The Accidental Autograph

Sometimes something pretty cool happens when you least expect it. Like today, for example. I left work trying to decide if I was hitting the gym or going straight home. I had an accident yesterday where I almost fell down the stairs in my apartment building. The super was moping the stairs and didnt stop to let me pass. I waited till he went to rinse out his mop and proceeded down the stairs. All of a sudden, he came back and started mopin again while I was going down the stairs. The mop went between my legs, tripping me up. I grabbed the rail and kinda did a Matrix thing where I fell back while my knees went forward, but never fell down. The super said sorry the way you would say whatever and went back to work. Rather than cause an incident, I went to work. Once there, I felt tightness in my lower back and knee, so I didnt get to go to the gym yesterday. Today, I felt a bit better and was on my way there when the knee started tightening, so I started to walk to the train.

On the way, I passed the new NFL Pop Up Store It's only open until the end of April. I hadn't been there as of yet, so I decided to take a look in the window. When I did, I saw New York Jets Defensive Tackle Sione Pouha inside the store at a podium signing for customers. I went around the corner and saw a small line to get into the store and a guy handing out photos. I grabbed a couple and got on line. Once inside, I grabbed a Jets mini helmet, like the kind Pouha uses. A few minutes later, I was meeting Sione Pouha. He was a great guy, spoke to me a few as he signed the 2 pics and mini helmet and I was on my way.

I didn't even know there was a free signing and had I gone to the gym, I never would have known until later. It's one of the few times I'm actually glad I skipped the gym. It's been while since I went to a free signing and now I have another autographed helmet to add to my Jets collection. I do have an extra phot that is up for trade if anyone wants to trade.

Also, if you want to find out who else will be showing up, follow the store on twitter @officialnflshop. From what I understand, the store will have a Jet or Giant signing every Tuesday and Friday. I think the next three signings are Giants players. Take advantage now, store will close on April 30th.

Recent Autograph Adds

I love this blog. I love writing it. But due to work, gym and other commitments, I barely have time to write as much as I'd like to. As you can imagine, there blogs I'd love to post and after a while, it gets backed up. I recently realized I haven't posted any of my autograph successes in a long time.

So, for your veiwing pleasure, I will post my most recent scores.

This was one autograph I wanted for a long time and was finally able to add it to my collection. I remember Mark Jackson as a point guard with St. Johns and then with the Knicks. He never had a certified auto released save for a college card. My rule is, the player has to be pictured in the uniform of the team I collect. So, I passed up the college cards. When Jackson was hired to be the coach of the Golden State Warriors, I decided to take a shot. After about 2 months, I got my card back, signed. Thrilled to finally have a Jackson auto in my Knicks collection.

Blackhawk great Bobby Hull signed this custom for me in about a month c/o The Blackhawks

Sent former Jet, Mike D'Amato a custom and he sent me back this 8x10, signed and personalized to me. Very cool success.

Another former Jet, Ralph Baker, signed this custom for me in under a weeks time.

The next couple were in person sucesses.

About a week ago, I attended the New Jersey Devils annual blood drive. Each year, I give blood to The Devils blood drives. This year, I decided to bring my 2000 Championship puck just in case. Last year, 2 former Devils showed up and while I was glad to get the players to sign pictures they provided, I need one on puck. This year, I vowed not to be left out, in case the player I thought would show up, did.

I was able to get former Devil Ken Danyeko to sign the puck for me in blue sharpie. I think it came out well. It's my second Danyeko puck. The first I got at a charity event and it was a rush job. This time, he took his time signing it.

Last, but certainly not least For my Spider-Man collection

Andrew Garfield, who will be playing Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the upcoming Amazing Spider-Man, is on Broadway performing in Death Of A Salesman. I was able to get him on this 8x10 after a performance. His shoe lace was untied and I told him so and added I was sure his Spider-Sense didn't pick it up, which got a laugh from him and the people in my vicinity. Nice kid. Hope he does well.

I'm planning to send out a lot of autograph requests in the upcoming days, so I will hopefully have more stuff to show as they come in. Hopefully, you will have as much fun checking them out as I do writing and posting them. I have a few projects in mind and will tell you what they are as the autos come back.

See you soon.

New Bobblehead and New Add To 500 Goal Scorers Collection

The past couple of days bought a new bobblehead and a new addition to my NHL 500 Goal Scorers signed puck collection. Was thrilled to get them in, especially since I have wanted both for such a long time.

