TTM Tuesday! Ace Takes Us On An Autograph Journey! With Only A Roll Of Stamps! A Sharpie! And A SASE! Collecting Autographs Through The Mail Baby!
It TTM Tuesday! (insert applause and cheers here) Yep, something that we’re thinking about doing is a weekly/bi-weekly/monthly column about collecting autographs and memorabilia through the mail. It’s something I thought of because I know a lot of autograph collectors don’t live in New York or Los Angeles and don’t have access to everything we do.
Then I thought, gosh who should write this? And then… I said… I know ACE! He’d be perfect!
If you guys haven’t checked out the MTF origin story, you really should, because I started out collecting autographs through the mail when I was a kid back in Detroit. It’s how I got started and I know it’s how a lot of autograph fans get started as well.
So, since this is the first and hopefully not last TTM Tuesday, I figured I would turn it over to Ace!
Let us know what you would like to see in a column like this, if you like it at all, or if you would just like a weekly column with just pictures of Theo in classic movie poster poses… That can be arranged… 😉
Take it away Ace!
M-
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What’s up autograph addicts! Now, this is not going to be your regular recap… It is not even an IP recap! GASP! Not an IP recap? MIKE!!! MIKE!!! MIKE!!! Now, calm down….
(Editor’s Note: I’m breathing… I’m breathing… M-)
This is for the “TTMers” we have over here at Mike the fanboy… These autographs were NOT obtained IP. Now, you may be surprised… You can get autographs, not In-Person? I am here to tell you… Yes, you can… This is a new segment called TTM TUESDAY…
First off, for those who don’t know, a TTM is a “through the mail” request. Meaning, you send a letter with a Self Addressed Stamped Envelope (SASE) and an item, to basically get them signed by the person you sent the request to.
A little background info: I have done this for a very long time…. I will say, I have been an IP grapher since 2001. I started off at a young age. I must add, my main interest for many years was Sports… Through sports autographs, I got into Entertainment. These days, it’s all Entertainment. Sports Autographs were great, but I loved Entertainment soooo much more. I sort of fell into “TTMs”… I remember a couple times failing IP, therefore I stumbled across the TTM process. It is an amazing, un-understandable feeling, when you open your mailbox to an autograph…
Now, while this seems great…. You have to be SO CAREFUL… There are evil things such as secretarials, autopens, and pre-prints….
Secreterial: It is basically a Secretary signing your item… It isn’t the celebrity. It is a FAKE. You must study the autograph… I study EVERYTHING I get in… If it doesn’t match, throw it away…
Auto-Pen: It is a machine signing the autograph. I know… Crazy… Right?
Pre-Print: A Printed Signature
(Quick Note: Keep your TTMs AWAY from your IPs)
Now, you might be asking: Why would you send TTMs? Well, most of mikethefanboy fans don’t live in California… CRAZY? I know… This way, they have a method to get a pretty good name… I will write a DISCLAIMER. Don’t think you can get a MAJOR name TTM… It doesn’t happen often… Granted, I have gotten a few… But, you have to get good at this AND you will be wasting your money… I mostly send to character actors, neat names, and such… By doing this, you are not set up for failure… If you send to those big names, you will get fails, Secs, Pre-Prints, and Auto-Pens… If you do decide to do this, Study your graphs…
Now, onto the TTMs… I am going to do a small recap for the last month… When it gets to the end of the year, I slow down on sending TTMs because no one answers fan mail near the Holidays… With that note, Happy Holidays and onto the recap!
Josip Elic
Bancini in the One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Twilight Zone – Notable episode “The Obsolete Man”
Richard O’Brien
He is perhaps best known for writing the cult musical The Rocky Horror Show and for his role in presenting the popular TV show The Crystal Maze. In addition to writing The Rocky Horror Show, O’Brien also co-wrote the screenplay of the 1975 film adaptation, and appeared in the film himself as the character Riff Raff. The stage show has been in almost continuous production and the cinematic version is one of the best known and most ardently followed cult films of all time. He is also the voice of Lawrence Fletcher, the title characters’ father in Phineas and Ferb.
