Sid or no Sid?

The Pittsburgh Penguins came into sunny California this week for a week long stay between Anaheim and Los Angeles. Excited about getting Crosby, I knew one thing, his autograph won't be the kind that you got when he was a rookie. I questioned myself if I wanted to waste one of my Mcfarlanes for a scribble autograph. After comtempalting about this pretty hard, I figured an autograph is an autograph. Mind you, my mentality was NOT that way before. The McFarlane you see here had a scribble Crosby autograph from the last visit but I took it off.

Anyhow, me and about 4 other hounds ran into Sid the Kid. As you can see, I got a scribble. I'm going to leave the autograph on here this time. At least I have his autograph and have a story behind it. What would you do?

Time to get to work!!

Just received my boxes of the Official Vancouver 2010 Olympic Pucks. Though Team Canada and Team USA hasn't been finalized, it won't hurt to get a head start of players I might think will make the team. There are also players from other countries that are pretty much on the roster already..

Attempting for the following players to sign these beautiful pucks: Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown, Teemu Selanne, Mike Modano, Ryan Smyth, Sidney Crosby and the list goes on and on. Will I get them all? Stay tuned as I will post my progress.

Barrasso/Francis Not so bad

So I've been doing autographs for about only 3 years now and I hear a lot of who's a bad signer, who's a grumpy signer, and who's down right rude. With the Hurricanes in town, I heard a lot that Tom Barrasso and Ron Francis were a$$e$ and if they do sign they are very rude about it. Well I have to say, Francis was not very accomodating, but signed while running to the cab after practice. The whole trip though, he was constantly on the phone. Whether that was a way to keep hounds out of the way or something, it sure worked. But even then, he still denied when not on the phone and I have to say, I got really lucky.

With Tom Barrasso, I was sort of intimedated to even ask after hearing all the bad stories with him. Through the 2 days they were in town, I was watching how he reacted to people asking him for autos. Sometimes he denied and when he did sign, it was a sign and run type deal. Since the Hurricanes arrived in Los Angeles an extra day, they had practice at the King's training center. After practice Barrasso was hanging outside waiting for a cab. I took my time and then asked for an autograph on the card pictured below. I had his card ready on top of other player cards and he grabbed my whole stack. He signed my card and actually moved it to sign more but I only had one. I was shocked!!! I heard he only was a 1per. Some kid came after me and Barrasso signed 4 cards for him and even talked to us. Man, I was either lucky or he was just enjoying the weather. After he signed, we talked about how did a private signing for a company and all the interesting items that were sent in. All in all, I probably spoke to him for about 5 minutes.

Hurricane roll right through

The Hurricanes came into sunny Los Angeles and didn't do so well against the King's. Their loss though doesn't speak how well of a team they were signing autographs though. I was able to get 13 autos on my Hurricanes jersey, my Eric Staal McFarlane and some autos in my Reflections book.

Eric Staal was a 1per throughout the trip so it took a couple trips to get my autographs, but Cam Ward was great and so were the rest of team. I have to admit though, as much as I did my homework, I still had a pretty tough time. I guess that's what happens when we haven't seen this team in 3 years.

Reflections of some Autographs?

While watching a King's game I had a reflection of all the autographs I have in my book that the NHL and Getty Images came out with last year. It made me check Amazon to see if they came out with a second edition. To my excitement they did and I ordered it right away to get another project started. Even though I haven't finished my last book,I thought I start another. These books are good for any hound that doesn't want to spend much money in pucks, photos, jerseys, etc. It doesn't have every player but has a lot of big name stars.

I will post some of my accomplishments soon.

2007/08 Relections Book
















Reflections 2008/09

Shark Attack

The San Jose Sharks visited the Los Angeles King's to kick off the 2008/09 home opener in Los Angeles and they didn't/did disappoint. Somewhat of a contradicting statement, but depending on who you were hounding for, it could of been good or bad. Like always, Thornton left early and took a cab. With the new hotel that the Sharks are staying at, if they take a cab, you are a$$'d out. Other than Thornton, everyone else didn't disappoint. I was only in need a few players and got everyone I needed. Below is my Roenick Series NHL 4, Dan Boyle in my Getty Book, and got some cards done. From top: Dan Boyle, Mike Grier, Mike Grier. Bottom: Rob Blake and Jonathan Cheechoo

Coyotes Not So Wild

Doing autograph hounding in Anaheim is not as successful as it is in Los Angeles. The hotels are locked down due to baseball hounders ruining a great thing. So with the Coyotes visiting Anaheim, I was only able to get my Mcfarlanes signed but none other then the great HOF Grant Fuhr. One ofthe bases were inscribed and the other one wasn't. As you noticed, Gretzky wasn't seen anywhere.

Nothing Frozen in Las Vegas Pt . 2

I thought the King's paintings that I got painted and signed by the players deserved a separate post of it's own. These were actually painted in oil and done in Vietnam. I originally met this lady who does these types of paintings when I last visited Saigon. Ever since, I communicate via email to her and just send the image files of what I want painted. It's a delight to be able to have such a good working relationship with her. Enjoy!!

