Meeting the 2016 Presidential Candidates

Living in New England provides all sorts of fun.  Of course we have our sport teams, we have an authentic 4 seasons of weather, fantastic food and in the past month politics.  In the year of a presidential election, in which the incumbent 8 year term ends, there are many candidates on both sides of the aisle.  With the state of New Hampshire hosting the first primary, and Massachusetts voting on Super Tuesday,  the opportunity to meet all the candidates in intimate settings became very possible. 
It is great to hear the stump speeches, see the candidates up close and personal, and get a sense of who might lead our country. However, for a collector as I, it became a great opportunity to acquire photos, and maybe acquire an autograph of a future president.  The intimate setting of a town hall in NH or Mass. (125 - 250 people) allows for these moments.  In a span of 8 days I saw 4 candidates, acquired many autographs, took endless photos and shook all those candidate hands.  It's an opportunity that only residents of Iowa and the New England states get, unless you are a big donor.
So in 2019/early 2020, check out the new wave of candidates (and some older ones), shake some hands and maybe get a president's autograph.

John Kasich and I and the baseball he signed for me.

Marco Rubio Signed Baseball

Ted Cruz Signed Baseball

Come and Meet Celtic Legend Robert Parish

Any 80's sports fan from the Boston area could name every Boston Celtic.  It was the 80's Celtic teams who brought us championships in this New England area during that era.  They won 3 titles in 6 seasons and appeared in the finals 2 additional years.  Those of us who remember that style of basketball, viewed that as real "Team" ball, unlike what is played today.  We also know those teams were anchored by the Big 3 (Larry Bird, Robert Parish, & Kevin McHale).
Now is your chance to meet one of them.  Hall of Famer, Robert Parish, will be appearing at an outstanding price.  $39 for regular items and $49 for premium & $25 for inscriptions.  Celtic legends just don't make appearances at this outstanding price often, especially Robert, because he doesn't get to this area often.

For more information click here:www.newenglandpicture.com

Celtic and NBA legend, Kevin McHale Autograph Appearance

As soon as I saw the posting about this event I jumped out of my shoes.  For those of you who are familiar with me, you know Kevin McHale is my favorite Celtic player of all time and probably my favorite NBA player of all time.  He was so important to the success of the 80's Celtics, and transcended the power forward position.  He won 3 championships and was in the original "Big 3" group with Larry Bird and Robert Parish. 

So for the those true Celtic fans this is a great way to celebrate St. Patrick's Day and the 30th Anniversary of the 1986 Celtics Championship.  Yes, Kevin is coming to New Hampshire on March 17th for a public autograph appearance.  This is a great and rare opportunity to meet this true Celtic Legend.  The last time he appeared in New England over 700 people turned out and some had to be turned away. 

Pricing for this event is excellent, as it is only $49 for regular items and $69 for premium items such as full size basketballs, jerseys, equipment and pictures of 16" by 20".   Inscriptions are $25. 

I highly recommend you jump on this opportunity.  Kevin rarely comes in this area and his pricing is more than fair for a hall of famer of this caliber.

For more information please check www.sureshotpromotions.com or www.newenglandpicture.com

Autograph signing with Bruin Legend, Terry O' Reilly

To all the Bruins fans out there, here is a great opportunity for you.  For just $10, you can get an autograph, and more importantly meet former Bruin and one of the toughest hockey players Terry O' Reilly. 

He will be appearing in Nashua New Hampshire on Monday February 22.  This is a great opportunity to jump on, as this price is as low as it can get.

If you don't have an item to be signed there will be plenty of pucks, mini helmets and pictures to purchase.

For more information please click here www.newenglandpicture.com

Great deal on Superbowl 49 footballs

As the NFL playoffs are in full swing, and fans in Arizona, Denver, New England and Carolina are gearing up for the conference championship, Superbowl 50 is within sight.  However, before the big game on Feb. 7, I want to refer back to Superbowl 49 and the excitement that game drew, especially for those in New England.  With that win a new generation of football autograph collectors were born and new opportunities for the season collector were created.

And for all fans, the search for SB 49 merchandise and memorabilia commenced.  Fans wanted footballs, hats, tshirts, mini helmets, jerseys and photos.  By March, most of these items were bought up and hard to find.  However, for those of you still looking for items or just something to have as a keepsake, here is the deal for you.

On tanga.com you can purchase authentic SB 49 footballs for just $49 with free shipping.  The retail on these balls is usually around $100-$125.  Even the white panel photo balls usually run about $50 - $75 and are nice pieces, but not main for sustained display capabilities.  The leather balls will last and highlight signatures much better over a longer length of time.  So I encourage all fans to check this out and jump on it.  Even if the ball is never signed, it is still an authentic, and valuable item from SB 49.  Great gift idea for under $50.

