[Exhibitman]

Decades ago in the hobby signed cards went begging. Many collectors thought of them as defaced. I recall purchasing lots of 1950s HOFer signed cards at auctions where no one even wanted to pay $2 each for them. I still have some of them. I also recall being looked at like I was nuts for getting old timers to sign their vintage cards at shows. That attitude persisted until relatively recently. I picked up quite a few signed HOFer cards at various Nationals over the last decade for less than the cost of the raw card in comparable condition. In some cases I was not only able to knock off a want list or type card but get an autograph to boot. That hasn't been the case for a few years now, though.