2026 National Free Signer - Mike Squires

Another guy that I had gotten in the past via TTM was a free signer this year at the National. I had gotten Mike Squires on a few cards back in 2024, but luckily didn't get him on a 1982 Topps. I forgot to check if I had gotten him before, but it worked out anyway.

I only had one voucher for Squires, so I got only one card signed. It was fine, though, as I got through the line really quickly and went back to looking through bargain boxes.

2026 National Free Signer - Randy Martz

Randy Martz was the next free signer at this year's National. I had him sign the above 1982 Topps and the 1983 Donruss and 1983 Topps shown below. 

Martz (b. 1956) played in the majors from 1980 to 1983 for the Cubs and White Sox. He had a record of 17-19 with 78 strike outs and a 3 78 ERA.

Martz was pretty friendly, and his line moved quickly. Something I noticed this year was how much better the VIP lines moved. I went through **most** of the lines very fast.

2026 National Free Signer - Steve Trout

Steve Trout made his return to the National this year as a last-minute replacement signer. I can't remember who he replaced, but it was one of the football guys. Jim Osborne maybe. Well, I scoured my boxes for Trout cards, and came up with a few that I didn't yet have in the autograph album. 

He was cool, as always. I've gotten him 3 or 4 times now.

I didn't mind that several of the signers were guys that I had gotten before, since it still helped me get cards out of the boxes. It would be nice, though, if there was a little more variety of the signers. Oh well.

2026 National Paid Signers - Jim Thome and Mike Schmidt

There were two paid signers I wanted to get on one card this year. I had never met Mike Schmidt before, and when I saw that he was added to the National lineup, I penciled him in as a guy I wanted to get this year. I had a couple newer cards that I had my eye on, but then I went through my 2004 Topps box looking for something else, when I found this card of Schmidt and Jim Thome. I had met Thome before, but had no problem meeting him again, so the goal of completing this card was set.

I got Schmidt first. His table was beside Thome's, and when he saw the card, he held it up and said "Hey Thome, take a look!" When I got over to Thome next, he held it up and said "Hey, Schmiddy". It was really cool meeting both. I chatted with Schmidt a bit but talked longer with Thome. I mentioned again about Kinston, and he talked about how much he loved playing there. He shook my hand, patted me on the shoulder and thanked me for coming. Jim Thome is such an awesome guy.

I love that I got this card signed by both guys. Dual Hall of Famer autos are tough, but some can still be done. I may have to try some more later down the line.

2026 National Paid Signer - Brian Bosworth

The first paid signer that I got at this year's National was former football player, Brian Bosworth. I was going to get him on an older Topps card that I would have picked up online. I went through some cards Gerard had given me prior to leaving for my trip out west and went through a set of Oklahoma cards. There was a Bosworth in there, so I used it at the show. The card turned out great.

Bosworth (b. 1965) played professionally from 1987 to 1989 for the Seahawks. He has 3 forced fumbles for 38 yards. He starred in the movie Stone Cold about a cop who goes undercover in a biker gang. I remember watching it with my Uncle Joe when I was a kid and remembered that he loved the movie. I talked briefly to Bosworth about the movie and had a nice interaction with him.

Uncle Joe also has some deer meat in the fridge....

2026 National Free Signer - Gene Hiser

Gene Hiser was the next free signer at this year's National. I had sent to him TTM a while back and never got my card back. So, at the show, I found a vendor who had an album of 1974 Topps. I picked up a replacement for the card I had sent and got it signed. 

Hiser (b. 1948) played in the majors from 1971 to 1975 for the Cubs. He had 53 hits, 1 home run and a .202 batting average. 

2026 National Free Signer - Grant Mulvey

A former hockey player was next on the lost of free signers at the National, Grant Mulvey. I don't follow hockey much, but i reappy enjoy old hockey cards. I found enough of his cards at the show to cover the vouchers I accumulated, starting off with the above 1979-1980 Topps. I liked the blue border, and I was right that it would look great signed in blue.

I also found the above left 1976-1975 Topps and above right 1977-1978 Topps. All of the cards turned out great, and Mulvey was pretty cool. 

Mulvey (b. 1956) played from 1975 to 1984 for the Black Hawks and Devils. He had 149 goals with 135 assists, for 284 points.

2026 National Free Signer - Chuck Knoblauch

Chuck Knoblauch was the next free signer at this year's National. I was excited to get him because I had found so many of his cards in the lead up to the show. I had gotten him once before; by way of TTM back in 2021. I also had met him at a past National when I had a free photo voucher with him. I couldn't find my photo before I left for the show, however.

