Quote:
Originally Posted by thecatspajamas
Jim,
Could you elaborate more on what you recall of his motivations for finally doing that first autograph signing, and what finally tipped the scales after 5 years of trying to convince him? It seems to me that after 30+ years of refusing to sign (if I'm getting my timeline right), the decision to do a signing session couldn't have been as simple as needing some quick cash or a boost to his sagging ego. Rather than opining as to what I think his motivations may have been though, it seems more reasonable to ask the guy that was there spearheading the negotiations, and I would be glad to hear any specifics that you can recall.
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In answer to your question I really don't know, I was on the phone with him every other month for five years so I don't think it was really about money. I would GUESS that as someone said it was to expand his baseball complex. I do remember his saying that he hoped by doing a signing it would eliminate the constant requests he recieved asking for his autograph. The irony of the entire project was that I was doing alot of private signings at the time with various athletes and celebrities and the question that kept coming up over and over was "Why don't you do a signing with Mike G. Marshall ?" and how great it would be for the hobby etc.
When finally I was able to pull it off I got just as many complaints that I was "Charging too much !!!"
some of them quite nasty. So I learned you can't make everyone happy.
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jim@stinsonsports.com