Sports Illustrated?

[Topps206]

Originally Posted by Huck

Feel free to post the LaRussa cover! I appreciate the fact that you were willing to get the cover signed for me. Hopefully, in the future I can return the favor.

As you wish.

Tony turns 80 on Friday, and I wished him a Happy Early Birthday, which he thanked me for. He was wearing his rings, and I hope I'm not making a mistake in passing on him for this show, something that's also on my mind after we lost Pete Rose (R.I.P.), but I liked other covers and other autographs better. I hope the opportunity for him will come again and I can jump on it. He said he was actually embarrassed in being called the Mastermind by SI.

I'm happy to have helped you out and hope to help out other fellow collectors in the future, including you again.

[Huck]

Just received the following two covers from the Philly Show. Brad Lidge added to both covers. I might add Brad Ausmus and perhaps umpire Jeff Nelson.

[Topps206]

I had my birthday yesterday, and I'm proud to add these two to my collection:

[Topps206]

I went with my girlfriend last night to downtown Nashville, saw Chuck Foreman was going to be there signing. I just happened to purchase his cover 2-3 months ago off eBay in hopes I'd maybe visit Minnesota someday and see him there. For some reason, he came to Nashville to a couple of restaurants in a rally for the Vikings, who were playing the Titans today, and won.

I didn't realize until yesterday how poor condition the SI I ordered was. I tried tending to some bends/tears and a slight tear happened when trying to put the SI back in the toploader, paid $20 for the autograph.

I've got mixed feelings, because I don't like the condition, obviously, but I do like the autograph, and I do like the cover. I'm happy overall about it, though.

[Topps206]

This is from last month, and I have the greatest mother in the world - who, among other things, is kind enough to help me with my SI collection in getting these signed for me at the Chicago Sports Spectacular.

Not pictured is my Bernard King May 7, 1984 issue, personalized to me.

[Topps206]

I think I can say that I had a nice Christmas. James Worthy was at the November show in Chicago but opted against getting him there since he pricier and is also younger than some of the people whom I got.

I think my favorite out of these five is either Gary Carter or Ken Norton, was fortunate to receive Norton's 1978 cover as a gift last Christmas. Pernell Whitaker came from Leader in Sports. Pretty much all of these came with COAs in addition to their stickers.

I've got a signing my girlfriend and I are going to later this month and will post my adds from that one. I've also reached out to some other Net54 members in offer to get something done for them that show. One of them might take me up on it, but pricing isn't up yet.

I hope you all had a nice holiday, and you all have a safe and Happy New Year.

[Bigdaddy]

Originally Posted by Topps206

I think I can say that I had a nice Christmas. James Worthy was at the November show in Chicago but opted against getting him there since he pricier and is also younger than some of the people whom I got.

I think my favorite out of these five is either Gary Carter or Ken Norton, was fortunate to receive Norton's 1978 cover as a gift last Christmas. Pernell Whitaker came from Leader in Sports. Pretty much all of these came with COAs in addition to their stickers.

I've got a signing my girlfriend and I are going to later this month and will post my adds from that one. I've also reached out to some other Net54 members in offer to get something done for them that show. One of them might take me up on it, but pricing isn't up yet.

I hope you all had a nice holiday, and you all have a safe and Happy New Year.

Very nice, especially the Carter and Norton covers. I had gotten SweetPea at a local appearance (not a signing) years ago, and just got 'Sweetpea' scrawled across the cover; yours is a much better signature.

[Topps206]

Originally Posted by Bigdaddy

Very nice, especially the Carter and Norton covers. I had gotten SweetPea at a local appearance (not a signing) years ago, and just got 'Sweetpea' scrawled across the cover; yours is a much better signature.

Oh, nice. Which local appearance was this?

[Bigdaddy]

Originally Posted by Topps206

Oh, nice. Which local appearance was this?

I believe it was at a Boy's Club in Newport News, VA. I couldn't make it, but my dad was able to take it and get his signature. I'll try to dig it up and get a photo.

[Bigdaddy]

While not an SI, I did see Scott McGregor today and had him sign this 1984 Street and Smith Yearbook, adding '1983 World Series Champs'. Also got his photo showing off his 1983 WS ring. Very nice fellow.

[Topps206]

Originally Posted by Bigdaddy

While not an SI, I did see Scott McGregor today and had him sign this 1984 Street and Smith Yearbook, adding '1983 World Series Champs'. Also got his photo showing off his 1983 WS ring. Very nice fellow.

Really cool. Now, you’ll just have to get Dempsey, whom I’ll need on a couple of his SI covers.

