Tampa firm offers celebrity autographs on demand

TAMPA, Fla. -- Somebody named Brittany will be getting a nice 8-by-10 of Rowdy Roddy Piper dressed in a kilt, autographed especially to her by the former pro wrestling bad boy.

Dara, Dewey, Morgan and Mallory will be receiving photos signed by the hand of Tony Dow -- he played Wally on the old "Leave it to Beaver" sitcom -- personalized with their names and wishing each a happy birthday.

Another guy wants a half dozen photos of former Playboy playmates, all signed to him with inscriptions such as "Nice Meeting You." Who knows what that's about.

The middleman in all this is a fledgling Tampa company called Autographedtoyou.com. As the name implies, it offers signed celebrity photos for surprisingly reasonable prices via the Internet, each one personalized with the fan's name and a special message.

Personal connection

Fans like it because it's a more personal connection with the object of their admiration. Show business and sports stars like it because they know personalized autographs are less likely to be resold for big bucks on auction Web sites or in memorabilia stores.

What makes it even more attractive to celebrities is that the revenue from each autographed photo is split three ways: a third goes to them, a third to the company and a third to the celeb's favorite charity.

"It absolutely feels good that I'm able to contribute cold, hard cash to some charities we support, and it's coming from my fan base," said actor Sean Astin, one of the site's best-selling signatures, thanks in large part to his star turns in the two recent "Lord of the Rings" films.

Astin, who plays the hobbit Samwise "Sam" Gamgee, said he's signed "hundreds" of orders in the past few months, benefiting an AIDS project and a wildlife rescue charity.

"It just seems to work out really well," said Astin, who also still signs free for people who approach him politely. "It makes it easy for me to satisfy, in some way, a lot of fans."

A year after its launch, Autographedtoyou.com has 1,500 celebrities on board and is in current negotiations with 500 more individuals, CEO Byron Lancaster said. Negotiations with players' unions for Major League Baseball and the National Football League, and the Screen Actors Guild could bring many more into the fold within the next few months, he said.

The Web site boasts few A-list celebrities at this point -- no Britney Spears, Tom Cruise, Madonna and the like -- but lots of people you've heard of and a good many you probably haven't. Prices start at about $15; most are in the $20 to $30 range.

Best-sellling signatures

Besides Astin ($30), best sellers lately have included political commentator James Carville ($30), race driver Rusty Wallace ($45) and, of course, two dozen or so Playboy playmates ($15 to $45). Hall of Fame baseball pitcher Whitey Ford commands top dollar ($75), as do the bands Blue Oyster Cult and Manhattan Transfer, whose members sign group photos for $75.

Orders are sent out to the celebrities once a month with their check on top. They take Sharpie in hand, sign each photo as ordered and send them back to the company in a prepaid mailer.

"They determine what's signed on the pictures, how many they sign, what pictures are used, what charity money goes where," Lancaster said. "They control all of it. We're just the conduit between the fans and them."

The goal, Lancaster said, is to have enough celebrities available so autograph hunters will hit on the site more times than not when searching the Internet for a specific signature. That's where most autograph shopping is done these days.

"Our philosophy is, we want everybody who is, was or will be," he said.

J.D. Bardwell, a New Hampshire-based autograph dealer and director of marketing and education for the Universal Autograph Collectors Club, said the company's concept is unique, especially because getting celebrities to personalize autographs is extremely difficult under most circumstances.

The buyer can also be reasonably sure the photo was signed by the actual celebrity, which many times isn't the case in an industry rife with forgeries, he said.