- Thread starter
- #1
predatorkj
Active member
- Aug 7, 2008
- 11,871
- 2
I have only been doing autographs since Jan. of 2008. But in that short span I have gotten quite a bit of autos. Some of great players and some of just average pro athletes. My thing is...if they play professional Basketball, Football, or Baseball...I want their auto. What I have seen over the last 2+ years has started to change though. Its never been all that easy. Its has but it hasn't. You have to out a lot of work into it. Be in the right place at the right time. Know what to get signed and where to get it signed and what to have it signed with. You start becoming an expert on pens and the surface of different materials. And you start getting pickier.
But I think the worst thing is...the autograph events or even the availability to get autographs is starting to get harder. Its never been easy because I mainly do stuff at the stadiums(barely started doing stuff at hotels but I will only wait outside by the bus and if they sign great...if not...I don't hold it against them) and also I go to all the free events at Academy and Sports Authority as well as other local places. But athletes seem to be getting pickier and I know with the astros...have developed sort of a pretty bad attitude about signing. Its not that they won't sign. Its that they feel like everything will end up for sale.
I have also seen the lines for different events get longer and longer and start earlier and earlier. I have seen people get bolder and bolder too. I won't name names but at a signing last year...there is a guy who is a part of a company here in Houston that was at a free signing. We all know the routine. One per person. Yet he actually gets something signed, turns around to his buddy like he is giving him something(his buddy is a few people back) and then he promptly swings back around with another photo and cuts the next person in line off and gets the guy to sign it as well. And both of them were sold online. I have seen people cut in line. I have seen people come super early and if they hand out tickets(like they are starting to do at Academy for big name players) to keep people from having to stand in line, then they get a ticket and turn right back around and hop in the back of the line, change a shirt or hat and get another. They repeat this process several times. I have seen way worse but that is really not the point.
My point is...collecting autographs has been going on for a long time by many people. But to me, its sort of like that movie "The Beach" with Dicaprio. Its sort of like a paradise. A piece of pie. Yet the pie is only so big. And if too many people try to get some of this paradise, some of this pie, then pretty soon everyone's share is so small that its been ruined. Or things change so drastically that the good thing comes to an end. The other day when I found out how they would be doing the Texans training camp auto session...it got me to thinking if in time, it will become really sparse for autographs. Will the events go away? The free auto sessions at local stores or at other places? The willingness to sign at a stadium or a hotel?
Everywhere I go the event promoters as well as the athletes are bitching about people selling stuff on ebay. I know that the woman running the events at Verizon for the Texans players that come and do the radio show/auto session freaked out quite a bit last year asking people where they got items and what they were doing with them. Coaching the player not to sign this or that. She even went buck wild at the N.D Kalu signing. Nobody was there save maybe five people and she freaked out when somebody tried to get two different photos signed. Its N.D. freaking Kalu. Seriously? Even the star players around here don't fetch much for an IP auto with zero reputable authentication. And people like Berkman think everything is for sale simply because you are an adult. Well no shat sherlock! My mommy wouldn't drive me all over the universe when I was 12. Sorry I had to catch some of you guys now that I am older, have a job, make money, and have a vehicle. Yet because I am an adult and ask you to sign a nice full size bat or MLB baseball...I guess that makes me an instant dealer. Hey Berkman...have you checked ebay lately. Andre Johnson? Mario Williams? Have you guys checked what your stuff sells for?
I just feel like with all the stuff going on, all the changes in policies, all the fear of dealers...this stuff won't last for too much longer. Or maybe it will but they will make it even harder to obtain. Hell...most of, if not every, event is during hours a normal person is either in school or at work. They limit you to the number of items you can get. They pick at you about what you do bring. They question you. I remember a few of the events where you actually had to sign a waiver form that you wouldn't sell the items.
Just curious as to what others have to say about this.
But I think the worst thing is...the autograph events or even the availability to get autographs is starting to get harder. Its never been easy because I mainly do stuff at the stadiums(barely started doing stuff at hotels but I will only wait outside by the bus and if they sign great...if not...I don't hold it against them) and also I go to all the free events at Academy and Sports Authority as well as other local places. But athletes seem to be getting pickier and I know with the astros...have developed sort of a pretty bad attitude about signing. Its not that they won't sign. Its that they feel like everything will end up for sale.
I have also seen the lines for different events get longer and longer and start earlier and earlier. I have seen people get bolder and bolder too. I won't name names but at a signing last year...there is a guy who is a part of a company here in Houston that was at a free signing. We all know the routine. One per person. Yet he actually gets something signed, turns around to his buddy like he is giving him something(his buddy is a few people back) and then he promptly swings back around with another photo and cuts the next person in line off and gets the guy to sign it as well. And both of them were sold online. I have seen people cut in line. I have seen people come super early and if they hand out tickets(like they are starting to do at Academy for big name players) to keep people from having to stand in line, then they get a ticket and turn right back around and hop in the back of the line, change a shirt or hat and get another. They repeat this process several times. I have seen way worse but that is really not the point.
My point is...collecting autographs has been going on for a long time by many people. But to me, its sort of like that movie "The Beach" with Dicaprio. Its sort of like a paradise. A piece of pie. Yet the pie is only so big. And if too many people try to get some of this paradise, some of this pie, then pretty soon everyone's share is so small that its been ruined. Or things change so drastically that the good thing comes to an end. The other day when I found out how they would be doing the Texans training camp auto session...it got me to thinking if in time, it will become really sparse for autographs. Will the events go away? The free auto sessions at local stores or at other places? The willingness to sign at a stadium or a hotel?
Everywhere I go the event promoters as well as the athletes are bitching about people selling stuff on ebay. I know that the woman running the events at Verizon for the Texans players that come and do the radio show/auto session freaked out quite a bit last year asking people where they got items and what they were doing with them. Coaching the player not to sign this or that. She even went buck wild at the N.D Kalu signing. Nobody was there save maybe five people and she freaked out when somebody tried to get two different photos signed. Its N.D. freaking Kalu. Seriously? Even the star players around here don't fetch much for an IP auto with zero reputable authentication. And people like Berkman think everything is for sale simply because you are an adult. Well no shat sherlock! My mommy wouldn't drive me all over the universe when I was 12. Sorry I had to catch some of you guys now that I am older, have a job, make money, and have a vehicle. Yet because I am an adult and ask you to sign a nice full size bat or MLB baseball...I guess that makes me an instant dealer. Hey Berkman...have you checked ebay lately. Andre Johnson? Mario Williams? Have you guys checked what your stuff sells for?
I just feel like with all the stuff going on, all the changes in policies, all the fear of dealers...this stuff won't last for too much longer. Or maybe it will but they will make it even harder to obtain. Hell...most of, if not every, event is during hours a normal person is either in school or at work. They limit you to the number of items you can get. They pick at you about what you do bring. They question you. I remember a few of the events where you actually had to sign a waiver form that you wouldn't sell the items.
Just curious as to what others have to say about this.