Future of Autograph collecting.
Franklin_Fan
Posts: 89 ✭✭✭
So I have about 50 autographed books, a few baseballs, Index card of Roger Maris, and some cards. What do you think the future of autograph collecting will be. I often wonder if the younger generations will be into autographs like my generation. The youngers seem so into technology, you don't see a lot of reading books, everyone is on cell phones playing games or watching videos, Not that there is anything wrong with that. So one of the first things people ask when they look at my autographed books is " what's that worth" I tell them what ever someone is willing to pay for it. So when buying new books the thought is will anybody down the road want to buy them and they think they are cool, like I do now. At some point everything will have to go I can't take it with me when I go.
So what are your thought on the subject?
Comments
In the past, celebrities built their followings one signature at a time. At their essence, such autographs served as brief evidence of an encounter. Today, autographs of this sort have been replaced by selfies. Thus I think the future of autographs is already here: they have mostly become a commodities market, where items signed, certified, and sold.
>>>My Collection
I don't see autograph collecting going anywhere.
For example, look at Taylor Swift. Just recently I was watching a collectors show on tv and they mentioned that Taylor Swift always makes sure her autograph is readily available, because she has so many fans, she makes sure the market is a bit flooded with them, so her autograph isn't worth much, unlike someone like Britney Spears. Britney Spears still has a huge following, but doesn't sign as much, but her autograph still sells for decent money, so long as it's real.
The biggest issue is autographs of modern people, that are hot now, will drop as decades go by. Same with golden age celebrities. Some will always retain their value, like Monroe, but a few that were huge back in the day, say Bob Hope, George Burns, Johnny Carson, and so on, they will be worth peanuts, and truthfully, as it is, all three are barely worth anything now.
It's just like any hobby, values will go up and down across the board, but the hobby itself will stick around.
My issue is A.I. I have a feeling it's going to be a plague of in the autograph world, as counterfeiters will use it to their advantage.
Thanks for the response.
I agree new Celebs. sign so much that I think some of their autos. aren't worth much. Even athletes after they retire get paid big money to sign at shows, it's their way of making money and stay in the spotlight. When I search I try to look for the autos. where the signer dated the signing. I have a Stephen King book that he signed and dated back in 1988. But he still signs alot so I'm not sure even that one is worth what it should be. Also most of mine are already authenticated. So it's a toss up. So I buy what I like for a good price and see where it goes. I like space so I have alot of astronauts autographed books. I like Buzz Aldrin and have 11 different books 9 already authenticated. You would think they would be worth more being on Apollo 11 and the second man on the moon. So it goes with the question will coming generations be interested.
With AI I think it is doing alot of damage to collecting hobbies. With autos. all you can do is take a chance or buy authenticated. One thing I learned is when looking at an auto. when it is signed the preasure of the pen will indent the paper where fake AI and reprints won't.
Fakes galore, expensive "authentication" required. I can't see young people having much interest in it as a hobby. A few ultra popular celebrities may still have a market but older celebrities will have little or no following. There is also the issue of the modern "scribble" autographs. Why anyone would want those escapes me.
That is one of the things with my collection is the autographs have to be legible. I know they sign alot, but don't sign if you are going to scribble. I've also heard some celebs won't sign in person because they know it will probably end up on ebay. I still like to collect when I find someone I want to add to my collection.
As far as authentication it is not to bad, I have checked and am going to send some in and get the full letter authentication.
