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Authenticity is Everything
AA - Autographs Anonymous - Are You Addicted? Discussion and Recovery
This Idea came to me as a joke but the more I thought about it, a thread like this could help people out determining if their spending on this hobby is getting out of hand.
Over the last year, ive developed a problem, specifically with the thread, "Musician - Direct autograph sales discussion' (the signed album thread) This problem became the strongest around the holidays, when rampant spending is the norm for most people. I took a long hard look in the mirror when I missed out on Thom Yorke at retail, only to buy multiple copies on the secondary market. They may still turn out to be valuable investments years down the road, but it made me start question my spending.
Ive since seen many members going crazy over certain cds like Ed Sheeran and The Weeknd, among others, where people need to collect them all. The straw that broke my back was Red Hot Chili Peppers. How a signed cd about $16 retail. I missed out on, like many others. The autograph hounds who beat me to it, they are reselling them on ebay for around $175. Its disappointing that as a fan, I have to pay someone an extra $160 all because they were faster than me at checking out. I felt a huge wave of FOMO (fear of missing out) and was at times scrambling to get a cheap copy. This is not the person I was last year. Its made me realize, autographs are consuming my life.
Ive been collecting for myself and for my 2 year old daughter to give her an awesome collection for a graduation or marriage gift 20 years from now. Its a great plan aside from 1 thing.. im spending way to much time on my phone now when I could be spending my time with her. Ive decided to take another break from this hobby. Ill still check this site out for other aspects but as far as hunting down newly released autographs, I wont be letting it take over my life any more.
If you feel you have a similar problem, post your concerns here.. maybe we could all get together and talk our issues out.. if there is someone out there, tired of wasting their lives behind a computer, knowing there is a world outside they are missing out on.. or whatever the reasons, let's help each other out here. Also, if you see someone in another discussion who you think may have a problem, please refer them to here. Bookmark this thread. It may save someone's life
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Stepeanut on
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Check yourself before you wreck yourself.
My main tenets as a collector are to focus on artists I genuinely admire and to always stay within my financial means. That said, it’s easy to get distracted when one sees deals where the price-versus-perceived-value balance is such that it’s hard to resist. I’m as guilty as the next man of buying stuff, not necessarily as an investment, but because it’s a bargain.
I am not a fan of Elton John, but, when those 99p CDs came along last year, I had to buy a few.
The most extreme example, for me, is the Springsteen-Obama book. Again, not a fan, but I got drawn into a quest to obtain a copy for the (relatively) cheap price of £216. And I’m glad I did. It’s a lovely statement piece to own.
It is a rabbit hole that I try to stay out of, but it’s very much governed by that price-versus-perceived-value balance I mentioned earlier. If I can obtain a signed item by a major star for relatively little money, then I think to myself, why not?
Something like the RHCP I probably would have picked up, if I could have gotten one cheap and without too much effort. But the secondary market prices are an easy pass. I just don’t want it that much. That’s money better spent on something special from a favourite artist.
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Permalink Reply by Jason H on
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There's a lot of ways an addict can be defined on here but i believe its someone who can't get away from the research. The ones who are missing out on life, letting the years pile up while they spend countless hours online, letting this hobby consume them. It could also be as simple as someone who only buys 1 autograph a month but with money that was meant for their kids.. It could be a millionaire on here who buy everything they can get their hands on. They see their purchases as investments. They would argue that investing is wise, but its still a form of gambling. Then there's people like me.. I havent sold an autograph in years. Theres value to everything I buy. The only time I would sell is if we are going under and its our only option. As a true collector, value isn't always my main concern. Its easy to get carried away when I want something. This website has made me buy a few autographs I absolutely never had on my radar, just like you said about bargains. I have gotten carried away more than I would like to admit and its all due to spending countless hours researching, hoping I don't miss out on whats next.
Whats funny, sometimes I wont even want certain autographs at 1st.. until they sell out.. its not exactly FOMO because I didn't really miss out.. its more of a desire to want something I can't have. Theres been a few times I've been sitting on an autograph in my cart thinking, do I really want this? And then it will sell out and ill be pissed I didnt jump on it.
As for RCHP, if they came out 3 months ago.. I would have spent $200 on ebay no question... ive taken a hard look at my actions and my thought process the last few months and have made great progress in being able to let things go. Just like they say with an alcohol addiction, the 1st step for me was admitting to myself I had a problem. This is why resellers will never stop.. they take advantage of the person I used to be. Resellers are catching on that they need to sell asap to take advantage of the FOMO effect. Its why there are now so many preorder listings. Once the desire dies down, like with Avril Lavigne, there will be a ton left on ebay where people are getting desperate to unload. RHCP may be the exception but we will see.
Side note, I also bought the Renegades book cheap. I cut the autographs to Mat separately. I never had a desire to have either autograph but, like you, I couldnt resist at that price.
