Autographs… here’s my thoughts on the subject – for what it’s worth…
I do NOT buy autographed posters, regardless of how extensive their pedigree is. I don’t care about COAs, notarized statements, photos of signings, letters from my mom, pregnancy test results, blah, blah, blah, etc. If I did not get it personally signed, I don’t want it. It has no personal meaning for me.
I agree that autographed posters are defaced and I will always opt for a clean poster over one that is scrawled on by everyone but their mother. I was a commercial artist for years and, movie posters -- to me – are fine works of commercial art. They are the ultimate ad. These posters signed by the entire cast... to me they are ruined.
I have one autographed movie poster – Dragonslayer -- because it was signed by the poster artist himself -- Jeff Jones -- after we had become friends. He signed it for me at his studio one afternoon while he was reviewing my portfolio. I grabbed a one sheet and an insert and brought it with me. He asked me for the insert because Paramount/Disney had never even offered him a copy of his own work (scumbags). He preferred the smaller size and he now owns mine. I also brought some comic books with me – issues 1-10 of Swamp Thing – because Jeff was good friends with Bernie Wrightson, who lived nearby. This was upstate New York (at the time) a veritable ‘who’s who’ hotbed of the world’s greatest comic artists.
The reason I mention Wrightson (one of favorite all-time artists) is that after Jeff reviewed my folio, he called Bernie to see if that madman was busy and wanted a look. Bernie invited me over to his studio where I spent the remainder of the day. I knew I had the books with me and when I was ready to leave, he offered me a signed piece of art. I told him that I had brought Swamp Thing 1-10 with me and they were amongst my favorite comics – would he sign them?
Of course, and he did. Now, take note here. Where did HE sign them? As he pulled them out of their plastic bags, he flipped them open to page one and autographed each on the bottom below the indicia. I asked him why he didn’t sign the covers. He said something to the fact that signing the cover was equivalent to DEFACING the book.
Now, I don’t begrudge those who seek autographs or buy posters with multiple signatures. That’s their thing. But I can’t help wondering how many of them are doing it because they are speculators whose objective is re-sale. If I’ve said it once, I’ll say it a million times – speculators ruin every hobby they get involved in. If you buy a poster only because you think it will be worth 100x it’s current value, then you have no business collecting. True collecting is done by those who love the hobby, not by those who looking to take advantage of the hobbyist. I want one of those Ansin Wolf Mans, but the fucking speculators are flipping them all over Ebay right now, damn their arses.
I have many, many autographed items that I will never sell and I have instructed my children to do just that. Why, because they are personal memories from ME – not some ‘authenticated’ bullshit bought from a faceless dealer. I have a ‘Suspiria’ video poster signed by Dario Argento while I showed him the sights and sounds of Las Vegas in 1987 – he told me personally that this particular design was the finest he had seen produced for ANY of his movies. I have an FJA autographed copy of the ‘Frankenscience Monster’ after Forrest J. Ackerman and I finished an extensive interview. Traci Lords personalized her first legitimate calendar for me. Edward “Buzz” Aldrin signed a color 8x10 moon walk photo for me – and shed a tear while doing it. Vincent Price sent me an autographed photo when I sent him a get well card on his death bed. It goes on and on.
What I’m trying to get at with all this rambling is just this – what good is an autograph if you didn’t get it yourself. The backstory – and what that means to my kids – is priceless.
An interesting sidebar… when I worked at Hollywood Entertainment on the Left Coast, every “exec” in the building had autographed posters inside and outside their offices. When I first saw them, I was dazzled. Then – after polite questions – I learned that they were all procured on Ebay. None of these dudes had ever met anyone whose sig was on their posters. I was dumbfounded. Where is the “value” in that? What they were doing was having a competition – who had the coolest – and the most -- signed posters. Give me a break.
In parting, here's a Gorgon Video poster personalized by Michael Berryman (remember him?). I spent time with him and Gorgon's execs in Vegas. Now there's another backstory for another day..
