Anaheim Ducks and Steve Garvey Signing 3-24-12

This was the first time I ever graphed hockey. I've been a casual hockey fan for a long time following both the Ducks and Kings. However I do favor the Ducks more since they are the closest in proximity to me so I consider them my home team. My friend Benson finally convinced me to graph hockey saying that hockey is relatively the most easiest sport to graph since most of the players don't have massive egos or entourages like NBA or MLB players. He was right. We headed out to Honda Center at around 8am. The players had practice since it was their off day and most of them rolled in around 8:30-9:00am. My goal was to get Teemu Selanne's autograph since he's always been one of my all time favorite hockey players. I figured this was my last chance before he retires. Benson also had a goal of getting his Selanne jersey signed so we all had high hopes today. I didn't come prepared but luckily I had a few friends who supplied me with items to get signed. I want to thank Benson for providing me with two hockey pucks (Ducks and All Star Puck), a team set of Ducks cards, and also info on helping me ID each player as they walked in. I also want to thank Scotty for giving me several cards to get signed as well. The only thing I brought with me was a Ducks Program from a game I went to this year featuring Francois Beauchemin and a neat Ducks Brochure I picked up from the ticket booth. I added all my scrubs on that book or for guys that I didn't have cards for. Here are some photos of the Ducks signing autographs.

I ended up getting Andrew Cogliano #7, Cam Fowler #4, Sheldon Brookbank #21, Jonas Hiller #1, Bobby Ryan #9, Rod Pelley #14, Jeff Deslauriers #43, Toni Lydman #32, Niklas Hagman #12, Matt Beleskey #39, Nick Bonino #63, Devante Smith-Pelly #77, Lubomir Visnovsky #17, Dan Ellis #38 on my Ducks Book

Ended up getting cards signed by Ryan Getzlaf, Cam Fowler, Luca Sbisa, George Parros, Kyle Palmieri, Jonas Hiller, Saku Koivu, Lubomir Visnovsky x 2, Bobby Ryan x 2

Got the program signed by Francois Beauchemin

Corey Perry also signed my All Star puck for me but it was a rushed signature. Still I can't complain when a former MVP signs for me. Now this compliments my ROMLB signed by Corey when I met him at Angels Stadium last year.

I didn't realize how easy it was to graph hockey. I wish I came better prepared with higher end items such as jerseys. A lot of people were getting really nice photos signed by all of the players. We almost got the entire team in just a few hours. The man we wanted went in from the back of the stadium so none of the fans waiting in the front got Teemu's autograph. Therefore we went over to McDonalds for some breakfast and came back to wait for Teemu at the back of the stadium. While we were waiting I got bored so I took a picture of his car. Nice ride Teemu. I love how he took two parking spaces since A) Teemu doesn't care about rules B) Teemu owns the team C) Teemu is just bad ass like that.

We waited about another hour until practice ended. Finally Teemu came out. There were about 20 fans waiting for him. I was a bit worried he wouldn't sign due to the number of people waiting but Teemu like all of the other Ducks were very nice to all the fans. He signed for all of us including multiples. I was able to get my puck signed and my friend Benson got his jersey signed along with the 10X All Star Inscription on his jersey.

The guy pictured getting his jersey signed is Benson. Benson goes to most of the signings in the Orange County/LA area. If any of my readers run into Benson at an upcoming signing feel free to approach him and say hi. He's the guy that usually has his signature black Angels cap on. He's one of the nicest graphers you will ever meet.

After the Ducks our original plan was to go to the Ramon Sessions signing. We got word from another friend who was at the Ramon Sessions signing in Long Beach that they almost finished out giving out the 200 wristbands. We originally planned to go to that signing to kill time before the Garvey signing. Benson and I weren't dying to get Sessions anyways since we only had cards for him to sign so we instead killed some time at Frank and Sons. 

At Frank and Sons we ended up browsing as usual and Benson had to pick up some supplies for his magazines. We saw a guy spend $1800 on 10 boxes of cards. If you ask how any crazy person can do that let me explain. I used to collect cards back in the day when I was a kid and I remember packs being around the $2-5 dollar range and the most expensive ones being like $20 a pack. I realized that the market for premium grade cards changed as some boxes sell for over $200 for only four cards. The case that another collector spent over $1800 on was a product called Panini Preferred Basketball. I think he ended up opening about 10 boxes. Each box contains 3 autograph cards and 1 multi-swatch booklet card.