Starting off with the bobblehead, this is an AGP Thurman Munson bobble. It's one I have been wanting to add to the Yankee bobblehead collection for some time, but the ones I had seen on ebay were well over 75.00, some even reaching over 100.00. This bobble only cost me 25.00. Probably because it didn't have a box. Thurman is flawless and at that price I was thrilled to pick this one up.

As you can see, he's decked out in the Yankees home uni along with his catching equipment, which AGP nailed, right down to the color of his chest protector, knee pads and shin guards.

Turn him around, and you have the familiar number 15, which has since been retired by the Yankees. You also have the interlocking NY on the cap.
The face sculpt is also pretty good. The bobble pretty much looks like Thurman. AGP always did an excellent job with the likenesses of the players. It's one of the things I liked about them as well as one of the things I dislike about Forever, although they are getting better at it.

I also finally got around to writting to Bobby Hull and sent him this sweet vintage looking puck, which he signed in silver paint pen. I sent the puck to him care of the Blackhawks and was returned to me in about 2 months. Glad I could knock Hull off my list of 500 Goal Scorers. Need to look at the list and see who else I can send a puck to. I was thinking of sending a puck to Jagar. Hopefully, he signs.

2012 Goals...Collecting-wise

Hey Everyone,

First off, I'd like to wish everyone a Happy belated New Year. I hope everyone had a safe and happy holidays. The month of December was crazy busy for this sexy geek, which explains the lack of postage from me. So, my list of 2012 Collecting goals are a bit late, but here they are nonetheless:

1-Card Collecting goals:

My card collection has gotten a bit out of hand. I have boxes upon boxes of unorganized madness, so I have decided a couple of things:

A-Concentrate On The Team Sets.

First and Foremost, I want to try to have as many complete Topps teams sets as possible, especially with my Yankees and Jets collections. My Yankees team sets are as complete as you can get from 1972 on. I might be missing a card here and a card there, but those sets are pretty complete. For the Yanks, I would like to concentrate on the years I'm missing. Of course, there will be cards I won't be able to pick up, like a Mantle or Berra or Ford or Maris, as my budget will be tighter this year, so unless I get a steal or a well loved card, my sets will be missing those key players for a while.

As far as the Jets go, this should be an easier task. Namath is really the only big name player in any older set and I can live without a Namath in my sets. My Jets team sets are nowhere as complete as my Yankees are, so persuing those sets are one of my top goals.

B-Forgo Game Used Cards.

I can't begin to tell you how much I have spent in the past on a blah game used card. I decided that unless the card is too good to pass or it's an awesome patch card, I will not be picking up a lot of game used this year.

C-Inserts, Inserts, Inserts.

I love these cards, especially inserts from the 90's sets. I am building binders full of these beautiful cards and will continue to do so in 2012.

2-Get Back Into Autographing:

The last year or two, my TTM'ing has gone down significantly. My thoughts were, why take the time and effort to find/make a card, write a letter and wait x amount of days for it to possibly return signed when I can just go on ebay and buy it, certified.

Well, my budget has dictated that if I want to continue to collect autographs, I'm going to have to go a cheaper route and that is TTM's or free signings. I have a lot of cards that I could put into use instead of them just sitting in a shoe box marked doubles. Time to whip out the pen and buy a roll of forever stamps.

Plus, there are projects I want to start. I'd like to go after wrestlers TTM, or try and put together a signed set of cards from a couple of my favorite teams, like the 1996 Yankees or work on a multi signed 8x10.

3-Read The Older Comics:

In 2011, I bought and read the Marvel Essentials Vol. 1's of Iron Man and The Avengers. Obviously, buying vol 2's are in order. I have also been collecting the Essential Amazing Spider-Man and reading those. I think I am at Vol 4, so I need to get the others this year.

I also would like to pick up the Essential Captain America, Hulk and Fantastic Four at some point. Since I got a Kindle Fire for Christmas, if I can get those digitally, even better.

