[Groop]GROO NEWS from me

[Steve Hubbell]

   I have only attended two comic conventions in my life, both back in 1994. 
The first one was the Chicago Comicon which Sergio attended... (The second 
was the Motor City Con which Stan Sakai attended). Since Sergio was the only 
guest there that I had any interest in seeing, meeting or getting an 
autograph from, I made numerous trips through the line to talk to him, take 
photographs, and get sketches and what few items I found for my collection 
at the convention autographed. (I bought a copy of Mad's Sergio Aragones On 
Parade, and found the Mad Super Special with Sergio's Mad Map of the United 
States, and a few other items - I did not bring anything to the convention 
to be autographed). Since it was my first convention and I had my wife and 
her nephew with me, I had less money than I would have liked when I found 
out that Sergio would do pieces on commission. I have never sold any of the 
sketches or autographed items I acquired from Sergio, but I have bought 
autographed items from other people, most prior to meeting him.
   It is easy to complain about people selling stuff on E-bay, but I imagine 
that it is the only place a lot of fans can get their hands on autographed 
items and what-not. I guess comic shops shouldn't sell autographed items 
either, since they are out to make money also. If the fan can't afford the 
hundreds of dollars to cover the expense of a convention, they don't deserve 
an autograph or sketch or any other rare item for their collection... Where 
do you draw the line? There have been people getting and selling autographed 
comics and such longer than E-bay has been around, I'm just sorry to see it 
change things negatively for the fans...
>From: Mark Evanier <mail@evanier.com>
>Reply-To: mail@evanier.com
>To: groop@groo.com
>Subject: [Groop]GROO NEWS from me
>Date: Sun, 12 Jan 2003 22:12:15 -0800
>
>Speaking of signatures: After seeing too many of his signed items sold
>immediately on eBay, and after having a couple of collectors really
>abuse his generosity, Sergio has decided to adopt a new policy for
>autographs.  If he's at a con and you buy anything from him, he will
>of course sign it.  Beyond that, it's three autographs to a person.
>Any additional signatures will cost one dollar apiece, with all this
>money going to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.
>


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