Introduction to Autograph Collecting. Autograph Collecting techniques include trading, buying, selling, attending book signings, and using websites like E-Bay. When you say autograph collecting to most people,...
When you say autograph collecting to most people, their mind goes to an image of an eight-year-old outside of a baseball field saying, "May I please have your autograph, Mister?" That's probably where the majority of autograph collectors start, but at some point you'll realize that there are a lot of people you just can't meet. That's when you start trading, buying, and selling your autographs. I think a lot of people want to know how to collect, buy, and sell them more now than ever with E-bay.
I have to admit, in my 25 years career of collecting autographs, I was always too shy to ask somebody for their autograph; however I would always go to book signings. Everyone has done them from Winston Churchill to John Kennedy. Martin Luther King did a book signing and almost died from it. A person who hated him put a knife into his chest. He almost died. A signed copy of Martin Luther King's book is worth over $1000. The John Kennedy books go for close to that. I once stood in line for 12 hours for a Bill Clinton autograph. Sports and entertainment autographs are the most popular, but I must admit, I don't collect those. There are shows where you can meet sports figures and astronauts. Autographs of living people have become more expensive because people who think space exploration or sports are exciting will pay $150 for an autograph and then sell it on E-bay. There are some real bargains on E-bay, but more than half are not genuine autographs. Also, most celebrities and politicians have a machine called an autopen that will do their signatures for them. The autopen was invented in the 1950s. In fact, to get an authentic Walt Disney signature is an almost impossible challenge.
