When Tino Capobianco settled into his first-class seat on a flight from Boston to New York in June 2014, he had a strong indication he knew who going to be sitting next to him.
As an autograph collector, Capobianco had long tried to get a signature from Robert Redford, the award-winning actor who died Tuesday at the age of 89.
"He was the white whale," Capobianco told cllct of his quest to land an autograph from the legendary actor, filmmaker and environmental activist. "It's not even (solely) for the value, because there are other signatures more valuable. But for the challenge, all of us wanted him in our collection."
Capobianco had gotten close to Redford, but like many others, he had failed to land the Oscar winner's signature.
After being rebuffed at UMass-Lowell, where Redford had been interviewed on-stage at an event called the Middlesex County College Forum, Capobianco learned Redford was headed to New York on a certain flight. The collector said he bought a first-class seat and sat down next to the star.
"It was a very short flight," Capobianco said. "As the plane started to descend, I said, 'Mr. Redford, I travel with a baseball just in case I meet anyone famous, would you sign this for me?'"
Redford, Capobianco recalled, reached out his hand, took the baseball, signed it and then handed it back to Capobianco without saying a word.
"He wasn't happy about it, but he signed it beautifully," Capobianco said.
It was the 1984 movie "The Natural" that hooked so many collectors, forever connecting the actor to baseball.
In 2022, a screen-matched Wonderboy bat from the film sold for an astounding $137,000, and in 2024, a replica signed Wonderboy bat sold for $4,800, a huge price for someone who was still alive.
Glenn Gagnon might have been the most successful with getting the man behind the portrayal of Roy Hobbs. The autograph collector from Massachusetts said he got autographs from Redford three times, including once at a Brown graduation and another time thanks to some fancy attire.
In March 2009, Redford was being honored at a dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York.
"There were other guys who got into the building early in hopes of getting his autograph, but I was the only one who walked out with one," Gagnon said.
Gagnon had just bought a new tuxedo, which he wore as he walked into the ballroom without being asked any questions.
"You gotta walk in like you own the place, and you can't hesitate," Gagnon said.
Once inside, he found Redford's table and approached him with a Vanity Fair photo book that contained the autographs of roughly 100 other stars.
"I guess because I was in a tux, he didn't question anything," Gagnon said.
Like many collectors, Steve Grad struggled to get Redford.
"I know of only a handful of people that actually got his autograph in recent years," Grad said.
Grad said that in the 1990s, Redford was dating a woman in Chicago and would often stay at the Ritz Carlton. Despite waiting at the hotel when they got a tip Redford was in town, the autograph seekers came away with nothing.
Unlike many celebrity deaths, there weren't many Redford autographs that sold soon after the announcement of his death Tuesday.
Grad, who heads up Beckett's autograph authentication, said buyers should beware because the actor's signatures are so rare and so valuable. If it doesn't have a certification from one of the big three authentication companies (Beckett, PSA or JSA), it's likely fake.
One seller sold seven autographs on eBay Tuesday, mostly index cards, represented as Redford's for as low as $19.99. They came with no COA, of course. Prior to his death, Redford signed and slabbed index cards, graded by Beckett or PSA, sold in the $250 range.
Darren Rovell is the founder of cllct and one of the country's leading reporters on the collectibles market. He previously worked for ESPN, CNBC and The Action Network.