ranrtt wrote:I like the job done on discovering the five different autopens. I would like to make a couple of points.
1. What can you do? Outside of meeting the person or by chance him/her signing a legit one once in awhile through the mail, if the person mailing them back out only deals in autopens, your choices are pretty limited. Accept the autopen for what it is, or don't send to begin with.
2. My only complaint is when the autopen is clearly an autopen. Even if it is one, I'd much rather have one that isn't obvious, this way we can all speculate (much like everyone does with secretarial v real). Everyone here wants to think that their letter was read by the star/celebrity they sent it to, and it is disappointing to discover that chances are your letter was maybe read by someone working in the office, and the picture was never even seen by the star.
3. I personally have no problem with people saying whether or not the stuff I put on the board is real or not. Autopens and preprints are easier to detect, and its always fun to watch the debate over whether the autograph is really the star or staff (and unless you see someone sign it, you're still speculating, unless someone like Clint Eastwood comes out and says he doesn't even look at his fanmail) but I can see where some people can be upset by getting unsolicited opinions. Someone may just be thankful they got something back, others may want an opinion, some are collectors for the true sake of collecting, and others are trying to make a quick buck. You don't know what the person's motivation is for posting, so to think they want to be told that what they have isn't real, or may not be real is assuming quite a bit. If the person posts a note saying everything is welcome, by all means post away. However, if they are new or don't post often, or even seem extremely excited, you may want to soften your blow you want to land on them.
4. Can we all agree that we need to go back and beat up the person who invented the autopenI'm just sayin'.
5. I personally love the information on this board, and what each person can and does bring to the table, but let's keep everything in perspective. This shouldn't be taken too seriously, and should be seen as a cool hobby, a chance to get a little closer to a favorite star, a nice way to leave something for you kids, a neat way to add things to a charitable auction, or whatever. If people are taking this too seriously, something is wrong. Have fun, enjoy this and enjoy life.
6. That's about it.
ya well put this was just to 1 identify the differnt kinds and 2 put it to rest so that this can be a fun hobby for everyone. and i comptly agree with the as long as its not a obvious autopen its better than nothing point
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