Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Mr. Steffman on September 18, 2017 at 12:36pm

Paul, you should consider donating your time to helping these big corporate labels to locate some of these pesky CD flippers.

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Permalink Reply by Asha on August 4, 2017 at 7:59am

Does anyone have tips for the DC show tonight? I have never attended a concert at the Verizon center and this is my first time trying to snag an autograph. Tips would be appreciated!

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Permalink Reply by Rich on August 4, 2017 at 8:22am

I'm not sure we have anything really helpful at this point. He's decidedly not signing anymore.

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Permalink Reply by Ian Baldock on August 4, 2017 at 9:24am

We all have different opinions. I think unless its a baseball player,signed balls are silly. I also detest the thought of people hiring the homeless to line up for autographs. You have to go to dealers to get some of these autographs that you cant get yourself. I have several guys I purchase from and they rarely use helpers ( and if they do its a girlfriend,that type of thing). I have one guy who does use helpers.This is their livelihood. Some people here are outraged only because their finally seeing,reading and hearing whats been going on behind the scene with in person graphing. Its always been like this but its gotten harder because more people are trying to get in on it. I also detest when people are rude to any celebrity for not signing as it "ruins" them to signing and they really don't owe anybody anything! 

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Permalink Reply by Peter C. on August 4, 2017 at 10:17am

I always tend to see autograph as act of kindness from any star. It´s nothing guaranteed, it´s nothing which would be part of their "must be done" job or contract between star and audience / fans. I dont mean it in any "submisive" way - but it´s simply star who sets the rules and exactly as you say - they dont owe it to anybody. In my opinion - the best possible way how to deal with it is trying to act with the main human respect (it´s not about being in awestruck or telling "oh I love you" crap or anything like this) - act to them exactly as you would accept being on the other side - dont stalk, dont follow them, respect their privacy, always give them free space and way how to leave (from my experience the best way of obtaining autographs is making a line, the WORST thing which logically cause feeling of danger is making a circle around the star...). Dont do others what you dont want others do to you. It´s simple as that. I can tell you that when I recently asked Dave Grohl for autograph and I told him "Mr. Grohl, may I ask you for autograph" he seemed that he hasnt heard such an attitude in very long time... When Ozzy&Friends tour happened, there was sound engineer who had couple of setlists (maybe about 10) there and I saw fans coming there and saying "hey man - give me a setlist please....", 2nd guy even didnt say that "please word" - ugh... let´s do it other way. I said "excuse me..." and he just turned around in shock - it looked he never heard such a thing, and he gave me set with smile on his face.... just being polite - is it so difficult? The last thing - part of that respect (which IMO should be natural thing) IMO is asking for sign on something which is connected to the star - it doesnt need to be an album, DVD, tour merch, even in case of musician it can be biography of band or whatever.... just try to avoid photos found on google and printed as cheap as possible.... Official pictures which are often part of boxsets is different case of course. Just ask them to sign something which show them that you BOUGHT something they have money from.

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Permalink Reply by Ian Baldock on August 4, 2017 at 11:14am

I got out of obtaining autographs in person a long time ago. I think nowadays I would get into a lot of fights with many of these new "graphers" (most likely beat up!). Politeness goes a long way. Stevie Nicks is on the doesn't like to sign list and more than once she and Jimmie Page have been cussed out for not signing!

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Permalink Reply by Paul on August 4, 2017 at 1:40pm

(This is their lively hood) is half of the bloody problem!!

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Permalink Reply by Ian Baldock on August 4, 2017 at 2:01pm

Somebody has to do it. Paul Macca has been signing again! 

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Permalink Reply by goodeyesniper on August 10, 2017 at 6:37pm

Paul is signing again? Where did you hear that?

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Permalink Reply by Ian Baldock on August 10, 2017 at 7:04pm

A couple people on RACC showed recent successes with him. It does not mean he is signing for masses of people though. It seems under the right circumstances it is possible.

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Permalink Reply by Jason Charnick on August 4, 2017 at 3:43pm

It's been great continuing to keep up with the thread, and boy, does "Us and Them" really take on a whole new meaning now, or what?

Glad to see Mike Kasmar mention that they took out the trash from RACC, and while I do understand the need to keep things drama-free, I do wish these guys were publically ostracized and shunned even more. I still can't believe the baseball thing seems to be a bigger deal than this, or maybe I'm just misreading the situation.

