National Sports Collectors Convention, Days 4 and 5, plus aftermath, Indians, and TTM

READ MORE: Preview, Day One, Day Two, Day Three, Day Four

NOTE: more photos will be added this week including the 8x10 and 11x14 photos.

A view of the show floor.

I'm back in Texas now after a 6:45 am flight to start my day.  That's 5:45 Central. As one who has never been a morning person, having to deal with pain in my ears and a screaming baby and flight attendants who twice forgot my drink order and weather that is 20 degrees hotter than what I left in Ohio, I arrived home tired and hot.

Saturday: Dad, Bobby Hull, and Johnny Football

Fortunately it was an awesome weekend that had bonuses beyond just attending the National, starting on Saturday.  My dad came down to the show in the morning, and we went down to check it out.  The first place we went was the Panini booth so I could show him a few of the products I've been involved in.  I even got a few boxes to show him, breaking some 13-14 Contenders, Titanium, and Crown Royale hockey. I had a few nice pulls, it was great seeing the stuff I worked on, and my dad seemed pretty impressed by the stuff going on in the card world.

Panini booth

I had set up something with one of our guys from acquisitions and we went over to try that.  I dropped my Milt Plum photo and ticket off with Dan from the SCF board and we headed over to the Case Break Pavilion.  Panini was on the stage breaking some Prime, with Bobby Hull joining them for an interview and to comment on the cards.  It's great to hear from one of the greats and he was hilarious. Only a hockey player could use both the terms "amalgamated" and "shitkicked" in the same breath.  I had talked to one of Panini's acquisitions guys about trying to meet Hull, who is my dad's all-time favorite player.  It looked like we would have a chance, but unfortunately later in the day he was sick and left the show early.

However, we were able to hit up a bunch of tables and I got to talk to a few people who could help me with some of my sets.  I also bought a bunch.  Saturday is the first day you really start to see prices occasionally drop and I foune one that had done so.  Originally they had a bunch of cards at $6 or 5 for $25.  They dropped them to $4 and 7 for $25.  And they had a bunch I needed.  For $41, I knocked out 6 for my football set, 3 for baseball, and picked up 2 I just wanted.  There were some tough signers included in there as well.  At another, I picked up a bunch, mostly basketball, at 3 for $1, as well as some Avs for my wife.

A few set hits

I also got Hanford Dixon and Al Oliver on 11x14 photos with my VIP tickets.  Oliver really liked the photo I had, and Dixon was his usual self, always fan friendly and taking time to sign a good 'graph.  It's just an H, a big loop. and an X, but he always adds his #29, "Go Browns" and his "Top Dawg" nickname.

A typical autograph line. Or a piece of it.

Saturday night was the big one: the Panini VIP Party. As an employee I asked if they needed any help for it and was told to show up a little before 7 and I could certainly assist them. What an event! Julius Erving, Kyrie Irving, Trey Burke, Joe Namath, Tom Glavine, Jose Canseco, Dominique Wilkins, and of course Johnny Manziel.  Plus a live set from DJ Kool of "Let Me Clear My Throat" fame. I got to chat briefly with Erving and Irving, and ended up near Canseco several times throughout the night. The dude is still huge. After I got done working, I got to go and rub elbows with the big spenders-- anyone wanting admission had to buy $7500 worth of Panini products at the show. And here I was, a guy barely able to afford to spend 1/20th of that getting to hang out with them. I love my job.

So while everything was going on, I went over and asked the aforementioned acquisitions guy if there was any chance I could get a photo with Manziel. As the only Browns fan at Panini (as far as I know), I figured I'd have a decent shot. About 15 minutes later, he told me to follow him to the back. After doing a quick interview and a couple photos, Manziel walked over, I got introduced, quickly told him I'm a huge Browns fan working at Panini and would love a photo with him. Manziel could not have been more accommodating. It would be easy for someone in his position to roll his eyes a bit and say "Alright, whatever, let's get this over." But he didn't: he seemed genuinely happy to meet a fan of the team, shook my hand, and posed for a picture, which I posted Saturday night/Sunday morning. I seriously spent the next 30 minutes wondering if that really just happened.

