March 24th White Plains Card Show Recap! Meeting Two HOF'ers!

Hey guys, Drew back here to finally wrap up the White Plains Card Show Review. Many bloggers seem to be able to pound out a whole show review within a few posts, but I prefer to go into depth on my pickups because it's not like I leave with a whole lot of money in my pocket, if any at all. The other day I thought about what my collection would be like without discovering these shows that take less than an hour to get to from here, and I couldn't even begin to tell you how much weaker it would be. I'm fortunate that I heard about them a few years back though, as I've gotten chances to meet players such as Don Mattingly, Dave Winfield, Ernie Banks, and even the whole Jets defensive line known as "The Sack Exchange"! 

At this show, I was able to add two more legends to the list of people I've met, both of which have been enshrined into Cooperstown within the past ten years. I had an opportunity to meet recent inductee Roberto Alomar as well, but the price for an autograph wasn't very favorable to my show budget. Instead, I met a guy with over 3,000 hits on the back of his baseball card, and a guy who was one of the most feared power hitters of his era. 

After waiting 2 hours in line for the free guys, I heard an announcement, saying it was the last call to meet one of the Hall of Famers I bought a ticket to meet. Dad had to take a few photos of the people in front and behind us in line with our camera because he had offered, since they didn't have cameras, and so following getting my Shantz and White autographs, he stayed there for a few moments getting their emails to send the pictures too. In the meantime, I took a mad dash through the show to try and make it before my player left, and fortunately enough by the time I got in the room, both Hall of Famers had absolutely NO line! 

With Dad and the camera not being present at the time, it gave me a few extra moments to talk with third baseman Wade Boggs as he signed my photograph for me! Boggs wasn't just one of the best third basemen to ever live, but he was also the third baseman that helped bring my Yankees to the World Series in 1996- the year that I was born. "The Chicken Man" made 12 All Star teams, while nabbing a few gold gloves in his illustrious career, which resulted in 3,010 career hits and a .328 lifetime batting average! He was wearing his 1996 ring, which I complimented, and I also said thanks to him for helping bring New York Yankee baseball back on the map. He was grateful and kind, and signed my 16x20 photograph beautifully with one of the nicer inscriptions I own. 

I couldn't come across any Boggs photo any more iconic than the one I was able to get signed, of him riding a horse after winning the World Series in 96'! The autograph came out beautiful, and the inscription reads: "To Drew, Best Wishes, Wade Boggs, '96' WS Champs, HOF 05". I just asked him to write it out to Drew, and then include whatever else he wished to include, and this went far beyond expectations. What an awesome experience.

Dad ran into the side room where Boggs and I were a few minutes later, and was able to meet him and take this great picture of me with the 5 time batting title winner himself! After I met the next player, I went and got my picture certified for $6 from JSA, since they run discounts on the players signing at the shows. I can't wait to frame it up on the wall, especially because the picture was from my birth year!

The two of us then scurried through the Alomar line to meet another Hall of Famer with absolutely no line- Expos/Cubs great Andre Dawson! "The Hawk" charged the same price as Boggs, and while he was a little quieter, it was still well worth it. Dawson was elected into the Hall of Fame in 2010, in his 9th year of eligibility. With a career average of .279, with 2,774 hits and 438 home runs, this guy was by far one of the better all around players of his time. To add to his list of accolades, he also won the 1977 NL Rookie of the Year, as well as the 1987 NL MVP, to go along with 8 gold gloves and 8 All Star selections. So, to say he wasn't Cooperstown worthy is a tad bit ridiculous in my opinion.

I had him sign a Hall of Fame custom for my set, which came out nice as always. He has one of the best signatures around, even though I don't necessarily understand why his 'd' in Andre drops down so low. Nonetheless, it looks really cool! The neat part about it, however, was that he signed the card sideways, and still managed a beautiful looking autograph! I've never seen anyone sign like that before, so I thought it was pretty cool.

