"Greetings everyone, I'm brand
new to the group and new to signature collecting. I only have a few dozen
signatures. Actually, I'm working on a specific project to get every card in my
favorite EDH deck signed. So far I only have a few cards signed for the deck.
I'm starting to actively hunt down artists by mail. I just mailed off some
stuff to Terese Nielsen this week. She makes the process super easy.
Before I dive in, I'd like some advice
from the pros. (I like to read markers threads on
mtgsalvation) Below is a link to a list of all of the artists that I'm
currently seeking. Are there any names here that stand out as impossible to
acquire?
Thanks in advance!"
Sandi Eoff, August
27, 2014
The post that Sandi
Eoff posted when she decided to enter the signature hunt.
Upon her post
going live, she got many mixed responses regarding whose doors were open.
But the responses
she received didn't cover her whole request of over a hundred names.
After hours of no
progress, I chimed in by verifying name by name whose doors were still open
with any niche details she should know about before sending.
After 2 hours of
verifications were complete, it then got me thinking about the old Mail-in
Master List.
What happened to
it?
Who was supposed
to keep it updated?
And why is it
failing?!
A few days later, I
proposed to Scott Mosser’s Group that we overhaul the system by creating a new
Master List. There were a lot of things from the old list that was no longer
working, and a lot of names that have changed their statuses since it first
went public. When I announced on September
3rd 2014 that I would be overhauling the system, Zachary M. DeLadurantaye
had the following to say about it:
I'm not one of those optimists that
liked the post. I will be the naysaying pessimist that sits in the corner with Scott Mosser wishing these
damned kids would stay off my lawn.
Got a copy of the master from MOTL, started revising it, got like ten entries
in....and stopped caring. I wouldn't use 99% of it. Fantastic piece of legwork
and huge kudos to the author, but it seems silly to try and coordinate that
much work with strangers over the internet.
September
4, 2014 at 7:58am
With a response
like that….
Why is it so
bloody difficult?!
To get to the heart
of the matter, here is what people have to understand about the old Master List.
The original
mail-in Master List was created by Gen Con and published by Wizards as a way
for average people to keep in touch with artists. It was supposed to be a
directory to send artists fan mail, but was interpreted as the official Mail-in
Master List due this niche detail mentioned in the FAQ section of it.
“Can I get my card
autographed by the artist?
A. Sure! Most will be more than happy to sign some cards but be
courteous! Artists are busy, so don't send your entire collection and be sure
to write them a thank-you note. It's also not a good idea to send valuable
cards; if there's a mailing problem it's not up to the artist OR Wizards of the
Coast to replace them. You may also want to send a self addressed, prepaid
envelope to save the artist from having to pay for postage and to make sure
they send it to the right address.”
Although the
directory was a great starting point it had the following problems:
·
It
had private information.
·
It
was a singular list tailored primarily toward a North American audience.
·
In
order for a name to be added, their private information had to be listed in
tandem with the addition.
·
It
didn't even tell the viewer whose doors are presently open.
·
Not
user friendly even for the person updating the list.
·
The
people who were supposed to keep it updated were never on top of it.
For a time it was
supposed to be updated by Matt Cavotta and various Hasbro Employees on an
annual basis. But due to their work schedules, the list quickly fell into
disrepair.
For being unable
to consistently update it, the list was then transferred to Magic Online
Trading League (MOTL), and for a short period of time various members like Zach
tried to keep the list updated.
But by the way the
old system was configured, the list created more legitimacy problems than help
people out. These same problems would eventually prompt MOTL to discontinue the
list altogether.
With the captain’s
chair vacant, and the problems identified, the work was all cut and dry.
When the overhaul
began, I broke the list into sections.
Originally there
was only going to be two sections, but had to expand upon it to account for the
deceased and unconfirmed. By breaking the list into sections made it more user
friendly.
Next, the
publishing of private information had to be discontinued as that was the cause
of problems with the old system.
Replacing it were
any niche details people need to know about said artist before doing anything
with them.
