Rowan Atkinson autograph - a rare item

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...tem=3262342327

A personally signed photograph of Rowan Atkinson in his role as Mr Bean.
Obtained back in the early 90s when Mr Atkinson's autograph was very easy to
get hold of. This is now a hard item to obtain...

This is my total pet peeve...people going on and on about how difficult it is
to get someone to sign, when they generally tend to sign TTM for free. I see
it all the time on websites (TOUGH Signer!) even those of UACC dealers. And
then the prices get jacked up...Lauren Bacall, one of my all times favorites
and fantastic signer, was ranked as "Very hard to get" I've seen items as high
as over $100. Please. Unless its Vintage (and that too needs to be defined:
technically vintage includes the article and the sig but i have seen many
'vintage' items signed with a contemporary sharpie!!) That's why it is
important to do research.

Rare signers of the world include: JD Salinger, Fidel Castro, The Queen of
England, Greta Garbo, and a few others.

I hate to really say this but 98% of movie stars are not rare items. Lauren
Bacall, Mr Bean, Harrison Ford, and Neil Armstrong will never be rare items.
They've all signed thousands. Valuable, a little difficult to obtain in your
price range, maybe. Neil Armstrong, for example, might be rare in my
collection because $800 for a SP is a lot to spend for me. But surely, Mr.
Bean will never be rare in the grand scheme of history.

Steve

Steve is absolutely right..

You know bottom line is that an autograph only has value to the person who owns
its. Ms. Bacall may not be high value but she is one of my favorites, so I
treasure it.

I highly recommend the Raab book "Movie star autographs of the golden age" if
you are interested to know more about the signing habits of your favorite
stars. For example, Jean Harlow almost never signed it was her mother (also
named JH) who collected auto books and signed them in her stead.

I agree! RARE is overused daily and Mr. Bean? Even the gentlemen who said
Castro is rare...he isn't because his signatures are readily available on those
Cuban documents and to compare Lauren Bacall to Neil Armstrong...let's just say
that authentic Neil Armstrong autographs are indeed rare. Sure there are
thousan's in circulation, but there are so many more collectors who need to
fill their collection. And there are thousands who don't have a thousand to
spend on a photo. Rare is Thomas Pynchon, even authentic Marlon Brando's,
Harlow, Garbo, Salinger, Joe Jackson where you go through 20 years only see a
handful of authentic signatures.

JL

Your point about collectors needing to fill their collection is well taken.
How many people out there are dying to find Mr. Bean?!!! Compare that to those
who would love an authentic Garbo/Salinger etc. and I think the numbers would
be completely skewed.

It gets really hard to authenticate as well, since many of the more desirable
signatures were (mostly) secretarial. Many reputable dealers will not
guarantee an autograph of that caliber if there is not a record of where it
came from.

The other thing is if a sig is really rare (and I am not referring to the holy
grail of the SP which is the rarest) expect to pay top dollar. Ebay is not the
way to go...I wouldn't trust that much money to the service let alone a dealer.
A UACC auction (sanctioned by UACC, not those online which claim that only
UACC dealers belong to it) is another story...

Good points... I think you are right.. .the highest collectible ISP's
are most likely secretarial (though not all for sure-it's hard to know
sometimes WHAT you have) and the second good point... What IS the holy
grail of collecting?

Marilyn Monroe
Queens or Kings
Babe Ruth
Judy Garland
Marlon Brando
James Dean
Beatles

WHAT OR WHO is the most desired? I know props, the holy grail is
considered to be the Ruby Slippers from Wizard of Oz.

I personlly think there are so many desirable props, it'd be hard to
pick!

The Hat/Whip from Indiana Jones' movies (or the Holy Grail/ark of the
covenant etc)
Silver Chalice from "Silver Chalice"
The Robe from "The Robe"
Moses staff from Ten Commandments
The Ring from Lord of the Rings
The Maltese Falcom
The Piano from Casablanca...

It goes on and on.

On 26 Dec 2003 03:53:22 GMT, (Bcoton) wrote:

Your point about collectors needing to fill their collection is well taken.
How many people out there are dying to find Mr. Bean?!!! Compare that to those
who would love an authentic Garbo/Salinger etc. and I think the numbers would
be completely skewed.

It gets really hard to authenticate as well, since many of the more desirable
signatures were (mostly) secretarial. Many reputable dealers will not
guarantee an autograph of that caliber if there is not a record of where it
came from.

The other thing is if a sig is really rare (and I am not referring to the holy
grail of the SP which is the rarest) expect to pay top dollar. Ebay is not the
way to go...I wouldn't trust that much money to the service let alone a dealer.
A UACC auction (sanctioned by UACC, not those online which claim that only
UACC dealers belong to it) is another story...

yeah, but there's 12 rings used in lotr. there's probably only 1 or 2 pairs of
slippers

"Holy grail of collecting."

I was only referring to highly sought items...a Beatles album signed by the
group. A salinger signed copy of Catcher in the Rye (if it exists). One of a
kind items like that. Didn't the actual maltese falcon go for huge numbers in
an action?

Indeed, while I really love my recent Sophia Myles autograph I doubt there are
tons of collectors who would be dying to have it. Whereas if I had an
authentic Bogart, I am sure they would be panting at the gates

I saw a documentary feature on the props. There are indeed many
rings. But the master ring, the one they first had made and used for
all the close in shots (like when it was placed on the coucils
stump... that one they consider the holy grail. The prop master
commented they hid it in a box marked "extra batteries" so that they'd
not even find it listed on Ebay. I bet since then, it's in another
place...

On 26 Dec 2003 17:34:35 GMT, (Barefootmk) wrote:

yeah, but there's 12 rings used in lotr. there's probably only 1 or 2 pairs of
slippers