Autographs: a Two-Part How-To

[*censored*]

OK, for real this time...

Autograph Collecting: a two-part how-to manual
By *censored* (Drew Pelto)

Everyone knows that one guy.

The one who has the awesome man cave at his house. I'm not just talking a flat-screen TV, bar stools, and a pool table. I'm talking the guy with signed jerseys, photos, bats, balls, pucks, and Swedish pancake makers hanging from the walls. You've seen the place. Maybe you're that guy (you lucky son of a...).

This is to help out the person who wants to be that guy. You don't have to sink hundreds or thousands of dollars into memorabilia that may or may not be authentically signed. With a small investment in the raw materials and through use of your free time, I'll show you how to start your own autograph collection.

There are two main ways to get the autographed items you desire-- in person, or through the mail. Part one will deal with hounding in person, whereas part two will examine mailing methods.

Part one: "Can I borrow your Sharpie"-- an unacceptable phrase

I spent three years as a hardcore autograph hound when I lived in Boston for college. Most of my time was spent on hockey, with some baseball and basketball to pass the time. I started in January of 2003 being unable to tell Ted Donato from Ted Lindsay, but finished my time in December of 2005 with a respectable collection in the vicinity of 1000 autographed items.

And here I am to pass my wisdom onto you. So welcome, rook. Here's a crash course in starting your collection.

1. Have Something to Get Signed.
It seems so obvious, yet I've seen many people who come with nothing to get signed. Almost anything works. Cards are cheap and usually easy to find. You probably have a ton yourself. If not, you can often find player lots or team lots on eBay for cheap. Ask around and work some trades at boards like SCF. Photos look great, but are a little more expensive ($2-$5, depending on where you look). Same with pucks, baseballs, footballs, basketballs, bats, jerseys, sticks, you get the idea. They're great single-signed or team-signed items, but they're more expensive. If you want something simple, get a pack of plain white 3x5 cards. If they're ruled, get them signed on the plain white side. After that, if you have a printer capable of printing on index cards, you can print a name, team logo, and really anything you want about the player on it. Make sure you test it on an unsigned card first! Be forewarned, some players won't sign blank index cards, so think about just printing a team logo on them from your computer. If you plan to collect basketball players, go to a local home improvement store and get some plain wooden floor tiles. Signatures look great on them.

2. Do Your Homework.
No one likes a collector who knows nothing about who he's collecting. I've been that guy before, and I won't lie to you: it sucks. If you hound a team, make sure you can identify at least half the players on it. Strive for knowing who every player is. What helped me out early on was to print off a sheet with every player's color headshot, name, jersey number, height, and weight. Additionally, these are easy to get signed. If you don't know who a player is, have them sign the sheet. They'll usually sign right by their photo. Of course, the easiest way is to just get a team's jersey or some other generic team item, but with that you run the risk of a player signing it twice (or more). At worst, leech off the other collectors around. If you don't know who someone is, look at what the player is signing for someone else. Just don't do it too much, you parasite. As one autograph blogger once told me in my early days, "If you don't know who he is, then you don't need his autograph too badly."