Dawson seemed like a very nice guy, and I was able to get this picture with him, which came out really good in my opinion. Dad is getting better at pictures every time, so I gotta give him props for that!

That will just about conclude my Card Show review post series. We didn't come home with any door prizes this time around, because we didn't necessarily see any need for the prizes, and we figured we would let someone else win this time! Dad and I had an awesome time without a doubt, and I just want to once again thank him for taking me and treating me with so many awesome cards to add to my sets! You're the best!

See Ya!

White Plains Card Show 1/22/12 Recap, Part Five!

Hey guys, Drew back here! Now that the first half of the school year is in the rear view mirror, I can finally get back to this stuff for a few months without an extreme amount of stress. My desk is cluttered with cards and I need to get some packages out, so I better get to work! Let us now continue the card show review series, with part 5. Check it out:

PART 5: Experiences with Baseball Stars!
(Past and Present!)

This had actually been the first time ever that we planned on meeting every one of the signers attending the show!  Along with a free player, we met pretty much a player from the past, of recent, and of the future! I guess in order to do this in the correct order we are going to need to work our way back in time! 

The first player I met is a current Yankees prospect, center fielder Mason Williams! Mason is the 5th ranked prospect in the Yankees organization according to Baseball America, and he seems to have an awful lot of potential! They say he is the best defensive outfield prospect they've had in a while, and he is projected in their 2015 lineup. I've never met a younger player than him; at only 20 years old. He seriously looked like he could be a big time player in MY league right now. He was very nice, yet shy, but I could only imagine how honored he felt to sign autographs for money before he even made it big! I wished him the best of luck, and that I hope he would help bring home a World Series championship, and he really seemed to appreciate the support. 

Mason signed this 8x10 out "To Drew", and it came out pretty sharp! The funny thing is, he was a very good player on the Staten Island Yankees, who I've seen play my local Hudson Valley Renegades too many times to count. I'm almost positive I attended a game between the two last season, so I possibly got to see him. I'll have to look back and check. His stats for Staten Island were impressive: .349 batting average with 94 hits in only 68 games! Maybe he'll keep up those stats all the way to the big time!

Next up was one of my personal favorite Yankees I ever got to watch, Gary Sheffield! You know, over the years, I've been fortunate enough to meet some great players that have came through the majors. However, I never felt as much of a personal connection to any of these players as I did with Sheff. Yeah, he's not necessarily a fan favorite, although fans loved seeing his crazy foul ball swings that could kill a person, but it felt really cool to get a chance to meet someone I watched when I just started getting into baseball. I still find it bizarre that he got to 500 home runs, and I doubt he'll make the Hall of Fame due to his steroid admission a while back, but nevertheless, he was my favorite player in about 2005/06, and I'll always remember wearing my Sheffield jersey to Yankee games. It was a special moment, for sure.

As excited as I was to meet Gary, I had no clue what I wanted to get signed by him. I figured I'd do something awesome like a photo for example, but the 8x10's the dealers had to offer really weren't my favorites by any means. Just when I began to get desperate, I spotted out the 16x20 photo above, and immediately fell in love. It wasn't cheap, but I didn't care, because as soon as I saw it I knew it was what I wanted. He signed it perfectly, "To Drew, God Bless, Gary Sheffield", with his very slick autograph to cap it off. I got it authenticated by JSA and was extremely pleased with how the piece came out. Without a doubt it's going up on the wall after we re-paint my room soon!

I doubt many people even need me to say who the next person I met was. I mean, the mustache pretty much gives it away (and his name is right behind him in the picture)! It's none other than Yankees Hall of Fame reliever Rich "Goose" Gossage! I always admired Goose from all of the Yankees highlight footage from the 1970's and 80's, because he seemed fearless and confident in his ability! I've been able to already add quite a few cards and autographs of his over the years, so I wasn't sure what I wanted to get signed next. Then I realized that I still needed him for my "Hall of Fame Heroes" custom set! Sure enough, that is what I got signed, and it came out awesome!