4-Continue My Spider-Man/Batman Collections:

2011 saw me reembrace my inner geek when I started to pick up pieces here and there. I was buying figures, comics, t-shirts. Pretty much, anything I could get my hands on, I got. There was, and still is a limit to what I would get. I didn't want to buy a Polar Suit Spidey, complete with whale skin winter jacket or an Aqua Dive Batman, with green camo suit and bubble helmet. Nope. If the figure didn't come in the actual outfit, I wasn't buying it. I also did not really pick up any figures of the rouges gallery for Spidey or Bats, although I do have a few cool Venom's, Goblin's and Joker's in the collection. That might change this year, depending on space.

I do have certain things I'd like to pick up or continue to collect. I made some progress in my goal of collecting as many Amazing Spider-Man comics, issues 1-200, as well as Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man. I'd like to continue hunting down isses I need in 2012. I would like to start a Batman or Dectective Comics collection as well. Reason I have not started a Batman comic collection is $$$. Most of the older Batman comics are way out of my price range. But, the more I think about, with my Spider-Man comics, if the condition is decent or I can get a great deal, why not start Batman?

Figure-wise, I would love, love, love to grab the Hot Toys Spidey or Batman figures, especially the Michael Keaton one. Looking forward to the Captain Action Spidey re-release as well. I also need to go back and pick up some figures I am missing as well, so more comic shows, toy shows, flea markets and thrift store visits for me in 2012.

5-Fill other Holes/Start Other Collections:

I haven't really added to my Beatles, KISS, Back To The Future, Monkees collections in a while. There are things that I would love to grab, like the KISS: Alive box set or the Beatles Cartoon Series box set. I have been looking for decent prices on these, but I might have to suck it up and pay the prices I have seen on ebay/conventions if I really want them in my collections. I am also looking forward to Mattel's Back To The Future line coming out this year. I haven't heard or seen anything about them, so I hope the set hasn't been cancelled. If so, I will just grab the delorans I have seen or rebuy the BTTF Part 2 card set I used to have.

Been wanting to start a Avengers/Justice League figure set as well. I love the Classic Avengers box set I have seen and I'm kinda kicking myself for not grabbing it when I first seen it. I am just not thrilled with the 3 3/4 size of the figures, as well as the Marvel Universe figures. I had heard that the Marvel figures will be back to the 6" to 8" scale we have known and loved before, so I should be happy with that.

I would also love to pick up the Christopher Reeves/Michael Keaton/Linda Carter statues I have been seeing as well.

6-Have fun.

That, my friends, is what collecting is all about. I had a blast with it in 2011 and 2012 will be no diffrent for me. That, is a promise.

Rex Ryan Book Signing

Last week, I attended the Rex Ryan Book signing at the Jets Store in Manhattan. Over 200 Jets fans attended the signing. I managed to be about the 70th person on the line, having gone straight from work.

3 of the Flight Crew, which is the Jets Cheerleading squad also showed up to greet the fans and sign autographs while you stood on line.


The store has a wide range of merchandise for the Jets fan in your life. Here's my personal favorite, jerseys.

And once you got inside, you were greeted by the man himself, Coach Ryan. He was extremely nice. I got to thank him for the tremendous job he and his staff has done in the 2 years he's been coach and I couldn't wait till he bought home a Super Bowl Title. He seemed genuinely thankful by that remark and told me it was fans like me that he's busting his tail to bring it home.

Here's the swag I bought home:

Signed photo by three of the flight crew.

Book by Coach Ryan

Inside of book, signed by Coach Ryan.

It was a fun day to be a Jets fan.

TTM Success 3/8/2011-Mike Emrick

Yesterday, I got another TTM success back. This time, it was from New Jersey Devils announcer, Mike Emrick. "Doc", is also NBC's number one hockey announcer, working their national games as well as the Winter Classic and Stanley Cup Finals. He also works games for Versus.

Emrick has been the Devils announcer twice. He was their first announcer back in the 1982-83 season, leaving soon after and returning to New Jersey after the 92-93 season. He has been an announcer for Fox, ESPN, TNT, CBS, as well as the Flyers and has worked the Olympics. He has won the National Cable Ace Award, has won local Emmy's, the Lester Patrick Throphy and was honored by the Hockey Hall of Fame with the Forster Hewitt Memorial Award back in 2008.

"Doc" signed my two customs in 2 weeks time, sent care of the New Jersey Devils in Red ink. Very pleased with the success. Emrick is so good at what he does, that I can't watch a hockey game and enjoy it unless he's calling the game. That's as good as a complement I can give any announcer.

