided with many classes, but I like to use the following taxonomy:
Regular CD:s, cheap, infinite copies, I value the first edition best
Regular LP:s, cost a bit more, but just a bit, infinite copies, I value the first edition best
Extended edition CD:s, more songs that on regular albums, infinite copies
Deluxe version CD:s, made usually for a release in a specific country and not sold anywhere else
Unnumbered limited edition CD:s, limited number of copies
Numbered limited edition CD:s, limited number of copies
Unnumbered (versions of things which should be numbered) and/or promo items, rare and pricy
Super Deluxe versions of anything, very expensive, numbered, limited edition with all the goodies
Stefani records, before Gaga was even Gaga, so scarce that practically impossible to find and buy

I have excluded pirated copies, bootlegs, white labels and other unoccifial and fan-made items, which are not qualified for any Gaga collection, since they are not designed nor made in co-operation with Gaga, not released by any of Her official record labels, not even meant to exist by Her. So, they are worthless crap, the quality is usually very poor and they don't fit in the canon altogether. Don't buy them, if you do, you are only giving your money to thieves.

Always try to buy the records from official record stores and supermarkets, because then the money really goes to Gaga and Her record label, the people who really have made the record and reserve a price for it. If you buy second hand, it's some money away from the makers of the record. But buying second hand items is very recommendable if the items are not sold anymore in the stores. It's a really minor money loss to the artist.
In internet you can find many great places to buy Gaga records. The best are Ebay and Amazon. Try also other versions of the sites, aimed at other countries. .com for U.S., .co.uk for U.K., .de for Germany, .fr for France etc. Of course it might be impossible for you if you don't speak the language used in those sites. Most products you can always find from the .com ending sites.
You have to be careful in internet auction sites because of several reasons. You cannot look the product, and someone can cheat you. I have bought a record with a wrong image, the seller said it was a wrong image, but he hadn't another one, and told that the record had minor smudge on it's cover. When I received the record, it turned out to be completely ruined with boll point pen and marker smudge. The selled was a lousy thief and cheater. I gave him a bad criticism on the action site. That was not any of those big internet auction sites, it was a smaller one in Finland, but at least the biggest in my country. Anyway, always remember to look at the seller's ratings given by other users. It tells alot about the seller. If he/she has many negative reviews, you should consider if you really want to buy anything from him/her.
Some people ship the things fast, some slow, but usually it's pretty safe to trust in those biggest sites like Ebay and Amazon, they will most probably give your money back if the seller cheats you and you don't get the product.
Auctions also have another problem, the changing price. In Amazon you can buy pretty much anything with a standard price, but in Ebay you have to bid for an item. The highest bidder of course wins the item. This leads to situations that several people are competing for the same items, and the prices might get really high. There can also be a "buy now"-option in Ebay, if the seller has put one, but when talking about really rare collectable items, the buy now price will be really high, it the item has one. The starting bidding price can also be pretty high considering the rarity on the item.

The rarities only will become more expensive through time. This is because when time goes by, the people who originally bought them, but are not collectors, sell the items onwards when they don't need them anymore, and then they are bid on in an internet auction. The prices go up everytime they are bid on depending on how much people are willing to spend on them. Slowly there will be fewer and fewer items available, because they always finally end up to those collectors who don't want to sell them anymore, but want to keep them themselves. Collectors like me.

tiistai 16. heinäkuuta 2013

Stop stealing my videos!

A new problem occurred. Someone stole my video. My newest video (ARTPOP Mask) is really stolen, the thief downloaded it and uploaded it to his own channel. Didn't even give me credit. That is outrageous stupidity and greed! But wait, it get's worse!

I found out that this lousy crook has stolen my video. Someone was commenting on the stolen video that give at least credit to Sire Sasa, to the vide...os original maker. The thug had answered that yes he will add that. Later both those comments were removed. I wrote some comments on the video telling that it's my video, that it's stolen and demanded him to delete it. I also asked people to watch it on my channel since it's my video. Today, all my comments were deleted by the scumbag uploader. The villain didn't care to answer to any of my private messages I sent him yesterday, asking him to remove the video or I would flag it and report him to Youtube.
Today the unscrupulous scoundrel had even blocked me from commenting on the stolen video. I flagged the video today, I had to fill a paper online but I did it. I own that video and he stole it. It's a criminal act, and it will not go unpunished. hopefully Youtube will delete his account permanently, at least delete the video. He has stolen over 1200 views from me by now. The views mean money, since I have a Youtube partnership and I get money from that.

