Paying for your favorite celeb's autograph ....

[Gorn Captain]

I met Anthony Daniels and He charged me for only one Autograph, he was a charming man and signed everything my son presented him and had a wonderful conversation with him. He often got up and walked down the long line to say hello to people and apologize for the long wait......I thought he was great.

Did I catch him on a bad day?
Maybe. I knew he was in a bidding match with Ray Park about who was "top billing" at the convention, and who got to charge most. That was when Phantom Menace just came out...

[FETT1]

I understand that some people now make a living off autographs, and they usually charge reasonable amounts.
What I do find offensive is people like Mark Hammill who charge $150.
Star Wars is his only claim to fame, it made him rich, we made him rich, he could at least give everybody a fair shot at an autograph.
I ran a convention for years. There's nothing as heartbreaking as seeing a six year old proudly walk up to Anthony Daniels with his drawing of C3PO, and Daniels saying "if you want that signed, that'll be $35".
I was the organisor and still, after that, I didn't want his autograph anymore and I would have got one for free.

NEVER was a FAN of DANIELS...find him very erogant / rude....kinda like yoda's voice actor FRANK OZ(??)..ALSO rude...what a shame!!

[kingdom warrior]

Did I catch him on a bad day?
Maybe. I knew he was in a bidding match with Ray Park about who was "top billing" at the convention, and who got to charge most. That was when Phantom Menace just came out...

Maybe i caught him on a good day....lol

[toys2cool]

I don't mind paying reasonable price like $20, I know they have to make some money..but anything over that? Kiss my *** Like Nimoy and Adam West charging $75-$100+ Hell no!!

[Peter Panda]

I used to collect autographs and realized after i got home that the novelty wears off so fast it's not worth it...I could care less about anyones scribble and then i feel stupid for paying for it on top of that....so now,the only thing i get is a photo with people i grew up liking,currently like or whatever....NO autograph is cooler than a photo of you with the person....that's worth paying for....scribble? that some guy could forge in his basement? no thanks....

[johnnystorm]

I've collected autographs through the mail for years, and never paid for any, including James Earl Jones, Adam West & Julie Newmar. Stan Lee used to sign for free, but since they started charging $400 for his signed comics from Dynamic Forces, he stopped. Recently I've been sending & getting replies from all the cast of The Walking Dead. One great success I had was from the late Phyllis Diller, I sent her a Mad Monster Party photo, and she not only signed it, she sent me like 8 more signed photos that she provided and paid the extra postage for!

Occasionally I would get a fee list from someone, usually a sports figure. I've bought a few at celeb shows too, such as Lou Ferrigno- but in those cases I only paid like $20 and I got to meet the star. Sometimes though the fee is outrageous, once I saw Mike Schmidt at a mall signing and it was close to $100 for a photo. Can't see paying that, but I guess they figure you are going to flip it on Ebay so they might as well get that fee.

[raider5gt]

A friend of mine got my Boba Fett comic signed by Jeremy Bulloch free of charge,I have paid for a few autographs,about £20 max but nothing astronomical like some of them charge.I really could not justify paying top dollar for them or standing in some of the long queues that form.

[RickD]

I realize it is a crappy thing to charge for autographs, but alot of individuals who get their memorabilia signed turns around and sells it for a higher profit.

In this sense a celebrity is doing no different.

at the end of the day It is all business and marketing.

[Mikey]

The big thing that's changed is an autograph use to mean THANK YOU FOR BEING A FAN.

Today it means GIMME YOUR MONEY, SUCKER

That's why ot feels kind of embarrassing standing in an autograph line (i've done it in the past)

It's embarrassing to me, and to my view of the celeb.

That make sense ?

[dr_cyclops]

The most I've paid so far is $40 for Bruce Campbell to sign my 'Army of Darkness' dvd sleeve. I like getting autographs personalized to me. So many of my friends don't, for resale profit.
As a fan, I like getting them for free, but I can understand charging a reasonable fee to keep some fans from going over board. Anyone besides me ever stand in line for free autographs and while the fans ahead in line are holding 20 to 50 comics?
At a comic convention in the 90s, Stan Lee was autographing for no charge. When my turn came I had a couple of comics he gladly signed. Then I started showing him some of my sketches. At first he says; 'I'm not in charge of the art department at Marvel.' I said; 'Oh, I'm not applying for a job. I just want to be able to tell my friends I showed my work to Stan Lee.' Stan gets this big grin, and thumbs through a few pages. At this time, the guy putting on the convention walks up with a large stack of comics, puts them on Stan's table and says; 'Here is a few more for you to sign.' Stan's smile breaks and the look he gave him, suggested that Stan wanted to say to him was; 'I'm not your personal autograph machine!'

