I guess you can say I am lucky living in the Chicagoland area. We are blessed with many great athletes and with teams/stores that host public signings. The Chicago Bears and the Chicago Blackhawks are the best for this.

So with that being said I thought I would start a thread and chronicle my IP autograph collecting. I usually get at least 1 a week, sometime more.

I will update this as I obtain the autographs (will only be IP auto's). My first update will be from this past weekend when I met Brent Seabrook.

Please keep coming back to check the thread as I add because there are many players still scheduled to meet this month.

So far this month I am scheduled to meet the following athletes in person as well:

Derrick Rose 3/13
Mike Singletary 3/12
Jim McMahon 3/12
Mike Vick 3/12
DJ Moore 3/12
Yale lary 3/12
Phil Regan 3/12
Sam bradford 3/13
Charlie Joiner 3/13
Roger Wehrli 3/13
Bob Love 3/26
Tomas Kopecky 3/15
Mike Hardenstien 3/26
Bob Avellini 3/26
Kurt Becker 3/19
McDonald's All-America Game 3/30 (i am working the event registering the players)

Now for the pics of the additions!

Brent Seabrook the day before he signed contract extention

I can't wait, this thread should go far.

Happy Collecting!
MaddenRq

Hope to see more adds!

Do you pay for the autos most of the time or are the free signings or kinda a mix?

Majority of the signings are free some are paid. There is a convention this month and I am paying for most of those

I've gotten ditka, butkus, rose, Bo Jackson, hester, cutler all free plus much more

Gonna be a great thread

Man wish I lived in Chicago LOL

thats awesome man! keep 'em coming I have some nice signed photos and what not but nothing like the amount you have i'm guessing!

Went to a signing today that I forgot to list previously. Got Kevin Butler from the '85 Bears. I have met him before and as usual he was super nice. I ended up getting 5 things signed! 4 items for me and 1 item for a charity raffle that my friend does for Make a Wish foundation.

A cool side note to this signed was who I happened to see standing around. None of than Ted Hendricks. His wife runs these events with Miller Lite all the time with various 1985 bears. She is super sweet and always makes sure people get their autographs. However this was the first time I had seen Ted at any of the events. No one else recognized him. I mentioned to the older man in line with me that I thought that was Ted Hendricks and he walked up to him and said "hey no one recognized you except that guy over there" and he pointed to me. I nodded at Mr. Hendricks and he smiled back and then wandered off not to be seen for the remainder of the signing. It was clear her was there to visit his wife and not to be bothered. I just thought that was too cool not to share.

Pics are below.

Anyone interested in this thread? Doesn't seem to get a lot of replies.

Time for another update! This will be a bit of a longer one. I went to the Mounted Memories convention today and met a few athletes and picked up some items via wheeling and dealing.

The convention continues tomorrow so I will be adding another post with more pics. My prize of the convention will be signed tomorrow so I can't wait to share that.

Arian Foster


Foster & Singletary


DJ Moore


Mike Singletary



Mike Vick


Jim McMahon


Foster & Vick

Congrats on the sweet pick ups, Next time Rose does a Signing plmk As I would love to pick up a jersey of his autoed

And now the goodies....

Phil Regan '69 Cubs


Mike Singletary Jersey w/psa


Mike Vick Virginia Tech Mini w/psa


Yale Lary


Mike Tomczak


Matt Suhey


McMahon on Super Bowl XX Program


Singletary on Super Bowl XX Program


DJ Moore signed Bears Board 25 total sigs


....so I know I forgot a few pics of either some items or people I met or got signed but I took 174 total pics today and that is hard to keep track of. I am going back tomorrow so check for another update.

Will do.....but trust me when I say wait for the update tomorrow if your a DRose fan

sweet gee willikers!

what a sweet program

Thank you. It is one of my most prized pieces. 17 signatures and counting. Still have 3 more scheduled to sign it this month alone!

Very sad and upset I missed getting Dave Duerson due to Brent Seabrook's line running late last October.

Sweet stuff

My back is killing me so this update will be mainly pics. Maybe I will fill in with the back stories later.

Two post update. 1st post will be pics of the athletes, second will be pics of the signed items.

I will start off with a good one and easy one.... can anyone name the 4 athletes in this pic? Kinda cool



Dennis Rodman (donated a free autograph for make a wish foundation!!)


Scottie Pippen


Charlie Joiner


Derrick Rose!




Sam Bradford (wasn't a fun until I met him, coolest person i met!)


Tom Seaver (Also Super Nice!)

