Autograph Prices Are Soaring, and So Are the Profits for the Collectors Who Hunt Celebrities

Giovanni Arnold spends his days tracking down celebrities in New York City. He’s an autograph collector and selling signatures has been his full-time job for the past 25 years. For Arnold, a 37-year-old living in the Bronx, and others like him, business is booming like never before.

One April afternoon, Arnold was ready to hunt. Dressed all in black, he was standing under a door when a white car appeared. Arnold sprinted to the car just as the passenger door opened and a woman in a long, elegant trench coat emerged. It was British actress Sienna Miller. “How are you today, girl?” Arnold asked as he handed her a Sharpie and a stack of posters. Miller followed him with a smile.

Increasing demand and declining supply are skyrocketing the value of autographs alongside other collectibles. Heritage Auctions sold $171 million in rare comics and comic art in 2021, up 117 percent from the previous year. The sports memorabilia market is expected to reach $227 billion by 2032, up from $26 billion in 2021, according to data decipher market. Meanwhile, Zobie Productions, which facilitates autograph sessions at celebrity conventions like Comic-Con, has seen a 25-30 percent increase in celebrity memorabilia since the pandemic, with autographed items selling for $500 in 2019 now fetching $650, company president Jayare Gallegos said.

The Covid-19 pandemic played a significant role in that surge, according to Bobby Livingston, vice president of RR Auction, a Boston-based auction house, who said many customers were introduced to the collectors’ market after having more disposable income and free time Pursue hobbies.

“People who started collecting during the pandemic are continuing to do so,” Livingston said. In August, his auction house saw autographs by David Bowie and Marilyn Monroe selling for more than four times their estimate, at $2,000 and $32,000 respectively.

Many celebrities were also unavailable for autographs during the pandemic, making available signatures more expensive. “A lot of names have skyrocketed in price and haven’t come back down,” said Justin Steffman, founder of autograph seller website Real Autograph Collectors Club (RAC).

Autograph collectors who receive these signatures, known as “graphers”, have benefited from the market shift. Often blurring the lines between public and private, they doggedly hunt stars for lucrative sales, the thrill of the chase, and a celebrity fascination.

To secure $1,000 signatures, celebrities must be “cracked open.”

Arnold often sells autographs online through sites like eBay. Some of his offers include a $1,500 drumhead signed by the late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins and a $3,000 autographed photo of Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett.

As autograph hunters use various methods to track down stars, social media is increasingly a tool. Arnold carefully examines the backgrounds of celebrity posts on Instagram, looking for clues as to where these photos may have been taken.

A-list musicians and actors produce the most profitable autographs and are Arnold’s priority. He’s gotten just about everyone over the years from Mick Jagger to Michael Jackson, and sometimes uses gifts as a strategy to maintain his relationships with celebrities — he’s given Bob Dylan a turkey and Clint Eastwood a $400 bottle of whiskey. “It’s like bringing flowers to a woman, you know?”
Lady Gaga gets a bike ride from Giovanni Arnold. (Photo by James Devaney/GC Images)

Arnold described his earnings as “up and down like a roller coaster.” During the peak of the lockdown he made a living selling the stock of around 1,000 autographs he had amassed over the years.

He follows celebrities until they sign, chases them to break them up. “Your privacy disappears when you’re a star,” he said. “I could never be a celebrity; I would lose my mind.”

Arnold believes that celebrities either sign to be known or to share their own good fortune with autograph collectors who they know will benefit from the signatures. “Some of them like to help less fortunate people and help them make a few bucks,” he said.

While autograph collectors consider hunting essential to their job, some celebrities consider the activity stalking, and graphic artists have been arrested or given restraining orders. Some celebrities refuse to sign, like Paul McCartney, who Arnold claims has the most valuable signature on the market. A McCartney autograph costs $5,000 and a signed guitar costs $20,000. Arnold speculates that McCartney stopped signing when he realized how much graphic artists were benefiting from his signatures. In conversation with Reader’s DigestMcCartney said he finds autographs “weird.”

Other stars have publicly denounced the autograph business, such as actor William Shatner. “I’m supposed to take care of people sneaking up behind me, disrupting my private times to enjoy my grandkids, bothering me in toilets?” tweeted the actor.

“Some people just seem to think that celebrities are public property and you can follow them whenever you want,” said Ray Murray, a professor at Oklahoma State University who focuses on paparazzi culture. However, the relationship between autograph seekers and celebrities is not necessarily one-sided. Stars would be upset if fans stopped clamoring for pictures and signatures, Murray said. “It’s a double-edged sword. They have to understand that the average person wants a piece of them too, and without those average people you are not a star.”

