2025 National Free Signer - Doug Plank

Doug Plank was the next free VIP signer at this year's National. He had previously been a signer at the 2023 National.   I got him on a couple of cards then.  This year, I got him on two more cards; one was a duplicate that I'll probably give to Max.

Plank was nice as usual.  I was glad to get him again. 

2025 National Paid Signer - Todd Helton

One of the paid signers I got at the National this year was Hall of Famer, Todd Helton.  I needed Helton for my signed baseball collection.  He was giving HOF '24 inscriptions for free.

Helton (b. 1973) played in the majors from 1997 to 2013 for the Rockies.   He jad 2,519 hits, 369 home runs and a .316 batting average.  He was a 5-time All Star (2000 to 2004) and his best MVP finish was 5th (2000).  He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2024 with 79.7% of the vote (on his 6th ballot). 

By my math (which may be off), Helton is my 175th Hall of Famer on a baseball. 

2025 National Free Signer - Dave Corzine

This 1990 Skybox card that ai got signed by Dave Corzine looks awesome.  I had the handler give a gold paint pen to Corzine, and the signature turned out great.

Corzine (b. 1956) played in the NBA from 1978 to 1991 for the Bullets, Spurs, Bulls, Magic and Supersonics.  He had 7,615 points in his career.  He was our next free VIP signer at the National. 

2025 National Free Signer - Johnny Roland

This 1969 Topps football card of Johnny Roland was another card that I picked up from Sportlots.  He was the next free VIP signer at this year's National.  I was excited to.add this one to the autograph album.  I love some of these old football card designs.  I'd be happy if Topps rolled out some baseball products using these old designs.  Why not?

I found this Roland card in a bargain box and picked it up as well.  This is a 1971 Topps football card.  I wanted to get Roland's 1967 Philadelphia (brand, not the team) card but it wasn't going to get here in time.

Roland (b. 1943) played professionally from 1966 to 1973 for the Cardinals and Giants.  He was a Pro Bowler in 1966 and 1967.  He was the 1966 AP Rookie of the Year. 

2025 National Free Signer - Emery Moorehead

This 1983 Topps Football card that I got signed by Emery Moorehead at the National turned out great.  It was another Sportlots pickup that I got prior to heading to Chicago.

Moorehead (b. 1954) played professionally from 1977 to 1988 for the Giants, Broncos and Bears.  He won Super Bowl XX with the Bears.  He had 224 receptions for 2,980 yards and 15 touchdowns.

2025 National Free Signer - John Cangelosi

Max provided me with some extra cards for the next free signer from this year's National, John Cangelosi.  The above 1986 Donruss The Rookies is really cool.  I don't think I had many of these in the autograph album, so I was glad to get it signed.

I also upgraded the Cangelosi for my 1987 Topps set.  The one I had was signed in black, so it was good to add one in blue.

Cangelosi was really nice, as was everyone we met.  The VIP signers were all pretty cool selections.  I always wonder who will be selected for the next batch of VIP signers.  I always hope they choose some guys I jeed for the 87 set, but being down to around 25 or so makes the choices pretty low.

2025 National Paid Signer - Billy Williams

For my next paid signer (Billy Williams), I had a 2021 Topps Chrome Platinum Anniversary card put aside.  It was a nice card, but after discussing with Max, I opted to find a 1961 Topps of Williams to get signed instead.  With what I was paying for the signing, it made sense to find his rookie card and go ahead and get it signed. 

The card turned out nicely.  Williams was really nice, and shook my hand after he signed.  I had heard that he could be very difficult at Wrigley, but he was nice at the show.  I probably should have upgraded my signed baseball, but this 61 Topps will look awesome in the autograph album. 

2025 National Paid Signer - Tony Perez

Next up is one of the paid signers I signed up for at this year's National.  When I saw Tony Perez on the list, I knew I wanted to sign up for him.  I had this 2004 Topps Tribute that I wanted to get signed, so that's was the card I brought with me to the show.

Perez was really cool when we met him.  He smiled the whole time and reached his hand out when he was done signing.  I shook hands with Hall of Famer, Tony Perez.  What a nice guy.

2025 National Free Signer - Kyle Calder

Kyle Calder was the next free VIP signer at this year's National.  He signed the card above that I got off of Sportlots. 

