41 replies to this topic

[gazznewbie]

Hi

I enjoyed my first experience of this sort of event

but paying for autographs seemed wrong to me

the ones i have upto Friday were all free, obtained by chance meetings
and special unpayed signings

shouldn`t they be free ?  

I feel the film company / tv company etc should either pay stars to attend
or write it in actors contracts that they have to attend several of these type of events
to help promote the film, tv series

and refuse to pay any acting fees if they don`t

then we`ll have all our dream stars turning up
and be able to finish multi signature posters

Gary

[Colonel Jack O'Neill]

Alot of people think paying for autographs is wrong and for those people the best advice is to not attend an event like this because if we were not charged for autographs then SM would not be able to hold the event, even if the autographs were free how would SM get the money together to hold it in MK, they wouldnt so the event wouldnt happen, the only way events like this can keep on running is to charge for autographs so if you want a free autograph from Carrie Fisher your best chance would be to fly over to the US and wait outside her house and hope you get her to sign something or you could pay the price asked at MK and meet her and get a signed photo, I know which is alot easier and cheaper.

[Charisma]

i dont think its wrong they should make money the guests they have to sit there 4 hours just signing they deserve somthing.

[FON]

I get loads of autographs using the through the mail method each week. But I still love to go to events like C6 just to meet them in person and I still pay to get an autograph at the event. People like SM have had to pay a lot of money to get the guest to appear and they need to make a bit back.

I get a little disappointed when a guest is not nice to you but I find one day the guest is great and the next time you meet him it could just be an off day. I have loads of off days so the guest can to.

Like it was said in a previous post if you don't like paying don't go. I for one am happy to pay and met great guest so I go.

Last off keep up the great work SM. I couldn't make C6 but i'll be first in line for C7


Fon

[gazznewbie]

Yes but what i was saying was wouldn`t it be a good idea to get the film companys to either pay the guest
or write it in their contracts that they have to appear at several to promote the film/series

then SM would still be able to do the event , and get their money from stallholders and perhaps charging us an entrance fee

all actors would then appear including our dream ones

i paid for several over the 2 days but something just seemed wrong about it

Gary

[Charisma]

gazznewbie, on Oct 3 2004, 01:19 PM, said:

Yes but what i was saying was wouldn`t it be a good idea to get the film companys to either pay the guest
or write it in their contracts that they have to appear at several to promote the film/series

then SM would still be able to do the event , and get their money from stallholders and perhaps charging us an entrance fee

all actors would then appear including our dream ones

i paid for several over the 2 days but something just seemed wrong about it

Gary

doesnt seem wrong to me, wish tey were £10 could have afforded more.

[Manbeast]

How much are the lesser star wars guests on sunday?

[chsu]

Anyone got any tips on how to get autographs through the post.  ie addresses etc.

[chsu]

The cheapest SW guest was £15 - Yes, even the guys playing an alien - third from the left for two seconds !!

[Skylover]

chsu, on Oct 3 2004, 02:28 PM, said:

The cheapest SW guest was £15 - Yes, even the guys playing an alien - third from the left for two seconds !!

he is named "Whippid"  

[smylexx]

Mon  Mothma charged a tenner! And she was lovely, not like Carrie Fisher who couldnt even give the fans eye contact or a smile. tsk.

[justin]

im gonna hate myself for saying it, but if it were free for autographs, then the queues would stretch out of the door, round the roundabouts and back to the M1!
EVERYONE would want one, even just casual shoppers.. and there were alot of them about on the days...

One good thing about the price is that it weeds out the people who really want to see them, from the people who arent as bothered.

also if it were free, the agents would figure out a way round it.. like making the autographs not personalised and pre printed.. therefore negating the need for the star to be there.. and if they had to be there, they would just hand the predone photos out.. they wouldnt have any time at all to chat and pose for photos with a huge queue.... which would suck!

[titania]

Promoting a film is part and parcel of a stars job - but promoting a movie usually only extends to press junkets and individual interviews with specific press (i.e Jonathan Ross). I can't see any star agreeing to sign a film contract in which his or her promotional duties included sitting in a shopping centre in Milton Keynes for 3 days signing autographs for six hours per day.

