New Member: Introduction and some ?'s

[LakersFan32]

Hey everyone! I am new to the site as well as TTM autographs. I have been looking to get involved for a long time now but just now got around to it. I am mainly interested in autographs of basketball players and the actors/actresses from the Harry Potter movies. One of the things I was wondering is what is acceptable to send to people to be autographed? I know the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar of the Lakers is a known signer and one of my favorite players of all time so I was wondering if it would be inappropriate to send him a full-sized basketball instead of just cards or a photo. I was also wondering the notorious "How can you be sure it's real?". The only thing that scares me about TTM autos is that I don't really know how to guarantee authenticity. Why would a player/celebrity charge so much for IP autos at a public signing then sign your items for free through the mail? Any help would be appreciated as well as some other known signers for basketball. Thanks and sorry for the long read.

[Melindabear2002]

Honestly, with sports autographs. A lot of times they will charge you to sign in person, but I think that has a lot to do with not wanting them to be resold, or the just personalize them. I know that there are some football players that I've met and if they have an agent close by the have to charge, but if they're not then they don't really care. If you send something like a basketball just remember that you dont' want the person you're asking to sign to have to pay for postage. That's really all I can help with.

[Peyton]

Kareem Abdul Jabbar might not sign. You may or may not want to take that risk because there's a chance you won't even recieve your basketball back. You might want to check if he has P.O. box and if he'll be able to get the b-ball. Don't forget postage. He won't want to buy all of that postage.

[mstrfisto]

One general rule: Never send anything out you don't mind parting with, you may not get it back. I send generally worthless cards and duplicates to athletes. As far as authenticity, you never know what you are going to get. The great thing about this site is you can reasearch anyone in the database and see previous feedback. When you do get a response, make sure you post the photo and plenty of members will be willing to tell you if its real or not. Good luck with your autograph collecting and welcome to "fanmail"