As norms evolve, I was thinking about celebrity encounters and how they might effect the card hobby. Certified autograph cards are arguably top of the list for premium card hits, but is the state of autograph collecting changing?

If people meet a celebrity in-person, do they still ask for an autograph or would they rather get a selfie? Would they ask for both?

Selfies with celebrities are posted all over Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and whatever else is out there. Everybody carries a phone with a camera at all times. I can easily see where the selfie becomes the first request and the autograph is secondary or forgotten.

What's your opinion? Do you think that demand and interest in celebrity autographs may decrease, or that fewer in-person autographs might actually increase demand. Do you think it will make certified autograph cards more or less in demand? Just the three questions and your thoughts please.

Question:
If you had an in-person celebrity encounter, which would you rather ask for?

Choices:
An autograph.
A selfie.

Question:
Do you think demand for celebrity in-person autographs will increase or decrease in the coming years?

Choices:
Demand will increase.
Demand will decrease.
There is no demand for in-person signatures.

Question:
Do you think the demand in certified autograph cards might increase of decrease with fewer in-person autograph requests?

Choices:
Yes.
No.
There is no relationship to certified autograph cards.

 

Kind of a mixed answer for me.

Personally my demand for an autograph decreases if I have an authenticated signature card. However; I also believe that the selfie is becoming the preferred memento for many fans.

Given that most autograph cards are very limited particularly against the scope comparison of the total fan group, unless someone signs for many sets I can't see it having much of an impact. A celebrity can meet as many people as they have autograph cards in a single convention.

It's difficult to say long-term but but I think people will immediately think about the selfie and forget about the autograph in the near-future. As it is, I think most people haven't had a pen and paper/index card when suddenly face-to-face with a celebrity so a lot of autograph opportunities were missed anyway, but as you said, everyone has their phone with them now. I keep hearing about people preferring "an experience" anyway over a tangible souvenir. The photo captures the experience and the aspiring minimalist has one less thing to put in a box later.

I think autograph collecting will continue and you will have those collectors and card collectors still interested in "old" certified autographs in the future because there won't be a question of whether they're real (or at least less of a question). The random guy at the flea market with a bunch of signed 8x10's is (and will be) a little more of a suspect though you can get an idea of whether a dealer is for real. Cards are easier to store than 8x10's too.

Overall, however, I think there will be a decrease in demand for autographs over time. Maybe increasingly-life-like holograms will be the next thing in pack inserts (they'll project from the card). Sketches from favorite artists will probably continue to be popular.

Jess

quote:

Originally posted by catskilleagle:
Overall, however, I think there will be a decrease in demand for autographs over time.
Jess

Yes, I suspect that will be true, at least on the lower rung of in-person autograph collecting. What you would get from the unplanned encounter or even the casual fan going to some planned event. Not a paid personal signing, just the stage door after the play, or some hotel lobby or movie premiere.

And not the professional autograph seekers either. The ones who stand around to get signed 8x10s and run them straight to eBay. Or the personal signings, where autograph lines are still long for bigger names, despite price increases.

I don't see how there will ever be a collectibles market for selfies , but I can see it significantly decreasing the number of casual autograph requests. Wouldn't it seem rude to ask for a joint photo and an autograph?

And dedicated selfie collectors could even replace the old autograph hound, who had a desire to walk around with index cards and programs at ballgames and hotels. Ultimately there isn't much value now in those very personal collections because the items are unattractive and the signatures need authentication. They are the kind of autographs best used for "cuts" really.

Anyway it seems to me that the new selfie collector, or selfie stalker if you don't like the idea, is not happy just to met the person and get a memento. They want to literally insert themselves into the picture. I see people posting 20, 50, 100 selfies with people whose names you are supposed to know. What they are really saying is "look at me".

It may be ego driven, but it is a form of a collecting habit, without the money element. You could discuss the comparisons of autographs to selfies in different ways on different levels and I find it an interesting subject about human nature, if nothing else. I do believe selfies will help elevate certified autograph cards a bit more because the interest in getting the free in-person variety at the basic level looks to be waning. Just my own thoughts of course.

That last question doesn't make sense. The question asks to choose between "increase" and "decrease", but the answers are "yes" or "no". Does "Yes" = "Increase", and "no" = "decrease"?

I know sorry, saw it too late, if I correct now it wipes out all votes, so it was supposed to be:

Yes, they will increase.

No, they will decrease.

Or basically doesn't matter, nothing to do with each other.

I think autograph collecting will be impacted more by just changes in attitudes towards collecting than anything else. . .

I don't think there is a lot of crossover between people who are at conventions getting selfies and those who are buying collectibles. . . I feel like those people want it for the picture or the experience. . . I think whether or not they are also collectors is kind of unrelated.