Some stay in the game because of the adrenaline that comes with celebrity pursuits

The autograph community often works together and exchanges information and contacts. Rich Jones, an autograph hunter based in Buffalo, NY, gets tips from fellow collectors in US cities on what aliases celebrities use for hotels, and when they usually go to dinner, to the airport, and so on.

Jones, 44, got his first autograph at the age of eight in 1985 when his father took him to a Ricky Nelson concert where Nelson signed albums and comics. Two weeks later, Jones was watching television when news broke that Nelson had died in a plane crash.

The experience left a mark and sparked interest in collecting more autographs, said Jones, who works as an engineer. He claims his career gives him an edge, especially when it comes to tracking flights. “I can read flight radar. I think I’m probably close to pilot level,” he boasted. Jones begins each hunt by researching a celebrity’s net worth, figuring out if they’re likely to be flying for commercial or pleasure, and tracking the flight’s progress so he’s pen-in-hand ready at the airport.

Some celebrities have been shocked by Jones’ stalking skills. “I was told, no, there’s no way you should have known I was here right now.” He recalled refusing to sign an autograph for Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page at Cleveland airport, who was upset that Jones had stopped him at 1:00 a.m o’clock in the morning at the baggage claim

“What privacy is in the luggage? Give me a break. It’s not that intrusive,” explained Jones, who believes celebrities give up their privacy when they become famous. “It’s part of the performance.”

Ironically, many graphic artists value their own privacy – most of Jones’ colleagues are unaware of his side hobby. “If I went up to someone and said I’ve met the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, every president alive, three dead ones and Britney Spears, they would say, ‘Okay, this guy’s crazy, right? He’s a stalker.” So I’m not promoting it.”

Jones enjoys collecting autographs because of the adrenaline that comes with knowing information no one else knows. He particularly enjoys hunting and the “trophy” he receives at the end, an adventure he likens to hunting. “I don’t hunt, but…well, I don’t hunt animals anyway.”
Get Sylvester Stallone’s signature. Courtesy of Rich Jones

Jones keeps a few autographs from each celebrity for his collection and sells the rest to support future graphic adventures. “Get the money out, do what you have to do for the next one. Just keep feeding the beast.”

Before autographs are sold online, they are usually authenticated – Jones uses the company JSA, which he says increases the value of his items by 40 percent. Another popular authentication company is ACOA, founded by RACC founder Justin Steffman.

“Everyone signs repeatedly in a certain way, but then there’s a range,” Steffman said. For example, a star “J” might always sign the same way, but other letters will change over time — counterfeiters often stand out because they sign in a “hyperconsistent” way, he said. Steffman also looks at other items that sellers have listed for clues as to their reliability.

Counterfeiters are unaware of the nuances of the game, e.g. B. which celebrities don’t usually sign and are therefore worth more. “You’re going to pay someone like Angelina Jolie as dearly as you will pay Scarlet Johansson,” Steffman said. “Jolie will be autographing a hundred items and Johansson is incredibly difficult, but both will cost $100.”

An Admiration for Celebrities and Their “Brand”

While Steffman estimates that there are around 100 professional graphic artists in New York City, many collectors don’t pursue the hobby just for money. Jeremy Schwartz, who has been collecting autographs since 2008, said he is motivated by the excitement he feels when celebrities acknowledge him.

“For a lot of graphic designers, seeing dollar signs is that amazing feeling, but I don’t make any money from it. To me, I don’t want to sound pretentious, it’s a lot deeper than that.” When Schwartz, 28, gets an autograph, it feels like a star has left their mark. “And this mark is mine now.”

He began collecting as a young boy after his father took him to an autograph convention, an event where celebrities charge fees for photos and signatures. “I was like a kid in a candy store,” Schwartz said. In the years that followed, he began drawing on the streets, waiting in front of talk shows, Broadway plays, and movie premieres.

Jeremy Schwartz and Martin Scorcese. Courtesy of Jeremy Schwartz. Courtesy of Jeremy Schwartz

While Schwartz’s family is mostly supportive of his hobby, his parents have expressed concerns in the past. “Are there moments when it might have gone a bit too far? Maybe.” Schwartz took a hiatus from street graphics in recent years after too much experience waiting in the freezing cold and chasing cars made him realize he might have become too wrapped up in his collection.

However, Schwartz came out of retirement last month after accidentally stumbling through a set for the TV show successor. Now he’s back in the game. “I missed the thrill of seeing these celebrities in person.”