Sunday: The end of a week-long collectibles bender

I was pretty wiped out Sunday morning, but I still had autographs to get and money to burn.  I got Jeff Burroughs on my 11x14 photo (soon to be signed by Tom Grieve as well) and Gary Bell on an 8x10 photo. He added "Smoke em inside" to it as well per my request, quoting his line to Jim Bouton in Ball Four when Bouton asked him how to pitch to guys in a team's lineup. That was Bell's answer for every single one.  In the afternoon, I added Mike Hargrove on a 11x14 photo that he had never seen before, and Len Barker on several items-- my Tom Browning ball (completing a dual-signed by the only two pitchers to toss a perfect game in an Ohio MLB game since World War One), two cards (one for Chris), and a 11x14, celebrating the final out of the perfecto.

Grabbed two of Fedor. That's trade bait!

I also hit up a few more tables, finding one with a ton of hockey autos 3 for $1.  I was able to find several more set needs, knowing my 2004 Choice AHL Top Prospects down to only three unsigned, picking up Yann Danis for the 05-06 UD Rookie Class set, and adding a notorious toughie to my Topps Total set in Fedor Fedorov.  So overall, I added about 20-25 cards to my sets, plus picking up some trade bait and adding some higher-end items via the various signings. I also decided I'm going to start getting the 1972 Topps set signed as much as I can. I'll never complete it, but it would be a fun project to work on. At the very least, I'll get everything signed that I can and at least get the rest of the set unsigned but all together.

Everyone gets a photo with the Stanley Cup.
Cool people do it with the Hart Trophy.

Monday: A bit of IP graphing

On Monday I headed down to The Jake to try my hand at the players' parking lot.  I had pretty decent success-- at least a whole lot better than Arlington.  Ryan Raburn signed 2 cards just after I arrived, followed by 3 from Bryan Shaw, 3 from Marc Rzepczynski, 3 from Mike Aviles, 3 from John Axford, and 1 from David Murphy.  I wish the Rangers had easier access to players like this. The players' lot in Cleveland is fenced in and outdoors so it's easy to see them come and go and to call out to them as they walk to the door.  I stuck around and checked out the game as well with a guy from the show that I met on the hotel shuttle. Good game, Tribe took it to the Reds 7-1 as Corey Kluber once again had a great game. I also surpassed the 50% mark on my goal of 1500 sigs for the year.

The haul from the parking lot. Could have had Reds too
if I was any good at ID'ing them.

Tuesday: I went back to Ohio and my city was gone

Tuesday I mostly spent driving around Lake County. I tried to get in at my old high school but the driveway was under construction so I couldn't get in.  I did go to my old elementary/middle school at least, which is now owned by a college nearby.  I also drove around a few areas mentioned in an article I read on Dustin Spaller, a local athlete who was murdered in his early 20's. I never knew Dustin: he was a few years older than me but we attended the same school briefly. Our moms worked together at the local hospital. Of the places mentioned in the article, Just Teazin' was down the street from my house, I played Little League ball in Rec Park, we used to fill up at the BP station a lot, but Tony's is in what I had always heard was a pretty sketchy neighborhood. I drove around it a bit and it wasn't any worse than some areas I've been through, like Boston's Combat Zone, anything on the MBTA Orange Line, or a few areas of Wichita Falls. From the outside in the daytime it looks like just another bar or Italian restaurant. Granted, after something like this the area may have been cleaned up a bit-- signs are posted that the place is under 24-hour surveillance.  I drove by my old house for a bit and it's almost unrecognizable. New siding, new windows, if I didn't know the location and the shape of it like the back of my hand, I never would have known I had lived there for nearly 20 years. Show me a photo with zero context and I wouldn't know.

Fortunately a lot of things are still around.  Most of the businesses I know are there or have expanded and moved.  Mr. P's Pizza is gone, as is the Donut Stop, but taking their place are a barbecue joint and a cupcake shop.  Downtown, Puritan Bakery closed up, but the old Cards & Games from the Painesville Shopping Center moved in.  I stopped in and picked up a box of 1988 Score baseball just for the hell of it.  At the Great Lakes Mall in Mentor, it seems like every store space is filled.  There are only a couple openings and the mall appears to be doing very well.  I hit East Coast Frozen Custard for the first time in ten years, later finding they had opened a new branch at the Mentor-Painesville line.  Dick's Sporting Goods moved to the mall, and a card shop is also open near it.  I stopped in and talked to one of the proprietors for a while and left him my card.