Now I have to explain to you that the money I make in Youtube is not big. It's in fact extremely small, in 10 months I've made about 60 €. That's nothing. The electricity to charge up my camera battery and to power my computer have probably cost more. The materials I have used in my props have cost a lot more than I've got back from Youtube. The time spent on making videos is infinitely bigger than what I get back in money. So, basically I don't earn anything making Youtube videos. But more so the little money I got back is the more important. Every cent counts. I also have to clarify that I don't get money from video views or subscribers, I only get something when people click the ads in my videos or in my channel.
Now, the miscreant has stolen from me over 1200 views, just in two days, since the subject of my video is right now very popular. My video has now 8000 views, so 1200 views is quite a lot taken away from that.
The theft also harms me in other ways too, and benefits unjustly the goon. I lose views, I lose money, I lose possible subscribers if new people see this video (like they do, since most of it's watchers didn't know it was stolen), I lose fame because the new viewers don't know I made the video, the dirtbag gets my views, my subscribers and my fame.

Everything in this act is so wrong! How someone dares to copy some other small individual Youtube-maker's video and present it as his own? We should be friends in Youtube, we individual videomakers, not competitors using dirty tricks and even criminal ways to achieve from someone else's hard work and dedication. If you don't have skills, passion, time for practise and hard work and patience to make your own videos, but your lust for fame is so great it makes you steal other people's effort, you are not worthy to be a Youtuber at all. Stop stealing other people's videos and start to grow yourself a spine you miserable pile of cochroach faeces!

For all the readers to know, the bastard thief's name is Brayan Ramiirez. And if you Brayan are getting dirt thrown at you, you can only blaim yourself, you wretched puny piece of filth.

tiistai 19. maaliskuuta 2013

Frequently asked questions about Sire Sasa

I've got probably thousands, if not tens of thousands of questions. I have now 23 745 comments on my videos altogether, of approximately half are written by me, since I always answer questions and thank for praise. So about 11 872 and a half comments I've got from my viewers. They are not all questions, but there's also my channel comments, which Youtube has hid behind a useless tab, so their use is significantly decreased, but I have approximately two thousand channel comments, if not more and many of them are questions also.
So, quite many questions to answer. Hopefully, or annoyingly, most of the questions deal with the same subjects every time. I made this FAQ, so I wouldn't have to answer these questions ever anymore, sadly I know that I still have to answer them many times.

Anyway, here's the 60 most asked questions and comments:

Q: What's your real name?
A: I'm not going to tell you. Ever. I'm Sire Sasa now.

Q: Where do you live?
A: In Finland.

Q: How old are you/when is your birthday?
A: I'm born at April 6 1989.

Q: Are you a boy or a girl?
A: Yes I am.

Q: Are you gay?
A: No I'm not. Sorry to disappoint you.

C: But you look like gay!
A: No, I don't. Gays look like gay, I look like me (or sometimes Gaga).

Q: Are you rich?
A: No, I'm most certainly not rich!

C: But you make money from Youtube!
A: The little money I get from ads is about one-hundredth of the money I've put into making things for you.

Q: Do you belong to the Haus of Gaga?
A: Unfortunately not.

Q: Have you met Lady Gaga?
A: No I haven't met Her personally, yet.

Q: Which languages you speak?
A: Finnish, English, Swedish, German, and a bit of Spanish, French, Latin and Japan. But it would be nice that instead of Spanish, you would try to speak English to me, since yo habla poco Español.

Q: Can you make videos in other languages than English?
A: In Finnish I can, if you want? But I will not start to make videos in many languages, I will not make any video again with different subtitles and I don't have time to make subtitles for many languages. Use Google Translate.

Q: Why can't I see this video?
A: Some of my videos are blocked by Youtube, because they contain copyrighted background music. There's nothing I can do to change that. They are mainly blocked in Germany and Japan, because those countries have more strickt copyright laws. The only thing you can do, is try to fool Youtube to think you are using it from some other country. I don't know how to do it, or is it even possible.

Q: Why can't I see this video on my cellphone/tablet?
A: Because of copyright infringement some videos maybe blocked from viewing in portable devices by Youtube. There's nothing I can do about it, but you can probably see them just fine on a computer.

Q: What is your next video?
A: If I just uploaded a new video, I probably don't yet know what the next video will be. Patience!

Q: When is your next video coming?
A: If I just uploaded a new video, I probably don't yet know when the next video will come. Patience!!! Not in a week, probably in a month.

Q: When is the template coming
A: If there will be a template, it will come when I make it. Patience.