What was so cool, was the sketches he did! Just so amazing! Little neat things like that make TTMs fun…
Heather Langenkamp
She is best known for her role as Nancy Thompson from the A Nightmare on Elm Street films. NANCY! I waited soooo long to get this back… It was a nice surprise.
(Editor’s Note: I think you forgot Just The 10 Of Us! Hello! Growing Pains spinoff! M-)
Tony Shalhoub
His television work includes the roles of Antonio Scarpacci in Wings and sleuth Adrian Monk in the TV series Monk. He has won three Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe for his work in Monk. He has also had a successful career as a character actor, with roles in films like Spy Kids, Men in Black, Men in Black II, Thirteen Ghosts, Galaxy Quest, 1408, Barton Fink, Big Night, The Siege, Cars, Cars 2, and The Man Who Wasn’t There.
SPEAKS FOR ITSELF!!!!! MONK! I am one of the biggest MONK fans out there guys…. I have seen every single episode out there… I just like Shalhoub’s work in general.
Paul Rudd and Ed Asner
Paul has primarily appeared in comedies, and is known for his roles in the films Clueless, The Cider House Rules, Wet Hot American Summer, Anchorman, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Dinner for Schmucks, The Object of My Affection, Role Models, I Love You, Man, and Our Idiot Brother.
Asner, is an American film, television, stage, and voice actor and former president of the Screen Actors Guild, primarily known for his Emmy Award-winning role as Lou Grant on both The Mary Tyler Moore Show and its spin-off series, Lou Grant. In 2009, he starred as the voice of Carl Fredricksen in Pixar’s award-winning animated film Up.
Love Ed Asner… He is one of the BEST in the TTM spectrum… If you haven’t written to him, you should try… He always inscribes photos and, at times, writes a note… Paul Rudd is a neat one! I got him IP before, but you never can have too many!
David Hyde Pierce and Sigourney Weaver
Pierce (below MASHA) is best known for playing the psychiatrist Dr. Niles Crane on the hit NBC sitcom Frasier, for which he won four Emmy Awards during the series’ run.
Weaver (bottom left corner) is known especially for her role of Ellen Ripley in the four Alien films: Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, and Alien Resurrection, for which she has received worldwide recognition. Other notable roles include Dana Barrett in Ghostbusters and its sequel Ghostbusters II, Gorillas in the Mist: The Story of Dian Fossey, Working Girl, The Ice Storm, Galaxy Quest, Prayers for Bobby and Grace Augustine in Avatar.
I am personally a big fan of both these two! Love Frasier! Of course, Love the Alien franchise… Can’t complain! I will say that I am a secret fan of Galaxy Quest and I am proud of my Ghostbusters series!
Lastly, another program/playbill… I know these are a bit odd-ball, but, it is a great way to get some great people.
Jeff Goldblum
I will be honest… I have never seen an IP full sig… It is a nice edition to the collection… I am a huge fan of Jeff Goldblum…. Almost as big of a fan as being a fan of John Lithgow. I do have one little regret… I wish he never did Law and Order… LOL
He was in major box-office successes including The Fly, Jurassic Park and its sequel Jurassic Park: The Lost World, and Independence Day.
A big fan of horror, the Fly is a GREAT film… I recommend it.
Jurassic Park, on the other hand, speaks for itself.
(Editor’s Note: ummm Earth Girls Are Easy… Hello! M-)
Well, I hope you enjoyed this recap guys… Something different and fresh! Open to opinions and comments…
Now, remember, there is always a graphing opportunity out there… You just have to find it.
Until Next time,
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This is a really cool idea! I live in Maine and don’t get to see people like you all do! I did this for a while but never really kept it up.