The business card worked well all week.  I found a few people who may be able to help me out and I them.  I already found one auto for a guy who is collecting all the Fleer sets signed.  I also may have a guy for signed hockey stuff.

To finish things out, I went to my dad's place on Tuesday and he told me he was giving me all his old cards.  He didn't have many: most of his collection had been sold to a friend years ago.  At one point he said he had nearly every card from the late 50's and early 60's.  All he had left are the 1962 and 1963 Topps cards we found in Grandma's attic before she moved into an assisted living home in 1992.  And now 22 years later, he was passing them down to me. Here are a few photos...

Click to enlarge; Brunet lived next door to my dad in the 60's.

To finally top it all off, I had six TTMs waiting for me when I got home.  Each taking less than 3 weeks were Ken Schrom (5/5), Jamie Easterly (4/4), Gerald McNeil (3/3, all personalized), Danny Wuerffel (3/3, plus a donation request), Stevon Moore (3/3), and Matt Stover (4/3, enclosing a signed religious card).

The mailbox was busy while I was away.

I got to hit Melt and Friendly's, picked up chocolates from Malley's, and got another supply of Stadium Mustard. It had been ten years since I had Pierre's and East Coast Frozen Custard.  I love going back to Cleveland. I just wish I could do it more often.

Anyways, it was an amazing week and I can't wait to do it again, whether it's in the next three years for Chicago and Atlantic City or in 2018 in Cleveland again.  At the very least, now the planning starts for hockey season along with the end of baseball.  I'm sure I'll be cutting back on baseball a bit but we'll see.  At the very least, I've been told I should consider hitting Frisco this weekend.

I may also write a full-week recap of this on SCF or elsewhere. We'll see.

Until next time, Cleveland.

National Sports Collectors Convention, Day 3

First I'd like to say hello and welcome to anyone I've chatted with this week at the National or the Indians game, or anywhere else around Cleveland.  Thanks for taking the time to check out my slice of the interwebs, and I hope you'll become regular readers and commenters.

Today was significantly lighter on the 'graphing front.  There were five signers, but only three I needed anything from, as I couldn't find anything for Jim Stillwagon and didn't feel like paying $5 for a photo, so I gave away my ticket for him.

Apparently Sonny Siebert fell ill, so he was a no-show; fortunately TriStar allowed us to use our Siebert tickets on any other VIP signer that day, so I got an idea.  Okay, I ripped off the idea from someone else. But only because it was a good one.  I'll get to that in a moment.

Al "Bubba" Baker had his timeslot moved up to 11:30 to accommodate the lack of Siebert.  He signed an 8x10 photo for me, even adding an inscription of his winning the Defensive Rookie of the Year in 1978.  Some may recognize him from the TV show Shark Tank, where he developed and patented a method for deboning ribs.  He owns Bubba's Q, a barbecue restaurant in Avon, Ohio.

Bubba said he smokes his briskets for 18 hours. I may have to sample it.

With some time before the two late signers, I finished walking the show aisles and checked out the cheap autograph tables. Sadly, there was nothing I could use for cheap. There were a few I need that were a bit pricier, but I'll wait until the last day before I make any big decisions. On the plus side though, I picked up a couple Hall of Famers' RCs for cheap.  I spent $8 total to get a Jari Kurri and Carlton Fisk. I have one more table to check out, we'll see what develops there.

I did get my business card out to a number of people this week, so hopefully I'll have a few more regular readers of this blog, and maybe a few who can help me out with the holes in my collection.  I was told to talk to a guy with Heritage Auctions as well; he's done a number of signed sets and has some excellent contacts.

I also helped out an SCF member with some signed items as contest prizes.  Dan left his tickets and 8x10 photos of Joe Charbonneau and Tom Browning with me to get signed, which I did.  Charbonneau also signed my 11x14 photo and shook my hand three times-- perhaps opening a beer bottle with one's eye too many times leads to short-term memory loss?  He did add 1980 AL ROY to all his sigs which was a nice touch.

Browning was who I used my Siebert ticket on. I picked up a ROMLB from a dealer ($19, which is more than I like to spend, but I think this will be worth it) along with Dan's photo and my 11x14 photo. He added P.G. 9/16/88 to them all. As you may notice in the picture, I had him sign off on the side panel. I'm going to get Len Barker on the other side panel, thus having the only two Ohio pitchers to toss perfect games post-World War One on the same ball.  Addie Joss is the only one I'd be missing if you include all of MLB history, and good luck getting him to sign it.

