This is a well worn topic, but I thought it would be helpful to get updated ideas from non-sport collectors based on their hobby habits at this time. So I have a few general questions and people can expand on their views for collecting non-sport autographs as they like.

Question:
Do you have a portion of your collection that includes non-sport autographs?

Choices:
Yes.
No.

Question:
If so, which of the following signed type of items do you prefer to collect?

Choices:
Certified autograph cards.
Uncertified autograph cards.
Signed 8 x 10 photos.
Other types of signed items.

Question:
Do you attend shows or private signings to obtain and buy in person non-sport signatures?

Choices:
Yes, as often as I can.
No.
Not usually, but I have been to a few.

Question:
Do you ever mail away cards or other items to celebrities requesting an autograph?

Choices:
Yes, frequently.
No, never.
Yes, but not often.

Question:
Do you buy signatures on uncertified autograph cards?

Choices:
Yes.
No.
Sometimes.

Question:
Do you have a ceiling limit for what you would be willing to pay for an autograph, certified or otherwise?

Choices:
Yes.
No.
Yes, but I make exceptions.

Question:
Do you think that the average new non-sport card set has the right mix of certified autograph cards included?

Choices:
Yes.
No, there should be more.
No, there should be less.
No, I want the average set to have none.

Question:
Do you think you will be spending more or less money on certified autograph cards in 2016?

Choices:
More money than in 2015.
Less money than in 2015.
About the same amount of money in 2015.
I don't buy autograph cards, just pull them.
I'm not interested in autograph cards at all.

 

As for one who said I would like to see less autograph cards in a set, back when you could complete a set with autographs between 6 to 20 within a release and you knew who all or at least most of the signees I was happier then with a set that has 70 autographs and I have no clue who 60 of the signers are.

I used to try to get more autographs than I do now. I had a complete set (minus some of the promos) of Dart's Titanic (history) cards, pulling one of the autographs and buying the other. Other than that, the only other set with autographs I have been interested in is Topps 75th Anniversary - so far just have the 3 I pulled from packs. There are some autographed promos in my collection too - things found at shows or online (oddball things like Dark Horse signing cards, a Melrose Place slabbed card and the Jay Lynch signed Mars Attacks NSU promo).

I used to have some autographed 8x10's and calendars but sold them on the bay years ago. I recall one of the buyers being happy with an actual signed photo instead of a print-out.

These days, I really can't be that collector who would kick out more than maybe $60 for an autograph - would rather put money into another sealed box and roll the dice to get ones I didn't pull in the first box. Maybe after that, I would splurge for one of the rarer ones but am not in a hurry to finish a set.

Yeah, some of the sets have way too many autographs especially when they have rare and super-rare and ultra-rare autographs, making the set too expensive for many people to consider building. I see what Barobehere is saying too but if you're really into the subject of the set (show/movie), you probably know a lot of the lesser-known characters too and recognize that the autographs will be priced accordingly. I would guess the average Trekkie card collector is going to try to complete some of the many sets that have been released down to the last bit player autograph.

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
This is a well worn topic, but I thought it would be helpful to get updated ideas from non-sport collectors based on their hobby habits at this time. So I have a few general questions and people can expand on their views for collecting non-sport autographs as they like.

Would have liked to been able to select more than one answer for what type of autographs I collect, as I do both certified auto cards and in-person 8x10's.

I'm a big horror buff ( the Universal Classics through some of the more 'modern' films of the 80's and 90's) Every April I trek up to Monsterpalooza in LA to, among other things, meet the actors of these films and collect their autographs on 8x10's, on the inside cover of their books, or both.

I also enjoy going after the certified autograph cards. For some titles (Grimm, American Horror Story) I try to get at least one auto from each signer. And it's a reasonable pursuit because the list of autographs is manageable. Other titles, like Game of Thrones, I've only bothered with the signatures of characters that I like.

