Autograph Hell

Recently, a baseball autograph enthusiast put her hard work towards a greater good. Jane Bell is an 83-year-old Detroit Tigers fan and since the 1980s has fought through crowds and slipped into dugouts to expand her prized collection of autographed baseballs. She is now letting charity benefit from her efforts and is putting 136 of her autographed baseballs up for action and will give all proceeds to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Jane is planning to hold onto one particular baseball, personalized by Detroit Tigers pitcher Jack Morris in 1986. Morris wrote: "To Jane Bell, my best to you, to a loyal Tiger fan." Jane hopes that her baseballs will bring in $3,000-$5,000 for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. According to a local appraiser, Randall Paul, this is a reasonable goal and hopes she will reach it. Jane has been a Tigers season-ticket holder since 1984, and attends all 81 home games each year. According to Jane, it is through being a loyal fan t...

Autograph collecting can take a variety of forms and people interested in many different fields can find a niche in collecting autographs. No matter what you are interested in, you can find autographs to collect. Some of the more common and popular fields include: • Space • Aviation • Science • Medicine • Music • Literature • Fine and Performing Arts • Presidents • Military Figures • History • Entertainment • Sports Collectors are able to collect autographs from many different fields or some decide to specialize within a specific field of interest. Within sports, a collector could decide to collect only baseball related items from a specific team. Collectors enjoy the thrill of bringing a small piece of someone famous into their own home. The movie, the game, the history seems much closer when an autograph is framed and hanging on their wall. When deciding what autograph to collect, consider what you enjoy. What excites you? Use your own passions to fuel your collection and you ...

Celebrities have many different options when autographing memorabilia; the act of physically signing an object is fading into extinction. This trend is creating a difficult environment for collectors to find a "real" autograph. When receiving autographs by mail or other exchanges, it is important to verify that the signature was done by the actual celebrity. Celebrities who opt to use an alternate method for autographs, most commonly use the "autopen" approach. Autopen refers to a machine that can duplicate a signature many times. A signature is copied onto a template and is then inserted into a machine. The machine can be used to print the signature onto any photograph or memorabilia. The way to tell when an autopen was used is if the ink has a lack of natural flow, the signature is shaky or there are inconsistent ink blotches. The blotches are a result of the marker in the autopen machine coming to an abrupt halt at the end and resting in one spot before b...