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

[Hector]

The only autographs that are holy grails to me are Bruce Lee, Boris Karloff, stuff like that...

I had the opportunity to purchase an authentic/certified framed autographed Karloff picture of him as Frankenstein's Monster...it was way back in 1988 at a Star Trek convention in LA...but it was selling for a then astronomical $600...and this was in 88...so I passed...but now I wished I had bought it...imagine having that now, wow, lol.

Would love to have a real Bruce Lee one too.

[Mego Magyar]

I have a few autographs, some I got for free. Back in the day you could get Adrian Paul ( Duncan MacLeod - Highlander ) and Peter Wingnfield ( Methos ) just by sending an SASE request to their fan club. I also got one from Stan Kirsch ( Richie ) just sending him a fan letter. I've also sent some cards with an SASE for some Boston Bruins and gotten them backed autographed. I've only been able to get to one very small Trek convention ( in the early 1990's ) and got Tony Todd, George Takei and comic inker Arne Starr autographs and they were all free. I've also bought a few autographs off ebay - cheap.

[Nostalgiabuff]

i genreally would not pay for an autograph....however, if i could get a photo with said celeb and have that signed, i would do so. just got back fromn the NY comic con.....most were charging $40 to 60$ for an autographed photo. Ian Mc diarmed was charding $125.00...

[ScottA]

I've never paid for any autograph I've ever gotten. That also explains why I have so few. I have James Doohan, Marina Sirtis, Julie Newmar, Burt Ward and Christopher Reeve - all received for free and just for standing in a line.

I really wanted Adam West to go with Wards and Newmars when he was at the last FX show. But I'm sorry, it wasn't worth $75.

[Hector]

I recently sold my original Star Trek cast photo from one of their movies for $500 (I had paid $300 for it)...so that was some nice profit right there, lol.

[MIB41]

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!

Nice story Darren! So glad to hear the positive stories. And I can believe that from Richard Hatch. Dirk Benedict came to Wonderfest and was a super nice guy. He never took himself too seriously, but was very respectful and considerate to everyone who spoke with him. That included staying in the room to speak with every fan after his scheduled Q&A session. I hope we can get Mr. Hatch some day soon. It's so nice to see Apollo and Starbuck translate well to real life! Good people. Down to earth.

[Duncan]

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.

Yeah, I would tend to agree. Before e-bay, if you got an autograph you'd have an experience to tell about and a conversation piece; maybe a few were sold (or maybe I'm naive). In the e-bay world, autographs are a commodity.

[megoapesnut]

I have a great autograph story, forgive me if I have told it here already. I was a huge football card collector back in the late 80's/early 90's. I was especially big on autographed cards. I heard that Tony Dorsett was going to be in town for a big football game they play at Hersheypark stadium every year. He was to be the honorary captain and also going to be signing at a card show located in the Hershey Lodge at the time. I was in my glory! I would get to meet Tony D. and I had a primo Tony D rookie card that was screaming for an autograph. it was a few months away and I got busy at work. Comes the day of the card show (which was a Saturday) and I had to work OT. All day something was bugging me and later that evening at supper I kept asking my wife if she thought I might have forgotten about something. It finally hit me and I groaned aloud and wanted to scream. I forgot the F'ing card show. I was inconsolable. After a few hours I said to my wife, maybe he's staying at the Hershey Lodge since that's where the show was. Maybe I can hang around up there and see if I can spot him. I called up to the Lodge and asked if they could tell me if he was staying there. They said "would you like me to ring his room". And I replied "you can do that". The phone rings and someone answers and says Hello. I ask if Mr. Dorsett is in and he replies "speaking". I was like Holy @@@@. I explained that I was a lifelong Cowboys fan and had missed the show and could I get an autograph the next day. He said "sure, come on up around 9". So my wife and I show up and they tell me to pick up the house phone and ask the operator to ring Tony's room. He answers and says, "come on up, room 429" or something close. I go to his room and knock on the door and he signs my card and when I go to leave (happier than a pig in @@@@), I see that a bunch of people has formed a line behind me! now, he could easily have told me to kiss off and I should have gone to the show and paid for the autograph. He could have charged me for it then too and I would have paid. But, no. He invites me to his friggin hotel room and signs my card for free. How cool is that?

