TTM Tuesday! Tips For You Fanmail Fans! Who Sends Autopens! Secretarials! And What To Look For!
God Bless Ace! For this weeks TTM Tuesday, he’s giving us all the scoop on what to look for when writing that hard penned fan letter. I know a lot of time and work goes into being a fan and I used to collect autographs via the mail when I was a kid.
Check out the origin story for some examples.
But, the thing is, you have to be careful because a lot of people do sign legit via the mail there are a lot of people who just use various methods to deal with, what I can only assume is a swamping amount of mail.
Check out Ace’s tips below!
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What’s up autograph fanatics! Ace here with TTM Tuesday!
Last week, I wrote an article about famous celebs that use secretaries to handle their fanmail… Of course, I got a few messages and comments, as I knew I would! We appreciate all of them at Mike the Fanboy, but let us dive deeper in the issue. It was my mistake that I did not highlight the different ways a celeb can avoid signing their fanmail… A secretarial is only one way. For all our readers, here is the breakdown. We have the Autopen, the Pre-Print, the Stamp, and the Secretarial.
An Autopen is a machine that memorizes the signature of such celebrity and mechanically replicates that signature onto an item. It is basically a machine that holds any type of pen, and signs the “celebrity signature” on your item.
You can find or spot an autopen, with the dots that begin and end usually within each signature. For Example: There is a Hard Start dot with the B in Barack Obama as well as a hard stop.
Once again, another Hard Start and Stop dots in Muhammad Ali.
A Pre-Print is basically a printed photo and signature… Usually a celebrity signs one photo, and their assistants make thousands of copies to send to fans, hence being called a Pre-Print. You cannot call your photos a Pre-Print, if you sent the photos and the photos you sent were signed…
You can find these Prints usually when the signature looks like it is part of the photo… It has a certain thickness, darkness, and gloss (depending on photo type) usually to it as well.
A Stamp is basically just that…A Stamp. A celebrity has a custom made stamp of their signature and uses a ink pad of permanent ink, and transfers the “signature” time and time again. The Stamp may also smear or sway over time… It has ultimately a superimposed effect due to the edges of a stamp.
Lastly, the dreaded Secretarial! We highlight several last week and we will continue to do so, but for those who don’t know, a secretarial is an autograph signed by a celebrity’s secretary… Ultimately, it is a forgery…
A notable secretarial is Debbie Reynolds… Now, she swears up and down they are her signatures…. Well… If you look, the IP signatures on the right have a CLOSED D and an ending S line. The TTMs (left) are ALWAYS open D and curved S down… I don’t want to break your hearts guys, but that is secretarial work… She is amazing at it, but she still hasn’t gotten it down yet. It is ALWAYS like this, and has been shown through thousands of her autographs…
I hope you guys learned something on this TTM Tuesday! Please let us know your thoughts! We would love to hear them! Remember, do your research!
If you have questions, concerns, Ideas…
Email: TTMCentral at facebook.com
Facebook and Photos: https://www.facebook.com/TTMCentral
Until Next time,
Ace, the Autograph Addict
That dang Candice Bergen preprint haunts me. I think I have 10 of them from every time I’ve written to different addresses.
Ok, I take back what I said on your last TTM post, Reynolds may have switched to secretarial BUT I was basing my comment on 15-20 years ago. I haven’t written to her lately and it seems she has been using a secretary now.
With all these deterents I personally TTM is a waste of time. If I can’t see that person sign in front of me, you can never be 100% sure its authentic, no matter how much you’re sure it is! Besides Ace, don’t we live in a town where we see a good percentage of these people anyway? Just no reason to rely on TTM.
Don’t be such a know it all. Lol!!!
And…….may point out that a person’s signature does vary depending on where it was signed and how it was signed. Was that person in a crowd? Standing up or sitting down? Was the pen/sharpie working right?
I can show you several examples of Tom Hanks signature that I have all gotten in person. Who are you to say what’s real and what’s not? That’s why I never liked TTM. I stress again, that the for sure, authentic, graph youre going to get is the one you get yourself and in person. Ace god bless you for enjoying this hobby so much but you haven’t been doing this hobby for long. Don’t pretend to be an expert when you’re not.
