Autographs- Do you collect? Do your care?

[steve B]

I only have a few, but not just baseball. I've sold off some of the ones that didn't mean much to me, mostly stuff I bought rather than got in person.

Others I have are ones I've run across in odd ways. While those could be fake, I'd be very surprised if they were.
Johnny Most - 3x5 ish card from a live radio appearance
Happy Rockefeller - Postcard to a friend while honeymooning.
Bob Cousy - faded sig on a very worn black and white 8x10 Not basketball, but some sports club portrait.

None of those cost much at all, I think the Cousy was the most expensive at $2-3

A few authors I like sell signed first editions directly, and for almost nothing above the price of the book. (What's the rarest Terry Pratchett book? An unsigned first edition! Joke from a fan site..)

One of the most fun after Brooks Robinson And Bob Feller was Neil Gaiman. My sister was really into his sandman series of comics and he was doing a signing at a comic shop local to me. About a 2 hour line, and he stayed later than advertised to take care of everyone who was in line at the "closing time" I got the new graphic novel for her, and a comic for me. For the books he was doing personalisations and a quick sketch of a character. When I told him her name for the personlisation he gave me an odd look and said I didn't look like I matched the name. So I explained that I was getting it for her since she lived 3 hours away. He seemed a bit surprised that I'd spent 2 hours waiting to get the book signed for someone else. Especially since I was only a casual reader. It must have actually been odd, since I got a sketch on the comic, something he hadn't done for anyone else even on request. (One guy pressed the issue and was told to be a bit less cheap! )

Steve B