Goose's signature will never ever disappoint, as it has to be one of the nicer ones in the Hall of Fame! One thing I regretted was, although he did charge for inscriptions, he asked me if I just wanted the autograph or if I wanted anything else, and I just said the autograph, being the truthful person I am. Now, I want to smack myself for not getting the HOF inscription, but eh, I'll be okay in the long run. It still looks sweet! It was certainly a fun experience getting to meet him, especially since Dad talked hunting with him for a little while. Goose told me I should get into it because it's a lot of fun, and he told us about how he always loves to hunt with his sons. He was a genuinely nice guy, and I was thrilled to have the chance to meet him!

The final player Mike and I got to meet on this already amazing day was former Mets pitcher and 1973 NL Rookie of the Year, Jon Matlack! Matlack was the free signer for the day, and even though he was a Met, I figured it's never a dumb idea to add another former ROY winner to the collection! He actually was a very solid pitcher in the 70's, although he finished his career one game below .500, at 125-126. One other pretty cool accomplishment of his was that his performance in the 1975 All Star Game was good enough that he shared the All Star MVP with another player I've met, former Pirate Bill Madlock! The last fun fact I have to share about Matlack was that he gave up Roberto Clemente's 3000th, and tragically, final hit. 

I was able to print off 2 customs I made of his the night before the show, one for each of us, Mike and I. They both turned out awesome in my opinion, because as much as I can't stand most of the Mets, I will have to admit their colors are pretty sweet! Dad was able to get an 8x10 signed as well, since we all were eligible for 1 free autograph a person. He figured why not have it, because it would be a wasted opportunity not to. It looks pretty sharp, and while I definitely won't be hanging it up in the near (or distant for that matter) future, I'm glad to have it! 

All in all, the day couldn't have gone any more perfect... or could it? I guess you'll have to wait and see!

See Ya!

A Wonderful Hall of Fame Autograph Surprise from JP's Sports!

Hey guys, Drew back here! So, about a month ago in the Long Island National card show, JP's Sports organized a large 1986 Mets World Series reunion show, featuring about 32 Mets players, plus Ralph Kiner and Bill Buckner. While most of the players are often attainable, one player lately hasn't been so attainable. Over the past year, he's suffered through a severe case of brain cancer, and has scared the baseball world with his survival chances. Fortunately, he is somehow recovering from the awful disease, and was doing well enough to sign at the show. Unfortunately, he cancelled about a week before the show, because while he was doing well, he wasn't ready to go to the signing. At that point, my card was off in the mail order, so it was too late.

Somehow, a week ago I received a special surprise in the mail...

It looks like the mail order items were able to be signed by "The Kid", Gary Carter! And, while it does have a little bit of a smearing issue, it sure does look great! You can tell Carter's signature is a little shaky but I'm so lucky and fortunate I was able to pick this one up for the collection! It was worth every penny for sure!

Before I go I want to wish Mr. Carter the best of luck on his battle with cancer. Cancer is the devil, and I really hope someday soon a cure will be discovered. Watching someone suffer with it is depressing and gives you images in your head you will never forget. 

Also, a big thank you to my good friends at JP's Sports and Rock Solid Promotions for the help getting this autograph! See Ya!

August 20th White Plains Card Show Review Part 4

Hey guys, Drew back here! Time for you guys to see the 2 big Hall of Famers I added to my custom Hall of Fame set! Take a look...

PART 4:

HALL OF FAMERS

This has been a post I've been dying to write for months now, because I couldn't wait to talk about my story of meeting these former greats to you all. We all had to wait quite a long time because, considering its one of the biggest card shows in the country and many people were there, a lot of people were in line to meet these guys too. 

