RECAP OF SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012

On Day 3 of the Chicago Blackhawks Convention, I had to go it alone as Shellie had made plans for Sunday long before we knew that someone was giving us free passes.

I got to the convention at 8:15 AM, thinking that I could get a wristband for a Daniel Carcillo autograph. But some extreme Twilight Blackhawks fans were lining up outside of the convention (which was held at a hotel) as early as 3 AM. Even though wristband distribution was not for another 15 minutes, they had already cut off the lines for Carcillo, Brent Seabrook and Viktor Stalberg

So, I did what any sensible Blackhawks fan my age would do; I got another autograph from Michel Goulet. There were less than 100 people waiting to get a wristband for him, and he’d start signing at 9 AM, so that suited me just fine.

Instead of getting another card signed, I decided to get an 8″ x 10″ photo autographed. This one is going up on the wall at home.

One of the convention workers told me that there were still wristbands if I wanted yet another autograph from Goulet. I was tempted, but I decided instead to get a wristband for 3 former ‘Hawks who’d be signing at the same table together later that day: Pierre Pilote, Eric Nesterenko and Ab McDonald.

I got 1968-69 O-Pee-Chee cards signed by McDonald and Nesterenko.

I also got a stick blade signed by Pilote for my dealer friend–I wouldn’t be at the show without her generosity, and she loves Hall of Fame players.

Some things I bought on Sunday:

The Convention only went until 1 PM on Sunday, and there were not many players signing. Between autograph sessions, I was able to pick up a few things I wanted. This autographed 1990-91 Pro Set card of Stan Mikita cost me $15. I heard that Mikita–while he attends conventions and such–does not sign as often as he used to.

Starting Lineup “Pro Action” figures of Jaromir Jagr and Joe Sakic. I still need a few of these, and actually did not know that they made a Pro Action figure of Jagr.

An 8″ x 10″ photograph of Frantisek Kucera. Because every hockey collection needs an 8″ x 10 photograph of Frantisek Kucera–especially if it is only $1.

A few team photos, including this 1933-34 Chicago Blackhawks team photo. That was the first year they won the Stanley Cup.

I also picked up a few signed insert autographed cards from the 1990s, which I will eventually post on my other blog.

Final Thoughts

• The Blackhawks organization actually gave fans enough things to do. There were usually 4 “regular” autograph lines, 2 “VIP” autograph lines, 1 photo line and 2 panel discussions going on at the same time. There were a lot of people, but it didn’t feel crowded because we were spread out enough and our attention was diverted.

• Autographs of current players and up-and-coming players were in greater demand than players from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. People “camping out” for autographs of guys like Brent Seabrook and Andrew Shaw made it relatively easy for me to get ‘graphs from guys like Stu Grimson, Michel Goulet (twice) and Dave Manson. Thus, I had an absolute field day and ended up with 21 in-person autographs for my collection.
  

•  Like previous years, there were not that many dealers, but there was enough variety. The more I dug around the more I found cool things for my collection.

Overall, I had a great time. Yes, our passes were free. But even if I paid for them, I still would have had fun.

 

RECAP OF SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012
On Day 1 of the Convention (recap here), I scored autographs of Marcus Kruger and new ‘Hawk Sheldon Brookbank. On Day 2, my plan was to get many more autographs.

Saturday is the longest day of the Convention, starting at 9:00 AM and ending around 6:30 PM. This would be the day that most of the players in attendance would be signing autographs. But you don’t line up for an autograph–you line up for a wristband that gets you an autograph of a specified player later that day. Wristband distribution times were usually an hour or two before the player was signing.

Shellie and I got to the Convention at 8:35 AM. I wanted to get a wristband to get Brandon Bollig’s autograph.I had an uncut sheet of Rockford Icehogs (the ‘Hawks AHL team) trading cards, and it still needed Bollig’s autograph on it.

Much to my surprise, by 8:35 AM, all 315 wristbands for a Bollig autograph were gone. We’re talking about a guy with 0 points and 58 penalty minutes in 18 games for the Blackhawks last season.

My dealer friend gave me two VIP passes for a 9:00 AM autograph session. They announce who the VIP is 20 minutes before the session. It was Tony Esposito:

I got my 1981-82 Topps Super Action card signed by Tony-O, while Shellie got a stick blade autographed for our dealer friend.

Shellie got me John Marks’ autograph while I went and got a wristband for Dave Manson. Once she was done getting Marks’ signature, she also got a wristband for Manson.

Back in the day, I never had the opportunity to get Dave Manson’s signature. So, I was excited to get two things signed by him.

I got my 1989-90 Chicago Blackhawks Team Photo Album signed by Dave Manson (the Keith Brown signature is from 1989).

Shellie got Manson’s 1989-90 O-Pee-Chee rookie card autographed.

An embarrassing conversation transpired between myself and Manson. Manson greeted me in a raspy, whispery voice. I asked him if he was feeling sick.

