Mr. Tiger: Come on Down!

Al Kaline signed autographs at The National last Sunday. Al Kaline is one of my top three favorite players of all time. I took a pass on meeting Al Kaline.

It was an easy call, as it turns out. I wasn't there. I attended the big event Wednesday night through Saturday, then took off to meet family for some Indianaland family fun.

I was relieved really. Mr. Tiger charged $80 for one item. I know it's a fair price for a beloved Hall of Famer in the autograph economy, but that's just too steep for me no matter how I feel about a guy. 

But I did snag a couple of Kaline cards, including #3 from my Nine Most Wanted - this '65 beauty.

I had been waiting and waiting and waiting (three times for emphasis!) for the right '65 Kaline and the right price and after returning to a booth operated by a couple of kindly Detroit gents, I was able to score, for one low price, not just the '65 Kaline but these too...

...for a grand total of $15. I bought them Saturday afternoon. Two days earlier I was quoted a $30 price for the '65 Kaline alone. Frankly, it seemed fairly reasonable to me at the time. But I respectively declined at that time.

Now, back to the subject of autographs, if you read my posts while attending the event, you know I did walk away from the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center with a handful of signatures.

"Free" with my gifted Super VIP pass, I couldn't pass up meeting a couple of mini-faves from my youth and, later, I was persuaded by friends met at the show to stand with them and get a few more - including several of a couple of the same players. Some family and friends claimed a couple of these dupes. Some bloggers have asked and are owed a few others. 

Here's a look at them:

...oh, on second thought, I'll save them for some weekend posting. Stay tuned.

Baseball Players On Stamps: Who's Up?

Many may have seen this already or even blogged about it, but I thought this SI article - column, actually - by Joe Posnanski was relevant to the topics we love - you know, baseball (sports) and collecting.

After reading the article, if anyone wants to take a stab at guessing the players, feel free.

DiMaggio and certainly Williams - but who else? I don't collect stamps but I'd LOVE (capitalization for emphasis) to see Wilver Stargell on a stamp. For some reason, though, I'd be surprised if that happens even though Joe P. likes him for it.

I'm going to say Spahn and Pee Wee Reese join DiMaggio and Williams. I'd love to see both Stargell and Eddie Matthews though.

Contest at Jaybarker's

Quick sidebar as I attempt to get back in the swing of working life, post National. 

Jaybarkerfan did me a real solid (as the kids say, or did 20-odd years ago) a few months ago and I wanted to be sure to plug his contest. Take a look and join in the fun.

National Thoughts, Day Three

1. Rick Reuschel was going through the motions. Clearly bored. He looked up about 67% of the time.

2. Paul Reuschel has a sweet-looking signature. He was a gracious signer. He also has a couple of awesome cards. I wish I had a scanner here to illustrate, for those who don't know.

3. Buddy Bell, 60 later this month, has aged well. Nice guy. I decided since I really liked him in my youth, I had to get a ball signed. I also used a couple of wildcard tickets for a couple of card autos. Naturally I somehow forgot to bring along a card with Bell as a Red. Sure wish I could have found a card shop or someone selling cards nearby.

4. Card sellers/dealers are apparently overwhelmingly Republican. Just sayin' - for what it's worth. I don't necessarily care about any of that but I got a bit tired of hearing political bellyaching while I thumbed through cards, otherwise enjoying myself. It happened four times today and, yeah, I moved on. Sometimes it's nice to take a break from the real world.

5. Got dangerously close to finishing my '76 set. I'll probably have 20 to 30 left by the time this thing ends.

6. I wish my work would leave me alone when I'm trying to have me-time.

7. I'll likely never stand in line for another autograph. But, ahem, if my daughter ends up landing autographs when I start taking her to baseball games, well, you know, that's another story. And, I'll gladly accept them in blogger trades! Did I mention the George Kell that SewingMachineGuy sent me recently!? Just had to mention that again.

8. Despite #7, I did meet some great people in the lines today. I didn't ask if any of them blogged. Perhaps I should have. Met a nice man with his daughter. He realized in line that he didn't have a Rick Reuschel as a Cub - only some Giants' cards. I had a couple of extras and it was nice to be able to give him one - an '85 Topps.
 
9. Leon Durham seemed a bit distant from what I observed in the line. However, much to his credit, when the guy in front of me handed over the freshly taken picture of himself and Durham, Leon saw that his eyes were closed and insisted that another one be taken. That was classy.

10. While I've missed some floor time handling personal business, I've spent gads of hours roaming the concrete - and it's not been near enough time for me to see everything I want! Tomorrow's my last day, probably a half day. Argh!

