Cpt. Caveman's TTM Autographs : Cpt. Caveman's TTM Autographs #53

Welcome back to another weekly TTM success post. Every Saturday we share the autographs that we receive in the mail throughout the week and when possible the addresses we used. IV been looking through some auctions and seeing some really nice historical autographs for sell. Sure most of these autographs are expensive ranging from anywhere in the hundreds to thousands of dollars but then again you're buying a piece of history. IV also ran across alot of vintage Hollywood legends autographs for sale and one thing that's been really bothering me is the fact I can purchase an authenticated John Wayne autograph or I could purchase a signed photo from current legend Harrison Ford from a private signing for almost the same amount of money. So my problem? The incredibly high prices of private signings and cons. Sure I know its Harrison Ford who is a legend just like the Duke but a still living and breathing and signing legend. Anyways what justifies some celebs to charge these outrageously high signing fees. I'm not talking about the ones that charge $20-$100 that's understandable, but I'm talking about currently living celebs and sports stars that charge more for there signatures then what it would cost me to purchase one of our countries founding fathers signatures, well maby not that much but you get the idea. I know their time is important and expensive but is it really worth $500-$800+ for an autograph and a few seconds of facetime and a picture or in the case of most private signing's just the autograph? I know they have to cover costs and pay there handlers and some even donate the proceeds to charity's so I understand the signing fees but lets keep it reasonable. I spent around $80 for a Tim Curry private signing. No problem what so ever money well spent for an autograph from another true legend and it didn't break the bank. Don't get me wrong I love Harrison Ford and I'm sure the companies doing the private signings have alot to do with setting the high costs, but they are also keeping the new collectors and fans who possibly can't justify spending that kind of money for some ink on a piece of paper and at the same time inadvertently helping the dealers of cheap fake autographs that they hate so much selling fake graphs that are more in the casual collectors price range. I mean come on I can get Stan "The Man" Lee the creator of so many beloved characters autograph for $100 but that amount wouldn't even come close to what some of the actors that play his characters in the recent movies based on his characters charge to sign. Lol does that make sense? Sadly with the direction our great hobby is headed in I don't see things getting better any time soon and signing fees will continue to rise. Just another reason I like and do more TTM graphing these day's, sure you can't always get everyone but alot of celebs that charge good hard earned money to sign at conventions sign absolutely free TTM and if you really put in the work and effort you can sometimes even get those rare hard signers TTM. Anyways enough ranting about autographs I want and can't afford and on to this weeks TTM successes. Our post Office was still closed Monday while they transported all there equipment and mail back after the flood so nothing that day but Tuesday it was back to normal and brought three amazing successes and three RTS's. Its funny all the returns are from the UK and France and the fails are all American celebs. Just goes to show UK celebs are usually amazing at replying to fan mail. The first of the successes was from one of my all time favorite female musician's. Annie Lennox signed one of the two photos we sent and only taking about a month and a half to return. Next a super cool return from the main character in one of my favorite shows that just finished after three wonderful seasons. Eva Green signed one of the two pictures we sent from"Penny Dreadful" and only took her two months to reply. To finish off the successes we received another great "Penny Dreadful" cast member. This time a great VV success from the best actor on the show Mr. Rory Kinnear who plays Frankenstein's Monster. He's amazing and our favorite out of all the amazing actors and actresses on that show and only took two weeks to return. To finish off our day we received RTS's from a VV attempt to Christina Ricci and from the agency address for Judith Hoag. Ms. Hoag's was attempted to be forwarded but still came back as RTS and finally a RTS also marked Refused from Carroll Spinney. I guess people have flooded him with requests and he's no long accepting fan mail. Thursday brought two returns. First I received my VHS box of the original "Night of the Living Dead" back signed from Judith O'Dea. She played Barbra and is a must have for any NOTLD fan. She currently charges $20 for autographs TTM so if you want your items signed don't forget to add money and proper postage on your SASE or you'll get a letter stating she charges $20 for an autograph like we did our first attempt. To finish off the day and after almost fifteen months I received a letter from the management for Sir Ian Holm saying he's unable to fulfill fan mail requests but here's a pre signed photo. Unfortunately the pre signed photo is nothing more than a pre printed facsimile autograph. Oh well you can't win them all and a PP is better than nothing, it'll go in a separate book I keep all the secretarial, autopen and pre prints I get back. I keep them for examples of secretarial autographs and the PP are usually still good examples of the celebs signatures for later reference. Friday brought two more returns. First winter received both pictures she sent to astronaut Robert Gibson backed signed and only taking ten days. Next and to finish off the day I received possibly the greatest return IV gotten TTM maby even beating the Kirk Douglas return. After several years I finally received my picture back signed from legendary musician and member of one of the greatest bands ever Fleetwood Mac's John McVie. I sent this out way before I ever kept records of when and where I sent so no idea but its been a good while. Ever since I was a kid there's been two main music groups that are my all time favorite and that's The Beatles and Fleetwood Mac and I'm beyond happy to add Mr. McVie to our collection. He even wrote a small note and signed the back of the photo. I'm not sure if its about taking so long to reply or if its in reference to the photo of him in his much younger days that I sent either way I'm beyond happy with this one. Saturday brought two more returns to finish of this amazing TTM week. First Edie McClurg signed both pictures we sent and only took five weeks to return. To finish off the day and week and after only ten days I received an awesome return from Jimmy Smits. I only sent him one picture from "Dexter" but instead of signing that he included a signed "SOA" picture and an super cool signed "Dexter" card with a piece of wardrobe. So happy with this one even though it smudged a little during the return still a very cool success. That's it for this week. Have a great weekend and I'll be back next week with more TTM autographs and addresses. Thanks again for making this a great TTM year and don't forget to check out the anniversary post to find out how to enter the autograph giveaway contest that ends on July 28th 2016.