Aussie Fans Dark on 'Twilight' Stars Autograph Charges

TWILIGHT excitement turned to anger yesterday as Geelong fans of the cult teen movie lashed out at the $30 charged for Sunday’s autograph signing.

The stars and their management company bagged at least $16,000 from the two hours’ work, thanks to the 542 signatures for eager fans who flooded Ryrie St’s Gifts for the Geek store.

East Geelong mum Jacqui Dawson said the fee was wrong.

“My 13-year-old lined up with her friends and she didn’t know she had to pay $30 til she got to the door,” Ms Dawson said.

“She didn’t have $30; I gave her money for Maccas and that’s it.”

She said her daughter, Shari, was disappointed at the outcome.

“Probably their main audience is young teenage girls, now that’s a lot of money for a teenager.”

Other fans sent the Geelong Advertiser emails to express their disgust.

One fan, Leopold’s Mahayla Goodwin, said she lined up for three hours in the rain before discovering the autograph fee.

“Like most 14 year old teen’s (sic) we have to work for our money and I could not justify spending that much on autographs,” she wrote.

Another fan, Lauren, said the $30 fee was “a total rip off”.

Gifts for the Geek’s Darren Parker was keen to point out the business made no money directly from the signing.

He said the management company of Hollywood stars Kellan Lutz and Edi Gathegi only brought them to town on the condition it would be profitable.

And he said the $30 cost was cheap compared to the standard US$40 the pair charged in the United States, or the 30 in the United Kingdom.

He said the store published a disclaimer about the fee at the bottom of promotional material.

Geelong memorabilia expert, Sportznut store co-owner Ron Harrison, defended what he described as an “appearance fee”.

He said it was common that any celebrity, sports or movie star, was paid to appear at such signings.

And Mr Harrison said the emergence of auction websites such as eBay, on which fans could sell celebrity autographs for their own profit, made stars more wary when giving away their signature for nothing.

On a local celebrity level, Geelong Cats media spokesman Kevin Diggerson said most AFL players were still happy to sign for fans at no cost.

“I think you’d find AFL players are among the most accessible athletes in the world,” Mr Diggerson said.

He said some became wary when the same person requested an autograph multiple times but generally players were happy to give a fan a thrill be signing their autograph if it was for personal use.