I would like you all to vote for the best Why I started to Collect entry. In your vote please Indicate who you would like to win by posting the entry name here.
Here are the top three.
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Username: EastendersFan_x
Date Sent: 12th April 2009
For a few years before January 2008 I've been wanting to collect Eastenders autographs. As you probably know I'm a massive Eastenders fan. The program is fantastic, the actors are brilliant and I'm just so addicted to it. So i never did anything about what i wanted to do. I was aware on the Eastenders website the BBC provided signed photos for free but never did anything about it accept wish i could have the actors autographs in my hands at that very moment. I was on Eastenders forums and looking under the autograph section discussing peoples successes and what they had sent out etc and it was just so exciting, so in January 2008 i decided to do something about it.
In January 2008 i wrote my first two letters for my 2 favourite characters at that time: Jo Joyner who plays Tanya Branning and Robert Kazinsky who plays Sean Slater. I was very unorganised though and was so desperate to get my requests out I didnt even consider the details like including a SAE. I typed my letters as well. I had all these doubts i wouldn't receive my letters back. Rob was a very rare signer so I didn't get my hopes up about him. A month later or so i re wrote my letter to Jo by hand writing it and including a SAE with so much more detail-I ended up going onto 2 sides of A4 explaining why i was such a big fan of her. A week later or so i did receive my 1st request back and later received my 2nd request. I was so happy about it and wanted to pursue this further.
When i started collecting, i was obsessed and just kept spending and spending on stamps and envelopes. I collected some other celebrities for quantity of people I'm not necessarily a fan of because I was that addicted and i do feel very ashamed as there are collectors who are desperate for their autographs. In January I also sent out 100s of email requests too. I must of been crazy to be honest because half of my autographs now, I don't care about and I wonder how many extra stamps I would of had handy now for requesting autographs from people I admire. But this hobby also allows you to learn from your mistakes and I now only send out to people I admire.
I've always been embarrassed though because as far as I know, there isn't many autograph collectors especially in my age group and I still am embarrassed to talk to my friends about it. Another reason is that others who I talk about it to might think 'Why do you bother?' because of financial reasons and the fact the autographs you receive through the mail might not be authentic. I don't care though, autograph collecting is something I enjoy doing in my spare time and its something I'm interested in. As long as I research on fanmail.biz and make sure I know exactly how to put my request together I have a bigger chance of a response. I don't attend sports clubs or have many other hobbies so this makes up for it.
I received much more experience as the weeks went by. I spent about 3 days writing to all the cast of Eastenders because I was desperate to receive the whole cast as I'm such a fan of the program. Each week, Id send out about 5 at a time until I sent off to everyone. Weeks after I was receiving these requests back. I was so delighted and excited. It made my day coming back from school and receiving another autograph to add to my collection. I now have all my Eastenders autographs displayed in a photo album i brought.
My grandad said his dad use to collect Eastenders autographs and he gave me all of the cast he collected. It gave me a real buzz to continue collecting and I'm so grateful. I now have around 80/90 Eastenders autographs and I'm determined to receive all of the current cast. Some are impossible to get as they don't reply which is disappointing but you can't do anything about it. One of which is my favourite cast member but I wont give up. I'm trying so hard to get her autograph. Autograph collecting does give you determination though especially when others have received a celebrities autograph that you so desperately want.
When i started collecting i found fanmail.biz and it gave me all the information i need about this hobby. I'm still learning now; I'm still learning how to send overseas and the people on there are helping me to do so. Without fanmail.biz i wouldn't of started this hobby and without the people on there, I wouldn't of learnt anything. I'm so grateful for everyone helping me on the forum and admin for opening the site up.
To sum this all up autograph collecting is a massive hobby of mine and I do it because it makes me have some sort of connection with the celebrity. It is like I want to meet them but this is the only way I can try and get anywhere close to achieving this. Having a personalised autograph in particular is incredible because it's like they are non verbally communicating to me by writing a message to me personally. I like the process of writing letters now for people I admire and i have fun doing it; it also improves my English too! I mainly collect stars from Eastenders and singers/musicians because I love music. I've received some great autographs off singers and bands I'm fans of. Celebrities are busy people and I'm so grateful for them giving up time to sign photos for me.
Thats basically my reason for collecting autographs and the journey I've took since I started to do so.
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Fanmail Username: cb1892
Date sent: 12th April 2009
I began to officially collect autographs in February 2009. I recently found an old scrap book in my loft that belonged to my granddad; he used it from around the age of twelve up until he died. It was full of photographs of him, from his wedding, of when my mum and auntie were born and lots of pictures and newspaper clippings, mostly about Celtic as he loved them, he even had one article about him signing for Celtic. I never got to meet him before he died so this was a very special thing for me. Anyway, it got me thinking. I’d love something to show to my grandkids when I grow old, something they can remember me by, something special that means a lot to me. With this being the digital age where any news article can be found with a few clicks of a mouse and pictures can be printed off almost anywhere, I decided I wasn’t going to make a scrap book like my granddad did. So, I thought about it for a few days then it finally came to me, Autographs! I love letting my favourite Celebrities know how much I enjoy their work and in return I obtain fantastic memoirs for the future. Autograph collecting is such an interesting and uniquely fantastic hobby and I hope to be doing it for decades to come. Flicking through my collection really gives me an overwhelming sense of happiness and achievement, it’s also a great talking point and autographs are something that you can share with everyone. I’m really glad I began to collect - It may cost me a heck of a lot of money but it sure is worth it.
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X Hayley X
I started collecting autographs after I went to see one of my favourite singers Cassie Compton in the play 'Little Women'. It's such a nice memory because my Mum took me and I remember having such a fun day, plus we were on the front row which made it even better! I had a scary man, who I'm sure was in his pyjamas, sit next to me so I made my Mum switch seats with me without making it too obvious, it was so funny! Well anyway, back to my story! She knew how much I liked Cassie so she took my theatre programme to the security guard during the half time break and asked him if there was any chance he could get Cassie to sign my programme for me. Well she came back and handed me the programme with a big smile on her face and said "have a look", so I opened it and Cassie had signed and personalised to me her page in it!! I just wanted to scream with excitement I was too happy! Well I really liked the thrill of getting an autograph from someone I truly admire, so I searched online to try and find any ways to contact celebrities and I came across this site. I had no idea it was possible to request autographs TTM until I found this site. As soon as I found this site I was like a kid in a candy store!! I wrote down the addresses of lots of celebrities that I loved and got writing my requests straight away!
So it was actually my Mum who discovered my interest in this hobby for me so it's a nice memory to have!
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Please post your vote by tomorrow!
Chrissy
