News article on personal appearance by Hank Aaron.
 

First public appearance in Milwaukee since 1993.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwauk...259973961.html

Here's a follow up in the 5/22 edition of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

"Update: I wrote this week about baseball Hall of Famer Hank Aaron, who is scheduled to sign autographs for fans and collectors on June 14 at Waukesha Sportscards. I was marveling at the hundreds of dollars Aaron charges for autographs. That brought an email from Stefano Bando, of The Drana Group in Milwaukee, who put the deal together.

"You should know that Mr. Aaron will be donating his appearance fee to charity like he always does," Bando said. "The fee is donated to his foundation, Chasing the Dream. The foundation has supported and continues to support numerous charities, schools, and children across the county."

Wow!
$350 for his current auto? $599 for a jersey?To me, those prices seem very high.

That's typical for Hank. I think she dodged a bullet; that pennant without the autograph is very nice.

I think the Aaron autograph would detract from the beauty and value of the pennant itself. I am glad she did not do it.

Not sure if you guys missed the part at the bottom. But someone has paid for the lady to get it signed.

Aaron, Mays, and Koufax (when Koufax even does a signing) are the highest priced guys out there today. Price seems about right. Just looks like a perfect example of an older couple that has no knowledge about the hobby today and got a sticker shock. The other month Mariano Rivera was in White Plains to sign and the price was $299. Most of the price is the experience of meeting the player. Usually the "value" of the auto is half of what the signing costs. That Aaron fee also went to the promoter and for Aarons time. I will never get on an older guy for charging since they didn't make much when they played but the article seems to get on Aaron a bit for charging that much. Obviously if no one came for the signing his prices would drop. Its like people complaining about the price of a Disney World ticket and yet the parks are always jammed packed.

"Seem very high"? They ARE very high! :eek: You can buy Aaron's signed stuff with Steiner holos for a lot less than that. I may sound like an old timer here..but I remember when he would sign at shows here for less than $10. Those were the days!

+1

I also remember getting him to sign this dugout card for me in 1998 and thinking that $50 was a lot for his signature. It certainly was, but now it still looks like a bargain. :cool:

BTW, the dugout card that I had him sign was to the last game that Hammerin' Hank Aaron (at the time, the all-time HR leader) faced Nolan Ryan (who became the eventual all-time strikeout leader). For the record, Aaron came into the game as a pinch hitter and Nolan struck him out.

Just a quick "Wow! Another great piece Scott". Back to the regular thread. Thanks.
Drew

I have been trying to avoid this forum, but had to say - damn that's a nice piece.

Regarding Aaron, unless he's tattooing his name on your arm, $399 is insane.

Thanks Drew and Scott!
For the record, I can't see myself paying $300-$400 for Aaron or any player, but I must admit that I did pay this much for Koufax's signature on a ticket to his 1965 perfect game a couple of years ago...

Wow! That is quite a haul. Do you have a scan?

I listened to a segment regarding the Aaron signing price on the local talk show on my way into work one day this week. It was really interesting to hear non-collector responses. Every caller said they would not pay that much for a signature even though it's Hank Aaron - a baseball and cultural icon, and, not to mention, a local "hero" to many people in the area who grew up watching him play in person.

Everyone said he should be able to charge whatever he wants but the reasons given against getting one were:

- personal budget restraints
- disinterest/indifference in memorabilia
- protestations of Aaron's recent political statements
- just not thinking his autograph is worth that much.

Obviously, there is often some monetary/investment component to paying this much for an autograph of someone very famous, but isn't a lot of the price for the "privilege" of meeting the person too?

I would consider paying this much if I had room in my collecting budget right now. Aaron is getting up in age and there may not be many more opportunities to get an IP signature. I am disappointed that I never met my childhood baseball hero Kirby Puckett. I can imagine many baby boomers may feel the same about Hank Aaron.

Alex,
No problem.
I've posted this on net54, but here it is:

Thanks for the post. That is a very good looking piece

"Two-and-two to Harvey Kuenn"

Although, you may be right about the chance to see your favorite players in person, I would have to say that, at least for me, the premium is not always worth that opportunity. Most of the times, the players don't even look up to see who they're signing for and they don't even say a word. Some don't even allow taking pictures. And it depends on who's operating the show/promotion, but many times they're just ushering you through the line so they could hurry and finish.

