What baseball autographs could be considered uncommon

[Mr. Zipper]

Originally Posted by travrosty

he could make a ton of dough by just setting up his own web site and selling like brett favre does, so i dont think not making jeter type money is part of the equation.

he wants to be known as one of those difficult signers. he doesnt have to sign through the mail, but to refuse on the street, i dont get it. muhammad ali doesnt have that problem.

The speaker of the house of the united states asked armstrong for his autograph, and he turned her down. hardly seems like a scam attempt.

He wants to be known as a difficult signer. It gives him a sense of power, like it does mike marshall, and like it did bill russell. russell eventually gave in when enough money was involved.

If armstrong is concerned about unscrupulous people making money off of his autograph, the solution is to sign more, not less. the more things are worth, the more they are forged.

I completely disagree. If he wanted to be known as a difficult signer, why sign for over 35 years?

Read his authorized biography. He has a very structured way of looking at things. If he says no to Joe Blow, he says no to the speaker of the house. It's that simple. He's happy to shake your hand or pose for a photo like you are old pals... but no autographs.

When Apollo 11 returned, Charles Lindbergh imparted one bit of advice on the crew -- don't answer autograph requests because they will want more and more and it will never end. Collins listened, Armstrong and Aldrin did not.

Unlike Armstrong, Aldrin embraced fame and commercial opportunity.

[Exhibitman]

Several of the astronauts have commercial sites where you can pay for an autograph. If Armstrong doesn't like his signature sold by third parties, join the others and cut out the middleman. Give the proceeds to a pet charity if the filthy lucre aspect is repulsive. It just seems a shame to waste all of that potential good.

[travrosty]

exactly, he could have priced it at a point where it is affordable to the serious collector, and he wouldnt look like a jerk, he could make a bunch of money to do with what he wants, and a fullfillment company could ship out the orders for him. he takes as much time saying no than just signing. he gets satisfaction from saying no and exerting that type of power, like mike marshall.

he could have flooded the market by now easily and the demand would subside, all he had to do is pick a price point that collectors would buy, but the people looking for a freebie couldnt get one without ponying up. then nobody can complain that they are out of reach financially. say 250 per photograph, he could have signed 500,000 by now easily and dont sign through the mail, just refuse the stuff sent to him and point to his website.

Then he wouldnt look like a jerk, and collectors could get his autograph and everybody would be happy. by rigidly not signing, demand has only increased, and people bugging him for his autograph has only increased. he made it worse.

he has been offered 1 million dollars to sign stuff, even 2 million. but once he signs even a few, then he blows his so called "principled stance" that he adopted many years ago and he is afraid people will see him as a sell out. in reality people dont care. bill russell did the same thing, then ended up signing everything that isnt nailed down and took the money, and people don't care. they just want his signature.

muhammad ali is as well known world wide and he didnt have a problem signing for kings or vagrants and sign for money. he accomodated the collector, the fan and i dont see how Ali got bugged any less for his signature than Armstrong. If you want to stop the opportunists, sign a lot.