[megoapesnut]

You have to remember too that, in many cases, at conventions and card shows, the celebrity isn't charging you for their autograph. They are hired by whoever is running the show/convention for a flat fee and THAT person(s) charges you for the autograph. They set the price hoping they make a profit.

[Brue]

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...

anthony made it clear when i talked with him that he wasn't interested in SELLING aoutgraphs. he did not like seeing people SELL his autograph - this ****es him off. - picture say if someone made trading cards for nostalgic toys then others got them for FREE and then listed them on eBay for a profit. hypothetically.

he signed stuff for me after feeling reassured i wanted it for myself and stating he did not approve of secondary selling
i brought well used personal items (Story of Star wars LP and a Topps Red card)

he loves being 3PO he doesn't like users

[MIB41]

You have to remember too that, in many cases, at conventions and card shows, the celebrity isn't charging you for their autograph. They are hired by whoever is running the show/convention for a flat fee and THAT person(s) charges you for the autograph. They set the price hoping they make a profit.

The agreement most conventions have with celebrities is through a guarantee on autographs. So if Adam West comes to the table and wants a guarantee of $5,000.00 for a two day appearance, the show will look at what he charges and either agree to that or not. If the fans don't show up to match that guarantee, then the show has to pony up the difference in what he doesn't make. If he makes that guarantee, then the rest is icing (for him) and the convention is free and clear . But conventions are absolutely on the hook with celebrities. They make their money at the door when you pay to get in to see these people. And hopefully the bottom line balances in their favor after they pay expenses and convention staff. Many a convention has gone under and failed miserably because guarantees had to be paid. It's not something taken lightly and why some celebrities never appear at some conventions because their asking price is too high for the demand in that market.

[megoapesnut]

That wasn't how it worked with the sports card shows back in the day. It was a flat fee to get them there and then the person running the show charged for the auto and made the profit or took the loss.

[mego73]

I did most of my conventioning in the 80's when they didn't charge seperate for autographs. Then, a few years ago I went to a show that had Ethan Philips, Robert Picardo, Robin Curtis and Peter Mayhew when they all charged something like $20-25 (in that range)per autograph. Reasonable, especially given today's prices and all the stars were cool but it was still quite a visual to see these genre actors each with the same metal money box you'd see at a garage sale, taking money and making change and then giving the autograph. I thought to myself "even when it comes to conventions, times are a changin'". Yes, I do think one of the main culprets and the lot of people that resell autogrpahs on the internet and Ebay in particular.

[MIB41]

That wasn't how it worked with the sports card shows back in the day. It was a flat fee to get them there and then the person running the show charged for the auto and made the profit or took the loss.

It might be apples and oranges with a card show. But with movie or TV show celebs, the guarantee is typically how it works. I've been working them every year for 15 years straight and that is the standard consideration for who is taken and who is left behind. Now we do get some that become friends with the organizers through others in the field. That happens enough in this industry. A celeb will talk about a positive experience he or she had at a convention and spread it around to their peers. That makes a huge difference and sometimes a guarantee is not needed. Just basic expenses like food, board, and travel. Believe me. It adds up fast. That's why turn out is so critical.

[Mongoose1983]

Never paid for an autograph myself. I have got autographs from local and European soccer superstars for free when I had the chance to meet them.

Perhaps the one story to mention was back in the mid 90's when I was a College freshman I went to see one date of some America World tour. Since I knew the entrance of the court where they were going to play I just waited there for them to show up for the soundcheck. Dewey Bunnell and Gerry Beckley themselves signed my album and I got to shake hands with them. Nice guys, and outstanding concert!

It's funny people in this country is not used to pay for autographs. I also got a used CD that was signed by Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees for a couple of bucks in a local 2nd hand music store here. And I have friends in here who have gotten autographs from KISS' Gene, Eric, Paul and Ace, Iron Maiden's Steve Harris and Bruce Dickinson for free. Thing is, if you can get to see the guys, I haven't heard of anybody not getting one, except of course for the Sheraton story my buddy Chris told me about, when Gene Simmons would refuse to sign the Megadeth album some a.h. handed him to sign -if you can understand that! People can be strange sometimes

Thinking about autographs, nowadays I think I'd like to have my guitar signed by Merle Haggard, and George Jones before it's too late. Oh, and it's too bad I'm not going to see KISS next month... wouldn't it be awesome to have the Axe bass signed by Gene himself without having to pay ten big large ones?