Mark Hamill Fake Autographs

The Star Wars hoopla has hit the world in a huge way.  Record box office ticket sales, Star Wars merchandise everywhere you look, and a reminiscing for the 40+ year olds (Me) to the good old days of playing with our X-Wing fighters, Millenium Falcons and action figures of the late 70's and early 80's has taken hold of our culture.

With that, the evolution of the autograph industry over the past 40 years has offered opportunities for all movie fans to chase down their favorite actors to sign that random photo, movie poster, book or whatever we own.  The fact that our favorite stars are more available at comic con or pop culture events has made it easier to acquire such autographs.

However, one of the most coveted autographs (Harrison Ford is a close 2nd) from the Star Wars sagas is Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker).  Yes, Mark has made appearances around the world at these events, but they are extremely infrequent compared to say Peter Mayhew, Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels and others from the original series.  When Mark does appear his lines are usually over 1000 people in length at anywhere from $100-$150 per autograph.

Recently Mark took to twitter and noted he was tired of his fans getting "duped" by fake Mark Hamill autographs. Click this link for the article. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/mark-hamill-tired-star-wars-851178.  He invited fans to send photos of his autograph to his account and he would confirm it the signature was in fact real or not.

While I think this was a nice sentiment, I think there are other ways to fix the problem.  The issue is that because his signature is rarer than others, and that he rarely does make public appearances, there are unfortunately frauds in the world who forge autographs and take advantage of desperate fans.  And for those who don't know how to identify a real autographed item, and don't have access to Mark or a place he may appear, that customer is duped into buying a fake autographed item because they don't know what to ask, what to look for, or may fear they may never be able to acquire one in person

So I think Mark should make more public appearances.  I'm not saying saturate the market with his signature, but 2-3 appearances a year vs one every 2 years would be an improvement.  While some may say his price is a bit high, he is a pop culture star and his price is more than fair compared to other pop stars.

I think he should have a special hologram affixed to all items he signs.  While this isn't full proof, it does deter fakes from being sold and at least offers an example of a genuine autograph.

And if he identifies a fake to a fan, he should dig into where it came from and take corrective action against those sellers.

So for all you Mark Hamill collectors, May the Autographs be with you.

David Ortiz, 1980 US hockey Team, 1967 Red Sox, Pedro Martinez and more...........

This is one of my favorite weeks of the year.  Other than this being my birthday week, I look forward to attending the Greater Boston Sports Collector's Club Card and Memorabilia Show.  It's occurred the first weekend in November at the Shriner Auditorium in Wilmington Mass. for as long as I can remember.  This year's show is scheduled on Friday November 6 - Sunday November 8 and is featuring many members of the 1980 US Olympic gold winning hockey team, members of the 1967 Red Sox, 1975 Red Sox players Dwight Evans and Fred Lynn and baseball Hall of famers Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz, Wade Boggs, Jim Rice, Carlton Fisk, Andrew Dawson and Jim Bunning, in addition to David Ortiz and many more.  I have not missed attending this show since I first attended in 2002.  I have found hundreds of deals on anything including memorabilia, photos, cards, supplies and autographs. There will be over 80 dealers in attendance, both from the region and nationally.


So here are some tips on how to make the most of one day or the weekend at the show.
1.  Walk the entire floor at least once before purchasing anything.  My experience is that you will find the same item in multiple locations.  The dealers are very competitive and will almost always come down in price to get the sale.
2.  Prepare to spend at least 2 hours browsing.  Be patient and ready to negotiate.
3.  Bring something to drink with you.  It is very dry in most facilities.
4.  Wear comfortable footwear.  The entire floor is concrete.
5.  If you are purchasing an autograph or game used piece of memorabilia make sure it is has authentication.  Ask the dealer where it came from and who authenticated it.  If the price is too good to be true, then don't purchase it. 
6.  Most dealers will come down in price on the last day of a show.  They honestly don't want to haul it back to their homes or businesses. 
7.  Have cash on hand.  Most dealers cannot accept credit cards and if they do, they might charge a service fee to pay for the connection at their table.
8.  Sign up for raffles and door prizes.  Almost every show has them and there are usually great prizes.
9.  If you are attending to meet players, be ready to wait in line, and in small spaces.  Also, if you have no idea what you want autographed the promoter's merchandise table will have the best items at reasonable prices.

This year's autograph guests include:
Newest Member to the 500 HR club, David Ortiz
Baseball Hall of Famers:  Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz, Jim Bunning, Wade Boggs, Carlton Fisk, Jim Rice, Andrew Dawson
1980 US Olympic Hockey Team:  Mike Eruzione, Jim Craig and more
1967 Red Sox:  Mike Andrews, Jim Lonborg, Reggie Smith, Gary Bell and more
Former Red Sox:  Brian Daubach, Phil Seibel, Scott Williamson, Dwight Evans, Fred Lynn

For more information on autograph guest information please visit www.sureshotpromotions.com