This is what it is all about

 As any autograph collector knows when you start collecting autographs through the mail there are times when it can be very frustrating. Sending out hundreds to thousands of autograph requests is a lot of work but the success is very rewarding. This year being still very young I have sent out over 275 autograph requests and the yearly return percentage has declined each year. I keep asking myself why won't a player sign the cards, is this really worth it??

I am only collecting hockey autographs of Women in hockey. Players that are currently playing in the new PWHL, college players now and in years past and players that played in other leagues that are now defunct. There have been a few what I call strange happenings and this happened within 2 weeks time. There were 3 different players to whom I sent a autograph request too. I was using the correct address for each player but apparently I was using the incorrect first name. The name used was the one on the trading card. So the name I used for one was Beth but it was actually Elizabeth and the other I used was Sue instead of Suzanne. Now I do not know why the letter was not accepted but I did find it very strange but like I have said you learn a lot of strange things collecting autographs this way. 

The cost is starting to become an issue as one envelope sent to the player currently cost $1.56 per player. The outside envelope used is a business sized one and the one inside for the autograph's return is stamped. What I enjoy doing is getting up early in the morning and the first thing I do is I check the informed delivery to see what my mail is for that day. Yes it can be upsetting when you go several days without getting a single autograph back but it does have it's rewards. What I do is every autograph request I send out I journal the info with the players name and address. Then when I see an auto request envelope on the informed delivery I look at the postmark. I then go to my journal to see if I can figure out who the autograph is from by seeing the city name on the postmark. I have been very accurate in being correct than being wrong but the times I am wrong actually turn out to being very good because it is from a player with whom I never thought would have signed but when they do it really lifts one's spirits.

As I said earlier there are times when this is very frustrating and you just say should I stop because of the lack of autographs being received it is just not worth it. As a autograph collector I will add that I would rather have a players autograph on a manufactured card by a sports card company versus a index card but I then say that I at least have the players autograph and I thank them for taking the time and signing the card.

One of my bigger highlights happened on Thursday of this week when I got back a autograph request as a huge success. I will show the cards I got back signed and what makes this autograph requests such a big success is what this player did.

These were the two index cards I sent for Winny Brodt and I was very pleased with her nice legible autograph and her autograph is signed the same way each time and that is an indication that she cared about what her autograph looked like and that to me is a big plus. But there is more to this story as she went above and beyond.

She added this card of hers and signed it and this is what really keeps me going. These cards are from the 2005-06 United States Women's National Team and I now have four cards from this set all signed but what is still a mystery to me is who produced these cards and where can they be purchased, how many players are in the set?? Those are the questions I hope to get answers too as I would love to complete another set of cards in getting them all signed as that is my goal to put together the greatest Women's autograph collection. I love the silver paint pen for this card because it blends in well with the cards light gray background.

This is the back of the card and as you can see the players stats and a small picture of the player. I hope that I can get answers as to the information about where and who these cards came from, we know the year and I hope in time I get more autograph's from this mysterious set of cards and I want to send a very BIG THANK-YOU to Winny Brodt for taking the time to add a card for my autograph collection as she went above and beyond and this is what it is all about!!!

Thanks for taking the time to read this and checking out my other pages of this blog. I hope as a collector of whatever you collect, you find it fun and enjoyable. Look forward to reading and replying to your responses and as always Happy Collecting!!!