[Bigdaddy]

Originally Posted by Topps206

Really cool. Now, you’ll just have to get Dempsey, whom I’ll need on a couple of his SI covers.

He actually made a comment about Dempsey signing it, saying "Where do you want me to sign, because Dempsey will take up the whole cover? I guess I'll sign across Dempsey's butt"

[Topps206]

You've heard of a trifecta, but have you ever heard of the Tram-Fecta? That's right. I got Alan Trammell on all three of his SI covers yesterday at Night of Memories inside the University of Evansville's Carson Center. I like the cover of first one, May 1984, the best, but I think his second SI cover, October 1984, turned out the best. We somehow got on Spanish and Latin, and Tram was saying being from San Diego, he regretted he didn't learn Spanish/Latin more. It was a good time, went with my girlfriend.

And, in continuing my connection with fellow Net54 SI Collector Huck, I got him both Don Mattingly and Ryan Klesko on covers. I got both of those covers myself at past shows, now I'll be mailing him his covers back sometime this week.

[Huck]

Nice covers! Thanks again for helping out a fellow collector!

[Bigdaddy]

Very nice. I just heard John Smoltz talking about his first time in a MLB locker room with the Tigers and that Tram went out of his wat to introduce himself and welcomed John and how it made a big impression on him.

[Huck]

From the Pinstripe Pride Show. Gooden was from a previous signing.

[jayshum]

For anyone interested, I have an April 2, 1962 issue of Sports Illustrated signed by Arnold Palmer available in The Collector Connection auction that just opened.

https://thecollectorconnection.com/b...e?itemid=75740

[jayshum]

Auction ends Sunday, March 2 for this autographed Sports Illustrated.

https://thecollectorconnection.com/b...e?itemid=75740

[Topps206]

My girlfriend and I went to the North Cincinnati Marriott in West Chester, OH today, and we're staying the night. We went and saw Jack Billingham, who added his signature to the March 3, 1975 cover, as I previously added Clay Carroll in November 2023 at the Thanksgiving Moeller show.

The only other living pitcher left to get on this SI cover is Gary Nolan. Don Gullett passed away in February 2024, and that one stings. I did meet and got Gullett at a March 2006 show when he signed a 1972 Topps for me as a VIP guest, but I was 14 years old at the time and had no idea who he was. I only knew the stars from those Reds teams in Bench, Morgan, Rose, Perez, those kinds of players. Gullett might've been booked for a Moeller show I went to, but it might've been on a different day.

Kirby I can live more since he died just before I was born, and from what it looks like from his database, not even the SI King has Kirby on that cover.

I also found a few covers on the cheap that I hope to get signed in the future. Billingham was very nice. And of course, anytime I'm in the Cincinnati area, have to have that vegetarian chili. I prefer Gold Star to Skyline, having had Skyline for the first time today.

[Bigdaddy]

Went to the CSA show in Chantilly and got Johnny Bench and Kordell Stewart SIs signed. Both gentlemen were very friendly. Lots of other athletes there with SIs, but prices for autos were generally too $$$.

[Topps206]

Very nice. I like Kordell Stewart’s signature. They both look good, too.

I own that Stewart cover, just don’t have it signed yet.

[Balticfox]

This month's Kids edition:

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by Balticfox

This month's Kids edition:

AWESOME cover of Elly!

[Bigdaddy]

Picked up this Big Mac cover, also signed by his son Matt, last week. Bought it from Tom Orr (Atomic Sports) who does a lot of signings, especially with St. Louis athletes.

[Topps206]

My girlfriend and I celebrated our 11-month anniversary Sunday in St. Louis. I treated her to a nice Italian restaurant, but before then, I added Doc Gooden on my favorite SI cover of his. There are some streaks with the sharpie, but overall, I like it.

[Bigdaddy]

Originally Posted by Topps206

My girlfriend and I celebrated our 11-month anniversary Sunday in St. Louis. I treated her to a nice Italian restaurant, but before then, I added Doc Gooden on my favorite SI cover of his. There are some streaks with the sharpie, but overall, I like it.

Really nice Gooden cover and auto. The cover is reminiscent of the 1983 Tom Seaver cover.

[Topps206]

Originally Posted by Bigdaddy

Really nice Gooden cover and auto. The cover is reminiscent of the 1983 Tom Seaver cover.

It is a similar one, isn’t it? And I know which one you’re talking about, too.

[Huck]

<delete duplicate>

[Huck]

Mail order from recent Pittsburgh show.