3. Preparation is key!
Make sure that everything you want to get signed can fit into a small backpack, messenger bag, or box. I always use a messenger bag or a laptop case to carry everything in. Make sure all your items are easy to get to. What I often do is make what I call "8 boards" or "9 boards" to hold my cards. Go to a photo supply or scrapbooking shop to get photo corners and get some rectangular pieces of cardboard, foam core board, posterboard, or something of the like (cut it to about 9"x12"). In a pinch, old two-pocket folders work well for this. Composition notebooks are great for this as well. Some will use a spiral bound pack of 4x6 index cards. Take a card, put two photo corners on it (on opposite corners-- the top right and bottom left or top left and bottom right), and stick it to the cardboard. Either do it three rows of three cards vertically, or four rows of two lengthwise. You should be able to slip the cards in and out of the corners without any major problems. Don't try to force them into the corners if it's hard. Just get an index card or piece of paper to carefully lift the corner, then slide the card in. You may have to bend the card a little, but be careful not to crease it; just gently curve it. If your cards are super-glossy, rub them down with an eraser or a little talcum powder. This will counteract the gloss and the autograph won't bubble up on the card. For the most part, try to limit yourself to four or fewer cards of a single player. If I make a 3x3 board, I'll put a row for a player. If I have one card of one player, and one card of another player, I'll put them in the same row with an empty space between. If I have two of a player and one of another, I won't put them in the same row (unless it's a row of 4). Keep a space between players so a player doesn't accidentally sign a card that isn't of him. I've had it happen three times so far. Once in a while, some players will sign more than two or three each (Brian Mullen, Brian Propp, Brad May, Craig Hartsburg, and Brad McCrimmon are ones who stick out in my mind as guys who will sign full 9 boards), but don't get too greedy. Stick with no more than 3 items for the most part. Keep your pen ready and your items at close reach. Nothing is worse than seeing a player, having to dig something out, or go and get something, and look up to find him gone.

4. Have Something to Sign With.
Seems obvious, doesn't it? But the thing everyone seems to forget, or know little about, is the proper pen. It all depends on what you're getting signed. Lumocolor pens are the best on the market but are pretty tough to find. I highly recommend Sharpie markers. Blue Sharpies work best on cards, photos, light colored jerseys, bats, floor tiles, sticks, and index cards. Black Sharpies are good as well, but I recommend blue over any other color. It can be seen easier on a dark spot on a card than can any other color of marker. Black is best to use on a basketball. If you want to get darker items signed, like some bats, jerseys, footballs, or pucks, get a silver paint pen. Silver Sharpies are good, but highly unreliable. I've had them die on me at the worst possible moments. Try to find a Liquid Gold, or Liquid Silver brand pen. Ball-point pens should be the only things used on baseballs. Always keep your writing implement close at hand. I often stow mine in my hat.

5. Location, Location, Location. And Timing.
Know where you're headed. There's nothing more futile than not having a good sense of a time schedule and not knowing where to go. A lot depends on what sort of event you plan to hound. Is it a team hotel, or a stadium/arena? What time does the game start? It varies for every sport, sometimes for every team, so you'll have to deal with a little trial and error at first. With hockey, I often hounded morning skates and visiting team hotels, and occasionally practices. I can't tell you a perfect system of timing, except that for baseball, players are usually at the park by 3 pm for a 7 pm game (and begin arriving as early as noon in some cases). Hockey players often have a morning skate at 10 or 11 am for a 7 pm game and will leave for the rink between 3 and 4:30. Hotel arrivals vary wildly depending on the team's schedule the previous day. Make friends with a few collectors and they'll hook you up. Within my first two months of hounding, I had a schedule completely set and even had one give me the number for the Boston Bruins Media Info Line so I cound find out exact times of practices and morning skates.

5a. Loose Lips Sink Ships. Or In This Case, They Dry Up Sharpies.
Don't get too chatty about visiting teams' hotels. I hounded in Boston a lot, and in 2003 during the ALCS, crowds around the Yankees' hotel(s) were small: 10 or 20 people. A year later, it was around 100 people for the Yankees at the 2004 ALCS. Word spreads quickly. Don't say too much about where teams stay or you'll get a bunch of slack-jawed yokels just there to stare and get junk like scraps of paper or dollar bills signed.

