After getting my letter back from John Davis I sorta became hooked on writing my favorite celebrities to ask questions and show my appreciation for their work. This was in the late 1990's, the very early internet days but there was a website I found, it was called Star Archive then and it's still around today called Star Tiger.
It's essentially a database of celebrity addresses either home, agent, business, or other where you can send a letter. Over the years they've added email address, websites, twitter accounts, facebook pages, and even myspace pages when they were a thing.
A lot of information on Star Tiger is submitted by users as well. For instance many notate that they attempted to contact a celebrity with the information provided on the page, they will submit the date they mailed their request, the date they got it back, and if it was successful or not and can even include an image of the item they had signed. This let's people know if it's a good address or not and at times how long they can expect to wait to get a response.
Sending a celebrity fan mail can be a touchy thing depending on who you are. There are some fans that think it's an invasion of privacy and others that don't think there is anything wrong with it. In recent weeks I've actually seen a lot of people talking about this on social media. Billy Gunn recently posted that someone put his address out "there" and he's received a large amount of fan mail that he is marking return to sender and wants people to stop. Britt Baker stated that she gets a lot at the dentist office that she works at and it is also marked return to sender. She stated send her fan mail to AEW.
Other celebrities like Colt Cabana and Tyler Breeze post an address where people can send fan mail. If you've ever looked at my wrestling blog the majority of my collection of signed trading cards I acquired by mailing the wrestlers directly.
Personally, I don't think there is anything wrong with sending a letter to someone asking for an autograph if you include a self addressed stamped return envelope and something for them to sign. I send trading cards and in my letter thank them for their time and talk about their career, my favorite matches and moments, and ask any questions that I have.
I have mailed letters cold before, as in I found their address and just sent the letter. However if they have a way to be contacted via email or social media or a website I will ask first. I have about a 75% return success rate overall.
Back when I first started I would send letters asking for a signed photo, I would mail it in a 9 x 11 envelope with a stamped return one inside. It was about 50 cents to mail that then, it cost 55 cents to mail a standard letter now so I'm guessing it would be over a $1 today which is not cost effective. I don't think it's right to ask a celebrity to supply you with something that they have signed, this is why I send trading cards.
This is also when I learned about pre-prints and the infamous studio fan mail. Studio Fan mail is a service that has been around since 1962 that celebrities use to respond to fan mail request for signed photos. Many of these celebrities use pre-prints as in they sign a photo once and that photo with the signature is then copied so you receive a photo with a pre-printed autograph. Some celebrities who use studio fan mail do hand sign every photo that is sent out.
The longest I it ever took to get something back signed was a trading card from Bart Gunn aka Mike Barton, over four years. The shortest was Dr. Tom Prichard & Terry Funk with a seven day turn around. More often than not I just get the cards back signed, which I'm grateful for. Sometimes they will write a quick note on a post it or scrap of paper thanking me for writing or answering a question, again I'm grateful. Only a few times have I gotten a full letter response.
In another post I'll share my favorite signed photo's that I got back. You can check out part of my collection of signed cards on my wrestling blog here.
Until Next Time!
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