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Why collect multiple examples of the same celebrity?

Pete Chucka mentions having more than 50 - 60 Scarlett Johansson's in Steve's "what are the most valuable living celebrity autographs" thread. He also has "hoards" of examples from other female celebrities like Carrie Fisher.

Like Pete I also concentrate on female celebrities though mostly from the 70s or earlier. In some cases I have up to a handful of examples of the same celebrity. These are usually from very different periods in that celebrity's career. In one case (Taylor) I do have nearer ten but that just sort of happened and was helped by the fact that she is still relatively cheap (from Steve's it seems even Scarlett Johansson is more expensive(!)).

If I buy multiples of the same celebrity it is either because the signed item is particularly attractive or interesting from a historical perspective or just because I know it is a bargain and I cannot let it go at the price asked for. When I can get around to it I would very much like to study my "multiples" from a "similiarities and differences" perspective and document how the autographs evolved over time.

A couple of questions:

- do other members have multiple examples (say 10 - 50+) of the same celebrity?; and

- if so, which celebrity and why?

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Permalink Reply by Nate on April 18, 2015 at 10:07am

I confess to loving Eric Clapton (not in a "want to have your babies" way I hasten to add!), he is my favourite artist and it is for this reason that I always keep my eye out for his autograph. I am no way in the realms of 50+ examples, closer to 10, but for me that is plenty.
Your points about why we might collect multiples ring true with me, especially, with regards to Clapton, it's about collecting pieces from different eras. I have pieces from the 60s (Yardbirds, Bluesbreakers and Cream), 80s, 90s and 00s (so currently the 70s is missing for me). I don't think the fascination will ever end so I would imagine this part of my collection will continue to grow.

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Permalink Reply by Richard Booth on April 18, 2015 at 10:22am

I have 144 autographs of BB King and a couple hundred of Elton John. They are all from various periods of their career and on different items (photos, post cards, posters, t-shirts, cards, guitars, drum skins, contracts, awards, vinyl albums, CDs, DVDs, etc). I always like collecting different items and personally owned items. I have signed boarding passes, plane tickets, wrapping paper from presents and bizzare things like that! BB items are from the 1950s to present day and Elton's from 1968 to present. It is great to chart the changes in their signatures over their career periods.

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Permalink Reply by Rick Meyer on April 19, 2015 at 9:02am

That's cool. I like it.

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Permalink Reply by Rich on April 18, 2015 at 10:52am

I have more than 20 Florence Welch autographs. Kind of fascinating how her autograph changes, even within a span of a few minutes sometimes.

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Permalink Reply by Pete Bendu on April 18, 2015 at 1:59pm

I am guilty of what I call autograph hoarding, but in most cases when I have multiple items signed by the same celebrity, they are people like Harrison Ford and I have a mixture of items, cards, books, color photos, b&w photos, different sizes, posters, Han Solo images, Indiana Jones images, and with each of those characters appearing in 3 or 4 films....think about how many variations that gives you. Bladerunner, Witness, Jack Ryan, Force 10 from Navarone, American Grafitti, etc, etc, etc. 1970's , 80's, 90's and so on.

150 Harrison Ford items doesn't even come close to covering all the possibilities.

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Permalink Reply by a pug called eva on April 19, 2015 at 8:01am

There are some incredible figures here. I thought I had a decent collection but you guys blow me away with one celebrity! I feel like a guy in a supermarket waiting to pay for his small cucumber while the guy in front and behind have massive marrows in their baskets! I can almost not imagine how you can amass 200 examples of the same individual unless it's virtually the only star you collect or you buy a ready-made collection or a collection of correspondence from that star. There again, I've only been buying seriously for around 15 years - and even then in fits and starts.

I'm in no way criticising by the way. In fact, I think its great to be devoted. I don't see it as hoarding at all.

Maybe those with such massive collections should consider producing or contributing to books on "their" stars, or at least getting a proper auction house to do them justice in a glossy catalogue when the time comes to sell.

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Permalink Reply by Rick Meyer on April 19, 2015 at 9:00am

I have many multiples. I'm a hoarder. The ones where I have duplicates are usually those I get myself. Most are Arizona Cardinals or celebrities I think are hard to get.

Kurt Warner & Larry Fitzgerald over a hundred of each on items from football, full sized helmets and jerseys. I get them every time I see them.

Pat Tillman-I have 12 left. Had probably 30 at one time but traded some off.

Johansson-only have 8 from her. Nowhere in Pete's league. But always looking at them.

Many others I have duplicates from 2-10.