The first Hall of Famer I met that day was former Cardinals All Star shortstop, "The Wizard", Ozzie Smith! Smith, known for his trademark backflips and incredible defensive plays, was larger than life back in his playing days. Fortunately, throughout his popularity and fame, he hasn't changed his personality one bit, as he was by far the nicest and most down to Earth player I've ever met. Before us in line was an older guy with his little son, holding a little toy when he shook hands with Smith. Smith proceeded to have the kid pose on the table while he held his little toy for a picture, and it looked like it was a cool memory for those people for sure. 

I came up to Ozzie and greeted him, and did the usual "I made this card of you on my computer, in your honor" deal, because it's always the shy guys way out of being loud and obnoxious to players. He responded by saying that I'm a really creative young kid, and it meant a lot for me to hear that from a guy who was certainly a unique baseball player:

So, I got him to sign my Hall of Fame card and we posed for a picture. Following that Mike did fellow blogger William a favor and got his baseball signed for him by Ozzie, giving him a chance to meet "The Wizard of Oz". We both strongly feel like he was the nicest baseball player we've ever met, and it was a great opportunity and memory for both of us.

My autographed card came out good, and my only complaint is that I didn't reprint it before I got it signed because the printer started to run low on ink as the card completed. You can tell by looking at the color comparison on the far right side of the card. Otherwise, the autograph, plus his Hall of Fame inscription came out awesome, and I'm extremely psyched to add it to the set! Before I get to the other guest we met, here are a few pictures of some of the other signers at the show:

Ralph Kiner

Fay Vincent

Mets Rookie Justin Turner

Mets Rookie Dillon Gee

Anyway, the second autograph guest was none other than "Mr. Cub", Ernie Banks! When I saw that Banks was on the lineup, I knew for sure I wasn't going to get a whole lot of "gifts" for my birthday, as I instead asked for money so I can save up to meet the legend! I eventually compiled the money, made his card, and went off to wait in line for him in the afternoon. Boy was he slow at signing autographs! It took Mike and I over 2 hours to wait in line just so we could make use of my autograph ticket. Mike ever so kindly stood in line for me since he was done buying stuff and had nothing better to do, as I ran out to buy more before the show ended and I came back with more money than I hoped to have had. The show was about a half hour from ending, with many more people still to go, Banks already having been way past his time allotment, and he decides to get up, and walk around a little bit...

I swear, I have absolutely no idea how I felt at this moment. I thought it was absolutely hilarious some of the stuff he was saying, and the fact that he decided to get up and personalize with a lot of the people still waiting for him, but on the second hand I was worried that he wouldn't finish in time and I ended up losing the price of his ticket! Fortunately, he soon finished joking around asking who was married and who has considered divorce, murder, or suicide, and finally returned to his signing table. (PS, turn up the volume on the video above, so you can hear him!)

So, about a half hour later it was FINALLY our turn to meet him. His price was $90 an autograph, so I guess he was trying to make it worth every penny! The lady in front of us worked in the media section for the Pittsburgh Pirates, and she decided to have a long conversation with him about the old Pirates teams, etc etc. I'm standing there, right in front of Mr. Banks, while he's holding my card and about to sign it, while not having said one word to me yet and continuing the conversation with that lady. He finally turned to me and I said hello, and the usual, custom card deal, and I asked him to inscribe his Hall of Fame year on it. He responds to me by saying, almost as if he was in awe, "You made that?", and I said yeah, and he told me he was really impressed. He finished signing my card and the 3 of us, dad, Mike, and I, all went around the table for a photo opportunity. My dad decides to be the funny guy he is and says "See that kid there (pointing to me)? He's 15, married, and murdered his wife!" Banks turned and stared me down for a good 5 seconds with his jaw dropped until dad said he was kidding and that I would never do that. Banks knew and just said he was going with the joke basically. What a hilarious and memorable meet with "Mr. Cub"!