Q: Why there is no template?
A: The prop is probably the kind which cannot be made templates of, i.e. convex, concave, other difficult three-dimensional form or then the template would be so big that it couldn't be printed.

Q: Where is the template?
If there is a template, there's a link to it in the videos description.

Q: What is this background music?
A: Check the videos description.

Q: Where can I get it for free?
A: Probably nowhere legally. Buy CDs.

Q: What is this font you used in your video?
A: Ask in specific video, and I'll tell you. All the fonts I've used are the same Gaga has used in Her products, I want to make things accurate.

Q: Where can I get it for free?
A: If it's a free font, you can probably find it by searching it's name on Google.

Q: What program you use to edit your videos?
A: I have used Pinnacle Studio 12 plus for over hundred videos and just recently I updated to Pinnacle Studio 16 Ultimate.

Q: Where can I get it for free?
A: Nowhere, it costs about 120 dollars.

Q: What program you use to edit photos?
A: Photoshop Elements 8.

Q: Where can I get it for free?
A: Nowhere, it costs about 90 dollars.

Q: How do you make your video effects?
A: I won't show you that, it's my secret. Everything else I teach you already.

Q: Where do you buy the Gaga records for your collection?
A: Ladygaga.com, Ebay.com, Amazon.com.

Q: How much you paid for this record?
A: Read the subtitles of the video, please! If it's not there, read the videos description.

Q: Do you have some record/thing in your collection?
A: Possibly I do, if it's not super rare and expensive. If I don't, maybe I will have it in the future and show it in a video. But don't ask me to buy certain things, it's stupid. I will buy what I want.

Q: Can you make this Gaga prop?
A: Please don't send anymore requests, since I have hands full of them already. I will make all the things I like enough to make.

Q: Can you make this other-than-Gaga prop?
A: No, I only make Gaga props in this channel.

Q: When you will make some prop?
A: I will make props when I have time, and the more complicated prop, more time it will need for planning and constructing.

Q: Can you make these Gaga shoes?
A: No, I'm not a shoemaker. It requires different kinds of materials, tools and techniques than other props.

Q: Can you make this Gaga dress?
A: Probably not, since I'm a craftsman, not a tailor. I like the most to make props: masks, sunglasses, headpieces etc.

Q: What is your easiest prop to make?
A: Pink Eye Stickers.

Q: What is your hardest prop to make?
A: Polar Bear Robe.

Q: What is your favorite prop?
A: Blue Telephone Hat.

Q: I can't make this, can you help me?
A: Start with something easier, ask help from your parents, watch the video as many times necessary and pause it if needed, read the subtitles. And practise a lot so you become better at crafting.

Q: Where can I find the materials for the prop?
A: Crafts store, hardware store, scale model store, fabric store, haberdashery store, bookstore, department store, general store, rock/biker/heavy clothing store, garbage bin, the Internet.

Q: What is Finnfoam?
A: Polyurethane foam, plastic foam, expanded plastic, foamed plastic, cellular plastic, almost like Styrofoam, but without the grains. It's an insulating material which is probably sold in hardware stores, and it can usually be found on construction yards and their waste containers.

Q: Can I buy something from you?
A: Maybe you can, depending on the prop. I will keep one copy of everything for myself, and I don't want to make duplicates for the most complex props, so not everything can be bought.

Q: How can I buy something from you?
A: You need to have an Ebay account, and for that you need a Paypal account, and for that you need a credit card, and for that you have to be an adult. So if you're not, ask your parents about it.

Q: How much some prop costs?
A: Probably more than you would expect. From 50 dollars to 300 dollars mainly. It takes very much time, effort, patience, skills, designing, materials and tools to make a prop. You must understand that selling a prop under 50 dollars is worth nothing to me. If I make a prop in five ours, that makes 10 dollars per hour, minus the materials of course. If I make a prop in ten hours, I would like to get more than 50 dollars for it.

Q: To which countries do you sell props?
A: All over the World, except Antarctica and International Space Station.

Q: Can I send you something via mail?
A: Probably you can't. I don't have a mailbox and don't want to share my address to everyone.

Q: What is your Little Monsters account?
A: Sire Sasa

Q: What is your Facebook?

Q: What is your Twitter?
A: I don't use Twitter.

Q: What is your E-mail?
A: I'm not going to tell it.

Q: Can you send me something via E-mail?
A: No, you see everything on Youtube, Facebook and my blogs.

Q: Can I use your art in my video/project?
A: Rather not, since what I get form it? Nothing.

