When You Run Into A Celebrity Don't Ask For A Selfie

I was recently watching an Instagram video of actor Leslie Jordan as he walked his friend’s dog on Hollywood boulevard.

If you are not yet familiar with him, he has been on the scene for many years appearing on Will and Grace, and other television shows. The pandemic has also been very good to him as he has been one of the few people that have been winning in it.

After he found himself stuck and bored in his mother’s house when quarantine was announced in his country, he decided to record videos of himself on his phone and then post them to his Instagram. It blew up raising his profile. Since then, he has gotten a merch website, a book deal, more public appearances, and has recently released a music album.

I love Leslie Jordan. He is sweet, funny, hilarious, genuine, and lovable. And when he joked in this Instagram video that he was now a high profile celebrity and wondered whether people would recognise him as he walked the boulevard, I wondered so too until seconds later a child on a stroller wanted to play with the dog and the woman pushing the child recognised the actor.

And guess what she asked for? Yes, you guessed it right. A selfie! She proceeded to pull her phone from her bag and went on to take one of the two of them.

Don’t get me wrong. Selfies are great. They capture the wonderful moments and freeze time and they are a commemoration of that one time you met your favourite person. They help bring back exciting memories. And you can also post them on your social media to brag to your family, friends, and followers about your brief encounter with greatness.

But next time, it’s better to ask for an autograph.

Celebrity autographs are currency. They are a wonderful appreciating asset to own. Because they are rare especially in 2021 where many fans ask for selfies, they are more valuable.

Selfies can be duplicated easily and fast. Autographs cannot. And that is why they are valuable. Autographs are either genuine or they are not.

Value

A Beatles autograph signed probably in the ’60s by the four of them was valued at a pricey $43,758. A genuine Paul McCartney signature is valued at $4,000 according to msn.com.

An authenticated Michael Jackson autograph will fetch about $2,875.

A Marilyn Monroe autograph is valued at $10,200, Albert Einstein’s at $13,000, that of Diana, Princess of Wales at $14,000, Bruce Lee’s at $16,100.

Some people called “in persons” actually do this for a living. They hunt various celebrities for autographs and later sell them at hefty prices making good money from a little investment such as their time and efforts.

To make the autograph even more valuable, they have them signed on a product from that celebrity. If you live in Los Angeles or New York and you see Lady Gaga walking by, ask her to sign an autograph on her music CD or merchandise and you will have made some good money for yourself on the spot! If you exercise some patience and wait a few years, you will have built valuable wealth for yourself as this item will fetch a much higher price.

Even celebrities themselves collect autographs, valuables, and other rare items of other celebrities, particularly those whose profile is bigger than theirs. They too understand the value in doing so. So don’t feel bad for doing it.

While working on his charity song What More Can I Give, Michael Jackson famously had one of his Rolls Royces autographed by the celebrities he was working with. It contained his signature, those of singers such as Beyoncé, NSYC, Shakira, Celine Dion among others. Imagine the current value of that Rolls Royce!

He later gifted it to his brother Tito a few years later as a show of gratitude for the support he had shown him during his grueling 2005 trial. He took him to his garage and asked him to pick one. After Tito picked another, Jackson asked him to pick this particular one because it was the best. What a generous, selfless, and giving man!

Vanity

Even if it is the trendier now to ask a celebrity you encounter for a selfie so that you can show and brag on your social media about your meeting them, asking them for an autograph may be the wiser way to go about it.

The vanity in human beings and their love to be worshipped and adored could work towards your hunt for autographs. Celebrities particularly love to be in the limelight and they enjoy receiving love, adoration, and adulation from fans. It comes with being in the business.

A celebrity could seldom refuse you their autograph for these reasons. Because they recognise that it is their fans that got them to where they are in the first place, celebrities will also use this as an opportunity to appreciate them back. Fans are also obsessed with celebrity culture and anything from a celebrity will be valued immensely. That’s how the system is set up and you can use it to your benefit.

Autographs can be collected as a hobby and are also highly coveted items for collectors.

If you bought a Michael Jackson autograph at its current value and then waited a few years, you might make a killing. Lucky are those who are already in possession of one.

The next time you meet a celebrity, don’t ask for a selfie. Be wise. Ask for an autograph.

Sources:

https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/the-most-valuable-celebrity-autograph-ever-marks-tragic-moment-in-history.html/

https://www.msn.com/en-in/money/photos/the-worlds-most-valuable-autographs-–-and-how-to-spot-a-fake/ss-BByzBjk#image=32