“I have a paralyzed vocal chord,” Manson said.

“Oh, when did that happen?” I asked.

“From a fight in 1990,” he replied.

Wow, I had no idea. Like I said, I never met Manson or heard him talk before. Unfortunately, Shellie had nearly the same conversation with him 30 seconds later when it was her turn.

I then went and waited in line for Michel Goulet.

“Hey, that’s my rookie card!” said Goulet. “Very cool, what is this worth, five bucks?” he asked while signing my card.

“Well, now it’s priceless to me,” I replied.

Goulet got a laugh out of that one. He seemed like a very cool, very personable guy. Like the kind of guy you’d just want to hear talk about his career over a beer.

Meanwhile, Shellie got autographs from Eric Nesterenko and Ab McDonald. One good thing they started doing at the Blackhawks Convention is putting two players from the same era at the same table. The wait time is only a little longer than if it was for one person, but it is even more worthwhile because you are waiting for two signatures instead of one.

At the same time, I was waiting in line for Stu Grimson. I got an 8″ x 10″ autographed by the former NHL heavyweight enforcer. I’ve had this photo since 1995, so it was neat to finally have a chance (17 years later) to get it signed. Grimson commented on the picture, saying it is one that he had never seen before.

I then showed Grimson this picture of myself and him that was taken in 1990 at the Skate With The Hawks charity event.

Grimson smiled. “Wow!” That’s a great picture of YOU.”

“It’s a pretty good picture of you too,” I replied.

“Nah,” Grimson disagreed. “You still look good, but I look old now.”

Next, I went to see if I could get a card signed by Jamal Mayers, but they had given out all 315 wristbands for him rather quickly. The whole weekend was like that–the bit players (and minor leaguers) had more people seeking autographs than guys from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. That suited me just fine.

So I went to the line for Dennis Hull and Cliff Koroll. The two had already started signing, but there were still plenty of wristbands left. I got in line and got two cards signed.

Dennis Hull is always friendly. “Hey, thanks for waiting in line,” he said. “It must be a pain in the ass to wait in line.”

I assured Hull that it was well worth the wait, and thanked him for his signature. Koroll is always a cheery fellow, but I couldn’t think of anything to say to him other than thanking him.

Meanwhile, Shellie waited a long time to get an autograph from Bryan Bickell.Bickell works with a pit bull rescue organization called Chicago Loves Pits. Shellie created some silk screened patches about pit bulls that she really wanted to give to him. So it was less about getting an autograph and more about giving him some of these handmade art patches.

At first I was going to ask her to get a card signed for me. But Bickell has always signed my TTM requests, so I thought it would be wise to get something bigger than a card autographed. Since we did not have my Aunt’s pet pit bull with us to get autographed (j/k), Shellie got an 8″ x 10″ photo signed by Bickell and gave him her artwork.

At this point,  Shellie informed me that there were still wristbands for Stu Grimson. I hurried to try and get another autograph from him, but by the time I got back to his line, he was gone. I guess he left after a few minutes of no activity.

I met up with Sean (another blogger) and we waited in line for Steve Larmer‘s autograph.

I got Steve Ludzik rookie card signed by Steve Larmer. Even though the card says Steve Ludzik, it picture Larmer, whereas Larmer’s rookie card pictures Ludzik. (More about that here).

Shellie went and got me autographs from Eric Daze and Steve Poapst.

The line for these two guys was really short, so after getting Larmer’s signature, I was able to get a wristband for Daze and Poapst and get two more things signed:

Between Shellie and I, we ended up getting 17 autographs. Not bad for a day’s work.

Biggest Surprise of Saturday: Andrew Shaw

Andrew Shaw has become some sort of cult hero in Chicago–especially among teenage girls. A longtime hockey fan told me that this felt more like a Twilight convention than a Blackhawks Convention, with all the teenage girls and mobs of people waiting for autographs from Shaw, Bollig, and the other Icehogs in attendance.

People started camping out for a wristband for Shaw at 11 AM–and wristband distribution for Shaw didn’t start until 4 PM!  “Must have been those 12 goals he scored last year,” I jokingly said to fans in the various lines I waited for that day. To me, I’d much rather have autographs from Larmer, Goulet, Daze, Poapst, Grimson, Koroll and Dennis Hull than a relatively unproven player like Shaw.

My best purchase on Saturday: Bobby Hull Autographs

Using the $20 I got for, ahem, unloading that Patrick Sharp autograph ticket on Friday, I purchased two cards autographed by Bobby Hull. I bought them from a reputable dealer who I’ve dealt with numerous times before. Each card was $10. I am happier with these than with the photo I would have gotten signed by Sharp, so it all worked out in the end.

Tomorrow, I will post my recap of Day 3.

Last weekend was the 5th annual Chicago Blackhawks Convention. Like last year, I had absolutely no intentions of going. In fact, I practically forgot about it.