Q: Can you subscribe/follow/like/advertise/feature/link/share/comment/favorite my video/channel/account/facebook/twitter/post/picture/page?
A: No, I will not do that, because then everyone would ask me to do it, and I can't subscribe to everyone.

Q: Can I make a video of your prop?
A: Yes you can, if you tell that I taught you to make it, provide a link to me video/channel and put it as a video response to the original video. But please don't make a tutorial video of a prop I have already made a tutorial about, if you make it like I did.

Q: Can I be your friend?
A: You can be my internet friend, but that is not like a real friend, because we can't hang out or even talk face to face. And I don't know your real name, and you don't know mine. So, actually we are not friends, but if it's nice for you to think that, go ahead.

C: You are my best friend!
A: Oh no, I hope not! Try to get some real-life friends too.

Q: I'm your best fan!
A: Maybe you are. But so are everybody else.

C: You are so talented!
A: Thank you, but it's really just the matter of practise and patience.

C: I love you!
A: If you are a girl, thank you very much! If you are a boy (which unfortunately tends to be more likely), don't say that! In either case, you don't really love me, you just think so.

Q: Can I marry you?
A: If you are a girl, over 16, under 24, pretty, not fat, not stupid, you will move to Finland, learn Finnish language and culture, yes you can.

Then the most asked props and will I make them:
Government Hooker Alien Headpiece from Born This Way Ball. No.
Lobster Shoes from Bad Romance. Yes.
Living Dress from Monster Ball. No.
Orbit Dress from Bad Romance. Yes.
Pyro Bra from Bad Romance. Yes.
Meat Dress from VMA. Maybe.

sunnuntai 20. tammikuuta 2013

List of people who own The Fame USB edition


Besides in CD and LP, Lady Gaga's first album The Fame was also released in USB form. A fact not known to even all Little Monsters. This little piece of art is a USB stick formed into shape of Lady Gaga. It's really fun, containing the album songs, music videos and digital single cover pictures etc.
It's also hyper rare collectable object.
No one knows for sure how many of these are made, and it's not sure where they were sold, or if they were sold at all. It's possible that it's a promo item, made only a bunch, and somehow spread through internet auctions when people who got them at first wanted money out of them, since Gaga became hyper famous.
It does have a barcode though, 602527035529, and it's released either May 7, July 7 or November 6 2009, so possibly it has been sold, but to how many? And for what price?
To know the amount of copies produced and the original selling price would help to define the value of this object. And I would very much like to know it, since I have it myself, although I'm not selling it. There is one comment saying that 63 € was the price of it, but that was possibly referring to Ebay.
Gagavision says there was a competition arranged in 2009 by Universal Music Mexico, in which The Fame USB was the prize, but it was only in held Mexico and Argentina.

I'm very interested about how many of these exist, and I've collected some info I could find on the internet. From somewhere I read that The Fame USB albums could range between tens and hundreds. I had the idea that there were 100 of them, but I can't remember where I got that info. Youtube user "IagoGermanotta" says there's 100 of them. "MyGagaGraphy" says in his blog that there is 250 of them. So between tens and 250 perhaps, but most probably one hundred.
"KayJay" says it was sold out in 24 hours of it's release, which seems easy to believe.

People who own The Fame USB album:

Sire Sasa Helsinki, Finland
Mathieu Deflem USA
Nick UK
Kevin Germany, possibly Berlin
Stéphanie Belgium. She had it but sold it to someone for 440 €.
GagaMania UK. Signed by Gaga
LadyGagaItalianCollector Italy, possibly Rome
Some Mexican Guadalajara, Mexico, selling it for $1200
xtaticboyz Madrid, Spain
Gaga Collector BR Brazil
IagoGermanotta Brazil
neta-lee Israel
KayJay may have it

18 members of Discogs have this:
andorepa
bigoudin Paris, France
Chipeur-30 Nîmes, France
dimitriam2010
DjangoSG93
glennv1w1
JUDY87
justilicious Justin aka Camille Towe, Los Angeles/Hollywood, USA
lamoreox1
morganmorison
MrGermanotta
Pyanga
retro-dance-freak
ric21000
ron92
stephaniemusic probably the same Stéphanie as above
vince_martin888
1 private

Ebay user gevsgarage818 sells these, he has many of them, even though he puts only one at a time in Ebay. I bought mine from him, and hi's still selling them. The price has grown to sick $600!
The last ones he's sold are in October 24 for $415, and November 26 for $455.

Also Ebayer kyliekrazy sells one. Her price is $550, but the listing of the item is ended, since no one has bought it yet. But I'm sure the item will be relisted until it's sold.

