My involvement in the overhaul of the MTG Artist Mail-in Master List

"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.

He would split the list up two more times in his article, while alphabetizing each of the sections. (http://www.gatheringmagic.com/mikelinnemann-102914-signing-cards/)

Those sections mentioned in Linnemann’s article had to be re-titled to "Business Arrangements" and "Those who go through Brokers" for legal purposes. Linnemann later praised the list for its brilliance on his podcast “Snack Time” episode 5 for being the most accurate and up-to-date list of them all. (http://s3.gatheringmagic.com.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2015/01/15/snacktimeepisode5.mp3)

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.

(https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rfuJUqv3kC0A-9imcFIpHYWmz9lkfWRivTKBH0dYLeE/edit#heading=h.mbjsiz6n6jlo)