As far as how much I'm willing to spend: I think the most I've spent for an in-person auto was $50 for George Romero. But along with that I have several pictures of us together and he chatted with me for at least 2-3 minutes about living and filming in Pittsburgh (where I grew up.) 2-3 minutes may not seem long but there was easily a line behind me 100 yards long, waiting for his autograph. Nice guy. Not totally sure about the most expensive on-card auto; maybe the Christopher Lee from Wicker Man. With the exchange rate at the time, it was probably between $110-$120. A bargain in any case.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: dcole,

For a moment I had to think about what type of non-sport autos I prefer, and whilst I do LOVE certified and uncertified auto cards, ultimately I'd have to go with 8x10 photos.

I used to go to shows like NEC Memorabilia purely for cards and I never really understood the appeal of getting photos signed and walked past plenty of celebs I now wished I had met (George Lazenby, Anthony Daniels, David Carradine R.I.P.)

As a card collector, I wanted all my autos on cards and today they are still the main type of cards I go after. I do pick up base and chase for the topics I most enjoy but since I have let go of the completest mentality I have got a lot of random autos in my collection because I just buy what I like, and that makes my hobby more fun. There are some truly great names who have signed trading cards over the years. Michael Caine and Tommy Lee Jones are but two epic names.

Over the last few years though I have started regularly attending conventions. I now rarely buy cards there and go primarily to meet the guests, and usually always have them sign an 8x10 photo which can make for a much more visually appealing item that a tiny trading card.
One aspect of this hobby I particularly enjoy is being able to select your own images to have signed and that makes my collection even more tailored to my tastes. I have wanted some Star Trek TNG auto cards from the main cast for years but between Skybox/RA, either not all crew signed, the card designs I disliked, or the designs I liked used images I really didn't like. So I said to hell with waiting, and I now have all the crew on 8x10s in matching uniforms from the same publicity shoot. And I have had the pleasure of having met them all. And for A LOT cheaper than any of their certified cards cost! Now I do see the appeal of going to these shows and RA would have a hard time convincing me to buy the equivalent cards now.

It is also nice to have your autographs personalised and I enjoy trying to get quotes out of them that you of course would never get on cards (unless it's Billy Drago!).
I cherish my Roger Moore Bond auto card but it doesn't compare to the photo I had him sign where he wrote his favourite quote from his Bond films and in the most legible signatre of his I have seen. Speaking of which, I generally find that in-person signatures at shows are far more legible and nicer than their trading card equivalents, which is also nice when you have them sign trading cards in front of the fan!

I often hear that "uncertified auto cards" have little secondary value as their authenticity is harder to prove but I buy them for myself so that argument doesn't dissuade me and I enjoy getting them for different reasons. I have Patrick Stewart on an X-Men Days of Future Past promo, because that set will never get made. I have most of the main Star Wars cast because I will not pay daft money for the certified cards collected by a ravid fan base. I have William Shatner on a Trek card I genuinely believe looks better than any of his official auto cards.
I don't remember what thread it was but another collector on here had signed Superman cards of Gene Hackman and Christopher Reeve. How cool is that?!?

Upper Deck are releasing the Alien Anthology set next month and I am so excited. But I will have to seriously think about dropping any sort of serious money on what will no doubt be a sticker auto card with a cramped signature from Sigourney Weaver when I have met her and had her sign two Alien trading cards, ON-CARD and with plenty of space to do it.

Anyway, I've rambled enough. I still love certfied auto cards and manufacturers give us a means of obtaining easily stored, authentic, autos from a wider selection of actors than you'd ever encounter in real life or at a convention. But conventions and such provide a very fun means of being able to customise your collection, allowing you to integrate unique cards into your collection with a 100% guarantee on authenticity, combined with the pleasure and memories of being able to meet some of your idols, or simply actors whose work you admire.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: X,

quote:

Originally posted by X:
Anyway, I've rambled enough. I still love certfied auto cards and manufacturers give us a means of obtaining easily stored, authentic, autos from a wider selection of actors than you'd ever encounter in real life or at a convention. But conventions and such provide a very fun means of being able to customise your collection, allowing you to integrate unique cards into your collection with a 100% guarantee on authenticity, combined with the pleasure and memories of being able to meet some of your idols, or simply actors whose work you admire.