So, at least 34 The Fame USB albums exist. If you know more, please let me know.

lauantai 19. tammikuuta 2013

List of people who own The Fame Monster Super Deluxe Edition


Exactly what the title says. There are 10 000 copies of The Fame Monster Super Deluxe Edition made, all numbered. I've collected all the people which I know to own this collector's item, and with numbers they have. Including myself of course.

In numerical order. The lower the number, the more valuable the object, at least in theory. Unknown number of the copies have Lady Gaga's signature inside them. I guess there's 100 to 1000 copies with the autograph, the lower number seaming more reasonable. All the Super Deluxe Editions also have a small piece of hair, said to be from Lady Gaga's own hair. This is unfortunately not true, they are from Her Candy Warhol wig. And that is not entirely true either, they can't be all from one single wig. There's about 100 strands of hair in each set, and a human head has about 100 000 single hairs. If the wig has as much hair as a real human head, then there has had to be 10 wigs. So they could not even all be from a wig which Lady Gaga have used. Sorry to disappoint you. But you can't know which hair are from a wig She has used, so you can always think the strands you have are from it. Or maybe She has ten of each wig, She's Gaga for Her sake!

There's also fake versions sold around internet. Fake ones are made in China, sold probably with a cheaper price than the real ones, and their real value is worthless, since they are not authentic. Collectors should only collect authentic, official releases and try to avoid pirate copies, unofficial releases, bootlegs etc. But if you don't care about the value, only the thing that you have it, then you could get this with a lower price than the real one. But beware, the quality can be lower, I've seen pages falling of the book of the fake version. Also you should never give money to fake product sellers. The Fame Monster Super Deluxe fake copies can be identified by two things. They have misspelled Lovegame in the back cover listing the songs, it's written "Lovegane". The other thing is that they all have the same number, since they are made after one original copy, the number is 8688. It is fairly certain that all copies with this number are fakes, since the original number 8688 is owned by someone who makes the copies in China.

There's still another version, unnumbered promo edition. These are probably made only 100 copies, since they are not meant for sale, only for testing. That's why their barcode is strikethrough with black marker. This, and the thing that they don't have a number at all, can be used to detect a promo edition. They also have the pictures of the book in different order than the numbered edition. These are really hard to find, because they are 100 times more rare than the numbered product, and probably people will ask much higher price of them in internet auctions. Although the value of the promo edition is not certain, since they are not meant for sale at first place, and the promo editions sold in internet could be stolen. Also they are not part of the official "collection" of 10 000 copies made of The Fame Monster Super Deluxe Edition, which should make them less valuable. And they can't have Lady Gaga's signature in them.

I've included to this list of people links to their Youtube channels, blogs or Ebay accounts. Also added are prices what they paid for their copy of the product, when this is known.

Owners of the fake version, #8688:

Alex Youngblood-Germanotta
Cody Butler
Youwereborntobebrave £250
ladygagaaddict1
gagafan212
elliott28lg £30
Mathieu Deflem

Owners of the promo version (probably 100 copies), unnumbered:

dbarranc $133
littlemonstertyrese $200
danielthevampire93
Mathieu Deflem
Dimitri
coolcman1 $100

Owners of The Fame Monster Super Deluxe Edition, 10 000 copies:

TheGaGaProject #00001, surprisingly not signed by Gaga, located in New Zealand
Joseph N. #00069
Mathieu Deflem #00089
GaGaFan00011 #00155
StephGaGax3 #00350
PepeSpiceBoy #01579
DingziUndPumzi #02287
Cornelis Sales (littlecookiemonster) #02520, #07265
Yússef Adlany #02632
Dylan Groundland #02773
Clarinha980 #03051
yongjie1997 #03602, $109
lesleyluvsjoe #03716
MyPainLoveHeart #04073
SireSasa #04656, $190
Discoboy #04793
BloggingNickster Nickster #05060
Allison Koner #05601
Axel #05682
TheJLTv #05983, $90
XSims3LoliFreakzX #06288
CanetaHidrocor #06881
iamthefamemonsterr #06931
Nick #07054
Reno #07077, signed by Gaga, but on the cover, so not originally signed
Reno unknown number
diamante12355 #07287
ElectricChapel18 #07509
ohsnapitszach #07570, $63
Amykinga01 #08001
Stéphanie #08016
ConnorWubbenhorst #08756

#08846
TheFatherFame #08848
GovermentHookerTV #08979
86Artproject #09011, $150
WLOVideos #09048
LadyGagaIsGod318 #09886
Johrel Mowen #09917
CirqueDeEliaoko #09999