Calder (b. 1979) played in their NHL from 2000 to 2010 for the Blackhawks, Flyers, Red Wings, Kings and Ducks.  

He had 114 goals and 180 assists in his career.  

2025 National Free Signer - Craig Hodges

Our next free signer at this year's National was former Bull, Craig Hodges.  This is a 1991-92 Upper Deck.  The card turned out nicely.  It was another sportlots pickup.

Hodges (b. 1960) played in the NBA from 1982 to 1992 for the Clippers (San Diego), Bucks, Suns and Bulls.  He won two championships with the Bulls (1991 and 1992).  He had 5,940 points across 695 games.

2025 National Free Signer - Roland Harper

Here is another free signer from this year's National.  Roland Harper was really cool.  I ended up with a couple extra vouchers of his, so I got the cards I bought off of Sportlots signed.  I also got an 8 x 10 signed in gold paint pen.  I think I'm going to give that one to a coworker.

Harper (b. 1953) played professionally from 1975 to 1978 and 1980 to 1982 for the Bears.  He had 3,044 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns in his career.

Harper was really nice.  I'm glad I took the time to pick up the non-baseball guys' cards for the show.

2025 National Free Signer - Keith Van Horne

The next free VIP signer was delayed a day.  Keith Van Horne missed his scheduled appearance due to lingering back pain.  He was there the next day and apologized to a lot of people for missing out.  He was really nice. 

Van Horne (b. 1957) played professionally from 1981 to 1993 for the Bears.  He a National Champion with USC in 1978 and won Super Bowl XX with the Bears.

I'm glad Van Horne was friendly.  He took his time talking with everyone and was very apologetic for missing the day before.  He is also not to be confused with former basketball player, Keith Van Horn.

2025 National Free Signer - Ben Eager

The next free signer was former hockey player, Ben Eager.  I got him to sign this 2006 Parkhurst card that I found on Sportlots and an 8 x 10.  The photo has already been put away.

Eager (b. 1984) played in the NHL from 2005 to 2014 for the Flyers, Blackhawks, Thrashers, Sharks and Oilers.  He had 43 goals in his career.  He won the Stanley Cup with the Blackhawks in 2010.

2025 National Free Signer - Mark Bortz

The next free VIP signer at the National this year was former Bear, Mark Bortz.  He was really cool; he kind of reminded me of the guy from Ted (Sam Jones) that played Flash Gordon.  I had picked up a few of Bortz's cards from Sportlots for the trip, and they turned out great.

Bortz (b. 1961) played professionally from 1983 to 1994 for the Bears.  He was a two-time Pro Bowler.

He won the Super Bowl with the Bears in 1986 (Super Bowl XX).  That's the first Super Bowl that I remember watching.  That was the year of the Bears' Super Bowl Shuffle.

2025 National Paid Signer - Michael Busch

The first paid signer this year at the National was Cubs first baseman Michael Busch.  I needed to complete the above 2019 Bowman Chrome Franchise Futures card that I had already gotten signed by Kody Hoese.

I was only going to go for the dual, until I found the above purple chrome parallel from 2024 Topps Heritage. This card looks great.

Busch (b. 1997) has played in the majors since 2023 for the Dodgers and Cubs.  He has 231 hits, 44 home runs and a .249 batting average so far in his career.  The Cubs got Busch in January 2024 along with Yency Almonte in a trade for Jackson Ferris and Zyhir Hope.

2025 National Free Signer - Rich Nye

Back in 2020, I got Rich Nye TTM.  I was out of his cards, but saw that he was added to the autograph lineup early enough in place if Jim Osborn to order cards for the trip.  I hadn't gotten Nye on a 1969 Topps yet, so that was the card that I ordered for myself.  I also ordered a 1970 Topps for Jesse.

Nye was very nice.  I read about him while I was waiting in line.  He is an avian specialist with a concentration in exotic birds.  Prior to that, but following his baseball career, he was a civil engineer and was involved in the construction of the Willis Tower.

2025 National Free Signer - Milt Wilcox

The other of Wednesday's free signers at the National was Milt Wilcox.  He wa supposed ti be at last year's show, but had to cancel.  I wanted to get this 1971 Topps previously signed by Frank Duffy completed.  The card looks great now that it is complete.