Nothing Frozen in Las Vegas Pt . 1

I don't know where to start. Maybe it's because spring training is more relaxed and the players haven't been bothered for a while. I don't know. I attended FROZEN FURY XI in Las Vegas, NV where the Los Angeles Kings played the Colorado Avalanche. Joe Sakic didn't want much to with all the people asking for autographs, but Ryan Smyth, Darcy Tucker, Andrew Raycroft and all the other Avalanche players were great!! The Kings players were all great signers and had a great conversation with Bob Miller. Overall, I was able to get all 8
of my McFarlanes signed, 6 jerseys and 2 oil paintings that I got done. It was a pretty successful trip I must say. Bad thing, I got 2 pucks that want to get signed.

2 Wrongs = Right?

So last friday Jerry Rice made an appearance at the Boys & Girls club of Long Beach. In the newspaper ad, it was advertised as him guest speaking and signing autographs afterward. Unable to resist a free autograph, I went straight to the event right after work. At first, I thought this would be the easiest autograph I'd receive from him, but as the event ended and the autograph session began, I was highly disappointed. "Jerry Rice will only sign autographs to people wearing the blue Boys & Girls of Long Beach t-shirts." His business manager and the event staff people were serious and made sure only people with blue shirts got an autograph. I was determined though not to go home without an autograph and pulled aside a group leader (probably 18 or 20 at most) wearing a blue shirt. I started my conversation by being nice and striking up a conversation. Then I went in for the sale " I will give you $20 if you can get my jersey signed." then he says "Really? $20?". "Yup", I said. And 5 minutes later, he was back with this beautiful autograph on my jersey and only $20 out of my pocket.

Now I know that 2 wrongs don't equal a right, but after sitting in the stands for this whole presentation and seeing Jerry Rice sign autographs, I really wanted my jersey signed. I've been holding onto this jersey for about 1 year now and have tried numerous times and failed to get it done.

All I can say is Thank You Mr. Group Leader and Thnak You Jerry Rice for a nice autograph!!!

Bad Addiction

No addiction is ever good whether it's being too nice or drinking too much. To add to the list of many, hounding is just one of them as well. A few months back a supplier had these Authentic CCM jerseys for sale dirt cheap and I had to jump at the chance, addiction!!! So, for the 2008-09 season, I have added a few more "work in progress" items that I can't wait to add. The 10 jerseys added were Rick Nash, Joe Sakic, Alexander Frolov, Mike Modano, Ryan Smyth, Mats Sundin (if he comes back), Andrew Raycroft, Roberto Luongo, Wade Redden and Milan Hejduk. I will definetly keep you posted as to how I progress throughout the season with pictures and columns.

Very Generous

This past Saturday Magic had a public signing at one of his 24hr fitness centers. Needing his autograph and the fact that it was only guaranteed to the first 100 people in line , me and the wife woke up and got to the 24hr fitness gym by 7am. The signing was supposed to start at 9am, but the Magic man didn't appear and start signing till 11:30am. As much as this was a free sit down signing, I was a little peeved at the fact that 1) the event was 2 hours delayed and 2) no one really kept us informed until 30 minutes before Magic appeared. I mean, don't I have a right to be a little peeved?

Anyhow, as you can see, we, ok I, walked out a happy camper with Magic's Laker home jersey and Team USA jersey signed. Credit is due to the wife who waited the miserable 4 hours just to help me out.

Luuuucccccc!!!!!

Pretty much speaks for itself. Future HOF and a legendary King. No matter how many other teams he played for and the fact that he won the cup with Detroit, Luc Robitaille will always be a Los Angeles King. I have to say, as a die hard Kings fan, this is probably on the top of my list as far as one of my best autographs. Go Kings Go!!!!!

JMFJ

Who would of ever thought that one would meet the parents of a professional hockey player to trade anything? For me, I had that opportunity with Jack Johnson's (Los Angeles King's defenseman) parents. I had a painting done that the parents saw and wanted to offer me money for. Not into selling my items, I asked if it would be possible to get a signed stick of his. Probably since he has millions in his garage, they told me that they would give me a signed game used stick and a signed puck. I jumped at the offer and met them up at Best Buys. A little nervous, I met Jack's mom, little brother and the father. Jack's parents were very nice and while the mom and little brother went shopping at Best Buys after we traded, the dad stayed back and talked hockey with me.

Kidd, Clyde and Hull

Golf tournaments are probably your best bet of getting a variety of different players to sign autographs. Even though I really only collect hockey autographs, I am always open to venture out into the world of the NBA and NFL. As you can see above, I stick to my roots with the McFarlane figures, but ventured out into the NBA, but still got a NHL player. Jason Kidd,Clyde Drexler and Brett Hull were kind enough to sign my figures and chatted it up a bit as well. One surprise was how willing Brett Hull was to sign. For someone with a reputation to not like to sign, he did up multiples graciou sly for me.

The Wizard

The outcome speaks for itself. Not only did Ozzie chat it up with all the hounds asking him for an autograph, but he also does what you request. For me, besides his name, I asked him to inscribed "HOF02". The other inscription I was seeing him do was "The Wizard". This is one ex-player that appreciates his fan base and loves to sign for fans.