And here are the items I left with... All signed in person except the 3 hockey items.. bought them from a booth from a company that holds shows with Blackhawks players here a few times a year.

Derrick Rose Signed Simeon High School Jersey w/psa



Charlie Joiner/Yale Lary Signed Mini



Signed by 11 Heisman Winners


Bryan Bickell



Cammi Granato

WOW some killer updates!!!! And I love this topic, don't kill it!!


As for that Heisman piece, thats is just



Keep it up man! I'm only 3 hours away from Chi, maybe I need to start going to stuff.

Come on out in August. The National show will be in town.

I really am hoping to make it. And might be meeting a online friend there as well, that I have never meet. But its all going to depend on if I have the money. Its not just the money to get in or buy things, but have to pay for gas, food, if we do a hotel (so I could go the next day), and others. But it is on my list. So can hope for the best.

Another update. Met Tomas Kopecky last night. Very nice guy. Had him sign a copy of the "One Goal Achieved" book which is about last years championship run. That brings the total signatures on the book to 5.

These were taken with my cell phone so not the best quality.

So today's update will be Kurt Becker from the 1985 Bears. Talk about a nice guy! I had him sign 4 things for me in total. 2 were items that are being donated for a raffle where 100% of proceeds go to the Make A Wish Foundation. Then I had him sign 2 Super Bowl XX programs, one for me, and one for a co-worker.

Very cool Congrats.

Ok, so big update today! Long day as well! There wass an "autograph fest" at a local card shop today. 3 players through out the day, first one starting at 11am and the last one starting at 3pm. The players were Bob Avellini, Bob Love and Mike Hartenstine.

Not to make a long post any longer but if anyone is interested I can go into further detail later but Bob Avellini really put me on the spot and asked my opinion on the lockout. I told him and we have a 5+ minute exchange about it. He got a bit heated while giving his views but it was all within a pleasant conversation, even if I did start to sweat! LOL

Anyway, here is the important stuff, the pics! Enjoy.

The Athletes:

Mike Hartenstine


Bob Avellini


Bob Love


The Items:

Hartenstine SBXX Program


19 Signatures


14 Signatures


15 Signatures


27 Signatures


Bob Love Bulls 11x14


Bob Love Retired Numbers 11x14

great adds

Quick update today. Found out at about 3pm that Denis Savard was signing at a bar during the Hawks game. Took the 30 minute drive and scored 2 pucks with cool inscriptions. Cell phone pics again

Denis Savard


1338 career points


Spin-O-Rama

Very cool. Nice way to rush to the bar.

yeah I can imagine that rush to the bar being like a dukes of hazard car ride! Congrats on the spin-o-rama!

Justin

Time for another update!

This update will be from two days this week. First being from Wednesday March 30th which is when I volunteered for the Ronald McDonald House and worked the High School All-American weekend. My job was to provide any and all information about the weekend to the players and their parents. I wasn't allowed to ask the players for autographs as it was not the proper time or place. However I did get to meet most of the future stars of the NBA, Austin Rivers, Quinn Cook, Michael Gilchrist to name a few.

The only autograph I got that day is below, a signed book by Alonzo Mourning who was there giving a speech to the players.



Alonzo Mourning Signed Book



And the second part of the update is from today. Two former Cubs were signed at two different Meijer locations, both at the same time 11-1pm. Luckily they were also only 15 minutes apart! I got to the first one, Lee Smith at about 10am and was 7th in line. I was able to get in and out with my autograph by 11:10 and back in my truck on my way to meet Bill Madlock. When I got to Madlock I asked him if he could put 4x batting champ on my mini bat. He took it one step further and also inscribed the years! Pics below!

Lee Smith




Bill Madlock

yeah thats awesome! GO CUBS!

Justin

Very cool ZO auto!! And congrats on working the cool event. And the other 2 autos are sweet as well.

Another spur of the moment update. Wasn't planning on going to this one but was bored sitting around the house. Drove an hour to some home and garden show that was free admission and also free autographs from Robbie Gould.

The next update will be at least Taj Gibson and possibly Loul Deng. Not sure if I am going to Deng or not.

Robbie Gould



16 Signatures

Very Sweet..Can't wait to see more!!

Sweet. I wish there was people signing like that around here, where I just kinda find out and just go.

Very cool. Like the Robbie as he was a PSU kicker.
Very nice to have so many players auto in the area.