First Spring Training TTM Recieved

I finally got back a spring training ttm the other day and it was from Yankees center fielder, Curtis Granderson. I had originally sent him a 2010 Topps Heritage and a custom Yankee Stadium card and they were returned, unsigned. But he did send this card of his own, signed in black sharpie. After consulting with other ttm hounds on sportscardforum.com, it was deemed that this is a legit auto.

The total days it took to recieve back was 10 days. Thanks Curtis for allowing me to add your autograph to my growing Yankees autograph collection.

Al Toon TTM

I finally have an Al Toon auto in my Jets collection. And it only took me about 2 years to get it back.

I sent Mr.Toon a Upper Deck Legends football card and a custom generic Jets card for him to sign and promptly forgot all about it, so when I recieved them back, I was surprised. Still doesn't beat my all time record of 4 years to get Ben Oglive back.

Could be worse. Could have been like what Ben Sheets did when he took 2 years to return my card, unsigned.

Al Toon played for the Jets from 1985 to 1992. He was drafted by New York in the first round, 10th overall, of the 1985 NFL Draft out of Wisconsin. He was a 3 time Pro Bowl and 3 time All Pro player who caught for 6,605 yards and scored 31 touchdowns in his NFL career. Unfortunately, he had to retire at the age of 29 years old due to suffering at least 9 concussions. He suffred from Post concussion syndrome after his NFL career was done, but recovered enough where he was able to participate in a triathlon in 2004. I understand he serves on the Board of Directors for the Packers these days.

Another Jet is crossed off the list. I am hoping I can cross another off within a few days.

New Teixeira Adds

I got in a couple of Teixeira cards for my PC this week. One is an ebay purchase, the other was from a trade.

This is the ebay purchase. A 2010 Topps Peak Performance Game Used Jersey card with pinstripe. Love it! I love it when I can find a gu jsy card with the pinstripe on it almost as much as finding one with a piece of patch.

This next card was a trade I made over at tradingcardcentral.com. It was a trade that required cash and a trade of an autographed Bob Gibson card. Worth the trade.

2005 Reflections Mark Teixeira/Hank Blaylock Dual Patch/Auto card numbered to 25

This card is absolutely sick looking in person. It is definately the centerpiece of my Teixeira PC until I can afford a Game Used bat of his. (Are you listening Steiner Sports?)

I also added some base to the PC and the collection is growing. I just have to update the have list I have on the bottom of this page.

Hope to add more shortly.

Good Bye Andy. Thanks For The Memories

Yesterday, Andy Pettitte officially announced his retirement at a press confrence at Yankee Stadium. Yankees manager Joe Girardi, Yankees GM Brian Cashman and former Yankees CF Bernie Williams were in attendence to Pettitte's farwell address to the media. In his press confrence, Pettitte admitted that he was woring toward coming back for the 2011 season, but after some soul searching, decided he didn't have the hunge to compete and that his wanting to be with his family outweighted his desire to come back for another season.

So after a 15 year career, in which he won 240 games, was a 3 time all star, a 5 time world series winner and the all time winningest post season pitcher, Pettitte hangs up his cleats. I can't say that surprises me. I would have figured if he was coming back, he would have said so after the Yankees failed to land Cliff Lee. Instead, Pettitte never said a word and lingered before finally letting the world know. I don't begrudge a man for wanting to be with his family. Plus, Andy was as much a Yankee as Derek Jeter is in the years Pettitte played here, save for three seasons as a Astro. I can tell you one thing, Pettitte will be missed. After CC and Hughes, the rotation is an uncertainty. AJ Burnett needs to get his head on straight, a few rookies will be vying for the 4th and 5th spots in the rotation along side Freddie Colon, Bartolo Colon and possibly Mark Prior. Not exactly a rotation I would want to take into war against the likes of Boston, Tampa, Detroit, Texas and Minnesota. Baltimore will be improved, Seattle may get better and Oakland is worth keeping an eye on. The Yankees are not guarenteed a playoff spot and will have to make a trade of some sort to improve the rotation to contend.

In honor of Pettitte, I give you two of my favorite Pettitte cards in my Yankees collection:

1996 Leaf Certified Andy Pettitte on card autograph

2008 Upper Deck Game Jersey gu jersey card.

Good bye Andy. Your will be missed

Patrik Elias-All Star

Today at 4pm, the NHL All Star Game will be held in RBC Center, home to the Carolina Hurricanes. This year, my favorite hockey team, the New Jersey Devils, will be represented by the franchises all time points leader, Patrik Elias. At the half way point in the season, Elias has been one of New Jersey's bright spots in an otherwise dismal season. Elias has scored 13 goals with 24 assists, good for 37 points. He leads the team in total points, assists and game winning goals with 4.

