----- about me -----

Hi!

I'm 29 years old and live in the beautiful county of Cornwall, England.  I'm engaged, just bought my first house (and I'm therefore completely broke!) and I promise I won't scare anyone by including any pictures of me on this page.

I've been collecting autographs for about two years and have so far had over five hundred successes.  Most of these have been in the UK, but I'm starting to target US resident celebrities as of now. 

I work full-time in the Sales Office of a local Slate Quarry (Delabole Slate), so please don't expect immediate replies to Emails - remember, this is a hobby!

I have recently completed the 'first draft' of the Delabole Slate website for my employers (click on the company logo to the left, which will link straight to the site).  I was only given the opportunity of designing the site as a result of creating this autograph website and it was quite fun.  Whilst I didn't manage to create a company site to the kind of standard I was aiming for, I think it does the job we were intending for it.  Of course, when the company provides more time, I hope to improve it.

My favourite reply to date comes from Alec Guinness.  He eventually signed three 10x8" colour pics that I sent him, but for details of why these are my favourite pics, visit the "News & Stories" page.

Why do I enjoy autograph collecting?  Because every day is like Christmas... you can spot your SAEs coming through the letterbox a mile away, but until you open them, you never know what you're gonna get.  Heck, sounds like Forrest Gump!! 

The thought of pursuing my favourite stars in the hope of a (genuine) autograph, from the comfort of my own home is great.  It's the thrill of the chase I guess! 

I also thoroughly enjoy seeing stories of successes from other collectors - there's nothing better than hearing of a big star who has spent the time in replying personally, or adding some personal inscription to an autograph request.  Obviously, the bigger the star, the less chance you have of a decent response, simply due to their own workload and the sheer volume of fan mail they must receive.

However, I do feel that certain stars forget exactly how they came to be celebrities.   I read stories of people who refuse to sign in person, yet alone via the mail!   I think that is pretty disgusting...  No matter who the celebrity is or what their line of work, they all became successful as a result of public opinion.   Without the support of the buying masses, nobody is ever likely to become, or even continue to be a "big star".

Even if they truly can't spare the time to sign a stack of pictures once a month, at least they should ensure that their secretaries/assistants or management company reply to mailed requests.  Even a pre-print is better than nothing!

Anyway, I thought this page would be hard to fill up, but I've managed it by waffling about autograph collecting thoughts.  I'll probably add to this at a later stage.   I sometimes have the habit of being rather verbose!

Other interests?  Well... computing, soccer, computing, reading (Pratchett, King, Koontz, biographies and speculative non-fiction), computing, drinking, computing and films!  By the way, could anyone tell me why I just can't win a competitive (over the Internet) game of "Age of Empires", when I manage to whip the computer every time in a single player game? 

Finally, just a quick paragraph to mention the other family members:  Buster and Emily, two gorgeous, former 'rescue centre' cats, and Hedgerow the hamster!  I know, a really stupid name... but Emily was called that when we got her!  (Added during the last year have been Pepper and Poppy - two very mischievous kittens, and Lulu and Holly, two much less mischievous rabbits!  My small home is gradually turning into a menagerie!)

Please feel free to contact me anytime to chat about autograph collecting, or indeed anything else you might fancy... Life, the Universe or Anything... I don't mind!

Dave Hopkins
updated May 1999