Autographs have lost their charm over the years. The time was you?d bump into a famous person on the street and get their John Hancock, or else it would be the scheduled event like a convention or a premiere. It was all about proof of a meeting; you had physical evidence that you had truly encountered an idol.

But before too long, the fad of autographs seemed to fade. Sure, it?s still around today, but it feels somewhat of a dead hobby. I, myself, have numerous autographs. But unlike those from back-in-the-day, I went through the easy route to obtain them: I either wrote fan mail or bought them off eBay.

The charm seemed to die with people like the Beatles. The Foursome received so much email during their tenure as the world?s best band in the 1960s that they employed an enormous staff to respond to the crazed music lovers. In this way, the Beatles? signatures became astronomically rare due to the simple fact that they never sent their autographs back to the fans ? they were forged by their staff. And while their film, ?A Hard Day?s Night,? does allude to their duties responding the fans, the reality was that the magnitude of the mail got to them, and they needed to get away from the screaming rabble for a short time. Forgeries hurt the fad. Film posters were ?signed? by stars who had passed away prior to their release (John Wayne comes to mind). The actual autographs of the Beatles are worth a fortune, which isn?t a shock.

I?m not an active autograph collector, but as I?ve said before, I have a fair few. I?ve only obtained a couple through actual meetings. I have a Sylvester McCoy autograph (the Seventh incarnation of Doctor Who), a Chris Claremont (from when I thought ?X-Treme X-Men? was cool), a Kenny Baker (R2-D2), a Joe Pantoliano (if you don?t know who he is, I?m offended), a Lou Ferrigno (the Hulk), a Dave Prowse (Darth-f?ing-Vader) and a Warwick Davis (again, everyone knows who he is). But my most prized signature obtained in person was after a show five years ago, when fresh-faced thirteen-year-old me bumped into CHUCK BERRY as he left a theatre following a show. He signed my ticket, and I actually started shaking like a leaf (that is the only time I have ever been star struck).

Those were all obtained through actual encounters, and I?m proud that I got them. But some, as is life, have proved harder to obtain. My Robert Plant autograph came after I wrote an impassioned fan letter to the Led Zeppelin front man, but it came after a 17 month wait (it only arrived two weeks ago). My Daniel Craig autograph was nabbed by a friend on the set of the latest Bond flick, so while it was physically written by 007 himself in person, I was not present for the event. And my Bonnie Wright (Ginny Weasley from Harry Potter?okay, I have a crush!) was received in an envelope that had been folded and folded again meaning that it has two clear creases through the photograph. It?s a tough compromise, but then again, in many ways these are some of my most prized possessions.

The autographs I?m most proud of, though, are the ones I bought over-the-counter. I?ve got Tom Baker (the Fourth Doctor Who) which was surprisingly cheap; Willie Nelson was found for a measly sum; Johnny Cash was quite expensive; Jerry Lee Lewis was an arm-and-a-leg; but the prize that made every purchase worth it was the least likely. I found a piece of sheet music from the film ?The Jolson Story,? signed by Al Jolson. Now to some that name raises the question: ?who?? while to others, it raises the reaction: ?wow.? Either way, I?m proud of it.

There are few autographs I really want now. I have a short list which includes Alan Rickman, Ralph Fiennes, Johnny Marr, Lars Ulrich and (because every time I look at the creased one a little piece of me dies) Bonnie Wright.

But there is an autograph I would have bought had I been rich at the time. In an autograph specialist shop I found while holidaying in Orlando, Florida, I found a poster for a musical concert on February 2^nd 1959, signed by all four headliners. The very next day (hours after the show?s conclusion, in fact) three of those four were killed in a plane crash: Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens. Were I a rich man, I?d own that autograph, and it would be the most important thing in my house. It?s good to dream.

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