Elias was drafted in the second round (51st overrall) by the Devils in the 1994 NHL Draft. He was called up to the Devils during the 96-97 season and finished that season with 2 goals and 3 assists in 17 games played. He went back down for 3 games in Albany before being called back to New Jersey for good. During his career, he's been a part of top scoring lines like the A Line of Elias, Jason Arnott and Petr Sykora and the EGG Line of Elias, Scott Gomez and Brian Gionta. He holds the NHL record for most overtime goals in a season with 4 and holds just about every Devils scoring record you can think of. He has also won 2 Stanley Cups, assisting on the Cup winning goal in 2000

The above card is from my personal collection. Its a 97-98 Be A Player Autograph from his rookie year. I have a small Elias collection with a few other autographs, a couple game used cards and a game used stick I picked up from the Devils Draft Party a couple years back. He is always a player I have considered collecting as he is not expenisve. He has always been a good player for the Devils and I hope he decides to retire as a Devil. I have no doubt his number will hang from the rafters of the Purdential Center after he retires.

My Three Favorite Signed Mini Helmets

A great game by the Jets.. well, almost. Yeah, they eeked out the win by 2 points over The Colts, but Mark Sanchez drove me absolutely nuts in this game. Over throwing, under throwing recievers, yet when it counted he made the most of his throws. None was more improtant than the throw to Braylon Edwards with under a minute left in the game to give Nick Folk better field position to kick the game winning field goal.

Loved the ground and pound game by LT and Shonne Greene and the defense made the stops when they needed to. Now the Jets play Tom Brady and the New England Patriots next Sat @ 4:30. Not going to be an easy game, especially on the road. If the Jets win this game, then I will be convinced they are Super Bowl bound.

To celebrate tonight's victory, I will show off my three favorite signed IP mini helmets:

Don Maynard-I got this throw back signed by Maynard a few years back at the Long Island Sports Card Show at Hofstra University. Nice guy,but didn't really say much. Still, it was an honor to meet the greatest wide out in Jets history.

Curtis Martin-Remember when I said I didn't get Martin to sign my Jets football when Iwent to training camp? This is why. I managed to get him on this mini helmet. After practice, he ran in from the field and started signing by the stands. I was the last one he signed for. The only bad thing was there was this guy behind me that kept pushing me to get to Martin. There was two small kids in front of me and because of this guy, I kept practically falling on them. I told him to quit it cause of the kids. He actually told me he didnt care about the kids. C-Mart came over and the started to sign for the kids. He actually tried to cut in front of them. I couldnt take the guy's rudeness anymore and put myself in his way so he couldnt get to cut in front of the kids. Martin saw that and said thanks, signed my mini helmet and ran off. The guy behind me was livid and actually followed me out, threatening to kick my butt. Just when I thought I would have to fight this guy,the kids dad showed up. This dude was about 6'6'' and stacked. He was watching froma few rows back and scared the dickens out of this guy without saying a word. The guy ran off and the kids dad wanted to thank me for looking out for his kids. To me, kids come first in this hobby. They are our future and really, I love seeing the smile on a kids face when they meet their favorite athletes for a few seconds. I always try to let a kid go in front of me at a sporting event and if I don't get the auto, then it wasn't meant to be.

Joe Namath-A couple of years back, Namath did a free signing at a Sprint Store in Manhattan. Very rare to see Namath at all anymore much less a free signing. I made sure I took the day off for that one. Funny thing was, practically no one showed up. They were letting people come back for 2nds. I wish I bought a football or jersey to have him sign. Oh well, I'm just glad I got to meet Mr. Jet. I did ask him inscribe Super Bowl III MVP,but he said he couldn't as his older brother would beat the s*&# out of him as he isn't the MVP of his house. Okkkkkkk. I guess that was code for "Steiner Sports has me under contract and I can't inscribe that". Oh well, I'mjust thrilled to have his autograph in my mini helmet collection without having to shell out $400.00 at a convention.