I've paid for some players at shows where they don't even respond to your comments or questions and just blankly look at you as if you're speaking another language. Some players are very gracious and engaging (ie- Bob Feller was a great show signer and conversationalist), but if I remember Aaron correctly, he was a nice guy but he didn't really seem to want to engage in conversations (which I understand since there were so many fans who must have tired him out).

Based on my experiences, I don't think the premium heavy price tag is worth it most of the time.

Those are all valid reasons, but Aaron is still getting his asking price. It would be interesting to ask those same people if the first three reasons weren't relevant, and we were talking about their favorite living player (whoever that might be), would they still be unwilling to pay?

Even if Mickey Mantle was still alive, I wouldn't give him $399 unless he wrote 'fvck Yogi' on it and got drunk with me (probably in the opposite order).

+1. Having a guy like Mays or Aaron scowl at me and silently thrust my item back at me like I'm being an inconvenience to them is hardly worth a premium.

The truth is these guys ask for a large sum to make a signing appearance because they simply don't need the money. Then the promoters are forced to charge outrageous prices just to make a profit. Aaron, while he didn't make the exorbitant salary made by today's players, has made a hefty amount through the show circuit over his retirement years, in addition to whatever he makes as a special assistant for the Braves. It's easy to talk a guy who made squat into signing for next to nothing, but star players today don't feel like they need to be bothered unless they're receiving a significant amount in return.

Back around 1986 when most of the ballplayers were signing at card show's everywhere my 6 year old son and I paid $10.00 for Aaron's autograph on a photo. He was gracious, answered questions, shook our hand and posed for a picture with my boy. Those are the memories I walked away with. As a matter of fact all the ballplayers we met in those years were great and very happy to meet and talk to us.

Which I find obscene. If I had spent $350 for Hank Aaron's autograph, and was told I couldn’t take a picture of him signing my item (so that I could have proof the autograph was real), I would not have been a happy customer.

This may not be pertinent to some of the comments concerning Aaron's personality at signings but I heard this years ago ( early 90s ) that Aaron's personality with dealing with his signing interactions changed for the worse when Mays began wanting to be introduced as the greatest living ball player at shows. I heard Aaron had no trouble with DiMaggio being called that at shows but it really rankled Aaron when Mays started it, and that he became a little less friendly to fans.
I know at some of our private signings with Aaron after that time that he was personable and friendly and would freely offer comments about items and photos.
Maybe he has a little bitterness now that he is older and reflecting upon his "rivalry" with Mays that has gone on for 60 years... from a media , collecting, respect and financial standpoint.

Wow. Very interesting. Does Aaron really think that hitting a hundred or so more home runs makes him a better ballplayer than Mays?

It seems to have stemmed from press coverage in the early days of New York vs Milwaukee, and the fact that many people figured Mays would beat Ruth in HRs and never considered Aaron as a factor until later in his career. Remember these things can go back for years. Also Mays was a higher auto price for years before Aaron caught up . I think a lot of factors enter into any players interaction with fans at any signing and many times when we try to figure it out we really can't.

That must be right, since to me it seems like a 'Mays and Aaron Ego Thing' and shouldn't affect how they interact with the fans who got them to the point where they could charge over $300 for a signature. If anything, you would think they would each be trying to prove to us how much nicer they are than the other guy, and that they are worthy of their self-created 'I am the Greatest' descriptions, not the opposite.

JimStinson
 

All true ! That was fun stuff ! I remember when Mickey Mantle upped his ticket price to $25.00 or $35.00 (Can't remember) but it seemed REALLY high at the time and the wailing and gnashing of teeth could be heard for miles. But everyone still paid it including me. Aaron, Mantle all of them were very pleasant and often would even walk around the show looking at what we had set up on our tables. Bob Gibson could be a little bit grumpy sometimes and Mays always was even then but with Gibson that was just his personality even when he played and with Mays well...I did not care how sour he wanted to be , I remember thinking when I used to get his autograph that I might have been standing next to the greatest baseball player of all time. And that was enough for me.
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