Excellent post, it's hard not to ramble on. The certified autograph card is a hybrid that combined two very distinct type of hobbyists, autograph collectors and trading card collectors. Prior to 1997 they were not compatible. I use 1997 as my own estimated break point because it was in that year that I really saw sport card sets with a guaranteed autograph in a pack or box. Prior to that, the odds of pulling an autograph card were high and in-person signatures on trading cards were generally regarded as defacement by the established hobby rules.

The easily acquired certified autograph card changed the whole hobby for me. I switched to being primarily an autograph card hunter and than I switched again to being an exclusively non-sport, primarily autograph card hunter. For me the attraction is simple. I have always collected cards and the autographs are as close to a guarantee as you can get, absent having the card signed in your presence.

Now with such a certified card, you are paying part of the cost based solely on the card and the other part based solely on the autograph value. With an 8x10 you have cost based solely on the value of the signer's autograph. So if you are going to a private signing or show you are better off getting the photo. I do, but I don't get a chance to do that very often.

I will not buy uncertified autographs on any type of material. I did at one time, but find it unnecessary now, there are just too many certified cards I can pick up. I don't send fan mail requests for the same reason. I was kind of surprised to see that those questions have very one sided answers so far. A very high percentages of respondents don't do mail requests and don't buy uncertified autograph cards. I agree, but I thought more collectors were less conservative than me.

It is a topic that has many nuances and it's easy to ramble and hard to explain in few words.

quote:

Originally posted by catskilleagle:
These days, I really can't be that collector who would kick out more than maybe $60 for an autograph - would rather put money into another sealed box and roll the dice to get ones I didn't pull in the first box. Maybe after that, I would splurge for one of the rarer ones but am not in a hurry to finish a set.

Two years ago I would have agreed with you about getting that second box. Today it's rare I get the first box. I am buying more single autograph cards than ever and have pretty much abandoned the boxes except for a couple of favorite titles.

From my standpoint, the certified autograph card market has a glut of supply, not just common names, the star names. The big stars have increased the supply of their autographs with every new set they sign in and the prices of their individual signature is dropping. Autographs that I wouldn't touch before because they were over my price ceiling have become affordable to me. I have a set card price limit for myself that I will not break for any signer.

At the same time retail box prices have risen close to the all important $100 mark and gone over in some cases. All good for those so inclined, but when you look you find that the top autograph in many of those sets is selling for less than or only slightly higher than that inflated box price. The risk you take of pulling the limited card that you want becomes less worth it when you could use approximately the same amount of money and guarantee that you get it.

Even the super high autographs have dropped. The Bond stars came out in the $700 range with their first signed cards. Now most can be found in the $300 - $400 range, a third of that for signatures in lesser titles. I'm not speaking of particular cards here, just any card with a certified autograph. I'm also not talking about deceased celebrities where the supply of new autographs has been shut off.

The pure autograph prices on those relatively young and healthy stars are softening because the available number keeps expanding on most of them and will hit the level of demand, if its not there already, which makes the increasing box/case prices a big problem once collectors start to feel that the big pull is not big enough for the risk.

Having collected non-sports authenticated autographs for roughly 15 years, I believe that it is one of the most exciting and evolving trends in all of card collecting.

It is true that the sports collectible side does somewhat the same thing, but it is vastly different in subject matter. Generally speaking, sports products are produced on a greater scale (many sets per sport per season) and every autograph subject is on a repetitive cycle, year in and year out. I think that they are aware of this because they will sometimes produce crossover sets to add some variety.

Non Sport started with just a few artist signatures that could be found (if you were lucky) in the massively overproduced products of the early to mid 90's. Then it moved to fringe science fiction and fantasy while finally working its way out to the mainstream. Even the many Shatner and Nimoy autographs pale in numbers when compared to major sports star releases.