It would be interesting to see which stars send out the preprints or secs and which ones actually take the time to read fanmail. Also, it would be fun to see who used to do it and now they don’t.
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wow this is great.. i hope i read this every Tuesday with new updates on what you get in i also do ttms n its really fun … i also LOVE JOHN LITHGOW !
Gotta love TTMs! That’s 99% of how I collect….I’ve got some big names this way…. Haven’t gotten alot in the past couple weeks, but I did get Jessica Chastain and Patricia Richardson and Julianne Moore this month..
Mike you also forgot the occasional oddity: celebs who do sign authentically through the mail, but have secretaries add personalizations. Henry Cavill and Amanda Seyfried do that now. And also if they send something extra, they’ll use their own envelope and write your address on it sometimes.
I have quite a few of these. Most of these I get usually match up with their IPs… like Jeremy Renner, Susan Sarandon and Eva Green. I also have Heather Langenkamp too… although I bought it to support her documentary “I am Nancy.”
My personal favorites is a 8×10 of Jay Mohr, one 5×7 ‘Dark Shadows’ photo personalized by Eva Green, and ‘Watchmen’ DVD cover signed by Zack Snyder. I also like to mention that bonus Joss Whedon threw in when I wrote him during production of “The Avengers”… an 8×10 set photo he included with the index cards he signed.
Nice post Ace and Mike great idea for a new feature on MTFB! Though I believe the majority of TM are, like Ace says, secretarials, pre-print, or autopens, you do get a legit one every now and then. Just the cost if postage does add up! You did pretty good on what you’ve got. I love the sketch Richard O’Brien gace you!
Again, nice addition to MTFB Mike. Keep the post up.
It would be cool to have like a recap of who is doing plays.. Like the Broadway stars and such that we can write to. Like the playbills you got. I like that idea a lot.
I’ve missed writing to several people because I forgot they are doing plays and then I was like… Ah dammit! LOL…
@ Rye – I can do that! No problem!
@ Dodgers – It most likely will be bi-weekly…. And… Lithgow is AMAZING
@ Matt- I probably will do a column that shows the people who send Pre-Prints… To stay away…
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Please do it every week it would be great to be reading this every week instead of waiting 2 weeks
@ John: A lot of the big stars do send pre-prints or autopens, however some of them do sign if they get fanmail via venue (either through a movie or play they’re working on).
But some celebs do have odd signing habits. I haven’t seen Gwyneth Paltrow reply to fanmail up until she worked on “Iron Man 3” — and her TTM sigs are almost exactly identical to her IPs. Robert Downey Jr. is another one… sometimes his IPs are barely more than a scribble and sometimes not. Most of the time you’re liable to get an autopen, but I’ve seen some successes from the IM3 set that are slightly different and look authentic to his less-rushed IPs.
Whereas for someone like Anne Hathaway, if you’re one of the first letters she gets when she begins work on a movie… she’ll sign for you. But when she gets spammed with fanmail, she’ll have the rest forwarded to Studio Fan Mail and you’ll get a PP instead.
It’s a crapshoot for A-listers. You’re far more likely to get someone from a TV show to sign authentically TTM. Folks like Dana Delany, Betty White, Ed Asner, and Jeremy Renner (at the moment)… all of their TTM signatures are an exact match with their IPs.
Yes most can be real, but you can never be 100%. Anyway, it’s interesting and let’s make Mike ask the stars if they have secs or not …LOL
Oh, another suggestion if the postal service is the only way you can graph….
If you like a certain “newcomer” write to them asap! Since they are “new” in the business and haven’t been overwelmed by fanmail, chances are the autograph is real. AND you’ll probably get a nicer signature than just a scribble.
Also “oldtimers” tend to have more time on their hands so their graphs tend to be authentic.
@ John:
Good suggestion. I have a few ‘newcomers’ in my collection from a couple of short-lived TV shows… and yes, their signatures are much more nicer than the A-listers.