I do like getting mini helmets signed. I think they are a great way to build a football autograph collection. Plus, they don't take up as much room as footballs do. Hopefully, when I do get a man cave, I'll have built the collection and will be able to display them prominatly.

J-E-T-S, JETS, JETS, JETS!

2011 Is Just Around The Corner...

With the calender just about to turn it's pages into a new year, this is the time to reflect on another year passed and anticipate the possibilites of a brand new year. A clean slate to start fresh and accomplish goals everyone sets for themselves at the start of the new year.

I have goals. Both personal and hobby related. For the sake of this blog (and not to bore any of you readers out there), I will just keepit to hobby related. I made a list of goals that are obtainable and realistic for me to accomplish. I mean, Icould be bold and say I want to add a Lou Gehrig cut auto to put next to the one of Babe Ruth that I already have, but it's not realistic. Therefore, here are the realistic goals I'm setting, hobbywise, for 2011:

1-Add to my growing bobblehead collection.
I started seriously collecting bobbleheads in the early stages of 2010 when I picked up three Forever bobbleheads up at the Westchester County Baseball Card Show. I snagged a Ford, Rizzuto and Jeter bobbles. It started me on a quest to add more nodders to the three I had already bought. Now, my collection stands at 50 and I want more. There are some elusive bobbles I have bid on and lost on ebay, like the AGP SGA bobbles the Yankees and Columbus Clippers have given away. I hope to add Ruth, Dimaggio, Maris, Stengel to my collection as well as Pettitte, Wells, Clemens, and Jeter. Then there is the 2009 World Series Champions bobbles. I only have Mark Teixeira right now. This is a set I really want to concentrate on finishing by the end of the year. Getting a better display case for them is also a priority. I've just about run out of room in the three shelf unit they are in now.
Adding more Jets, Devils and Knicks bobbles would be a plus as well.

2-More Yankee Vintage
In an earlier post, I showed off the oldest Yankee cards I have in my Yankees collection. A pair of 1956 Topps cards. As a team collector,I would love nothing more than toadd more vintage to my collection. I know adding cards from Mantle might not happen anytime soon,but I don't see why I can't add others. I always see Ford, Berra, Howard, among others at decent prices. Mybe a well loved Mantle will fall on my lap,who knows. Plus, I'd like to finish my 1971 Topps Yankees team set too.

3-More Yankee autos
Right now, my Yankees autograph collection stands at close to 150 diffrent Yankees on cards, balls, mini helmets, pictures, etc. I'm always looking for diffrent players I don't have in my Yankees collection. I really don't have a must have list,but I have an idea of who I need. I would also like to finish up this large black and white photo of the old Yankee Stadium from the upper deck,with the facade hanging overhead. I have been getting diffrent players to sign it and it looks pretty good. I might try for a few more and then get it matted and framed.
I also would like to start a signed Yankees baseball collection too.
During the course of the year, I will post blogs of the autos I have.

4-Finish Team Sets
I do have holes in my teams sets. I have team sets of Topps Yankees cards going back from the late 60's to the present. Would like to try and finish them.

5-Don't Forget The Others
Although I am concentrating on mainly my Yankees collection, I do have team collections of the Jets, Knicks, Devils and Islanders I don't want to ignore. Also, adding to my Mark Teixeira, Tino Martinez, Martin Brodeur, Mark Sanchez and David Lee PC's as well.

6-Organization Is Key
This is my main goal. I want everything in binders or Top loaders and penny sleeves as soon as possible. Waiting so long to do take care of this was the worst mistake. Now, I find myself digging through boxes, piling up cards and putting them in binders. It's a long process, but it must be done. I would like a final count of what I own soon.I also want to put create a spreadsheet as well. Right now, I have 22 binders of Yankee cards alone. I can honestly see that number grow to 30 by the time I'm done.

7-Improve The Blog
I'm always thinking of ways to improve this blog. One I would really like to do is change the picture on top. I would rather it show off the love I have for bobbles, cards, autos, and mcfarlanes. Also,I would like to find a way to throw Yankees, Jets, Knicks and Devils in it as well.

So, that's the list of New Years Resolutions I have for my hobby. They are goals that I think I can reach within this upcoming year. Will I do all of them, plus the personal ones I have set aside? Well, one of my best friends told me that if I can visualize it and if I have the drive, I can achieve my goals. My motor's running.

What are your goals?