6. Be Polite.
Don't cuss out a player for not signing. I remember hounding a Red Sox game once in the illustrious Summer of 2004: a player ignored us and a woman shouted "Thanks for nothing!" She was met by a groan from the rest of the collectors. Fortunately, she kept quiet the rest of the time. Don't get mad that you missed out on a player. There will be other opportunities (unless it's Tim Wakefield who signs one day per season; if you miss him, too bad). Don't shove anyone out of the way to get to a player or people will do it to you. Say "Please" and "Thank you." Address the player as Mr. Shanahan, or Brendan, maybe Shanny, never just as Shanahan. Don't shout out "There's Jagr!" or you'll have about 50 other collectors trailing you to get to him. Don't run toward a player. If hounding at a hotel, don't follow the players into the lobby. Leave them alone if they're in the bathroom or eating a meal. If they're on the phone, try to wait until they finish their conversation. Simply, just treat the players how you would want to be treated in their situation. And don't crowd players. During the aforementioned 2004 ALCS 100-person-crowd, I was pinned between the crowd and the wall of the hotel as Joe Torre walked out. The hotel security folks had put out a rope barrier which was about as useful as an ashtray on a Harley. At least five people pushed against the rope screaming for him to sign. I politely waited and asked "Mr. Torre, will you please sign my ball?" He came over, took my ball and pen, backed up a few steps, signed, handed it back to me, and got on the bus. No one else got him, and why? Because I was the polite and calm one.

Now how hard is that? If I could fit in the time to do it while holding a 3.4 GPA in a college journalism program while pursuing two minors, you can do it too. I don't get out to hound as often as I used to, but I do enjoy it whenever I have the time.

Now that free time is rare, I have to find other ways to add to my collection. Those ways will be discussed in Part Two, seen in the next post.

[*censored*]

Autograph Collecting: a two-part how-to manual
By *censored* (Drew Pelto)

Everyone knows that one guy.

The one who has the awesome man cave at his house. I'm not just talking a flat-screen TV, bar stools, and a pool table. I'm talking the guy with signed jerseys, photos, bats, balls, pucks, and Swedish pancake makers hanging from the walls. You've seen the place. Maybe you're that guy (you lucky son of a...).

This is to help out the person who wants to be that guy. You don't have to sink hundreds or thousands of dollars into memorabilia that may or may not be authentically signed. With a small investment in the raw materials and through use of your free time, I'll show you how to start your own autograph collection.

There are two main ways to get the autographed itemd you desire-- in person, or through the mail. Part one will deal with hounding in person, whereas part two will examine mailing methods.

Part two: The Russian Postal System blows

You're still here? Geez man, you're supposed to be out hounding, I gave you all that good advice and you're still sitting on your duff, wasting time at the computer?

Oh right. No teams within a two-hour radius. I feel your pain, as I have the same problem here.

Not all of us can be so blessed as to have a 15-minute walk or 5-minute subway or bus ride to get autographs. Many people live an hour or more away from the nearest team. Some of us live on a dental floss farm in rural Montana (I guess that would just be "Montana") and have no major league teams within 700 miles in any direction. My two-hour drives to Dallas and Oklahoma City don't seem so bad now that I see Montana on the map.

For those of us who can't just go hound, the US Postal Service (or Canada Post, or insert your country here) make it possible to get autographs by writing to your favorite athletes. You don't get the same interaction, and it can be hard to get certain items signed, but in the end, you're still getting your autograph.

And so, another brief bit of info-- how to get the most out of your mailing experience.

1. Know Your Addresses.
Team addresses are easy to find. Just check out a league's website, and the mailing address for every team should be there. Home addresses are a little tougher to dig up. I went out and spent a good chunk of change to get Harvey Meiselman's Address Lists in 2007, but they're honestly worth every penny. As a warning, some teams do not usually give mail to players. In hockey, these teams are the New York Rangers, Colorado Avalanche, Philadelphia Flyers, and Washington Capitals. The latter three will give mail to players if you send via their practice facilities. Addresses for those can be found on a simple Google search. Home addresses can be found other ways, but I'll leave this up to you to find. There are a lot of sites out there that can help you. Even TCF has a heck of an address database.

2. The Letter.
If writing to multiple players on one team, send individual letters, not just a bulk mailing with every player in it. Make the letter you write as personal as you can. Just a simple "Sign these please" will probably end up with your items being sent back unsigned, if they even get sent back at all. If you can, write the letter by hand. Include some personal items about the player, such as congratulations on a recent milestone, or a good-luck wish for the playoffs, or best wishes for coming back from an injury. Make them know you're not just some schmoe looking to get a free autograph that you can turn around and sell. Typing the letter works, but some collectors believe you'll more than likely get better autographs, faster response times, and even specific requests you make fulfilled by writing by hand. I haven't noticed a difference myself. Just make sure your handwriting is legible!