Overall, Banks really made my day, and it was definitely something I'll never forget. He seemed like a real gentle giant, and had one of the better personalities I've came across in a long time. The autograph came out beautiful and is easily my favorite of the set so far. You can't get a whole lot better than a 14 time All Star who slugged 512 home runs, winning 2 MVPs along the way!

So, my advice is this. If you ever see one of these guys, Smith or Banks, coming around your area for a signing, don't miss out! Both of them are complete gentlemen and class acts, and it was a day I'll never forget...

See Ya!

TTM #67- Tigers Legend!

Hey guys, Drew back here. Today was a nice mailday for me, receiving 2 new TTM successes! For time's sake, I'll post them one at a time. Starting off with the first one I opened, here is the newest addition to my Hall of Fame series!

None other than Detroit Tigers legend Al Kaline signed a card for me in about 9 days! It took me a while to actually get this custom out in the mail for some reason, as it was sitting on my desk for months. But a little over a week ago I realized that it was about time I try and get his autograph! I included $10 in the envelope and sent it off, hoping and I praying that it would come back. Sure enough, it did, and it looks great! For Kaline, it may have been a little sloppy, but every letter is still readable and I think it looks awesome.

To say that Kaline was worth the $10 is a definite understatement. The former 18 time All Star outfielder, known as "Mr. Tiger" to the fans in Detroit, was one of the best all around hitters in baseball history. He collected 3,007 total hits in his 22 year career, along with 399 home runs, and a lifetime batting average of .297! In the field, he was incredible, winning 10 Gold Gloves in his career patrolling Right Field in Tiger Stadium. In fact, Cooperstown decided he was so great that he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1980 after his first appearance on the ballot.  

I surely am glad I was able to add this awesome piece to the Hall of Fame set today, but it hopefully won't be the last. So far in my set I have autographs of the following: Bobby Doerr, Bob Feller, Monte Irvin, Duke Snider, Lee MacPhail, Joe Morgan, Jim Bunning, Brooks Robinson, Ralph Kiner, and now the aforementioned Al Kaline. If anyone has any suggestions of guys to go after next please comment and let me know! Thanks guys!

See Ya!

TTM #65- Orioles Greatness!

Hey guys, Drew back here! Yesterday, I finally got back from one of the best third basemen of all time in a through the mail I sent way back on March 4th. I was notified by William of a signing he was doing in which you could mail in items for $30 minimum (depending on what you requested to be signed) and get an autograph back! So, I'm questioning whether to consider this a TTM or not, because it's very similar to what I did to get Joe Morgan to sign for me. Anyway, check this out!

 

I was a little nervous of what was inside the envelope because it was really thick, but none the less it was just a letter thanking me for the purchase. If anyone is interested in trying out "The Dugout Zone" feel free to do so, because they're very good!

 

If you didn't notice by now, Brooks Robinson is the player that this envelope came back from! Brooks was recently having some health problems but fortunately he is ok for now and is back up and running. Above is my ticket for the autograph, I guess to perhaps use as a Certificate of Authenticity. 

 

Now for what you've all been waiting for, this is the result! I was biting my nails for a while in hopes that the card wouldn't come back damaged, as I sent it right during the end of my damaged custom era, but instead, it was almost in perfect condition! What a miracle! It came back in a toploader and team bag, so The Dugout Zone did a fantastic job for me on this one! Not only did he sign it, but he also inscribed his Hall of Fame year, and the autograph looks outstanding! Brooks joins many other Hall of Fame legends in my "Hall of Fame Heroes" set collection, as one day I hope to reach many, many more of them for my collection!

Brooks was totally worth the $30 in my opinion. An 18 time All Star, 1964 AL MVP, and a 16 Time Gold Glover just gives him the numbers that only Mike Schmidt and possibly Alex Rodriguez could ever reach. He may be the greatest 3rd baseman of all time, and I'm so fortunate that he was well enough to sign the card for me.

Thanks a ton to The Dugout Zone and Brooks Robinson! And also a big thanks to William for letting me know of this signing! See Ya!