Recent TTM's

I recently recieved two returns on some custom cards I made not too long ago. Simple designs, but they look great when signed.

Harry Gallatin signed this card in under a week's time. He played for the New York Knicks from 1948-1957 befor playing a season and a half with the Detroit Pistons. At 6'6", he was an undersized center, but still made 7 All Star Teams, pulled down a Knicks record 33 rebounds in a game and made the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1991. Not a bad career for an undersized center. very pleased to be able to add "The Horse" to my Knicks autographed collection and he also gave me permission to send a mini basketball for him to sign.

Bubby Brister is probably more know for his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers where he played from 1986 to 1992. But he did spend a year with the Jets in 1995. It was not a good year for the Jets. They finished the year at 3-13 in Ritchie Kotite's first season as Jets head coach. Who knew the worst was yet to come. Brister backed up Boomer Esiason that year. He played in 9 games, was 93-170 for 726 yards, 4 Touchdowns and 8 Interceptions. Not great stats. After the '95 season, he moved on to Denver and won 2 Super Bowl rings as the back up to John Elway. Bubby signed this card in about a months time for my Jets autograph collection.

Meet New York Knicks Forward Danilo Gallinari 12/16/2010

All you Knicks fans can go meet Danilo Gallinari tomorrow from 6-7pm and nab a free autograph while helping the Daily News Readers Care to Feed the Hungry of New York Food Drive (quite a mouthful, eh?). Any fan who brings any non perishable food item to Modell's, located at 234 W 42nd st, will recieve a free autograph. If you have any questions, call 212-764-7030.

I do hope to attend. My company holiday party is tomorrow night, so if I go, I'll have to leave work an hour early and go then go the pah-tay.

I will be in attendence tonight as the Knicks play the Celtics at MSG. Hopefully, I can nab some autos and even more importantly, I hope for a hard fought game that results in a Knicks victory.

Me thinks I need to check the Garden store for bobbleheads....

Re-starting TTM's

When there is no baseball, I usually have a lot of free time on my hands. I sometimes watch MLB Network programming or pop in a Yankeeography dvd or bid on ebay. I do watch the Knicks, Jets and Devils as well. Or I'll pop in a movie, hit the gym or play xbox. When I have some down time after all that, plus work, I send out autograph requests.

Now, mind you, I don't send TTM's as much as I should. but when I do, I'll write up a quick letter, throw in a card or a ball and send it out with the hopes I get said item back quickly and safely. There have been times when I send a baseball or puck out and not gotten it back (Are you listening Mariano Rivera, Paul O'Neill and Jacques Lemaire?) I usually don't send anything of value out unless I know I'll get it back in return. What I usually send out are cards.

I will only collect the player in the uniform of my teams. Why? Because there are so many players who have played for my teams (Yankees alone have had 1,516 players don the pinstripes in their illustrious history). Aside from Hall of Famers, that's plenty to chase. Besides, I really dont care about getting a signature of a shortstop who played for the Angels in 1981 and batted .190 in 18 games, unless he played for the Yankees at one point.

So, what if there isn't a card I can find of the player in either a Yankee, Jet, Knick or Devil uni? Simple, I will make one up to send off to the athlete. I will start by googling or looking on Yahoo for a pic of the player. I'll save the pic and upload it to my Photoshop elements program. I have some ready made templates of the teams. The hard part for me is cutting out the player from the pic. My skills in photoshop are elementary, so I sometimes have to re-do the card untill I get it as right as it will get. Here some pics of some I have already made up:

Now, here are some signed examples:

The designs are pretty crude (especially my earlier Knicks customs) and easy to make. I'm not the greatest at Photoshop, heck, I can't even draw a curved line on it. But I am pretty happy how these came out and even more thrilled when they come back signed as they look pretty sweet, if I do say so myself.

I have a few Knicks customs already sent out. I'll update when I recieve them back. I'm also working on custom cut signature cards.

Tonight, there will be no autograph request letter writting, nor will I be watching Monday Night Raw. Nope, tonight I will have my butt parked in front of my TV, an ice cold Blue Moon in one hand and a Buffalo Wing in the other, rooting for my Jets on Monday Night Football. First place in the AFC East is on the line and this game could also have serious playoff seeds on the line as well. This is probably the most important regular season game in recent Jets history and I have been a die hard fan since 1979. Let's Go Jets!