3. Send Something to Get Signed.
Again, it seems obvious, doesn't it? Via mail, cards, photos, and small items work best. Baseballs, pucks, and mini-helmets are possibilities in that vein. Avoid sending jerseys, sticks, bats, big balls (yeah yeah, ha ha, laugh it up; I mean like footballs and basketballs), or anything requiring special packaging. Usually I send a few cards. You can send usually up to about 5 in individual penny sleeves for the price of only one stamp. By the way, don't send too many items either. The most I ever send is 5 cards. Often, I put cards in sleeves, put a couple index cards around them to protect them a bit more, and send. Sometimes the player might sign the index cards too, which is a fun and easy bonus. Again, do your homework. If you see a player signs one item per person, don't send three. If they signed 8 for someone (a collecting practice I do not condone), don't hesitate to go for 4 or 5. And don't send anything you can't afford to lose. Don't send an Alexander Ovechkin rookie card to get signed (I learned that the hard way; fortunately I had two of it, so I had one to fall back on) because there's a good chance you'll never see it again unless the player has a good track record of signing. And even then, some unscrupulous assistant might switch out the card with a different one and keep your awesome one.

4. Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope.
Make sure you enclose one! And make sure it has proper postage. If you don't enclose an easy way to get your signed items back, you may never get them back. Convenience for the player is the key here: the less the player has to do, the better your results will be. Make it easy for them, and you'll be much better off and have more success.

5. Postage.
Like I said, make sure you have proper postage. A simple 44-cent stamp will get your letter anywhere you want in the USA, but check with the Post Office for letters to Canada or elsewhere around the world. If worst comes to worst, enclose a dollar with your request to cover postage back from the player to you. Or, if your local post office has them, get an international reply coupon. Don't bother with them in Russia though. In fact, don't bother sending anything to Russia for the most part. I've seen a success rate around 15% for others in sending to players there. I haven't tried it. I have personally had success to hockey players in Slovakia and Sweden. I have also seen several successes for various sports in Germany, England, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Japan, Spain, France, Italy, Czech Republic, and Finland.

6. E-mail is a possibility for some!
Some players have widely-publicized e-mail addresses that they'll sign through. Georges Laraque and Ken Dryden are two at the top of the list who are worth trying. Just send a similar letter to if you were writing via mail, ask if they might send a signed photo or something of the like, and make sure you enclose your mailing address. Laraque also doesn't mind shooting the breeze with fans, as far as I can tell. Back when the Penguins acquired him, I e-mailed welcoming him to the team and reminding him that Donald Brashear and the Capitals were on the schedule in the next few weeks. I got a response thanking me and lol'ing at the reminder about Brashear.

So there you have it. I think I've covered everything there is to know about autograph collecting. Or at least everything I know and can remember off the top of my head. It's a fun hobby to get into and is decently cheap as long as you just send cards. Think about it this way-- for $44, you can get a roll of 100 stamps. That's 50 requests. My success rate has been about 60%-- roughly 30 of 50. If you send 3 cards per player (some more, some less, but average 3), that's 90 cards you just got signed for a very small investment. It also helps if your significant other is very understanding, as this hobby gets addictive very quickly. At least it's legal and non-harmful.

Have fun, may your mailboxes be full, and may your 9-boards be finished!

[WilyWestbrook0]

Posted!

https://www.sportscardforum.com/artic...w-to-part-one/

https://www.sportscardforum.com/artic...w-to-part-two/

[BAM1984]

Great Tips! Some people on here could really use the information to their advantage. Being a long-time TTM guy, there was some things I learned from this. Thanx for the advice!

-BAM

[Ray Rice Collector]

Great Advice