I started collecting autogrpahs around the end of 2004.  I was back in college after being laid off from my job and was preparing to start my second career.  I had been out of work for two years and was looking for a hobby that would help me pass the time, yet wouldn’t be too expensive.  I had heard about through the mail (TTM)autograph collecting and thought I would give it a try.  It was a small investment; a stamp, envelope and a short hand written letter.  I really had no idea if it would actually work.  I sent out about four or five letters on my first attempt to celebrities whose address I had found in Autograph Magazine.  It was really a kind of scattershot collection of people who I liked.  It was  a little over a month before I got my first success! A signed 8×10 of Dom DeLuise.  Not long after this I received a signed color pic of Michael Chiklis from The Shield, one of my favorite televisions series. One of my favorite early success was Don Adams of Tv’s Get Smart.  Mr Adams was very sick at this time and died just a few months after I received the picture.

This quick success got me hooked.  There were a lot of failures too and many a envelope has gone off to never be seen again.  the beauty of TTM is that who knows?  Maybe one might eventually make it back.  I have gotten autographs over a year after I sent it out.  Celebs do get tons of fan mail and they move around a lot.  I did learn through online research which celebs were harder to get and the biggest stars were usually impossible TTM.  Getting the address also took a bit of work and you quikly learn which sources are reliable and which are not as trustworthy.  The worse thing about TTM is that you can never be 100% sure its authentic.  I think most of mine are, but there are a few I am almost certian are preprinted or autopenned. 

 A preprint is a legitimate autograph that has simply been photocopied over and over.  Most autographs on Ebay are preprints, if you read the description closely you can tell, becuse they have to mention it to avoid fraud charges.  An autopen is a device used to imitate a celebs autograph.  The celebrity signs with a device that records and mimics his signature.  This is a way that a celeb can try to keep his fans happy without the work of signing over and over the requests he gets.  Neither autopens are preprints are considered legitimate by most collectors.  Another form of “fake” is a secretarial.  Many celebs hire a secretary to open their fan mail and reply to them.  This is probably the hardest to recognise as non authentic.  I have only about two or three that I firmly believe are fake, one by Ann Margaret and one by Benecio Del Torro.  The Ann Margaret is too “smooth” and just looks like a photocopy and is almsot to identical to the signature on her form letter she sent with the picture.  Benecio’s signature is deeply indented into the picture which is common with autopens that go through a stack of pictures at a time.