11. I've picked up a total of 10 hobby packs to participate in the Topps promo for the Heritage rookies. I missed Dee Gordon yesterday but got Dustin Ackley and Mike Moustakas. I see they're listed for a minimum $20 on ebay. I wonder if they'll sell for that. Hmm, maybe I should start selling on ebay.

12. Kindergarten Cop just came on TBS. I think I'll pass. I hope I don't regret this decision.

13. While in line for Mr. Bell, the guys behind me said they had already gone through the line and that right when it was their turn, Buddy decided to go over and chat for 15 minutes with Roger Staubach. Funny.

14. It would have been nice to meet at least one blogger, but I suppose I didn't work hard enough on that.


15. I miss my wife and daughter but this has been a lot of fun.

16. I wish they held something like this in my hometown every few months. Is that too much to ask?

National Thoughts, Day Two

Here are some things that I observed or that popped into my head while roaming The National.

1. When I saw Bobby Douglas in the photo booth, thinking it was Jack Clark, I thought, wow Jack Clark looks plenty different but he has definitely kept himself in shape. Then the real Jack Clark showed up. (Actually, Clark looks pretty good - just the weight gain that plagues most of us with age - 'cept for Bobby Douglas. Oh, and 'cept for Phil Fosbury.)

2. Jack Clark asked me if I wanted him to sign the card with "The Ripper." "If you'd like," I said. He did.

3. I feel like a goof asking grown men for autographs but I nevertheless have wanted to use a few of my free auto passes. It's actually been kind of fun adding a few card autos.

4. I don't believe I'll ever pay for an autograph but I admit that with various members of my lifelong favorite football team signing in front of me as I waited in the free Jack Clark line, I had a tinge of regret about not paying up for some of their autos - Ham, Stallworth, Blount and Shell today.

5. "That Pujols is pretty good," odd guy watching Jack Clark in the photo booth. "Yeah, he's all right," Clark joked.

"What about A-Rod? He's in some trouble now, huh?" odd guy. *Crickets*

Seriously, what a weird thing to shout out to Jack Clark.

6. Jack Ham slightly resembles Gary Busey. Ham also left his sunglasses on the entire time I saw him.

7. Jack Clark's lady friend was the talk a few sickos in the autograph line.

8. I have yet to find cards of Princesses, Mermaids or Fairies. This was my daughter's lone request. The hunt continues.

9. An awful lot of collectors out there fit nicely into the stereotype that my wife has of collectors.

10. Topps hosted a Meet-and-Greet for collectors at 4 today - complete with cheeseburgers, hot dogs, pizza, chicken fingers and drinks (alcohol even). I got an invite yesterday when I stopped by the booth. They talked to us for roughly 90 minutes all about their products and why they do things the way they do. Unfortunately, due to another matter I had going on during this time, I missed all but the beginning and last 20 minutes, so my plans to give a full report fell through. Hopefully someone else who blogs was in the room to provide some info.

Throughout, they gave away many prizes - boxes of various products combined with T-shirts, etc. I'm trying to assure myself that my name wasn't called during my time away.

11. One dude won a prize but it was the one prize that didn't include a box of product. He won a couple of T-shirts only. He openly complained about getting the worst prize.

12. I checked 41 '76 base Topps from my list of roughly 100. They're in good shape. Paid $8 for them.

13. As I was getting ready to leave for the day, stopped at one last booth and found the gentlemen selling the full '76 Traded set. I only have a handful of them so I bought the whole lot for $4. They're in great shape! I'm well on my way to finishing my first set and, as I've written about before, this one means a lot to me.

14. I have been ducking out plenty to handle work-related issues, which totally stinks - but tomorrow it will be full attention to the show. I'd like to get at least two more autographs from my free list but I'm determined not to spend too much time in lines. My choices are Leon Durham, Paul Reuschel, Rick Reuschel and Buddy Bell. For me, Bell is a no-brainer.

I've already gotten my three balls (ahem, the three baseballs I brought from home) signed. Since any of these guys will only sign one thing, I'll probably skip buying another ball and go with a card. Am I crazy for thinking this way if I have an opportunity to get a ball signed?

That's it for now.

National Thoughts, Day One

I arrived in time to head into the VIP lounge, watch the auctions - something or other went for $10,000 - and stand in a few fairly fast lines to meet Bill Madlock, Don Kessinger and Dick Fosbury - Flop Master.