They called Wild Cards on Wilcox, so Jesse and I used them up to get some more cards out of the box.  I got my well-worn 1972 Topps (left) and this sharp 1980 Topps (right) signed as well.  Both turned out great.

Wilcox (b. 1950) played in the majors from 1970 to 1975 and 1977 to 1986 for the  Reds, Indians, Cubs, Tigers and Mariners.  He has a career record of 119-113 with 1,137 strike outs and a 4.07 ERA.  He won the World Series with the Tigers in 1984.

I was glad to finally get some of my Wilcox cards (many of which I had pulled last year) signed and put away into my autograph album. 

2025 National Free Signer - Hal Morris

Hal Morris was one of the Wednesday fewe VIP signers at the National.  I had gotten him TTM in the past, but I still had a bunch of his cards that I could get signed.  The above 1994 Topps turned out great.

They called Wild Cards on Morris, so I was able to get s few more cards signed.  The 1997 Bowman Chrome (left) turned out great.  The 1996 Topps Gallery (middle) was from the box of cards I busted a long time ago while visiting Andrew.

Finally, the card on the right is a 1996 Topps Finest.  These are also nice cards but they kind of blur or fade.  This one turned out fine and shouldn't fade since it'll be stored in my album.  By fading, I mean the actual card, not the signature.

Morris was really nice.  I was glad to meet him, and his line.moved pretty quickly. 

2025 National VIP Party Signers

The 2025 National has come and gone.  From Wednesday to Sunday, I searched a lot of boxes, got a bunch of stuff signed, waited in a lot of lines and smelled a lot of B.O.  Still, I had a great time and met some all-time greats.  The festivities started on Wednesday with the VIP Party signers.  I had gotten autographs of Al Oliver and Bill Madlock before.  I was down to a scant few cards of them, and am now pretty much cleared out.  The above 1976 Hostess card came out of a stack that Max gave me a few years ago.  I found it in a box not too long ago and was glad to get it signed.

I also had a 1981 Topps left over of Oliver and got it done, as well.  I also had a few of the 2023 Pro Debut Bill Maslock.  Those are cool cards and this one looks great signed.

Finally, I got Bill Cartwright on this card.  This is a 1995 Topps Stadium Club that I picked up from Sportlots.

The VIP Party was packed, but this year they had food stations in each corner, which made getting food easier.  The autograph lines didn't take too long, which was nice.  The VIP Party was a good precursor to the show and a.sign that we were in for some crowds.  Stick around for recaps from what else I got signed this year.

TTM Success - Dick Estelle

My post about Masanori Murakami was missing one card, my 1965 Topps Giants Rookie Stars card.  I got it back from Murakami and sent it off to Dick Estelle.  The card.came back signed quickly and looks awesome.

Estelle (b. 1942) played in the majors from 1964 to 1965 for the Giants.  He had a record of 1-2 with 29 strike outs and a 3.23 ERA.

I mailed to Estelle on April 16 and got the card back on April 25 for a 9-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Neil Medchill

The older Bowman box helped out with a couple Neil Medchill cards that I sent off TTM.  They came back signed in ballpoint pen.  Above is a 2010 Bowman of Medchill.

As usual, the 2010 Bowman Chrome didn't scan for crap, but rest assured, the card looks nice.  I was pretty satisfied with the autos even though the cards were signed in pen.

Medchill (b. 1987) was an 11th round pick by the Yankees in the 2009 June Amateur Draft out of Oklahoma State.  He played in the Yankees system from 2009 to 2013, reaching AAA.  He had 310 hits, 53 home runs and a .234 batting average. 

I mailed to Medchill on December 4 and got the cards back on April 21 for a 138-day TAT.

TTM Success - Pedro Alvarez

Whoops. I forgot to post last night.  Here is a great TTM success that I got back from Pedro Alvarez.  I got him on this 2017 Topps that shows him in an Orioles uniform. 

I also sent this 2014 Bowman that turned out great.

Alvarez (b. 1987) played in the majors from 2010 to 2018 for the Pirates and Orioles.  He had 704 hits, 162 home runs and a .236 batting average.  He led the NL in home runs (36) in 2013.  That season he was an All Star and won the Silver Slugger Award. 

I mailed to Alvarez on March 22 and got the cards back on April 19 for a 28-day TAT.