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thanks for adding to this thread! It's funny how you compare it to smoking and drinking. I used to be a smoker many years ago. The only way i could stop was, like you said, to quit cold turkey.. same with alcohol.. i was never an alcoholic, but i did drink to a point where it affected my health.. stopped working out, gained a few lbs. I tried keeping it social or just on the weekends but it didn't work.. the only way I was able to get it completely off my mind was to never have that innitial sip in the first place. I completely get what you mean and its crazy to think this hobby has gone this far where it affecting our well being. Im going to give this some more thought. Make a few charts to map my activity, time spent online. If there isn't a significant change by June, I may just quit for good
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Permalink Reply by crazyrabbits23 on
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I have a good friend who's a collector, and who is "addicted" like me -- he buys signed sports books religiously, and has a couple of "inheritance" pieces he put together for his children, built over several years, which has several key player signatures and collages of signed memorabilia. We tend to go out once a month book hunting, and I tend to pay more than I expect just because I'm in "chase mode" and buying signed items I might not normally purchase if I was focused on local stores.
I tell him, as I tell myself, that if you're going to be addicted to something, make it something that you can gain knowledge from.
I spent years collecting signed books for the fun of it, though (like a lot of collectors) I hit a point where I was buying items (second-hand) with the question in the back of my mind - "What would this be worth if I were to resell it and/or hold onto it for a few years?" I even connected with a rare book consignor (who, ironically enough, used my posts on this very site to validate my identity and collecting experience) who helped me to realize that there was a lot of value in a few key items that I have, and I'm still in the process of selling those items off, which have benefited me a great deal and subsidized a large portion of the items I've bought over the years.
However, I'd be lying if I said I didn't buy some books with the clear intent to sell them at some point -- there are a couple of grail pieces I bought just because I had an inkling of what they were worth, and my instincts were correct. Once you get that dopamine hit of flipping something you bought for a tidy sum of cash, you want to start chasing the same high.
It is simply the nature of the beast -- moreso than ever because we had a lot of liquidity pumped into the market, and people of all collector levels gravitated to different items (signed or otherwise) as investments and for fun, which has caused a domino effect on prices, particularly in the secondary market.
If I have any advice, though, it's to focus on buying what you like, don't worry too much about new releases, and realize it's all in the thrill of the hunt. The current online market has made it a rat race for buying certain signed items new (I've lost out on many a deal myself), but if you're just picking and choosing items within your price range and don't care what it's worth, you'll always find value in it.
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Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on
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No way, I've been collecting for about 30 years and I can tell you it is not addictive. ;)
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I am somewhat addicted (OK, addicted) but thankfully most of my efforts are TTM, and an increasing amount of my activities do not involve sending anything to be signed. I just write letters that may or may not elicit a response.
I prefer those successes when they do arrive, and that method helps hone other skills as well. The thought and creativity helps keep my mind sharp.
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Permalink Reply by Eddy on
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Yes, autograph collecting can become addictive (as can our relationship to many other processes or substances). Heck, even a compulsive and constant need to post on a message board like this or social media group can become addictive.
It seems to me that if autograph collecting is a pleasurable avocation that isn't replacing other personal and/or relational needs or obligations..... and it's giving a sense of growing in personal mastery...then it's great!
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Well, yes. Every time you hit "buy" or "enter" or hear that bell or whatever your brain releases the same chemicals that light up the same spots in your head as cocaine and the like.
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thats a good way to look at it.. but for me, it consumes my life in a way that is not healthy.. if im at the park with my daughter, ill constantly be checking my phone. Sure I'm still there for my kid but im not really 100% there. Shes only 2 but im sure she sees me as an example. Its being embedded in her brain that staring at this flat rectangular object is a big part of adult life
Im also glancing at my phone during long drives. Potentially dangerous.. you are right in what you say.. as long as you have complete control.. i lost this control sometime last year and now struggling to gain it back
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It's interesting that you use the example of checking your phone continually. It is like a "hit" for many people these days of continually doing that. I was just thinking, if you watch old movies, you will see people lighting up cigarettes for their hit when there's a break in the action or a scene begins. I remember my grandpa basically smoking when he was waiting for something, driving, watching a sporting event, etc..
The basic question might be to ask yourself "Why?" . I've been looking at that in my own life as well with collecting. Why do I do it? At the end of the day, what is it adding to my life or to the lives of those around me?
Here's a quick read that's pretty good and nails it IMHO :
https://ligo.co.uk/blog/the-impulse-of-collecting-why-do-people-col...
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Most articles I’ve come across online fail to get under the skin of the collector mindset, mainly because they are not written by people who themselves collect. In my experience, they tend to repeat the same old tropes passed along from elsewhere, so don’t show any real insight or understanding.
This lady is both a qualified clinical psychologist and a collector herself. Here you’ll find a series of articles, on various aspects of collecting, that I found get much closer to the heart of the subject:
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