I'll get a better picture of the ball later.

Tomorrow I'll be taking my dad to the show, and hopefully will have a surprise in store on here. I can't say much more than that right now. I also have a few unsigned items to buy, and hopefully autographs from Hanford Dixon, Milt Plum, and Al Oliver.

National Sports Collectors Convention, Day 2

We're only two days in and it's already a whirlwind of a week.  I would love to do this again next year, but I guarantee it's not happening (unless I can convince my wife to come with me to visit her cousin, who lives in Chicago, home of the 2015 show).

I spent most of the day walking the floor and doing a cursory examination of what tables to visit more in-depth, waiting in autograph lines, and then finally going to an Indians game for the first time in two years.  I also made my first purchases as well-- I found a couple tables with some autographed cards for cheap that I couldn't pass up.  The first one had for $3 each a signed 1988 Topps Jose Uribe (died in 2006) and a 1970 Topps Denny Doyle/Larry Bowa RC signed by Doyle.  I'll send to Bowa for the dual soon. The Uribe might make some good trade bait if anyone out there is trying to collect the 1988 Topps set.

The next table I checked had a "bargain box" that had a ton I would have loved if I had the money ($100 for a signed Carl Yastrzemski RC?! Excuse me while I grab my guitar and busk on a street corner!).  In the box was a signed 1990 Upper Deck Bo Jackson for only $5.  I didn't want to spend too crazily on any signed cards, and $5 is about my upper limit for a non-set card. But I couldn't pass up a nice Bo sig.

The last batch of sigs came from a table with a ton at $2 each.  I picked out 9, mostly vintage: 1968 Topps Randy Hundley; 1972 Topps Mel Stottlemyre, Roy White, Rick Monday, and Lee May; 1975 Topps Oscar Gamble; 1976 Topps Paul Blair (deceased in 2013); 1999 Topps Roy Halladay; and a 2000 Bowman Carlos Pena.

I also got the VIP ticket autograph signers on set cards: two each with a handshake from Howard Johnson, two each with a fist-bump from Andy Van Slyke, and one from Joe Delamielleure, who even at 63 looks like he could play on an offensive line. Joe added HOF 04 to his sig.

The haul of sigs from Day 2.

Some of you may know Cory Snyder is my all-time favorite baseball player. He patrolled mostly right field but also some first base, left field, third base, and shortstop over the years for the Indians, White Sox, Blue Jays, Giants, and Dodgers from 1986-1994. He was also on the 1984 US Olympic team. 33 HR in 1987, had one of the top 5 outfield arms of the 1980s, some could even argue of all-time. Chatting with a dealer at the National on Wednesday night, he told me he had a Snyder game-used bat that he was selling and would mark it down from $90 to $50 for me if I wanted it. So, this is coming home with me...

My second ever game-used piece (first was a Ryan Vandenbussche stick)

I also ventured down to The Jake for the Indians-Mariners game, hoping to score some Mariners autos. Unfortunately, Cleveland has the WORST system ever.  The center field gates open at 4:30 pm, but everything else is blocked off.  You can only sit or stand and watch batting practice.  No one can access anything near the field until 6 pm.  This rendered graphing pointless.  I was planning on doing tomorrow's Rangers-Indians game, but I'm removing it from the schedule.  I still plan to do Monday's game with the Reds, but I'll mostly be doing the players' parking lot for it. Say what you want about the Rangers and the Ballpark in Arlington (and as avid readers know, I do), but at least they don't do that crap.

The Indians lost, but I got to spend some time with friends from high school, a couple of whom I hadn't seen in a good twelve years. One even caught a foul liner from Lonnie Chisenhall-- the fourth close encounter I've had with a ball (but it's still only one that I've managed to catch).

On the docket tomorrow: get cash out and start doing some signed card buying. I found a few tables with $1-2 autos, so I plan to try to fill some set needs there if I can.  I also have to get photos signed by Sonny Siebert, Al "Bubba" Baker, Joe Charbonneau, and Tom Browning.  I'm going to try to sell off my Jim Stillwagon ticket.  I got $3 for my Rick Waits one today. I bet I can get that for Stillwagon instead of ponying up the $5 for a photo of him.