[toys2cool]

The most I've paid so far is $40 for Bruce Campbell to sign my 'Army of Darkness' dvd sleeve. I like getting autographs personalized to me. So many of my friends don't, for resale profit.
As a fan, I like getting them for free, but I can understand charging a reasonable fee to keep some fans from going over board. Anyone besides me ever stand in line for free autographs and while the fans ahead in line are holding 20 to 50 comics?
At a comic convention in the 90s, Stan Lee was autographing for no charge. When my turn came I had a couple of comics he gladly signed. Then I started showing him some of my sketches. At first he says; 'I'm not in charge of the art department at Marvel.' I said; 'Oh, I'm not applying for a job. I just want to be able to tell my friends I showed my work to Stan Lee.' Stan gets this big grin, and thumbs through a few pages. At this time, the guy putting on the convention walks up with a large stack of comics, puts them on Stan's table and says; 'Here is a few more for you to sign.' Stan's smile breaks and the look he gave him, suggested that Stan wanted to say to him was; 'I'm not your personal autograph machine!'

I payed $20 for Bruce's

[MIB41]

I've worked in the convention business for 15 years and I definitely have an opinion here. I think actors have every right to charge for their autograph if they so choose. Either the market is there or it's not. If Adam West can charge $40 for a black and white photo with his autograph and a line of people show up, then there's a market. It's product. But I do expect celebrities to be respectful and treat their paying customers accordingly. If they can't do that, then they don't deserve a dime for their signature. And I have seen and met more than my share of people who need a reality check on their egos. Most of these career convention celebs couldn't make a guest appearance on a sitcom these days. So they should be grateful they have some form of income to make them feel "relevant" when, in fact, they're not.

[sprytel]

Mikey, how about this?

http://geektyrant.com/news/2012/7/17/nathan-fillions-comic-con-card-that-he-hands-to-fans.html

[starsky]

I've worked in the convention business for 15 years and I definitely have an opinion here. I think actors have every right to charge for their autograph if they so choose. Either the market is there or it's not. If Adam West can charge $40 for a black and white photo with his autograph and a line of people show up, then there's a market. It's product. But I do expect celebrities to be respectful and treat their paying customers accordingly. If they can't do that, then they don't deserve a dime for their signature. And I have seen and met more than my share of people who need a reality check on their egos. Most of these career convention celebs couldn't make a guest appearance on a sitcom these days. So they should be grateful they have some form of income to make them feel "relevant" when, in fact, they're not.

well put tom! i'd like to share a little something. the first celebrity my 7 yr old son ever met was richard hatch - captain apollo from battlestar galactica. he had just started watching the 70.s tv show on dvd and really liked it. anyways, we met richard, and my son was awestruck. we paid $20 for his autograph. richard took the time to talk to him and even let us take a photo with him at no extra charge. fast forward 1 year, we saw richard again at another convention, we brought along the photo we took with him to get it autographed and he looked at the photo and smiled and talked a little more with us, all the while with fans still waiting in line, and he signed the photo for FREE!

[LordMudd]

I remember going to the Men in the Masks tour because Yvonne Craig was there. I have no interest in SW, only ST. I read an interview of her in Starlog. The interviewer mentioned her touring with the Batvehicles at the autoshows and still having the one he got there. She said that was one of the few legit of hers out there. He seemed surprised and she said many people sent pictures to Paramount for her to sign but Paramount never gave her anything to sign for anyone, so if you got something back from Paramount like that, it is a forgery. That is the only instance of a celebrity saying that, but it makes you wonder. As to cost, yes, many get comped on room and board, but they have travel expenses and restock costs on photos, note the difference in price for a color vs a black and white. The average prices were $5 to $20 for most back when I was able to go to cons, and I don't consider that bad. You get the memory of having met them.

CCC.