Work In Progress...

Individual items are always nice to get signed, but when you try to get a whole team to sign an item, it feels so much better once accomplished. One item that I am working towards completion is the Western Conference 2007 All-Star Team. I started this project in the beginning of the 2007-2008 season and feel somewhat satisfied so far considering that some of these guys are 1 per signers. Hopefully I can get this project done during the 2008-2009 season along with my other items already lined up for sigs.

So far, I have 13 of the 21 players. They are:
Roberto Luongo, Jonathan Cheechoo, Joe Thornton, Dion Phaneuf, Teemu Selanne, Patrick Marleau, Brian Rolston, Lubomir Visnovsky, Martin Havlat, Miikka Kiprusoff, Marty Turco, Ed Jovanovski and Yanic Perreault

Bend It Like Who?

The title totally fits the way I felt after landing this autograph. One may need to squint a little harder make out what the heck is going on in there. Even though I could care less that he personalizes since I don't sell my stuff, but one would think that David Beckham would at least sign my jersey in a better spot. I was able to gather this autograph after practice and it was only me and one other guy. No one should complain about an autograph, and trust me, I am happy I have this item, but after dropping $80 for his jersey (I am sure he makes a percentage of my purchase), you would think he would find another spot to slap his signature. Here's a better view of how much space is left.

San Diego Representing

The San Diego Chargers had a charity lunch in which about half the team showed up too. Like any autograph hound, we don't miss a beat when we have the opportunity to land a nice 'graph. This was the case for Phillip Rivers, the Chargers starting quarterback. Making sure I don't miss the golden opportunity, I showed up about 2 hours before the start of the event. Luckily for me, I was able to get Rivers to sign my jersey before walking in. Is he personable? No. But he sure gave me a nice signature.

Never Hurts

One can never deny a Hall of Famers autograph, especially when it's coming from John Elway. Not only was he one of the most popular quarterbacks during his time, but he is also one of the nicest athletes when it comes to signing autographs. He never rushes and always has time to chat it up a little.

This autograph was obtained during a golf turnament a few months back. John is an avid golfer and plays in numerous celebrity tournaments throughout the year. A little spinoff from Field of Dreams, "If you get to him, he will sign!"

I don't sell

This is probably my hardest signature to date. Tomlinson was at a golf tournament I attended and he would just not budge when I asked for his autograph. He would either ignore me and keep walking or mumble something under his breath in regards to "I don't sign for adults". He was a willing signer to kids though. I guess this is an athlete that just has those weird signing habits. He will sign for kids, but not adults. He would sign for kids but only footballs and not jerseys or helmets. I wonder if this has to do with the fact that he charges over $350 a piece for a jersey or helmet. Hmm??

Anyhow, back to my story. The following day I saw him in the lobby of the hotel he was staying at and thought of trying a different approach. I left everything behind and approached him with nothing in hand, I called to him for a little chat. I told him "I have a jersey that I'd like to get signed. I don't sell my stuff and you can personalize it if it makes you feel better." To a surprise, he responds "where is it?" and I said "give me one second to get it." Being prepared, it was on a chair just a few feet away from where I stopped him to chat. As you can see, he personalized my jersey and gave me a very nice signature. For me, I could careless about personalization as I don't sell my items.

Shaq-Fu.. I mean shoe

One is fortunate to been able to get their hands on an actual Shaq shoe. To top it off and make it even more sweeter was landing the his autograph on the product. After nearly 4 hours of waiting and up till 1am in front of the hotel, Shaq was kind enough to sign some autographs before heading out to a night club.
As you can see in the picture, the autograph isn't the best he gives, but one can not complain. I can at least be glad he nicely put "32". Imagine an autograph with just "SH".

So as you can see, I am also showing different views of the shoe for the enjoyment of how big this thing is. When putting a measurement tape against it, the show measures out to be 18 inches long. On the back heal of the show it has his number 32 and of course, the colors represent the Miami Heat. On the bottom of the show, it has "Shaq" and "32" embedded on the bottom. The shoe is pretty padded on the inside (YES, I tried it on) and is pretty heavy. For a guy his size, I am sure the weight is just like any shoe that we wear. This shoe is not game worn, but was made to his exact specifications. It's what they call a sample shoe. I can't say for sure though that he did or did not wear this exact style for a few games.

Hopefully I will be able to get a hold of his new Phoenix Suns sample shoe which I hear is white and orange. Get too many of these I will run out of space real quick.

Golden Years

One can not express the enjoyment of waiting 2 years for an autograph and finally getting it. That was the case with Mario Lemiux. After 2 years of waiting and never seeing him travel with the team, I started to think that this jersey was going to hang up in my closet without an autograph. When I found out he was attending a golf tournament about 2 hours away, me and my wife took a little vacation.

Upon arriving friday evening, we headed straight to the hotel where the players were staying at. Lo and behold, just after 10 minutes of waiting, Lemiuex shows up in the lobby. I guess patience does pay off.