Friday, November 23, 2007

How a Fan sent a Letter

Standing from a Fan point of view, a signature photo would really means a lot to us.
It'll be a special mementos in our collection, something which we will treasure dearly.
I'm not a star and I'm not getting any fan mails so I don't know how enormous the volume
of mails would be. So I really can't commend about them not signing !!
It's just simply disappointing and sad on the fan's part.
Especially for myself, these photos are mean to be for keepsake.
Not for selling on E-bay or any other money making means.
A signature would always be a big deal among fans, like meeting the real person.
I've brought some signature photos before but it's just different.
Not sure how to describe this…………..
Maybe lack of a warm touch, only commercial.
Everything's too commercialize nowadays.
I am beginning to wonder is there really any Star Wars "Through the Mail" success ?

How I started ………….
Collected some address over the web search (for 3 days) but not sure if it's right.
Went to a bookshop to buy envelopes, spend half and hour trying to find the right size.
Finally, I decided to use a big one as self return and a smaller one for sending.
Then I spent an entire evening preparing letters.
Instead of using a letter pad, I decided to use some photos and print out on a A4 paper.
On which I'll write something and request for autographs.
As my handwriting is terrible, I kept my letters short !
Just as I was about to finish, I realized something…. What about the STAMPS ?
How do I provided for a self return envelope ? I'm not living in US or UK?
I don't have their country's stamps………
Panic, Panic……
Thought of a friend living in states and another studying in UK now.
Maybe I can asked them to help me buy some stamps….
But it kinda of troublesome.
Back to surfing for more info, I got to know that now, we can actually print postage stamps
at home, so maybe I could print US or UK stamps ?
Later… This also don't seem to work as the printed stamps must be use within a very short period of time.
Then I remember reading something on fanmail.biz about IRC.
International Reply Coupon. It's alien to me.
The next thing is to find out how much does it cost from posting in Singapore to US or UK .
First, I need to weigh the letters.
It's too light, so my adult weighing scale cannot sense.
Went to the Kitchen, took out a small pastry scale.
40g…. 1st weight.
45g……2nd weight
42g…. 3rd weight.
???????? Conclusion, my weighing scale is SPOILT !!!
And it's now 12 midnight.
I'll just assumed it to be 50g including IRC.
Check on the Post Office rates online ….. It's S$2.15.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZzzzzzz.
Next morning, went to the post office.
Requested for some air mails stickers.
The Post Office had only a few IRC left, I needed more.
So I had to go to another Post Office.
Finally, got everything I needed, I went back home.
After hours of preparing envelopes, it's ready to be sent.
BTW, I've found another post weight scale in the house.
Stainless steel sold by SingPost, cute in a way. I think it's more reliable.
Results - 35g .
Click, click……. Check the online Post Office rates again.
Postage Cost is S$1.80.
Well, it's good I can saved up some cost but it's getting a little more complicated.
I have to regroup the stamps… 10cents, 50 cents, 1 dollars…etc.
My maths was never good except in Primary School.
I'm not writing about how I've survived counting those stamps that day.
But I did finally sent all the letters out when I made another trip to the Post Office to buy more stamps of different values.















This is a sample of Singapore IRC.
It maybe slightly different in your country.

3 comments:

LB said...

I think you might want me to link to you from this blog:
Viewer Participation TeleVision

Checked out yours, so check out mine.

Anonymous said...

Hi! This is quite a random comment, my apologies. But I'm also from Singapore and I've been meaning to send out fanmail for quite a while. I wasn't sure how the IRCs worked, so I googled a few pages and came across your blog. Thanks very much for all the information, hopefully I'll be able to get my mail out soon! :) Cheers!

Astro Galaxy said...

Hello sheraccoon,
It's ok to post comments at any post, no problem! You are most welcome.
IRC can be brought at all Sing Post but they do not stock a lot. If you need maybe more than 10, it might be a good idea to call them to check the qty before going down.
Hope you will be able to get your fanmail returned! All the best!
Thanks for dropping in!