I was attending ComiCONN at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut back in 2017 when I met Ron Perlman, one of Hollywood’s most famous tough guys.  Hellboy himself was appearing in person.  The line was long, and it was loaded with testosterone.  After a long wait, it was finally my turn to approach him.

Ron seemed like a decent man.  We exchanged pleasantries, and I immediately realized that my first impression of him was accurate.  I handed him my item, and I asked him to autograph it.  He looked down at it.  He looked up at me.  He looked at the person standing next to him behind the booth.

”You want me to sign that?”

I nodded.

Ron smirked, shaked his head and autographed my 5x7 photo of Gha Nachkt from Star Wars: The Clone Wars.  I printed it myself, not expecting him to have any images of the character available for sale.  I was correct.  I was not embarrassed.

I had a less humiliating experience the previous year, when I met Ray Park at New England Super Megafest in Marlborough, Massachusetts.  (Maybe I was just slightly embarrassed about my Ron Perlman encounter.)  He was busy autographing Darth Maul items all day, when I approached him with an 8x10 photo of the Headless Horseman from Tim Burton’s film Sleepy Hollow.  I printed the image myself.

”You want me to sign that?”

I nodded, just as I did one year later.

Ray was very happy to see the image, and he autographed it with enthusiasm.  He even added a terrific inscription to the photo without my asking, as well as the character name and a smiley.  WHERE IS YOUR HEAD?!

My Ray Park autographed Headless Horseman 8x10 photo.  Ray was very pleased to autograph it when I met him.

Nine years ago, George Lucas was asked to autograph guitar pickguards on a New York City sidewalk.  He was willing to do so, but he was obviously confused about what he was autographing.

”What is that, anyway?”

George seemed to be content when it was explained to him.

Obscure items are often added to autograph collections.  I suppose that is part of what makes collecting autographs enjoyable.