Preview: 35th National Sports Collectors Convention, July 30-August 3, I-X Center, Cleveland, Ohio

The Granddaddy of Them All is hitting the big 3-5 this year, and it's happening in my hometown.

The National isn't the first card show ever, but it certainly is the biggest.  Every year in a different city, collectors come from all over the country-- sometimes even all over the continent, perhaps even the world-- for a five-day card show that takes up almost the entire floor of some of the world's largest expo centers.  The show has been restricted to three different cities over the last eight years after having stops in eleven cities in the first 25.  Add in the next six, and it will be four cities in 14 years. This year's will be the sixth to take up the International Exposition Center in Cleveland. Previously, the show was held there in 1997, 2001, 2004, 2007, and 2009.

The I-X Center: formerly a World War II bomber and
Korean War tank plant
(Photo Credit: Ohio Gun Collectors Association)

I'm sure many of you have been to card shows of various sizes. Anything from a few tables in a VFW Hall or an Elks Lodge, to a corner of the Grange Hall at the county fair, and on up to a hotel ballroom. Before the 1997 National, the largest show I had been to was at the annual show at the Clarion Hotel in Eastlake, OH.  The National trumps any show you have ever been to.

Even though I've been to three previous Nationals (1997, 2001, and 2004), the sheer size of it still knocks me off my feet when I first walk in.  Let's put it this way: the I-X Center has 1 million square feet of exhibition and conference space.  The Show takes up less than half of that, but it still is ungodly huge. It has 23 aisles, a 12,000 square foot Case Break Pavilion, corporate sections with giant booths for major sponsors (including Panini, Upper Deck, Leaf, PSA, Beckett, Blowout Cards, Dave & Adam's Card World, COMC, and plenty more), a 39,000 square foot autograph pavilion, a food court, and a VIP Lounge. The dealers take up the rest.

A tiny piece of the 2009 National
(Photo Credit: Sports Collectors Daily)

All the companies and sponsors have various freebies, whether it be in the VIP gift bags (double the stuff for Super VIP's) or via wrapper redemption programs or box breaks. Topps has already announced theirs, with Panini, Upper Deck, Leaf, and Press Pass certain to follow soon.

Past shows have had various sports artifacts on display, including the famous PSA 8 Honus Wagner, balls from the 1998 Sosa vs. McGwire Home Run Chase, some Barry Bonds home run balls from 2001, one of Shoeless Joe Jackson's bats, and more.  Plenty of well-known dealers will be there as well: there's a full list here in PDF form.

And of course, there's the world's second tallest indoor Ferris Wheel, offering views of Cleveland Hopkins Airport and the city's skyline at the very top through a glass-enclosed cutout in the roof. It was the tallest until one in Turkmenistan passed it in 2012. It's definitely worth taking a few minutes out of your day to relax and enjoy a ride on it at some point during the show.

The Wheel
(Photo Credit: lareina1045 on Flickr)

Needless to say, the National is a must-visit for any serious collector at least once in their lifetime.  As a Cleveland native with vacation time built up at work, it's a good opportunity for me to get back to it again, visit friends, family, and my city, and add more to my collection.

Tristar runs all things autograph-related at the show.  Fortunately, with my SuperVIP pass, I will at least get all of their free VIP signers, so I should be able to add about 20 autographs to my collection.  The full rundown of freebies is as follows (with the item I plan to get signed in parentheses):

WEDNESDAY, JULY 30
Carlos Baerga (11x14 photo), Dale Murphy (11x14 photo, maybe some cards for Chris as well if I can swing it), Kevin Mack (11x14 photo), Billy Sims (11x14 photo)

THURSDAY, JULY 31
Andy Van Slyke (Topps ATFF card), Howard Johnson (Topps ATFF card), Rick Waits (not sure yet; hoping to trade it for an extra Van Slyke or HoJo), Joe Delamielleure (Topps ATFF card)

FRIDAY, AUGUST 1
Sonny Siebert (8x10 photo), Jim Stillwagon (not sure yet; hoping to use as trade bait for Van Slyke or HoJo), Al "Bubba" Baker (8x10 photo; don't remember if I ordered 11x14 or 8x10), Joe Charbonneau (11x14 photo), Tom Browning (11x14 perfect game photo)