TTM #59- Hall of Famer, What a Relief!

Hey guys, Drew back here. From this point forward, I don't think we'll have to deal with as much damage on customs over here at drewscards! I picked up a new kind of glue, a liquidy kind as opposed to the glue sticks I was using. Keep in mind, that glue sticks are the worst idea ever for gluing customs to the card stock. Don't do it. Anyway, after I received a damaged custom from this guy, I decided to try him once more, and hope for the best.

I got Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Bunning to sign not only my custom, but also sign a 2005 Upper Deck Legendary Cuts card! First off, I got the bottom card as part of the 2005 Legendary Cuts set, way back when I went to Cooperstown a few years ago. Since I got the set it's basically been sitting around in my special Hall of Fame box, until I found it and decided to try it TTM. The autograph looks incredible on the bonus and I'm very happy to own another auto of Bunning's. As for the custom, while it's not in mint condition damage wise, it's not in bad shape at all, and I can definitely live with this one! I sent this out prior to getting the new glue, so I hoped and prayed it wouldn't come back damaged. It would've had it stayed attached to its card stock, but fortunately I opened the SASE to find the stock completely seperated from the card itself. This success came back about a week ago, and it took about 15 days to come back.

Bunning had a very successful career. While he's not a top tier Hall of Fame, he still deserves his plaque in the Hall of Fame. He mainly pitched for the Tigers and Phillies but also played 2 seasons with the Pirates and Dodgers. Winning 224 games with a ERA of 3.27, as well as 2,855 strikeouts (the second highest in MLB history at the time of his retirement, behind only Walter Johnson), he was one of the top pitchers of his time. Not to mention he also threw a perfect game on June 21st, 1964 against the Mets, one of only 20 pitchers to ever accomplish the difficult feat.

Along with his baseball career, he was the senator of Kentucky from 1999 to 2011, when he just recently announced his retirement. Since then, he's been a great through the mail signer. If you like your Hall of Famer autographs like I do, then I highly recommend you send a card or two out to him! You'll definitely be satisfied!

A big thanks goes out to Mr. Bunning for signing for me again after the last card came home wrecked! What do you think of the cards?

See Ya!

TTM #27, and a Weird One Too!

Hey guys, Drew back here. Usually I hate TTM failures, but this one kinda cracked me up. I got 2 envelopes in the mail yesterday, the first one I'll show was a nice success!

Giants Hall of Famer Monte Irvin signed a card for me! Right now the Hall of Fame autographs are rolling in, just add this to the list. Irvin if you didn't know played left field in the Negro Leagues for the Newark Eagles, then broke into the majors in 1949, shortly after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier. His career batting average in the MLB was .293, and he was inducted into the Hall of Fame for his Negro League play as well as for his contributions to the game. Today he serves on the Veterans committee for future Negro League elections into Cooperstown.

Monte signed the card beautifully in blue sharpie, inscribing his number 20! It took 14 days for the card to arrive home, and I sent him $5 because I normally do that to guarantee me a HOF autograph. Thanks Mr. Irvin!

Moving along to the odd one, I sent a custom Yankees card to Horace Clarke, a former second baseman for the Bronx Bombers back when they stunk it up in the 60's. People refer to this era as the Horace Clarke era for a reason! So when I got this letter back in the mail, I was not very surprised...

Instead of just signing the dang card, he had to write me a full letter on the back of my letter! This is what it says if you are struggling to read it like I did (and still do):

"Dear Fan, sorry to disappoint you since I think whom ever direct you to me for signatures has a money making business and because of what I've noticed over the years, I will no longer let myself and fans be used to whomever. Very sorry. Gon on website and mail your request to my address and don't deal with that money making guy who ever he is."

Ok... well that is pretty much the weirdest thing I've ever seen in a TTM. I get the point that, wait never mind, I don't get any points. So he took all this time and wrote this whole letter to me, and not only did he not sign the letter, but he accused me of being in a money making business? What the heck? Is he paranoid?