These guys... nee, charlatans, exploiters and abusers should have their own thread here, much like the thread about the good sellers on eBay. I think their customers would be well-served knowing the depths these scumbags stoop to before making an educated purchase.

Back to get back to the baseball thing for one last second... friends, I know it's not your bag, and that's OK, but the holier-than-thou attitudes towards those who collect differently is borderline insulting. I know it's not your intent, really, but think about how your words could be perceived. To "pug called eva," extrapolating getting a baseball signed to a frying pan or a vacuum cleaner is the epitome of absurd. Baseballs have been used as a vehicle for autographs for a hundred years:

It's only natural for people to expand their collections beyond that of ball players, using the vehicle they have been for decades. Literally NO ONE collects signed frying pans or vacuums, so it's not even comparing apples to oranges, it's apples to cinderblocks!

To Peter C, you make a very good point about if you bring a baseball to have an English rock star sign, you might reasonably expect him to pass on it, but why should an uncaring, unscrupulous dealer get his item signed just because it's an LP, when a perfectly reasonable fan who might be kind and respectful, even demonstrating his fan knowledge get shut out. It's not necessarily entitlement, but casting aspersions on those who collect differently gets us NOWHERE.

I'd also like to add a response to what B.Anderson said yesterday: "I do think it is a little disgraceful to have homeless people involved, but I don't think it is any more disgusting than bringing a friend or family member. At least the homeless person is getting paid. If they are getting paid $20 for 2-3 hours of work that is essentially standing around, that doesn't seem too bad to me. If they had something else going on, they would not be there."

If you can't see the difference between the two, I don't know what else to say... I've been a huge fan of Pink Floyd for almost 30 years. I'm not a dealer, nor do I sell any autographs on any consistent basis. But if I want to wait in line for a graph, and my wife is willing to join me, then yeah, you bet I'd probably get a second graph through her to sell and recoup my money spent on the tickets. But likening that in ANY way to people who give a couple of sawbucks to a homeless guy to wait in line is as absurd as comparing baseballs to frying pans. Like the saying goes, these people are in need of a hand up, not a hand out, and to think giving them money is akin to paying an employee, is naive as can be. They're not spending this money (if they even actually get it after all) on a latte and a Wall Street Journal, let's just put it that way. That why these guys are exploiters and charlatans to the worst degree. And by saying if they had something else going on, they wouldn't be there? You're exhibiting the same look-down-on-them attitude these abusive sellers are in the first place... "give 'em a couple bucks, who cares about them anyway?" C'mon, man, we're BETTER than this. 

I had a lot more I wanted to say, but a lot of it has been added along the way by other commenters. The most important fact is, we're in this together folks. We're all here by different circumstances, different backgrounds, and different collecting habits. Our common ground is our love for autos, for something that bring us closer to those we respect and admire. Those who have played an important role in our lives one way or another.

Dealers play an important role in our hobby too, no doubt. I would love to shake George Harrison's or Richard Wright's hand one day and ask them respectfully for a single item. Unfortunately I can't, so scrupulous dealers can fill that role. These other, exploitative sellers (and forgers, of course) are the ones who are destroying our beloved hobby from the inside out, and we NEED to defend our hobby from them. We need to shine a light in their direction at every possible turn, like we often do with eBay forgers and the rest. That's where our focus needs to lie, not baseballs.

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Permalink Reply by a pug called eva on August 4, 2017 at 10:24pm

I am originally from the UK and have little knowledge of, or interest in, baseball. Are there really collectors who specifically collect pop and rock star-signed baseballs?

Even I know that one of the individuals shown above is Babe Ruth and that he was probably the greatest baseball player of all time. If I were into baseball, having his signature on a baseball would send me into seventh heaven of course. That is a very different kettle of fish.

I know my frying pan and vacuum cleaner examples were extreme, or even absurd, but they were just intended to make a point. Having said that, Jeff Koons has also used vacuum cleaners and other such things in his very expensive art pieces.

I can fully understand that baseballs are relatively easy to display compared to vacuum cleaners but the fact is that neither have anything to do with Roger Waters. As Eric said, would someone ask a baseball star to sign a Pink Floyd LP?

Maybe a collector of pop and rock star-signed baseballs could chip in and explain the logic.

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