Madlock, a four-time batting champ, was one of my favorites as a kid. While there's an assembly line feel to the signings, Madlock occasionally took a second to chat. When my turn came, he loved the fact I presented one certain card that I'll discuss in a future post for him to sign.

He signed a ball and two cards (and more later). I only handed over the ball but after he signed it he saw the two cards in my hand and asked if I wanted him to sign them too. But of course...

I then joined the Kessinger line and had him sign one card. He's a very folksy sort and seemed to enjoy talking to people - although he kept the line moving. After he signed, the line behind us (me and a fellow collector I got to chatting with in line) was just 10 deep so we hopped back in for another auto. Might send one to my Dad. Can't remember if he was a Kessinger fan - only know he really liked Banks and Billy Williams. Of course, neither were Cub cards.

After this, I looked over and saw that just one guy remained in the Dick Fosbury line. I hopped over and pulled out a note card - didn't have anything else for him. He signed it "Dick Fosbury, '68 Gold." He too was very kind.

And finally, at this point, with just a handful left in Madlock's line, I pulled out the two other Madlock cards I brought along and he signed them and made another joke about the other card I had him sign earlier (again, more about that when I have a scan of it).

I had no intention of getting more than one auto from each but after the initial fray I think many had left to head into the show once it got going, so the auto pickings then were too easy. I brought along some treasured cards from my youth collection so it was extra neat to have those signed.

After this I headed into the show. Huge! I walked around and picked up several of the giveaway packs offered by Topps, Panini, Upper Deck, etc. (and I've yet to take a look at them). I then hopped into the Lee Smith auto line. This was insanely long but I decided to stay the course. Lee's line took forever because he engaged practically everyone in conversation. Lee also was willingly signing as many items as you'd hand him. I had brought along two cards and had one baseball left that I had brought from home. He signed them all.

Side note: A guy two people behind me decided to complain pretty rudely to one of the guys with Freedom Cardboard - irritated that the line took so long and something or other about how they should speed up Lee Smith. Me and the FC guy shared a look about that guy and laughed. Seriously, what a weird thing to complain about - how nice the auto guest is being.

I was done with autos at this point as I had heard the Billy Pierce line was very long too. Still, I decided to walk over there just in case. At this point, after the long Smith wait, the Pierce line was just three deep! So, I yanked out the Topps Archives card I brought along and the helper smeared off the shine and Mr. Pierce signed away.

The guy in front of me asked him what it was like to win Rookie of the Year. This, naturally, confused Mr. Pierce. As for me, I want to thank Ryan LaMonica here for sending that card to me just last week. I didn't have another Pierce card to bring when I checked the signers list last night.

I spent the remainder of the night shopping around. I snagged a couple of cards for my player collections and I'll likely write later about them and whatever else of note I pick up.

The funny thing about all of this autograph business is that I'm not an autograph kind of guy. I get a little uncomfortable asking grown men for their signatures. I haven't done that in 11 years at a White Sox charity comedy night where you were actually expected to get autographs. Chasing autos is fine for many but it's not my bag. Of course, today, one wouldn't realize how I really feel.

And, I have a few more free auto tickets to redeem so perhaps I'll get one or two more before this thing is over. Why not? This whole thing is a birthday present from my wife. Got to get her money's worth.

I have my eye on two particular names on the free list. Stay tuned.

Bowman Platinum - Sampling The Goods

I broke my pledge to hoard my hobby money for THE NATIONAL and this week succumbed to the peer pressure - unspoken but oft written - that is 2011 Bowman Platinum. I grabbed a rack pack - is that right? Blister? Whatever. Three packs and some purple thingies.

Here are the results, not at all in the order I discovered them, but her nonetheless. A couple of these cards I want to keep; a couple I'm reserving to send as mini thank yous and the rest are up for trade if I can land Reds, Tigers, Cubs - or just other players I might want more. Make me an offer if you see some interesting cards.

This is a seriously sweet looking auto. But it is up for trade for any autos of Reds, Tigers or Cubs - or select other players, maybe. I'm just not a Twins guy - at least when it comes to baseball. *rimshot*

OK, enough commentary. More cards.

Plenty available up there. And, as long as he wants him, I'm almost certainly sending Holliday out to a trader who sent me a bounty of nice cards in my recent junk sale.

Starlin Castro: I haven't officially added him to my player collections, but I think I'll be doing so soon.

Random realization after looking at the Angels from these packs: I've yet to find an Angels trading friend.

I really like the look of the greens. I'm also a big fan of the two aces above. Definitely my favorite players on their teams. Below, for some reason I think Matt D. will amount to something at some point. That's it for now. On to the National!