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My most wanted autographs

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My fave autograph sites + good resources

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F.A.Q.

2. How do I find an address?
The best way to find a celeb's address is to get a membership on Star Archive. Other good resources can be found here. SAG also knows almost every actor's agency. Google is great for searching as well.

3. I still can't find an address! What should I do?
Does the celebrity own a company of some sort (a production company for example)? Why not try sending them a letter there? Addresses for production companies can be found here. Be smart! Write to a singer @ its record company or c/o an arena he/she will be playing at. Sport stars can be reached through their teams, and actors through their agents/managers/publicists, theatres they're performing at, their TV-shows or via movie sets. Politicans usually have their mail forwarded by their parties.

4. Do I have to send a SASE and a picture?
Try to always send a SASE or money and SAE with your request, so that the celebrity doesn't have to pay for the postage. This increases the chance of getting a reply. Sending a printed photo/magazine cover, etc. is also a very good idea.

5. What if I'm sending to another country? Then how do I do with the postage?
There are three possible ways:
1) You can buy stamps from most countries through the Internet. I buy British stamps from RoyalMail.com and American from USPS.com, and it's both quick and quite cheap. All you need to have is a credit card.
2) Enclose the currency of the country you're sending to or send a couple of dollars. Such can be bought at your local exchange office.
3) Send a self-addressed envelope and explain the situation. Some celebs will be generous and pay for the postage, but otherwise I'm afraid that your success rate will be a bit lower than for most people :(
I do NOT reccomend using IRCs, as many post offices don't carry them and most people have no idea how to handle them.

6. What should I say in my letter?
Keep your letter short, NEVER more than 1 A4 page. Praise the celeb for his/her work, tell them which movies/songs etc. you like the most. Be polite! AND, if you want the person to inscribe
the autograph with your name - tell him/her to! It's also a good idea to write you address in the letter, in case your SASE would get lost.

7. How can I be sure that the address I've found will work?
You never know until you've tried! Although here's a few steps to follow to increase the chance:
1) Which is the company behind the address?
2) Is it affiliated with the celebrity, and will your letter be forwarded? Search the Internet or contact the company by e-mail/fax/phone.
3) Is it the correct street/street number/postal code? Yellow Pages for most countries are available on the Internet.

8. How do I spot a fake?
Sometimes it's easy, but sometimes it can be quite tricky. There are four many types of fake autographs: Pre-prints (PPs), Autopens (APs), Stamped and Secretarial. If it's a PP, the signature is a part of the photo. The celeb signs one pic and then they make exact copies of it, with the signature always being on the exact same spot. APs are machines that duplicates the celebs signature and then sign photos with the celebs handwriting. The signature can appear on different places in the picture and in a different pen, but is apart from that always the same. Such machine can even sign your own picture, so be aware! A stamp is a stamp and if it's secretarial, then someone else has signed your photo :-( Here is a good article on how to spot fakes.

Me & My Collection
1. Who are you?
My name is Elisabeth, I'm 16 and I live in Sweden.

2. When did you start collecting autographs?
I got my first TTM autograph when I was about seven (from Kyra Kyrklund, a Finnish dressage rider) and after that, I started collecting autographs from just about every famous Swedish rider there is. It never crossed my mind that I could write to foreign stars until November 2001, when I wrote to my then-favourite actor, Ioan Gruffudd and received a response. In March the following year, Sunset Beach, a Soap Opera I used to love, finnished its final season is Sweden and I wrote to five of its stars (only one replied!). After that I just kept writing to people...

3. How many autographs do you have?
About 90, as of September 2005.

4. What are some of your favourite autographs?
I have so many! Sean Connery (of course!), Julia Roberts, Julia Stiles, Orlando Bloom, Viggo Mortensen, Macaulay Culkin, Adam Brody, Liv Tyler, Karl Urban and Peter Jackson.

5. What is your success rate?
It's rather low, I'm afraid. In August 2006, I had a success rate of 36%