The big thing is that you never know when or for what set any particular actor is going to agree to sign. Also adding that a project they are involved with must generate some card production interest in the first place. As an example I think of all the cool stuff that Vin Diesel has been in that would make for an awesome card set. Still, all we have is the limited Chronicles of Riddick autograph. He bailed on Guardians of the Galaxy. Why? I don't know. It's possible he may never sign for another set again. How awesome would a Fast and Furious release be? Then there is the weird stuff like why did Aaron Paul sign for the Alan and Ginter set but not friggin Breaking Bad?!?! It is all just this big strange **** shoot. I like it.

Now there are flat out Hollywood legends signing. Al Pacino Charlton Heston Patty Duke Tommy Lee Jones Richard Dreyfuss Jerry Lewis, Goldie Hawn, Tippi Hedren, Tony Curtis, Gene Wilder and Jennifer Lopez just to name a few. The really awesome thing is that we have no idea what is around the corner. If there is someone out there that has not signed.....you just have to wait. The fact that they may never sign (Sean Connery and Timothy Dalton to complete my Bond autographs!!!) is really part of the appeal.

Here is a subject not really covered in the survey. Unless a cut signature was specifically created for the set (i.e. the actor signed the cut for the set) I have no interest in cut autographs. Going to a dealer, purchasing an 8X10 and then destroying it so the autograph can be inserted in a card is stupid in my opinion. I have no interest in these whatsoever. Then of course, there is the ever present signed sticker on a card vs the signed card issue. I will collect both but will always prefer the latter.

For me personally, I am collecting something I really enjoy while at the same time see some value retention for what I am spending my money on. If that makes any sense.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: mykdude,

quote:

Originally posted by mykdude:
Here is a subject not really covered in the survey. Unless a cut signature was specifically created for the set (i.e. the actor signed the cut for the set) I have no interest in cut autographs. Going to a dealer, purchasing an 8X10 and then destroying it so the autograph can be inserted in a card is stupid in my opinion. I have no interest in these whatsoever.

Hey mykdude, nice to see you posting again, it's been awhile.

Yes, the whole on-card vs. sticker and cut signature appeal could be another question for the next survey.

I think it's a no brainer that collectors prefer an on-card autograph, but if a celebrity has never been included in a card set before and comes out as a sticker, most true fans will sigh and take it.

As for cut signatures, these are strange times. I don't know that there has ever been a true cut signature specially created for a card. That would kind of defeat the whole purpose. Let's face it, there are 3 big reasons for a card manufacturer to include cut signatures in their products. The signer is deceased, or the manufacturer knows that it is a cheap way to make a rare card, or the combination of dead and cheap.

There are always celebrity autographs available on the internet, be it from photos, or letters, or checks, or index cards, or autograph books, or playbills, or just about any scraps of paper. Most of them sell at bargain prices or have no takers at all because they are not properly certified and do not display well. Card companies can buy these items up cheaply, get someone to certify the signature and viola, you have cut signature cards in extremely low production numbers. Some can even be 1/1s.

For maximum effect it would be better if the signer were deceased. At the very least, the signer should be someone that you don't expect to provide a certified autograph card any other way, like Connery for example. Only that can be tricky to rely on, when history tells us that never is hardly ever really never.

And even a rare cut signature card of a deceased celebrity may not mean anything if there is no demand for it. I pulled a 1/1 cut of an actress of the 1930's named Elissa Landi from UD's Prominent Cuts. It doesn't come any rarer and I never heard of her, but she did appear as a star in the original Count of Monte Cristo. Who knew? If someone is looking for this card, I don't know about that either.

And then you look at the cuts for Oliver, Hunter and Ireland that just came out in RA's Star Trek Original 50th set. That the realized selling prices are in the thousands of dollars for these limited cuts of three deceased actors, none of whom ever known to be major stars, is amazing. There is no rationale for it based on the names involved, but the demand from high end Star Trek Original Series collectors seems to be enough.

