Long wait for Bobby Hull signing in Chicago

[stasman]

Did anybody attend the Sports Show last weekend in Rosemont, Illinois? I love going to the shows but this was the first time I went on a Friday. I arrived at 6:45pm and picked up my Bobby Hull ticket at Will Call (ticket #45). Hull wasnt signing until 7pm so I started walking around. At 7pm, they call ticket # 1-75 for Hull..I thought, wow, thats alot of tickets, its usually 1-25. Oh well, I happily stolled over to line and was about the 50th person. A short time later they called for ALL tickets..OK...now everyone got into the line and they snaked us for about 6 lanes. Bobby was very nice and a great signer, but he signs very slow. It took a little over 1 hr for me to get my auto. It was now around 830 pm and there was at least 100 people still in line and the dealers were all shutting down. I have been to many shows and in the past Mounted Memories have managed their lines well, but I didnt undestand why they had all of us line up at once, I'm sure there were many people like me who would have liked to walk around and spend money in the booths instead of standing in a line for 2 hrs. Isnt that the reason they number the tickets....I was just curious if anybody was still in line after 9pm....and I wanted to give a shout out to the guy with with Hull game used hawks and Jets jerseys (great game use and sweat--I hope Hull was impressed, they were very cool....)

[Ladder7]

You got to bask in the glow of the Golden Jet for quite a while. A thrill for sure.

He's the main reason goalies began wearing the mask. I believe he was the first to curve the blade (bent it beneath the door of a hotel). I remember him in the Boston Garden back in the sixties, what a monster slapshot.

Even the Bs fans admired him.

[FUBAR]

i think Bobby was the first to use the slapshot, Dennis Hull i think came up wth the curved blade....

I could be wrong, but if my aging memory serves me correctly....

[Ladder7]

Hey Fubar, or whatever you call yourself... Why the Hell you calling me out in a damn public forum. You and the other new piss ants need to try a little freaking humility.

[FUBAR]

huh, how am i calling you out? Piss ants?? (nice mature factor here)

Because you found this website before i did, your opinion matters more???

Opinions are like assholes, everyone has one, and some of them are shitty! Take it for what it is, an opinion.

im only going from memory of when i was a kid, they used to have stuff like this written on the back of the hockey cards... Like i said, i could be wrong,my memory is hit and miss, but no one was calling anyone out!

according to Wikipedia, Andy Bathgate first used a curved blade. And some other guy from the 40's the slapshot.... The old o-pee-chee cards were incorrect if you believe wikipedia.

Although i am sure Hull and his monster, often very erratic shot, helped inspire goalies to wear masks, Plante only donned a mask after being hit in the face by a shot taken by the Rangers Andy Bathgate, and then put on his practice mask to protect is injured face during the game!

You were lucky to meet Hull and get him to sign, he hasn't been a great signer throughout his years. He has never been at a show i have attended.

[JohnH19]

That was odd.

Anyway, Boom Boom Geoffrion was the first to make extensive and effective use of the slapper. Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita were the first players to be noted for having huge curved "banana" blades on their sticks.

You may have meant that he hasn't signed much since his retirement but Bobby was famous for holding up the team bus after games while signing every last autograph that was requested of him. He was hockey's greatest ambassador during his career.

[FUBAR]

Yeah, Hull hasnt been a great signer in his later years, maybe that has changed , after all, alot of oldtimers are finding that signing is a great way to make $$$.

Some guys wont even sign anymore unless you pay them....due to the fact almost everything they sign ends up on ebay... not alot of guys like me that would keep everything they get personally signed.

[Bosox Blair]

Originally Posted by FUBAR

Yeah, Hull hasnt been a great signer in his later years,

This has not been my experience at all. I've met Bobby twice in the last few years and had about 10 items signed by him for free. In both cases, he was hired by a business to do an appearance (one was a grocery store and another was an insurance company).

Once the company paid his appearance fee, he graciously signed items all day long for all comers. He posed for photos, chatted with every man, woman and child - the whole works. Very positive experiences.

Cheers,
Blair