Had a tease today! Got a phone call 10 minutes ago saying Carlos Boozer was signing autographs at the mall (across the street from my office) at 5pm for free. This hasn't been advertised so shouldnt be a line! Well I called to confirm and they said it was just cancelled and will be rescheduled on wednesday.

Wednesday is a problem! I am getting Luol Deng and Taj Gibson already on wednesday and Deng is at the same time. Just ordered a nice 16x20 for Deng so I gotta go to that!

Doh!

very nice Gould auto! That helmet is looking pretty sweet!

Justin

SWEET ADDS as always

I have my basketball update today. Overall I think it went well even though I did not get Taj Gibson. I just didn't have time. Anyway, I met Luol Deng today. I knew it would be a mad house so I left the office a little early and got there at 2pm for a 5pm signing. Unfortunately I forgot my chair! I was 2nd in line.

He showed up on time and I went up to get my item signed and right away he got a big smile and said he loved the particular photo I had. I made a little small talk about some of his stats while he has played for Great Britain and he thanked me and no my way I went.

I think it is safe to say there was 350+ people there. It could have been worse because Boozer and Taj were also signing same times and they had a few hundred each also I was told.

Luol Deng


16x20

man that photo is awesome! yeah this is a killer thread!

Justin

UUGGHH Bulls

Today's update features a Hall of Fame and Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawk Stan Mikita. This was an early morning signing for free starting at 10am and going until Noon. We got there around 8:15 and were about 15 people back.

I was able to get through the line twice, both times having a Blackhawks logo puck signed. One for me, and one for the Make A Wish Foundation Raffle (there will be another thread about that)

Stan is not the most friendly person but today he was in a decent mood. Just need to remember not to ask him for any inscriptions and especially not an HOF inscription. He will only do those at paid signings and if you ask you will get asked "why do you need that?" "so you can go sell it for more?"

And with that, here are the pics.

Time for another two part update! These additions took place the last couple days. First was Friday, the 15th, which a friend of mine and I went down to Harry Caray's Restaurant where Bobby Hull was hosting a Blackhawks Playoff Party.

Now we have been in constant talks with Bobby Hull and his agent about having him come out for a signing during our Charity bar Craw for Make A Wish Foundation (www.crosstownclassiccrawl.com) Well the good news is he seems very excited to join us and even said he may join the crawl at the next bar after his signing ends!

Unfortunately my friend hasn't email me the pics of Bobby yet so I only have the pics of the items he signed for me. I will add the pics of Bobby once I receive them,

Update #2 is former Bear QB Bobby Douglass who had held the record for most rushing yard for a QB for many many years until the new waive of athletic qb's come in. Some of you may be more familiar with hm for another reason as he was arrested last Wednesday and all over the news here for some domestic dispute. Nevertheless he was a very nice and friendly guy and well worth the autograph!

Pic time!

Bobby Hull Pucks


Bobby Douglass



Full Size Helmet w/17 Signatures (started late Jan '11)



Bears Board w/28 Signatures (started Feb '10)

nice bobby douglas was an excellent option before payton came along

Congrats on the great success! keep it going!

Justin

Way to Go Show them What a Sports Town we ARE Chicago. othecardman

More nice adds!!!

Talk about a busy weekend. This will be the 3rd update since Friday!! Unfortuantely it is also the last one for a little while as my signing schedule is blank until a week from thursday.

Lastnight I went to Game 3 of the Blackhawks vs. Canucks playoff series. Now the Hawks lost so that soured the night some but I still had a great time and was able to score a few autographs from some Blackhawks Alumni. The Blackhawks have 1-2 former players signing at all home games.

Last night's guest were Cliff Koroll and Grant Mulvey

Cliff Koroll



Grant Mulvey

Just an awesome collection, thanks for sharing....

pretty awesome! Can't wait until the next updates!

Justin

It has been awhile since my last update. With Easter Weekend and the NBA/NHL playoffs and that darn lockout the signings have not been as often.

Yesterday, the wifey and I went to meet Matt Forte at a local PNC Bank. I think I mentioned before how well PNC Bank runs their events. They have free hot dogs and chips and pop. Live bands, free massages, video games and just about anything you want to spend an afternoon in a parking lot! haha

Yesterday's event was for a Matt Forte signing. I managed to get two items signed, my board and a mini helmet. He is doing another signing at another PNC Bank next weekend and I may go to that as well.

Here are the pics, the first one is my wife with Matt. As much as she thinks this hobby is crazy she loves taking pictures with the athletes lol.

Jenny and Matt Forte


Forte signing the items



Mini Helmet


Bears Board w/29 Signatures