That all changed when a couple of dealers–literally, a married couple who are also hockey memorabilia dealers–called me last Thursday and told me they had two passes to the show they wanted to give me. I’ve known these two for a few years now. They are the same dealer friends who hooked me up with some VIP autographs at the 2010 show, and I always buy from them when I go to the Sun-Times card shows in March and November.

So, I now had two passes to the show. I made a few quick decisions on what I’d do:

• Focus on autographs of my heroes from the 1990s
• Not camp out extra early to get an autograph–or rather, a wristband to get an autograph. No 3 hour waits for me!
• Skip the panel discussions and focus on getting autographs. Honestly, the panels are getting a little stale (life on the road, goalies, stuff like that)
• Not be Mr. Super Blogger. That is, I did not take any pictures, shoot any video or Tweet from the show. All I wanted to do was focus on being there and getting autographs.

RECAP OF FRIDAY, JULY 20, 2012

Shellie and I got there just a bit before 5pm. We perused the dealer room for a bit, and then lined up to get autograph wristbands. We met up with with Sean, a blogger from the Chicago area, and talked hockey for a bit. Shellie and I grabbed some hot dogs (only $4.50 each, but they were big and included chips).

We then decided to get in line for autographs.

Shellie got me an autograph from Marcus Kruger. That was kind of a mistake, because all she did for the rest of the night was talk about how hot Marcus Kruger is. When I told her he is from Germany, she was annoyed that I didn’t tell her–she would have said “Hello” to him in German. (With a name like MARCUS KRUGER, you think his Germanic heritage was obvious, right?) EDIT: Marcus Kruger was actually born in Sweden, not Germany. Now I wish I had told her that he was German. That would have been hilarious.

Meanwhile, I got my 2009-10 OPC Update card signed by Sheldon Brookbank. Some fans and I joked if it would be possible to fit his entire name on my trading card. Well, the answer is he just does some sort of half-assed squiggle that looks like SLB. I hope his on-ice abilities are better than his autograph-signing abilities.

I had a VIP pass to get an autograph from Patrick Sharp. I went to wait in that line, but it was very long. I really did not need another Patrick Sharp autograph, so I tried to trade to someone who had a different VIP autograph pass.

But I had no takers. So I went back into line to get Patrick Sharp’s autograph.

Just then, a chubby guy called out to me: “Hey, I’ll give you 10 bucks for your Sharp autograph ticket.”

Now, most of you KNOW how I feel about selling autographs, it’s wrong MMM’KAY. Even though this was a ticket to get an autograph, it still didn’t seem right.

“Do you have a different autograph ticket to trade?” I asked the man. “I’d rather get a different VIP’s autograph.” Selling is one thing, but trading is another.

“No, sorry, I don’t,” said the guy. “So, how about 20 bucks.”

At this point, I was stunned. What should I do? I looked, and the guy had a Patrick Sharp Winter Classic jersey in his hands that he wanted to get signed. I had a photo that I only kinda wanted to get signed (I got Sharp’s autograph on a nice picture in 2010).

So, I caved in and accepted the man’s $20. He was happy because he could get his jersey autographed, and I was happy because I used the money to buy something I really wanted–more on that tomorrow.

On Friday, I also bought a few cool things…

I found 12 different parallel and insert cards of my favorite player of all time, Chris Chelios. Above is a shiny parallel card from the Cool Trade mail-away set.

A documentary about the Stanley Cup-winning 1961 Chicago Blackhawks, entitled The Forgotten Champs. This DVD came out in 2006, a few years before the team turned things around (and were pretty much all but forgotten in Chicago).

Starting Lineup figures of Chris Chelios and Glenn Hall. Packaging on these are a little rough, but I am going to open them eventually.

Tomorrow, I will post a recap of Saturday, which is when I got the bulk of my autographs.

I will be at the 2012 Blackhawks Convention. I hope to get autographs from Dave Manson, Daniel Carcillo, Brandon Bolig and Andrew Shaw. Wish me luck.

If you want to say hi, send me a text message at: 312-320-4378

I will be there Saturday for sure, but I’m iffy about Sunday.

Last weekend, I found some more 1972-73 O-Pee-Chee cards that I needed for my set build. Many of them were commons, but 12 of them were pretty awesome and worth scanning. So, for your enjoyment, here are a dozen cards from the ’72-73 OPC set:

272 – Goals Leaders

283 – Assist Leaders

280 – Scoring Leaders

127 – Hart Memorial Trophy

111 – Phil Esposito

226 – Tony Esposito (1st Team All-Star)

136 – Gilbert Perreault

197 – Tim Horton

145 – Ken Dryden…unfortunately, I think this card was trimmed, and I did not realize it until I got home. It measures about 2 3/8″ x 3 3/8″.

185 – Serge Savard

190 – 2nd Series Checklist (unmarked)

334 – 3rd Series Checklist (unmarked)

I now need only 108 cards to complete this set.