I don’t like the direction autograph collecting is going in with all these authentication companies and their stickers on the item itself. Half the time the authentication company gets it wrong and authenticates a forgery or outright fake (I will never forget the time I found a Barack Obama preprint letter authenticated by third party authentication). They also reject authentic in person autographs - sometimes because they look atypical but other times they simply just get it wrong. I have an Elton John I wasted over $100 on attempting to authenticate and they said it was not authentic. Turned out it was just atypical but it’s authentic (it was a in person) but because it’s atypical I can never resell it. I had a Harrison Ford like that too that I knew was real because it was obtained in person but it was a “street autograph” so it looked atypical. My biggest pet peeve with authentication companies are the stickers. It’s totally fine if they just put them on the separate COA or LOA but they often put them on the item itself. The problem with the stickers being on the actual item is the adhesive on the back could cause staining and acidic mitigation over time and ruin the item. There is also the possibility that the authentication company goes out of business and now you have a useless sticker ruining your item. These stickers are difficult to remove. I have seen a few historical autographs where they had an obsolete authentication company sticker on the item. It makes me sad. I have also seen numerous items including those over 100 years old were they put the sticker on the item itself. Letters handwritten by Theodore Roosevelt stickered. 😩
I think people will still collect autographs but it might be only in the direction of it being authenticated, or being in/on a trading card. That’s another area I don’t like. They cut up historical documents to put autographs and artifacts into cards. They also sometimes get it wrong and put secretarial autograph cuts into cards. I once saw a Helen Keller TOPPS trading card with a cut signature from one of her fundraising letters in it. The signature was absolutely secretarial/fake. But because TOPPS said it was legit, the card not only sold for good money, but it sold for 10x what an authentic cut signature would be worth. $5000 for the trading card, but her authentic autograph is worth $500 in cut form.
I am also not a fan of quick illegible signatures. Far too many modern celebrities have these. I think part of it has to do with people handwriting stuff less and using computers more, so all they learn is to write their name in cursive but don’t learn anything else in cursive. But they shorten it so you get a scribble. Makes it pretty much impossible to authenticate, so I think what happens here is if one of those big authentication companies can sticker it with a “witness” sticker then people trust it. I have seen that happen.
There are alot of third party authenticators. I personally like and trust only three, JSA, PSA, Beckett. They are the biggest three and have a good track record. To me having the authentication sticker on the signed item is a good thing. They usually put it where it can't be seen when looking at the autograph. The matching numbers is a must so the certificate and item go along together. If the certificate number does not match the item number, then there is something wrong and wouldn't buy it.
Going to the web sites of these grading companies you can put in the number on the item and it gives the information from when it was graded. I have a full letter of authenticity for a baseball I had authenticated 22 years ago and I can still pull up the information to this day.
You can also request not to have a sticker on the item. The letters are original so if you see a photocopied letter I would not buy it.
I also use the authenticated items to compare to unauthenticated items to see if the signatures look very similar if not I wouldn't buy it. I have been taken on autographs in the past, one was a Mickey Mantle baseball and another was a Tiger Woods golf ball. The authentication company was not 100% sure so they would not authenticate them. So I scribbled out the signatures and threw them away. I would not feel right selling something that would not authenticate, that's just me. I ate the loss but felt better for it.
There are so many fakes out there I think the authentication companies are a must. Research and find some you trust. I have contacted them with questions and they answer the questions in a timely manner.
Are they perfect probably not, but nothing or nobody is. If you are looking at an item to buy check out some of the same item they authenticated and see if there is alot of variation. The big thing to consider is when it was signed. A player that signed a ball 20 years ago and keeps signing as the years go buy is going to get shakier and more unsteady as they get older. So the 20 year ago signature will look alot nicer and smoother. So my preference is to collect the signatures from when they were younger.
I don't buy anything from the younger celebs. They are way younger than me so I will be gone long before it can reach money making status.
When I started this thread my whole thought is will these older autos. be desired by the younger generation. I bought them because I like the idea of that the astronaut actually touched that book when he came back from the moon. Today they do book plates or stickers to put on trading cards, what's the fun in that, the celeb. didn't touch the card just the sheets of stickers or book plates they were sent. I would not buy them, but that is my preference. Not that there is anything wrong with stickers and book plates.
So I think collect who or what you want books, baseballs, pictures, posters. Have fun with it find the best prices more security in authenticated items, I think so, but I also take chances with unauthenticated items. when I send them in for authentication I'll know if I was smart enough to pick real ones. I wanted them I think they will be real if not chalk it up to need to do more studying.
Didn't know I could type so much, have fun collecting.