A person’s signature does vary John, however autopens and stamps are quite common.
On the subject of TTM autographs, there are some people you can only get TTM.
If it wasn’t for TTM autographs I would never have gotten some amazing people like Leslie Nielsen, Don Knotts, John Candy, Phyllis Diller, etc… So don’t stick your nose up at collecting via the mail. You have to know what to look for and that is what Ace is helping people learn.
Education is important about any subject and you have to know what you’re doing and what to look for. If it’s common knowledge someone sends secretarial autographs, people should know about it.
As far as Ace “Pretending to be an expert” I don’t care how old or young someone is. I would stake Ace’s opinion way above any so called experts from PSA or any other “authenticating company.” There is no one who knows more than Ace about TTM signings and he makes a point to continue learning about who does what and when. Plus, he more importantly shares that information with the community.
Don’t “F” with the MTF Family!
@ John: I’ve been doing TTM autograph collecting for about 13 years, and for me living in the Southeastern U.S. — I don’t have the luxury of living in L.A. or New York where I can find them easily. (And it’s cheaper too!)
I get the feeling of that sense of authenticity of meeting an actor IP and getting their autograph, but not all of us have that luxury you, Mike, and Pinky enjoy of being in Los Angeles. I do my due diligence and only send for people who sign authentically TTM either via agency or movie/TV production.
Hell, you look at the IPs of actresses like Dana Delany, Helen Mirren, and Judi Dench… their TTM replies are almost exactly the same. Especially Delany and Dench.
In regards to John’s blindsiding rant…I don’t think Ace ever claimed to be an expert. He is merely offering to share what he has learned through his personal experiences. I am not afraid to admit I learned something about autopens from his article. If anything, YOU come off acting like you fancy yourself the expert on all things autograph related. If you are going to attack a person, don’t act like a friend and then openly bad mouth him and then act like it is merely a playful jab by ending with an annoying “LOL”.
I myself am not a big fan of through the mail graphing and I agree with the main pooint you make in that you are never 100% sure of it’s legitimacy. But I do see the value in it. The only way I could EVER consider my “The Notebook” DVD to be complete was by getting James Garner to sign it. But I knew the chances of me getting him to sign it in person, were practically ZERO percent. I had a friend who secured a private adress and I am so happy I sent it to him. TTM DO have value and you have no business mocking those who practice it. I have been lucky enough to meet Gene Wilder at book signings and he signed extra items occasionally…not always. Again, I was able to contact him via TTM, and I have NO DOUBT that they are authentic.
I think Ace is only trying to help collectors learn the tricks. In the past, I have gotten in touch with certain celebrities and had communications before even considering sending items for signatures. Once I have been given the clear that they would be okay with signing I feel more comfortable sending items TTM. But you and I are lucky to have the luxury of going out any given day/night and getting A list celebrities. What would YOU do John if you lived in the middle of nowhere? Are you saying you have NEVER sent TTM?
But getting back to your comments, I do not understand what the point was you were trying to make. You truly seem bitter for some reason. You can make a point without belittling fellow collectors. You can whipo yours out and challenge Ace to a measuring contest in the future, but spare up these rambling diatribes please!
P.S. Mike, I just have to say after reading your comment that you are awesome! Don’t “F” with the MTF Family INDEED!
Oh man! I am sad to see that this is happening again. Ace, keep on writing! I always learn something from your articles. I have only sent through the mail once, and it was successful and legit…thank goodness. I have been thinking about writing a few more people who that I know I will never see out. Before I do it, I will be sure to ask Ace for some advice. Thanks dude!
I’ve only been collecting TTM for a few years and here I am, all caught up! You don’t need to have a PhD to become an expert in this hobby. Just pay attention to detail and compare and contrast along with some research. Communicate with folks that have the same interests and share knowledge with each other. With a lil’ due diligence, you’ll only be sending to folks that have the higher percentage rate of returning authentic signatures back to their fans. Just be patient and be cool. And thanks for the tips, Ace.
“Big” Mike