[Topps206]

For some reason, it seems there aren't too many summer signings, certainly not within three hours of me. So, my girlfriend and I went to the GTSM Show Friday in Covington, Ky. and saw Terry Hanratty. Hanratty signed both of his covers - Nov. 7, 1966 and Sept. 11, 1967.

My girlfriend thought he should sign in gold, but the table didn't have gold. So, I asked people working the show by his table if I should go blue or silver and people went with blue. I was slightly bummed at first about the streaks in the 1966 cover, but it's grown on me. I'm happy with both.

I cannot emphasize enough how bummed I am that I didn't start collecting SIs full time until 2019. I'm now at 10 in person signed covers from the 1960s - most of the covers in my collection are from the 1970s and 1980s. Many pre-1970s cover subjects are no longer with us, so I'm seriously eyeing some additonal 1960s covers in the coming months.

[Topps206]

Rarely do I shell out for a single autograph, let alone two of them, but bit the bullet for both Patrick Ewing and Reggie Jackson, my first time attending a National since 2005. I didn't like the service or the way it was ran back then. Today wasn't exactly quick, but it didn't drag on the way it felt like 2005 did.

All these years of collecting autographs, more than 20 years, never got Reggie on anything. It's my first autograph of his. I've heard stuff about Reggie being a jerk, that he isn't always congenial, but if he is a jerk, I saw no signs of it today. He was smiling, seemed to be friendly with me and others.

Reggie has a lot of good covers, and there are ones I like even better than the one I ultimately got signed. I bit the bullet for Reggie because at 79, he's not getting much younger and a lot of SI cover subjects before 1970 have left us. Most of my SI collection features covers from the '70s and '80s, and with this being his only '60s cover, I went with it. If this cover didn't exist, I'd have had an even tougher decision than before. It's awesome to have this one, and I could just easily be happy with a few others. I'd say pre-1970 covers are especially important at the moment for me. I do remember feeling somewhat regretful not long ago not getting Pete Rose's 1968 cover done, though I really like his one from 1974 that I went with.

Patrick Ewing wasn't a jerk, but his handlers said no pictures with him. I figured he's such a rare, tough signature, hardly ever does public signings, I had to get it done, this one being my favorite of his.

And I also added John Cangelosi to this cover from 1994, which I previously got signed last year by Charlie O'Brien. Cangelosi was very nice, too.

[Huck]

Nice covers.

[Topps206]

What a day yesterday was - getting to add four new covers in Juan Marichal, Steve Owens, Walt "Clyde" Frazier and Mel Renfro to the collection at the Music City Collectibles Show. Many of them had some championship jewelry to show off there. I'm guessing the Giants gave Marichal some rings during their 2010s dynasty years.

Bigdaddy sent in his own Marichal SI to me to get signed for him. In case anyone is interested or curious, mine is the one with the horizontal label, while he sent in the one with the vertical label.

Huck was interested in Jim Edmonds but didn't send in his cover. So, I offered him the unsigned Edmonds cover I owned if he sent payment covering both the cost of the autograph and the cost of the SI when I got it from eBay a couple of years ago. He agreed and I will ship this to him once I receive payment.

My favorite is the Marichal. There aren't too many left from his era, and those who are, how many are able to travel and sign? This one means even more than many that I am thrilled with in my collection.

I'm happy with the Clyde Frazier one, though it isn't in the greatest condition, but it was nice to get him.

Of course, I would love to get every signed cover I can, but I think my top priority with this collection right now is those 1960s covers, since almost everybody from the 1950s is gone and them appearing somewhere would be even another story. Many people from the 1960s have left us, and I started this collection too late, which I regret, but all the more reason to appreciate and be thankful for the ones I do have.

[Bigdaddy]

Just wanted to offer a shout out of thanks to Corey (ToppsT206) for the help with getting my Marichal cover signed.

[Bigdaddy]

Sorry, duplicate post.

[Bigdaddy]

Met up with Calvin Hill and Carl Eller at the (last?) CSA show in Chantilly this weekend. Good meeting both gentlemen.

[Topps206]

Originally Posted by Bigdaddy

Met up with Calvin Hill and Carl Eller at the (last?) CSA show in Chantilly this weekend. Good meeting both gentlemen.

Awesome, awesome covers. Those were two of the ones I would’ve wanted most if I want.

Eller especially would be of high priority due to age and cover date.

I need to make a New Year’s Resolution to spend less on this in 2026. I’ll be seeing Wade Boggs in January. Beyond that, I should probably, for the time being, next year, limit my paid covers to either guests 80 and up and/or pre-1970s covers. Those older covers and guests getting up there are my top priority.