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Harrison Ford talks AUTOGRAPHS with David Letterman

All the late night fighting has really gotten interesting. Although, I find I'm watching Conan and missing some of Letterman because of it (after all, Conan only has another show to go before it's all over).

Well, I tuned in to Letterman during a commercial on The Tonight Show, and Dave was telling Harrison Ford how nice it was to sign autographs for the fans waiting to get into the show. Ford had an uncomfortable look on his face (but really, when doesn't he?) He then said, after a bit of a pause "Well...you have that camera out there that films me as I show up. What am I supposed to do? If I don't sign I look like a jerk."

As the crowd laughed Letterman said something like "So, you're saying if the cameras weren't there, you wouldn't have signed?"

Another pause, followed by Ford saying "No!"

He then talked about walking over to sign for a kid, only to find it's a 45-year-old guy in a boy suit. That didn't make much sense but was funny. Ford then said "They're just autograph merchants. That's what they are. They make money off you and I signing things for them."

Letterman laughed and said "Not me."

Ford seemed confused by this, and Letterman joked about his autograph not being worth anything.

They then moved on to the usual BS of promoting the latest film.

Views: 1767

Comment by Josh Board on January 25, 2010 at 2:41pm
The thing is this. In most businesses, you sell things for what the market dictates. Why sell some antique for $25 when someone would pay $100 for it. It makes smart business sense.
The problem with this, when applied to autographs, is this.
Shatner can make that mad money for his signature, so he does it. But, UNLESS you donate it to charity (even if it's just a "portion" of what you make selling the autograph), it comes across as tacky. It becomes a situation where...do you NOT sign when you're out other places, because it's not fair to the hardcore fan that paid $89 at the Star Trek convention. If you say no, then you're labeled a jerk (and rightly so).
So, if someone like William Shatner, or LeBron James, can get $100 a signed photo...that DOES NOT mean they should. They should still come up with a price that's reasonable. Say...$20 a photo.
And, they can say "You get one photo a piece, but if you want more...that's $75 a photo."
That will keep the ebay people at bay, as they'd be paying more than the photo would sell for. And, if someone is a super Star Trek nut that WANTS to pay that, they have that opportunity to do so.
Comment by Stephen Duncan on January 25, 2010 at 3:28pm
Patrick Stewart was charging $200.00 fora photo opt/same $89.00 price for a sigature.

Good points as always Josh. Hopefully more celebs will jump on this bandwagon of signing at conventions. Waiting in line and not having to hassle the streets/hotels/airports and all them TMZ'ers is worth a fair price, any day of the week.

Check out: http://www.hollywoodshow.com/ This is the next convention I'll be at. (Don't laugh), but Helen Reddy is going to be there. How many people can say they have a Helen Reddy signature in their collection? (c'mon now, she was BIG during the '70's) I will have several by this time next month.
Comment by Robert Moore on January 27, 2010 at 6:15am
I have obtained Ford 3 different times over the year and you can tell he is getting destroyed by the dealers and collectors. I really think he has no problem signing at all but he has been hounded more than usual (from my experiences) and it is just wearing him down. The last time I obtained him the dealers really hit him hard over a two day period.

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