Reigniting an old hobby



Did you ever collect anything as a kid?

I collected some random stuff. Keyrings, had a big box of them, usually from holidays and things as souvenirs. I'd remember where they all came from.

McDonalds Happy Meal Toys.

Pokemon cards kind of!?

And autographs.

I can't remember when I first started collecting autographs, but I still have the same ringbinder I've had from the start that I keep them all in. A big Winnie the Pooh one with photo sleeve wallet things from WH Smith.

I discovered a website called Star Archive that had tonnes of fanmail address for celebrities, that was my main source for where to write. That website's long gone now but there's still sources/websites out there for such things, some paid, some free.

I've been using the extra free time in this latest lockdown to list loads of stuff on eBay. It's mainly been clothes but I ended up listing a few autographs out of that ringbinder earlier in the year. For some reason, selling a few, had the counter effect of making me want to get more! 

So this month I've been re-igniting that little hobby of mine. I've got back into it on and off over the years, but I haven't written as many letters this month in aaaaages. Proper got into it!

I like writing letters anyway, and teamed with a love of film, it's a cool little combination of my interests!

So yeah, written for a whole bunch this month. Varying people! Lin Manuel, Billy Crystal, Taika Waititi, Biffy Clyro...bit of a mix! But have sent quite a few off...




I have a few faves from over the years...

Robin Williams. One of my earliest ones and always gonna be a favourite. I absolutely adored Robin, he's very missed.

Lauren Bacall, she didn't seem to sign for people all that much, especially around the time I wrote, especially dedicated (to my name), so I felt really lucky to get this back from her before she passed.  A great actress of her era.

Bryan Cranston. Fantastic actor and I got this just before he announced that he wasn't going to be signing fanmail through the mail anymore. It's lovely as they're inscribed and he thanked me for a little drawing I sent him.

Michael C Hall, again the fact that it's personalised to my name is lovely! I was a big fan of Dexter so it was a cool one to get.

Sir Norman Wisdom. Loved his films, such an icon of his era, it's lovely to have him in my collection.

Michael Fassbender, he wrote a lovely little note on the back of one of the photos "Thank you for your support and drawing! Very impressive xxx"

Karl Pilkington. Not the biggest name maybe but the fact that he took the time to write me a short letter back on the card I'd included to stop the photos bending was really nice haha. 

Nick Sharratt, a childrens book illustrator, famous for working with Jacqueline Wilson. I loved her books and his drawings as a kid! He sent me a lovely little hand drawn picture of a character from my favourite book (which I mentioned in my email to his agent) and a note thanking me for getting in touch.



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