Celebrity autographs through the mail

The first thing you need to do is decide who you want to send to first. It can be your favorite movie star, a singer, athlete, writer...anyone you can think of. The bigger the star the less likely they will sign in the mail, but you have nothing to lose.

You may also want to collect from certain genres. You can try to get the entire cast of movies, t.v. shows, and sports teams. This is a good way to get focused and motivated as you start. I began by collecting solely Star Wars cast. After a while I branched out to other actors.

After you decide who you want to collect, the next step is finding where to send the request. There are many websites where you can find a database of celebrity addresses. In addition to these, you can check the personal websites of the celebrity.

Of the websites I have found, the following two seem to be the best:

Startiger.com: This is the site I am currently using. It is a great, easy to navigate site. You can search for the name, or browse categorize to find stars you may not have remembered. On each star page members record their successes (or failures) for each address. You can also upload autograph, and compare yours to others. The only drawback to this site is you must pay.

Fanmail.biz: A free to use database. I find it harder to navigate then Startiger.. You may still search for a star, but then directed to the forum for successes (or failures). I usually skip the database and jump directly to the forums. Use this in the beginning. If you decide collecting autographs is for you, then I would suggest startiger.

After you find the address, the next step is to decide what to send. There are 3 things you will need to send. They are something to sign, a letter of request and a self-addressed-stamped-envelope.

What you send to be signed is completely up to you. The bigger the item the more it will cost to ship. Most send 8x10 photos. I personally prefer to send 4x6 photos because they take up less space, which is a high commodity in my house. I also occasionally send trading cards or index cards.

The letter of request should be a short letter asking for then to sign your item. Start with a nice introduction. Tell them why you like their work, and your favorite movie, song, book, etc.... Then you should politely ask them to sign the item you sent. Finish off with saying thank you. Always be polite and say please and thank you. If you want it personalized you should ask them. The letter can be either hand written(neatly) of typed. I hand write as it seems more personable.

The self addressed stamped envelope is pretty self explanatory. It's an envelope with your address and postage for the celebrity to return your items in. It should be big enough to hold all the items sent Make sure to add the stamps or you will never get it back!!! If you are unsure how must postage you will need go to the post office and have it weighed. It is always a good idea to add a little extra postage, in case the celebrity wants to add their own items. Fold the envelope to fit in the request package.

Once you dropped your request in the mail all there is to wait. Autographs can take from a few days to years to return. I've had a them come back as quickly as 3 days, while I waited a year and a half for Jennifer Tilly.

Once you get enough request out you will easily get at least one autograph in the mail a week. Remain patient and you will soon be rewarded.

Yay, you got your request back!!!! Now it's time to decide what your holding. Below are the most frequent responses:

Return to send means either the address is no longer valid, or the celebrity is no longer signing in the mail. Doing history on the addresses first will lower the rts you get. The websites above will provide you feedback before you send.

Every once in a while you will get your picture back unsigned with a price list attached. This simply means the celebrity charges for all signings. While disappointing, there is nothing wrong with this. Many retired actors use this as their income. If you are willing to pay the asking price, then follow their instructions.

Some celebrities are to busy to sign themselves. They don't want to disappoint their fans so they send either pre-printed photos or auto pens. Pre-printed photos are usually easy to to spot. The first sign is it's not the photo you sent. Also look at the way light reflects off, it should be different over the autograph on legit signatures. Auto penned items are harder to determine. Look for pressure points and consistency of ink.If there are no dots where the signature starts and the ink is perfectly distributed the same, you probably have an auto pen.

Every once in a while a secretary will sign for the celebrity. These are easy to spot when compared to in person signature. The sites mentioned above should have samples of in person autographs.

If you can rule out all the above your autograph is probably authentic, congratulations!!!