I'll leave you with that. Is Horace Clarke paranoid? His autograph never sells for more than 5 bucks so it's not a big deal if we sold it anyway, which I wouldn't have done.

See Ya!

TTM #23- Hall of Famer!

Hey guys, Drew back here, with my most recent TTM success, that I received in 27 days from a Hall of Famer! I was able to add another Hall of Fame Heroes Custom auto to my collection for $5 and it was completely worth it!

Duke Snider! Wow, still kinda speechless to own a Snider auto right now. It came out pretty nice, even though his signature is beginning to take a turn for the worse at 83. Still, he is a great one to add to my collection! Hitting 407 home runs will do that to your hands, so he has every right to be sloppier nowadays, considering he has a better signature than most everyone in current major league sports still.

Not only did he sign the Hall of Fame Heroes card, he signed this "Hall of Fame Heroes" card too. No I didn't steal the name on purpose, I'm very bad at set names. This autograph looks better than the other one, and the card just looks outstanding. I'm really glad he signed both for me, that's just awesome, especially to think that he played center field in New York, while Mantle and Mays also played center field at the time! Unreal.

Thanks Mr. Snider! See Ya!

TTM #16- Nice Shape This Time!

Hey guys, Drew back here, with another TTM I got in yesterday. I've been sending a bunch out lately, and finally got one back. I normally don't like sending to people I've already gotten, but as you may remember, a few weeks ago I got back from Bob Feller, and the card I made of him was damaged. Since then, I began making skinnier cards so they won't get wrecked up in the mail, about the same thickness as any regular card. So I decided to try again, with no $, because I didn't want to have to pay again for the mistake.

Well, $ or not, Bob Feller understood my letter enough to sign for no charge! I included a scan of the original card and he must have seen the creases enough to sign. What a great guy! When I opened this envelope however, the entire back of the card was seperated from the rest of the card! Fortunately, I just glued it on and it looks fine. Awesome success, and now I don't have to complain about the postal service, because I have my Feller auto! This is the 3rd success in the series, following Bobby Doerr and Ralph Kiner! A nice start for the Hall of Fame Heroes series, with the next 2 being mailed out soon, I have 5 of the 10 oldest living Hall of Famer's autographs, with those 3 and Ford and Berra.

My collection is seriously starting to shape up, and it looks really mice now. Hopefully I can add multiple more cards to the series, and got maybe 10-15. Wish me luck! Thanks Mr. Feller! See Ya!

The Show Recap Begins (Part I)

Hey everyone, Drew back here. Yesterday we went down to White Plains for the annual East Coast National, one of the bigger card shows in the country! A nice full lineup was there waiting for us, as Grandpa Roy, Dad, Mike, and I entered the doors. Mike will have some guest commentary of his own to come and we'll have plenty of coverage of what I bought and the stories from the great day that was August 22nd, 2010. Let's get started!

PART 1:

THE BEGINNING

9:45 AM

Dad dropped us all off by the front of the Convention Center in White Plains, while it was a dreary rainy day outside. Fortunately, it was a beautiful day inside! On the walk over, there, sitting in a puddle, was a 1979 Eddie Murray card, in a penny sleeve and soaking wet. Mike took the card and kept it, and somehow the sleeve prevented the card from future damage, and it is now in almost perfect condition! What a cool way to start the day!

Coming in to the building, with a short line ahead of us (we like to get there early), we got our tickets, and supplies for the autograph guests. Of course as usual, JP's Sports and Rock Solid Promotions hosted the show, and they gave each of the first few people that bought tickets a Sports Collectors Monthly magazine, which was cool. A guy stood outside of the show room, next to the 8x10 pictures and baseballs to order, with a beautiful painting of Bernie Williams. He said he was a new artist and he was going to have Bernie sign his painting and auction it off to charity. He gave us a card with the painting on it, which was pretty cool.

