It does appear that this Covid 19 pandemic has taken its toll with the athletes as the decline in successes is at an all-time low. I enjoy this hobby and there were times where I would send 500 auto requests in one mailing and at that time three years ago, I got back about 75%. It sure is a great feeling knowing that you have some coming back through the mail and what is really fun is not knowing who the autograph is from until you actually open the envelope. I have had some athletes put their mailing label over mine but 98% of the time it is a guessing game. Sometimes just to make it interesting I put a mark on the return SASE and that indicates who it is coming back from. I only do that when I send to a player that is tough to get or from a player that is a superstar and not as easy to get through the mail.
Some of the surprise autographs are from players like Wayne Gretzky, Jean Ratelle and I was very lucky to of got back a success from Peter Sturgeon as it took five different times, and I finally got the three cards back signed as you can see the photo. Signed in blue ball point pen and from the few autographs I have seen of Peter they all are identical. What is interesting to note is this card of Peter is his 1975-76 O-Pee-Chee rookie card showing him playing as a Boston Bruin, but he never played a single game for the Bruins. Peter played six NHL games all for the Colorado Rockies registering one assist.
What Postage Stamps do I use?? I get this question a lot from beginners and 90% of my auto requests go to Canada or the United States. So, if you are mailing an auto request to Canada from the United States you can buy what is called a Global stamp and this stamp allows you to send to other countries and the cost is $1.30 per stamp. So, let's say you are sending to Canada you would put the Global stamp on the outside main letter (Larger Envelope) and on the smaller return envelope you would use a Canadian United States stamp and currently that stamp cost $1.30 per stamp. I order those stamps online with Canada post. So, it would cost $2.60 per auto request to Canada. If you are mailing a request to another country, you can use those countries stamps there are some auto collectors that put cash in envelope for the return postage, but I do not recommend doing this. I have had a few autograph successes from Germany, Italy, Finland and Sweden but like I said earlier over 90% are from Canada and the United States.
Do I write or type the letter?? This is a toss-up as I have asked quite a few other autograph collectors and I get about a 50/50 answer. I personally have tried each way and I believe you get a better success rate by handwriting your letter and you can keep it brief by politely asking for the players autograph and maybe asking the player a question, an example might be: Who was the toughest Goalie you ever faced?? I have got back quite a few answers, but I look at it this way if you put more effort into each request than I believe as with everything else in life that hard work pays off and that is why I write my letters versus typing them.
There have been players that send back the item in the envelope, and you are thinking that it is a success, but it turns out to be the card unsigned and that is what gets me upset that the player can take the time to put the card in the SASE but can't take 5 seconds to sign it and a majority of players today you need someone to figure out what the autograph says. I know some auto collectors who won't send to the players from today's game but send to the older players because they are very easy to read and some look so nice that it looks like how our teachers wrote back in the day.
I will be writing part II later today with some of my autographs that are coming in today's mail and show a scan of each autograph, Stay Tuned!!!
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