SATURDAY, AUGUST 2
Milt Plum (8x10 photo), Hanford Dixon (11x14 photo with Frank Minnifield; hopefully I can get Minnie on it sometime in the future), Al Oliver (11x14 photo)

SUNDAY, AUGUST 3
Jeff Burroughs (11x14 photo with Tom Grieve; major thanks to TGC reader Big Anthony for hooking me up with it; I'm sure I can get Grieve on it at the tunnel later in August), Gary Bell (8x10 photo), Mike Hargrove (11x14 photo), Len Barker (11x14 perfect game photo)

In addition, I might go for one of the Topps wrapper redemption deals-- open three packs, turn in the wrappers, and get a Allen & Ginter mini card of Jadaveon Clowney, Johnny Manziel, Jim Brown, Jordan Cameron, Derek Jeter, Mike Trout, Bob Feller or Albert Belle. Hopefully if I break a box of Heritage, I can get all of them, plus some stuff I can get signed in the final months of the season. At the very least, I want Manziel and Cameron.

I'll also be on the lookout for anything I can find to add to my sets.  I'll get at least three items signed for the Topps ATFF sets, maybe as many as five if I can swing a few trades.  I'm sure a few dealers will have some signed cards.  I'm also always on the lookout for any bargains (like getting a 1983 O-Pee-Chee Ryne Sandberg RC at the 2001 show for about 50 cents) and stuff of my wife's favorite players (Peter Forsberg, Matt Duchene, and Gabriel Landeskog).

Part of the fun of the show of course is networking.  SportsCardForum will have a booth there, and I've already alerted collectors at several other boards that I'll be coming in.  I even printed up business cards promoting TGC with a list of sets I'm doing.  If you're reading this and will be there, let me know; I'd love to meet any other collectors, especially regular readers here. And if you'd be willing to trade or sell your Van Slyke and/or Hojo tickets, DEFINITELY let me know ASAP.

Photoshop skills.

Outside the show, I already have a ton of other things I plan to do.  I need to make sure I have a dinner at Melt one night, and the B-Spot.  Maybe Hot Sauce Williams, or West Side Market. Malley's of course.  Granted, I may be so tired from walking all through the show that I just end up hitting Friendly's, Panera, and Burger King every night near the hotel.  I know one SCF member has talked about trying to get a group together one night, and who knows what my people from Panini may have in store.

I also plan to go to two Indians games as they take on the Reds the Monday and Tuesday after the show-- I will be graphing both games, both at the Indians; parking lot and inside for the Reds. I may also need to duck up to Eastlake to get a Lake County Captains team set at their team store.  Plus I'll be visiting my dad, and hopefully meeting up with a few friends from high school.

It's going to be a crazy week, but a good one. It's been two years since I was last in Cleveland, so it'll be good to get back. I haven't been to the I-X Center in ten years and I've heard they added some floor space and repainted since then (first ceiling repainting since 1984).  Plus, I plan to update here after every day of the show.

Hope to see you there, and if you can't make it to the North Coast, you can always follow along here.

For more information, visit NSCCShow.com for a full floorplan, list of dealers, sponsors, autograph signers, promotions, and photos from last year's show in Chicago.

Hounding Report: Modano Night, March 8; Stars' Practice, March 9; a couple TTM's and trades

It's been a while since I last had a graphing outing, which actually worked out alright. My wife finally got moved down here so we were able to spend time organizing the apartment and getting her acclimated to the area, and getting her a new job, for which she started training this week. Plus floorball has been taking off with new games added in Arlington, a scrimmage in Keene where we showed the Fort Worth Venom could become a force very quickly, league play in Flower Mound, and upcoming tournaments in Keene, Austin, and Arlington.

It's also given me time to start on a project of potentially selling off some unsigned cards that I don't need on eBay and figuring out who I can send to TTM to get some of these signed.  I've found enough signers to probably get out a couple thousand cards. The only limitations will be how much time I want to spend writing and how much money I can afford on postage.

And still, I've been able to add some new stuff to the collection.  I got back a couple TTM, including Jarome Iginla (2/3, sent back the third unsigned, signed in thin-tip blue) and Eric Metcalf (4/4, signed in black).  I also pulled a trade with a guy in Ontario, Mark.  He got a few guys I need for my sets plus some other stuff I want for a few he needs for his various sets. The first half has arrived with more on the way; I'll be getting his stuff out soon as well.

