Super Day of Angels Signings 8-28-10

Five Angels were having signings today at four different locations and fortunately I was able to make it to all five signings.

The first stop was the Mike Scioscia and Howie Kendrick Signing at Howard's Appliances in Laguna Hills. Both were scheduled to sign from 10am-12pm. I arrived at Howards around 8am and there were about 150 fans ahead of me in line. There was a mixture of both Dodger and Angels fans in line and the line was very organized. The even ran smoothly. Howards also gave each fan a backpack and the SGA Mike Scioscia bust that day. Had Coach Scioscia and Howie sign my ROMLBs on the SS. I noticed that now Howie's signature is much more legible that before. I guess he changed his signature for the upcoming season.

I got a tip in the line from another fan that Juan Rivera was also having a signing close by at the Living Spaces in Irvine. My original plan for the day was to attend the Maicer Izturis signing at the AT&T Store in Orange after the Howard's signing since that was on the way back home. I drove out to Living Spaces in Irvine and noticed that there was no line at all. Juan was nice enough to take a photo with me as well. My assumption is that the line died out while I was at the Howard's Signing or that all the fans were dispersed at different signing events. Nonetheless it was nice that I didn't have to wait at all in line. I ended up getting an ROMLB signed by Juan on the SS.

As soon as I got the autograph I bolted out of Living Spaces and drove out to the Maicer Izturis signing at the AT&T store in Orange. Again as soon as I walked into the store I was the only fan getting Maicer's autograph since most of the fans dispersed out of there. Maicer signed my ROMLB on the SS.

As I was leaving the event about to head home another fan in line gave me a tip that Erick Aybar was signing at another AT&T store in Ladera Ranch. I knew I didn't have much time to get Erick since he had already started to sign an hour ago. Plus I had to back track and drive back towards Ladera Ranch which was the opposite way of going home. I figured I'd still give it a shot but had low expectations of not getting the autograph on time. The other problem was that I ran out of ROMLBs since I didn't come prepared expecting to get five autographs that day. The only item I had left was the one I was wearing which was my Angels New Era Fitted cap. When I arrived at the signing at the AT&T store in Ladera Ranch Erick was still signing away. The employees ended up cutting the line off with me being the 2nd to the last on in line since Erick had to leave soon. I was extremely lucky. I ended up getting Erick to sign my Angels hat.

On a side note do you notice the Frappucino Starbucks Coffee drink on the table next to Erick Aybar. There is a funny story behind that drink. My buddy Benson who I didn't know back then attended this particular Aybar signing to get his ROMLB signed. Eric actually spilled some of the drink on his hand and ended up signing Benson's baseball leaving a coffee stain on his signed Aybar baseball. That's officially a 1/1 with Aybar's autograph as well as fingerprints on the baseball.

After a long day of signing I felt very fortunate to make it to four different signings at four different locations even though it wasn't planned. I want to thank Howard's Appliances, AT&T, and Living Spaces for hosting all of these signings.

Derek Fisher Tribute Upper Deck Signing Recap 4-10-10

This post is a tribute to Derek Fisher, one of my favorite all time Lakers. Laker fans will surely miss him and I wish Fish the best of luck playing for the OKC Thunder. I attended a paid Derek Fisher signing a few years ago at the now defunct Upper Deck Retai Store in Huntington Beach. From what I remember I think I paid about $65 dollars for the autograph. The main reason why I went to this signing was to get my game used D Fish road jersey signed. There were about 150 people at this signing and it went very smoothly with Fisher greeting everyone and being his happy self as usual. Sadly Upper Deck didn't allow any photo ops. Here are some photos of the signing that took place as well as my signed jersey.

I ended up buying the Mounted Memories Lakers custom shadow box frame from http://www.modells.com when they had their 40% off sale. I love how I can interchange the jerseys since the case opens up. Thus if I feel like displaying my Magic, Kobe, or D Fish signed jerseys I can interchange them whenever.

Lakers Fan Jam 2010 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Signing 3-20-10

I attended the first annual Lakers Fan Jam on March 20, 2010. Lakers Fan Jam took place at the LA Convention Center and it was a two day event. I went out there with the goal of getting as many Laker autographs as possible from both current members of the Championship team and Laker Alumni. Ticket prices for adults was $15. Lakers Fan Jam was a smaller scaled version of NBA Jam Session with fun activities for the entire family.

My buddy Nick and I went arrived at the LA Convention Center around 7am and there were already about 100 people ahead of us waiting to get inside. I guess most Laker fans came out with the same intention as us to get as many autographs as possible. When we entered we noticed that there was one autograph stage and there wasn't a set schedule. First scheduled guests to appear were Marge Hearn and Jeannie Buss. I didn't want to get their autographs so I let people cut ahead of me. Jeannie was letting fans wear her Lakers Championship Ring and allowed people to take photos of it. I was tempted to go but I had to resist. Soon afterwards Kareem Abdul-Jabber showed up along with two Laker girls. As soon as the fans saw Kareem there was a mad rush to the front and a ton of people were cutting in line trying to get Kareem. When I met Kareem I asked how his health was since he was recovering from chronic myeloid leukemia. He said he was feeling better. I told him that we were all praying that he gets better and Kareem seemed to really appreciate that. Here is a pic of Kareem signing my Lakers Championship Basketball. He personalized everything which was fine since I don't plan on selling the signed basketball. Kareem's autograph was one of my holy grails and I was excited to get my basketball signed. I thanked Kareem for personalizing my basketball and for all the great Laker Championship memories.

After I got out of line I tried to hop back in. By then there were already about 500 people in line and the line wasn't moving. Next up was Jamaal Wilkes and Mychal Thompson. We stood in line but the line never moved so we got out of the line. I took a photo of them signing for other fans.

The entire event got out of control as fans would cut into the autograph line. Thus the line never moved and the Lakers staff had a tough time managing everything. You can tell it was the first year of the event since they had no control over the crowds. The entire day was a mess as people were just standing in line all day for each station. Eventually Lakers management got rid of the autograph station and changed it up to a Q and A session in the afternoon as well the the following day of Lakers Fan Jam. Thus I felt very fortunate enough to get at least Kareem to sign for me at this event. While leaving the LA Convention Center I noticed a really cool looking Lakers Van. I took a pic of it before I left.

If the Lakers have another Fan Jam in the future I will definitely pass on this event.