Robert Englund Sort Of Success

[Haunted Man-Shane]

I had heard that Mr. Englund would sign one item TTM, even though he does lots of paid signings at conventions, so on 11-14-16, I sent a LOR, SASE & 1 8x10 photo to:

Robert Englund
1278 Glenneyre, PMB #73
Laguna Beach, CA 92651

On 12-5-16, I received my photo back unsigned, along with a pre-signed card as well as two sheets detailing upcoming appearances and info on purchasing items through his website, noting that he will sign your things "for a small fee." Looking it up, that "small fee" is a HUGE fee of $80, plus $10 to send it back. I saw him at a show in 2014 and his price was $50 then, and looking at the next show he's at, it's jumped to $80 there as well. The con business continues to spiral out of control. While I'm disappointed my photo wasn't signed, I guess it was nice to get something back with a signature on it. If you just want an autograph and don't mind what it's on, it's worth a shot.

[admin]

Hi Haunted Man-Shane

Thank you for your feedback Great Success

You have been added to the list for the $10 gift certificate.

Robert Englund on Fanmail.biz | Previous Feedback(s) Received

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[Hartster]

FWIW, it's not the conventions that set the price. It's the person.

[Haunted Man-Shane]

FWIW, it's not the conventions that set the price. It's the person.

Oh, I'm aware. It's just the guests are getting outrageous with what they want. And not just for autographs, but for professional photo ops (which are no better than a lame Olan Mills family photo with a famous person thrown in), and even charging crazy prices for photos at the table with your own camera. I've done cons for years and it just gets more and more ridiculous. It wasn't so long ago that most celebs were charging $20-30 and they would take a photo with you for free if you bought something. But now it's getting rare to see anybody (even some rando who was on "Walking Dead" for like one episode) for less than $40, and you better be prepared to shell out another $20+ if you want a photo at the table, too. Sometimes, that table photo is as much as an autograph. I met Debbie Reynolds at a show about 10 years ago, and I think it was $25 which included a photo with her. And she is a LIVING LEGEND (I know she signs TTM, but those sigs are always suspect). I'm sure now it would be about triple that, and that photo would cost extra. These booking agents have gotten incredibly greedy and it's really destroying what this hobby used to be, which was a way for older/genre stars to connect with fans and make a little something after their acting days were mostly in the past. It's absolutely disgusting, but it explains why you see so many of these people at their shows just sitting at a table doing nothing. If you hit up a bigger name, you're not likely to be able to afford to buy many other autographs, and a lot of those lower level celebs price themselves higher than they ought to anyway to compensate for fewer sales, which further alienates fans. I keep waiting for it to all crash down, but so far, it's just continued to get worse.

[Hartster]

I hear you. It's one of the reasons I got out of collecting Trek and into collecting astronauts (aside from the fact I had just about every Trek actor from all incarnations.) It used to be $20 to get into some hall in Pennsylvania to hear Marina Sirtis and stand on line (even for an hour or two, you didn't mind) to get an autograph. One of the last cons I went to was $250 for the weekend, and that was just the base ticket. Even with the B-actors, one of them wanted money to take a picture OF them. Not with them.

At least with Trek, the oversaturation caused the market to implode. A few smaller con organizers folded. Now A-listers like Mulgrew no longer command their own convention, they're lumped together with other stars, even non-Trek ones.