I think you are rather missing the point that events like Collectormania are nice earners for the guests who attend. Whether they are being paid a set fee to attend or are receiving the money from each autograph sold events like this supplement an actor's income. For actors whose careers are not as illustrious as they once were (Margot Kidder for example) events like Collectormania frankly afford them the opportunity to pay the mortgage for another few months. If the autographs were free guests would not come and Showmasters would be unable to stage the event.

What I do believe needs to be addressed is the arbitrary £15 per autograph figure which Showmasters seem to set for the "lesser" guests. I have no quibble with paying £20 for the bigger guests but the actors in the £15 band seem to range from very busy actors who are still appearing in major roles in film/TV to third alien from the left. I think if a £10 band was introduced for some of the lessor known actors then a lot more autographs would be sold over the course of the weekend.

[finalfrontier]

PEOPLE WHO THINK AUTOGRAPHS SHOULD BE FREE ARE IDIOTS THEY SHOULD TRY SITTING AT A TABLE AND SIGN 1000 PHOTOS AND THEN GET UP AND GO HOME WITH NOTHING THEY WOULD SOON COMPLAIN
AS FOR SAYING THEY SHOULD BE MADE TO DO SO TO PROMOTE THE FILMS .... REMEMBER STAR WARS IS OVER 25 YEARS AGO, IT DOES NOT NEED TO BE PROMOTED, THAT WOULD BE SOME CONTRACT....
MAYBE YOU EXPECT THE SIGNER TO PROVIDE A PICTURE FOR YOU OUT OF THEIR OWN MONEY OR EVEN TRAVEL TO YOU, THEY WOULDNT WANT TO UP SET YOU IN ANY WAY.
MY ANSWER TO YOU ALL WITH THIS TYPE OF THINKING IS STAY AT HOME AND WHEN YOU PASS A AUTOGRAPH SHOP AT YOUR LOCAL SHOPPING CENTRE POP YOUR HEAD IN AND VIEW THE PRICES EVEN DAVE PROWSE SIGNED DARTH VADER PICTURES ARE UP FOR SALE FOR £100 FRAMED THEN THINK I COULD HAVE TO A PERSONALISED ONE FROM A SHOW THE OTHER DAY FOR £15.00
SO STOP ALL YOUR BITCHING

[Zimbing]

Woah, caps lock overload...

[gazznewbie]

I`ve been to race tracks (British Touring Cars) where the drivers sign loads of autographs for free

take part in a professional race, driving on the edge

sign autographs again for free

and then race again

i was just suggesting an alternative approach to see what people thought

in the initialo promotion of a film ,

i wouldn`t expect the arrangement to still be in place 25 years later

an entrance fee would keep the casual shoppers out

personally i thought the autographs for sale were quite reasonable

many not much more than meeting them

£100 for Darth Vader are you sure ?

you can write to him yourself for £25 he was giving out leaflets

and then buy a good frame for a £5

total outlay £30

Gary

[tiggerbabe]

Showmasters have to pay for the guests (and their families) accomodation, airfare, expenses etc, the money has to come from somewhere!

[Zimbing]

Erm how do you charge people to enter a public place?  

The race atuo example, the people were there already working.

How do you expect Showmasters to pay to get for the guests to get to MK, what about their accomodation?  Before you said something about TV/Movie companies not paying their acting fees unless they do a ccertain number of signing appearances, so partly black mailing them to signing events.  How is that more "ethically" correct than paying for their autograph?

Guests are people, and have to make a living too just like us.  People seem to often forget this.

[Rhi]

My mum and dad think im crazy for paying for autographs but i dont see a problem with it as long as they arent too expensive. For me its the chance of meeting someone i really like and having a great day that i can look back on fondly. The guests have to make money too and they deserve something as it must be hard to sit there for so long just signing

[Bohan]

the prices are ridiculous i will admit that, £25 was too much to pay for carrie fisher considering she did not even make eye contact with me or say a word to me, i may as well not have qued and got the auto from one of the dealers!!!!

Carrie was signing like 1000 autos a day for 2 days at £25 each, look how much income that is!!!   That works out at about £50,000!!!!  Ridiculous, do these people not already have enough money?  As for showmasters they would still get a decent profit if the autos were not sky high.  Also why not less for personal items, every other show i attend apart from showmasters does it!