The guy opening the packs looked and acted like an addict. He only wanted the limited signed Kobe card which is worth like 3 grand so whenever he opened a pack and saw a mediocre card he literally tossed it like it's worthless. He had no respect for the cards whatsoever even though he invested a lot of money into it. We are talking about autographs of legends like Bernard King and jersey cards of Patrick Ewing and Allen Iverson. However I was surprised how crappy some of the cards he got like a signed Ed Davis card and a bunch of no namers from such a high end product. He did end up pulling a rare 1/3 Grant Hill signed card and a 1/50 signed Kobe Card but he seemed disappointed with the results since he lost a lot of money after opening up 10 packs of his high end product. I don't think i'd ever pay so much for cards especially modern cards. With that money I would have bought a certified UDA signed MJ, Kobe or Lebron jersey. However it was just fun watching.

Soon afterwards we rolled out to the Steve Garvey signing at Tustin Nissan. I've gotten Steve before on several items so I was in no rush to get there. We arrived 5 minutes into the signing and there were about 50 people in line. I ended up getting Steve to sign my 1981 World Series baseball and my 1980 Dodgers Stadium All Star Ball. Steve was nice enough to inscribe "1981 WS Champs" on my WS baseball. However he was on his phone and got confused when he signed my 1980 All Star Ball. He automatically sweet spotted the baseball (instead of signing under the all star logo) and started to write 1974 NL MVP when I just wanted the 10X All Star inscription since it was an All Star ball. Oh well I couldn't complain since he's such a nice guy. I just have to be thankful that it was a free signing and he inscribed stuff for me. Sorry if I sounded like a complainer.

The only thing bad about the signing was that his handler called me and Benson out for getting back in line. The majority of people were double if not triple dipping since there weren't that many fans there.  Benson and I got our items signed but got back in line to get the stock photo signed that Nissan provided since we figured we'd might as well get an additional item signed since the turnout was so low. Plus there was another hour to go in the signing. Then the handler calls just us out that we were getting back in line too much and selectively picked us out of the remaining 20 people in the line. We were being civil and didn't even cause a scene. He was simply rude about it so we ended up leaving.

On a brighter note it was good to meet old friends. I want to give a shout out to George, Darryl, Scott, Scotty, Larry, Robert, Alex from http://lawlerlawfirstto100wins.blogspot.com/, and Martin from http://truetotheblue81.blogspot.com/. I also want to give a shout out to the readers of my blog who approached me today and showed some love to my new blog. I'm always happy to meet new friends at these events. I want to thank the Anaheim Ducks players for being so cool today and also Steve Garvey for being a class act as usual. Tustin Nissan was cool too minus Garvey's handler at the signing for being rude to us. On to the next signing.

Chuck Finley Living Spaces Irvine Signing 3-10-12

I went out to the Chuck Finley signing at Living Spaces in Irvine yesterday. My goal was to get my authentic Chuck Finley jersey signed. As usual I carpooled with my friend Benson. We arrived at Living Spaces in Irvine around 8:30 and the signing was scheduled to take place between 10-12. When we arrived we were about 30th in line. I was happy to see the usual graphers like Scotty, Mike from http://www.autographaddicts.com/, Ryan from http://rbicollecting.blogspot.com/, and Alex from http://thinkredinstead.blogspot.com/. It feels like a reunion each time I go to these signings since it's usually the same people. It's always fun to chat it up and recap all of the past autographs signings we have been to. By about 10am about 100 people showed up to the signing. Originally Living Spaces had a 1 per person rule and they limited to the first 300 people but since it was a low turnout we were able to get two per plus photo ops. Chuck was nice as usual chatting it up with the fans and was also willing to do photo ops.

When I approached Chuck with my jersey he seemed a bit surprised to see an original authentic jersey bearing his name. The jersey was made in the early 90s and he asked me where I got it. I told him that it was in my collection since his playing days and I had it for quite some time waiting for the chance to get it signed personally my him. He seemed impressed and mentioned that the quality of jerseys were made much better back then and that the only times that he gets a chance to sign his original authentic jerseys are for charity events. He seemed really happy to see that a fan brought his jersey. He also liked the metallic silver deco pen I had him to use to sign my jersey. I had Chuck sign my jersey and a free photo provided by Living Spaces. Chuck was also nice enough to take a photo with me as well.

Since there weren't that many people in line I was able to get back in line and also get two cards signed. I want to thank my friend Benson for hooking me up with some Chuck Finley cards.

I like the card on the top left since it shows Chuck wearing the same model jersey that I got signed by him. I took some closeup photos of the jersey that was signed. I was happy with the results.

I want to thank Living Spaces Irvine for hosting another great signing.

Mitch Richmond Metro PCS Signing in Pomona 3-3-12

I went out to the Mitch Richmond Metro PCS signing in Pomona. Mitch was scheduled to sign from 11-1pm to promote the USA basketball tour. It was a great signing with less than 50 people in line. The rule was 2 items per person but since there weren't that many fans out there we were able to get multiple items signed and also photo ops.