Like I said, strange times. Yet if we can assume that all success gets copied to death, it can only mean that we will be seeing more cut signatures dropped into products in the future, whether or not we agree with the whole concept or the particular subjects chosen.

And hello back to you Raven. I float in and out of here from time to time. I was actually checking on some info for the new Alien set and got distracted. :-P

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:

As for cut signatures, these are strange times. I don't know that there has ever been a true cut signature specially created for a card. That would kind of defeat the whole purpose. Let's face it, there are 3 big reasons for a card manufacturer to include cut signatures in their products. The signer is deceased, or the manufacturer knows that it is a cheap way to make a rare card, or the combination of dead and cheap.

Yeah, Americana or Pop Century (maybe both) have done a few cut sigs with stars that are currently signing for the set. I have a Kurt Russell and Malcolm McDowell. Also Richard Dreyfus did some that he would inscribe CE3K or JAWS or some other such movie along with his autograph. Not really sure why this was a planned design but it did add a little bit of variety to the set.

I think that my view of the process in general is that I can go to a reputable dealer and do the same thing. Get it PSA graded and authenticated if I choose to. There really is no contract between the signature and the manufacture at this point. The card company cant authenticate it any more or better than I can. In most cases. Of course many of them come pre-slabbed as well.

I totally get what you are saying with deceased individuals and if you want to keep your collection all card sized....then it is absolutely the way to go. Although I did get the Case Incentive James Doohan cut from RA......it wont be a preferred method for me.

I just picked up the last (and probably final) dual Shatner/Nimoy from RA....you get anything cool lately?

Now that you mention it, you are absolutely right and I should have known better because I actually bought some of those cards myself.

I have 3 of those Donruss Americana cards signed by Karen Allen, each with a different movie title inscribed afterwards, Star Man, Raiders of the Lost Arc and The Perfect Storm. The card photo is exactly the same on all of them, only the inscriptions change.

So it never really registered with me, but they are indeed cut signatures specially created for a card. Good one.

That type would not necessarily be cheap to make because the signer is being paid like any other autograph. So in that respect it is not a typical cut from another source.

quote:

Originally posted by mykdude:

I just picked up the last (and probably final) dual Shatner/Nimoy from RA....you get anything cool lately?

That's a great card. Yeah it could be the end, RA held back that one and the incentive Nimoy autograph, I don't know if they could have much more? Nimoy was signing a lot, kind of like what Ted Williams was doing before his death, but it still has to stop sometime.

No, nothing really cool lately. I did get the GoT incentives from Season 2, which I wasn't looking for, but I got a good buy. I also picked up the Goggins and Sagal autos from SoA, I like those actors. I haven't pulled a big one in awhile, but I've been content with back tracking on some lesser autos at fair prices.

Oh I forgot about finding the Yvonne Strahovski auto from a Dexter box. That is probably the highest value auto card I've pulled in awhile. I have slacked off buying boxes in the last few months anyway.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Raven,

I am not sure if RA held them back or the production of the set just takes that long. I am eyeing that black Nimoy as well. Very nice card. I have been slowly picking up ST case incentives for about three and a half years now.

That Goggins autograph as Venus card is classic! Such a great actor. I went all out for the first season of SOA (bought a case) and got everything but the next two seemed repetitious so I just picked up a few autographs like Goggins and Marilyn Manson. Still need to get Michael Ornstein and Drea de Matteo.

I have not picked up too much from Dexter. The SDCC John Lithgow and Michael C Hall was about the last thing I added. Yvonne is a good one....now just get Julia Stiles and Charlotte Rampling to complete the crazy ladies set.

I agree about the slacking off of buying boxes. In most cases, as my focus is autographs, I just come off much cheaper going straight for what I want.

I am getting to that point of my collection where it is time to start going through everything and reorganize to something a bit less......spread out.