In this world of instant gratification there is something that is “Old School” or “Throwback” about collecting autographs by mail. Unfortunately, the more popular a sports celebrity is, the harder it becomes to get an authentic autograph from them.

The first step in collecting sports celebrity autographs by mail is finding an address to write to them. A great start up guide with a list of over 900 addresses is available at the Sports Cases Direct ebay store

The hard part about collecting autographs by mail is writing the letter, because the reality is there is no guaranteed format that will ensure success.

Be polite in your approach when requesting the autograph itself and perhaps express why granting this request would mean the world to you.  Have you been a fan since you were in diapers? Have the season tickets been in the family for generations? Creativity pays off here.

Limit the items to only 2 index or trading cards per request, and never send something you don’t want to part with. 

Mailing index cards and trading cards is cheap. The cost of the trading card (Use common sense here), the envelopes or index cards and stamp.

I have also had success mailing out a baseball with a sharpie and a pre-paid return box. It did not cost a bunch to do it either. A $3 baseball, .99 cent sharpie a free Priority Mail cube box from the Post Office and some newspaper. The final touch, $4.65 postage. So for $8.65 I got a mint Nolan Ryan autograph.

Again, limit the items to only 2 index or trading cards per request, and never send something you don’t want to part with. 

If you expect any type of response at all, then you should include with your request a self addressed stamped envelope (SASE). The majority of sports celebrities tend to send you their own photographs, but some will only sign if you send them something. Sending your rare rookie football card would be an extremely risky move, so please don't send your treasured mementos for autographs.                         

Unlike in person collecting, you could wait months to years for a reply from a sports celebrity.

When and if you get a response from the sports celebrity it is time to ask one of the biggest questions... is the autograph I just received real?

Finding a good autograph community will help in not only sharing addresses but tips on detecting those tricky fakes. Simply do a search for autograph collecting forums on the internet. You should become very familiar with the terms autopen, preprint, secretarials, forgeries, and stamped autographs.

You must ensure that your autograph is properly protected and preserved. The Sports Cases Direct ebay store offers a wide selection of display cases and holders for your autograhed memorabilia. In the end the key to collecting autographs by mail is constantly educating yourself, whether it is learning about fakes, display and storage or keeping up to date on who is signing through the mail.

This hobby takes a lot of patience and there aren't any guarantees, but when you get that first big success through the mail you'll be instantly hooked and will wait patiently for your favorite person to come by everyday... the mailman!