Once the
classifications and groundwork for each section were in place, the first list
to go onto the new document was the deceased as it had already been compiled by
both Markers and Roger Riera.
The only thing
that needed to be done with it was update it with any new additions since their
last sweep.
After completing
the easiest part came the tricky process of figuring out whose doors were still
open.
At a glance it
appears to be simple.
But in actuality…
it’s not.
The problem was…not
everyone’s statuses were listed in public domain.
Compiling this
list began with the information collected from emails, social network messages,
forwarded letters and everything else in-between. Most would lose their heads
over this, but to someone trained in journalism it was kids stuff.
The first names
added were Rob Alexander, Mark Tedin, the Spencer siblings and Brian Snoddy. I
then made sure that Winona Nelson, the Palumbo brothers and every other new
name that had their doors open were all included as promised. Then constructed
the rest from there.
By having the open
doors in its own section skimmed down the number of inaccuracies that may come
with 90 different postings. This original overhaul had this grouped together
with both business and brokering sections.
Following the open
door section was the "don’t send" section. This particular section
was a necessary addition to help people find out who they shouldn't be sending
to. The MOTL list had some names whose doors were closed, but weren’t fully
laid out. There were many names added to this list which at the time included
Adam Rex, Aleksi Briclot, Jason Chan, Kev Walker and the Foglio couple. Some of
the names mentioned have since reopened their doors on a business basis, yet it
still somewhat lengthy with each new verification.
As for “why?” Wizards
original list tried to dodge this is beyond me. But this addition was necessary
to remind everyone that not every artist signs by mail. It also helped serious
hunters in making strategic decisions. This section would later include names
that claimed to have their doors open, but never returned in a timely manner.
The final section
is "unconfirmed." Rather than make assumptions on the statuses of
artists with questionable statuses, they were seated in this section until
further notice.
It began….rather
short with all Portal 3 Kingdom Artists at the top. But grew overnight once the
MOTL list had been combined. Even now there are still many names that have yet
to be confirmed from the expanded list. With names being added every 4 months,
this particular list resumes to increase in size for each new addition.
After the list was
compiled, a set of guidelines were written for patching and amending purposes
with a link to Randy Gallegos’s article for new hunters.
When the new list
was first made public there were immediate disputes about Chris Rahn's status. My
U.S. Sources got a "yes" response from him with a 20 card limit,
while my International Sources got a "no" response. To resolve this
dispute the timestamps had to be checked if Rahn had changed since the last
sweep.
Surprisingly the
timestamps were close to one another by a few days.
At first I found
it puzzling. But realized that Rahn did not want to put up with the hassle of international
shipping. Shipping internationally is always a large risk especially if the
shipment is worth more than 100USD. For those who have gone through this
process already know it's often a time consuming process which includes
paperwork and the Post Office itself.
Instead of creating
its own category, Chris Rahn's status got the first honorable "U.S.
Domestic only" side note to indicate where access maybe limited from where
the sender was sending from. Rahn has since changed his status to brokering
after arrangements with Jack Stanton Lewis were settled out.
As each version
was torn apart for accuracy, the new Master List became a more reliable
document than another directory. At some point we did consider listing emails
back onto the list, but was immediately dropped as not every artist had an
email. What seemed to be impossible by everyone else was made possible.
At the time of
publication Mosser’s group had less than 60 people with progress moving at dial
up speeds.
There had to be a
way to make progress move faster.
So I took the
liberty to share the new list with Mike Linnemann to spread the word about the
overhaul in a place where people would find it.
As a result of the
current list going mainstream, the number of signature hunters have greatly
increased, while opening up new avenues that would have never been opened in
the first place.
In 2016, I
formally transferred Chief Editorship of the list over to Sandi Eoff once she
had converted my original document into Google Docs.
Since the transfer,
Eoff improved upon it through document tables.
Status sections
became status classifications, while niche details could now have more than a
few words of text. Eoff also streamlined the rest of the document with her
graphic design skills to make it more professional looking.
The list maybe
singular again, but the foundation of all I have done for the document remains intact.