10:00 AM
Now that we're ready, we entered the room. As usual, that first breath of fresh air in the room that is all things sports cards felt extremely good. Over 450 tables were waiting for my precious wallet to drop money on them, which is a great feeling. This time rather than showing each card by groups I'll go in order with a storyline behind them all. We looked at the tables of the cards in which we knew we couldn't afford, the 53 Mantles, Mays, Williams, you know, those cards, and we all oooed and aaaahed.

We found a seller that sold only 8x10 photos, and he was pretty cool. We looked through plenty of cool pictures for sale, non authenticated but they looked real. There was some that I liked, Joe Klecko, Don Maynard, Bob Feller, and a few more. Mike liked a few Giants guys, Chris Canty, and a Super Bowl picture signed by a few Giants players, the best being Kevin Dockery. When we saw this special though, I jumped out of my pants almost! For $15, we could get a signed picture of Phil Rizzuto! It wasn't authenticated, but with pictures of the seller with Phil all over the place made it a great buy. He had a few, so Mike got one too.

After we bought that, we looked at a few tables, but then came across a table with a $10 jersey/auto sale. Mike got 2, and I got 1.. to start. I came back later! But to start, I picked up this card for $10.

I didn't have an auto of Carlos Pena previously, so I thought it would be a nice pickup. It's a rookie card jersey auto from 2001 SPX. Carlos is having a down year batting average wise, but is always a tough power threat for the Yankees to face.

10:30 AM
I picked up a few minor cards I needed for sets, and some future TTM cards, and got some decent deals along the way. I ended up buying one more card before the first signer at 11:00, after looking around for a while.

This is my second auto of Sparky Lyle now, and it's a really nice one too. At $10, I thought it was a good enough price to do it. It's from 2009 Goodwin Champions, and it's nice and on card. I think I'm starting a trend of buying on card autos, unless it's a Topps Tribute or Bowman Sterling. You'll see why I think so as the day rolls on.

Before we met the first guest, we entered in the first door prize. Last time we got extremely lucky and each of the 3 of us won something. Each prize today was for a Willie Mays autograph. This first had autos of Bobby and Barry Bonds and Mays on it. We didn't win.

11:00 AM
Now Grandpa Roy and I are in a waiting room, waiting to meet the first autograph guest of the day. They called us a little at a time by the number on our tickets. Our number I believe was around the early to mid forties. The line took forever, and eventually we got into the room where he was signing. I got out all my equipment, including baseballs to get signed for William of foul bunt, who sent me money and the baseballs to get signed because he really wanted an auto of him. Dad and Mike actually showed up a little before we met him, and dad helped out with pictures and stuff. Well, I gave Grandpa Roy the baseballs for him to get signed, and as this player took his time to sign, they had an in depth conversation about the weak Pirates teams during his playing days. This was Ralph Kiner he was talking to! Ralph took hours to sign, but he has a great signature and was a very nice guy. Grandpa Roy told me afterwards that he'll always cherish the moments he got to talk to Mr. Kiner.

Now that the baseballs were finished, it was my turn to meet Mr. Kiner. I said "Hello, how are you", and he responded "Good, you?". I said I was doing well, and then I told him I made the card in his honor, and he said thank you, it looks very nice, around those lines. I thanked him and said goodbye. What can I say, I shy up in those moments! I got a picture with Mr. Kiner, and the card looks great signed!

12:00 PM
Well, it took a while to get Mr. Kiner, but it was well worth it. Coming up on 12:00, we decided to get some lunch at Nathans, the only food place in the building. My Philly Cheese steak was pretty good I must say, it got me full and more awake (maybe that was the soda). After lunch, we got in a bunch of lines and bought much more! We'll have all that and more to come in the next post!

See Ya!

drewscustomcards Gallery: Hall of Fame Heroes

    

What do you think of the set?