Note that the ad says Compton which is another signing that is supposed to take place tomorrow. I guess they didn't have the same ad available for the Pomona Metro PCS. I went out to get my OG Air Jordan XIV's signed by Mitch. Note the shoes are a bit beat up since I wore them back when I was in college shooting hoops back in 1998-1999. The shoes are over 14 years old but not in bad shape considering how old they are. He wore this model back when he was at the tail end of his career with the Wizards. He was nice enough to sign both pairs and inscribed "The Rock" in one pair and "ROY" in the other pair. He also gave me two different jersey numbers to reflect each inscription both #2 and #23 which was his rookie number.

He was also nice enough to take a picture with me as well.

I went back in line for the 2nd time to get some cards signed as well as a mini basketball which was given away by Metro PCS

Overall it was one of the easiest signings ever. No drama and everything went smoothly. I want to thank Metro PCS for hosting this great event.

Saturday Feb 18th, 2012 Spurs and Tebowing at UCLA

Crazy day of graphing for me this past Saturday. Went out to LA with my friend Benson to graph the Spurs in the morning and Tim Tebow in the afternoon. Initially we headed out to the Four Seasons at Beverly Hills to see if the Spurs were staying there. There were no other signs of graphers or team buses so we headed out to the Ritz Carlton across the Staples Center to see if the Spurs were staying there. A trainer on the Spurs walks right by us so we figure the Spurs have to be at this hotel. Ended up with Coach Gregg Popovich, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker on a basketball. Met a family friend of Manu so we were able to get Manu over to sign for us.

Soon after getting the Spurs we drove out to UCLA to catch Tim Tebow. I heard through ESPN that he was at my old alma mater practicing at the UCLA football practice field so we went out there to check it out. Luckily Tim was still there. After practice he signed a football and mini helmet for me.

Tim is a class act. He signed and posed pictures with us. Great guy. I hope he does improve his mechanics that he is working on right now so he can have a kick ass season next year.

Saturday Feb 11th, San Diego Padres Fanfest

Another day of graphing with my friend Benson and the site was good old San Diego for the Padres Fanfest. This was a 2nd of back to back trips to San Diego just for graphing purposes. A week ago we went out to get Tony Gwynn at El Cajon Ford. This was my first time at Padres Fanfest. From friends who have gone previous years I heard that it was the most interactive fanfest since the Padres literally open up the field for you. They let fans check out the club house, hang around in the dugout, walk on the field and play catch and so forth. The only downside was a lack of stars that were signing. Still a fun experience especially since we are still a few months away from baseball season. The Dodgers definitely need to learn a thing from the Padres by having an interactive Fanfest like the Padres do each year. They can learn a lesson or two.

Due to the lack of stars that were signing I stuck to getting the entire team of players on a Padre mini helmet. Ended up with Andrew Cashner, Huston Street, Tim Stauffer, Luke Gregerson, Joe Thatcher, Chase Headley, Brad Brach, Yonder Alonso, Erik Hamren, Nick Hundley, Kyle Blanks, Brad Boxberger, Cory Luebke, Will Venable on my Padres mini helmet.

Yonder Alonso on a SS ROMLB and Topps Card

Jerry Coleman on a SS ROMLB

After graphing I went with Benson to check out the Padres Garage Sale. They were slashing prices toward the end of fanfest. What caught our eye was a signed Vinny Castilla signed 2006 World Baseball Classic Baseball. This baseball looked different from the ones that were released in public and the ones used in the game which had gold foil printing. I did some research on my iphone and found out that it was a prototype
Check out http://www.photos.bigleaguebaseballs.com/miscellaneous-baseballs-misprints-and-prototypes/rawlings-2006-world-baseball-classic-prototype-006.jpg.php
This is a great site for all things related to Rawlings baseballs. It's like an encyclopedia of all baseballs made. Through the site I found out that the ball I purchased was a prototype and since I am a collector of all things baseball I had to buy it. Plus they slashed the prices down to $15 dollars for the baseball so it was a bargain considering even standard non commemorative ROMLBs go for $15-20 these days. 

Vinny Castilla Signed Prototype WBC 2006 baseball

When I was about to pay for the item the cashier had an additional item for me to buy. The Padres had incredible items up for sale like game used bats for $30 and game used jerseys for $50-175 depending on the style and player. However all the good stuff went to season ticket holders since they had early entry into Fanfest. Thus there wasn't much left over at the end. The lady who was at the register asked me if I wanted to buy an Adrian Gonzalez game used batting practice jersey. I was like sure how much. She said $50. I was hesistant for a second since I wondered why she didn't buy the item herself. Can't go wrong for $50 for a high caliber player like Adrian even though he is now with the Red Sox. Well seating next to her I saw her husband and she was telling me that he'd get mad if she bought two jerseys. She had a throwback Matt Latos game worn jersey tucked underneath the table which she was planning on purchasing herself at the end of fanfest. I thanked her for the jersey and went home happy.

Adrian Gonzalez Batting Practice Jersey.