I also got a bunch from Corey up in New York, including a few that will go to Arron.  He's gotten a ton signed for me from the Atlantic League, including former Indians first baseman Ben Broussard and former NL ROY Dontrelle Willis.

And finally with March rolling in, I've had a chance to get back out on the 'graphing circuit.  Through a floorball contact, I got free tickets to Saturday's Stars game, featuring the Mike Modano jersey number retirement.  These tickets were tough to come by, selling upwards of $150 on StubHub and SeatGeek. Before the game, they were doing a Red Green Carpet walk-in with all the guests, many of whom stopped and signed.  Bob Gainey was the first one I got, as he signed the Canadiens puck I;ve been holding for quite a while.  Gainey was perfect for it because it's a 1980's puck, complete with John Ziegler's signature on the back NHL logo.  And he's a Hall of Famer. Gainey looked at me and said "Geez, you've got every thing going on there; Texas hat, Pittsburgh jacket, Minnesota shirt, and Montreal puck," as I had on my Rangers hat, Penguins jacket, North Stars shirt, and the puck. He signed it in gold, a great new addition for my desk.  I'll have to post a picture of the puck wall I've got going on there.

The rest of the time was tough-- a lot of guys skipped around signing so I didn't rack as much as I was hoping.  However, I could have handled it much better, getting to the front of the walkway instead of the middle, or even skipping it and trying the players at the hotel.  I did at least get Stewart Gavin (4/4 cards), Shawn Chambers (2/4), Guy Carbonneau (1/4), Jon Sim (3/3), Dave Reid (1/4), Gerald Diduck (1/4), Jamie Langenbrunner (2/4), and Jere Lehtinen (1/4).  I also got a pic with Brent Severyn, one of the NHL's top fighters in the mid 90's.  I was hoping to get pics with Basil McRae, Grant Marshall, and Shane Churla too, but I wasn't certain who was who. Most of these guys haven't played in 10-25 years and only getting a brief look at them on the video boards with a long delay in between due to their being asked to stop for interviews, photos, and signings along the way made it tough.

Hangin' with Sevy. I resemble a mustachioed 12 year old girl.

The ceremony was awesome.  I had been to a number retirement before but it was just AHL ones for Johnny Bower and Fred Glover in Cleveland, a good 40 years after they had played there.  This ceremony was well-done from start to finish and much deserved for Modano.  Honestly if it hadn't been for Modano, I likely wouldn't be living in Texas or even married to my wife. It's amazing how one little thing like that can change so many things.

Today, Chris and I hit up the Stars practice, trying the alternate entrance out.  Unfortunately not much luck was had.  Before practice, only Tim Thomas signed.  Nice guy though: coming out of his car I asked if he had time to sign my puck.  He stopped, looked at his watch and said "Sure thing," taking my pen and signing.  I asked if he could add "2x Vezina" to it, and he said "THAT I don't have time for."  Jokingly of course: he added it and it came out pretty nice.  Another great addition for the wall in my cubicle.

Despite his political leanings, Thomas is pretty cool

We went over to Plano for a card show, each picking up some stuff for TTM's and future Rangers alumni signings, as well as the few Stars cards we could find.  I also talked to Rich Klein, formerly of Beckett who ran the show.  He actually recognized me as a Rangers 'grapher. It had been about 10 years since my last show and this was a good one-- easily manageable both for dealers and consumers, but still had something for every type of collector.  Perhaps I'll set up a table at a future show.  It was only $25 per table which would certainly be doable.

After the show we bolted back to the Stars' facility, missing a lot.  We had originally planned on going to the main entrance but the crowd there was a bit much so we went to the back again.  We missed out on a bunch once again.  Chris went around front, getting Alex Goligoski, while I stayed at the back getting James Patrick on 4/4 cards.  Thomas signed again on his way out; unfortunately my silver pen died on me, so it didn't turn out too good.  I was hoping to send it up to Corey for his Vermont collection, but I'll likely get it redone before I do. I need to find a few Liquid Silver and Liquid Gold DecoColor pens.

TOTALS: 22 autographs IP, 6 autographs TTM, and several via trades (I'll count those later).