I had gotten a couple Knoblauch vouchers and then was able to get a bunch more cards signed when they called wild cards on him. That was great, because it helped me not to have to put a bunch of stuff back in my boxes. 

Knoblauch was nice enough. He didn't really say a whole lot, but wasn't rude or anything like that.

2026 National Free Signer - Wendell Davis

The next free signer at this year's National was former Bear, Wendell Davis. I ended up with a few vouchers for him and picked up some cards from a vendor that I have seen at several past Nationals who always has cards of the signers. It made life so much easier when I could just go by his tables and pick up the guys I needed. We ended up making a coupke trades later in the show, and then I also got him some of his own cards signed.

Davis (b. 1966) played professionally from 1988 to 1993 for the Bears. He had 207 receptions for 3,000 yards and 14 touchdowns receiving.

Davis was pretty cool and talked to everyone. He seemed really happy to be there.

2026 National Free Signer - The Godfather

While walking around the show floor at the National on the Wednesday Sneak Peek day, I walked by the Ebay booth and saw retired WWE superstar, The Godfather, signing a bunch of cards. I stopped by and asked the folks in the booth what was going on and they told me that The Godfather was going to be handing out signed cards and photos to folks during an Ebay live event. I joined in on the event and bid on a few things, but didn't win anything. It was a lot of fun, though. I ended up getting a signed 8 x 10 and a signed card. They were both really cool, and I also got to meet him and talk to him for a bit. I also posed for a photo

The Godfaher (Charles Wright) (b. 1961) was a professional wrestler from 1989 until his retirement in 2002. He is best known as The Godfather, but also wrestled in WWE as Papa Shango and Kama. He never held the World title, but was the Intercontinental Champion once. He was elected to the WWE Hall of Fame in 2016.

He was really nice, and I'm glad that I stopped in the Ebay booth and checked on what was happening.

2026 National VIP Party Free Signer - Jerome Walton

The next free signer, Jerome Walton. He was really cool and signed a card the first time through the line.

After the VIP party, we went back through his line, and I had him sign the other cards I had. He took the two I had, signed them and said "That's all you got?". Unfortunately, I didn't have anything else.

Walton (b. 1965) played in the majors from 1989 to 1998 for the Cubs,  Angels, Reds, Braves, Orioles and Devil Rays. He had 423 hits, 5 home runs and a .269 batting average. He was the 1989 NL Rookie of the Year and finished 13th in the NL MVP race.

2026 National VIP Party Free Signer - Cecil Cooper

The next free signer at the VIP party at this year's National was Cecil Cooper. He was a free signer at two past Nationals that I had been to, 2015 and 2021.

At the past shows, I had gotten Cooper on a 1983 All Star Game ball, 1987 Topps and a 1986 Donruss. He also signed TTM for me, which added a  1976, 1984 and a 1988 Topps. I was running very low on Cooper cards, but found a few that I didn't already have.

Cooper was really nice and commented on my hat. I was glad to get him again. I'm out of his cards now, so if he comes back, I'll need to add some more. 

2026 National VIP Free Signer - Gregg Jefferies

Gregg Jefferies was one of the VIP party signers on Wednesday at the National. Nate and I went through the line initially and got one card signed, each. Later on, we went back through and got the rest of our stuff signed. 

Jefferies was really nice and chatted with us the two times through the line. The 1994 Score Gold Rush is what I had him sign initially, then he signed a: 1993 Topps, 1992 Topps, 1991 Topps, 1989 Topps, 1996 Fleer, 1991 Fleer, 1988 Fleer and 1988 Donruss. Everything turned out great.

They had three VIP party signers, and the others will be posted shortly. 

2026 National Free Pre Signer - Bill Madlock

The 2026 National started off several days early for me when I went to see Guns N Roses for the 5th time, followed by a trip to GalaxyCon in Raleigh to get two celebrities' autographs. I spent the weekend in Winston-Salem, then drove up to Pennsylvania to meet my buddy Nate at his place so the two of us to drive to Chicago. The map doesn't sound right, I know, but part of Nate helping me out with a sweet deal on the hotel was that he didn't want to make the drive alone. I didn't mind, so that's how we worked it out.

This year, the National did a signing for folks who picked up their VIP packages early. We could get Mitch Williams if we got there between 12-2 or Bill Madlock if we got there between 2-4. Nate is a Pirates fan, so we opted to get there during Madlock's time and got him.

I had gotten him several times before, so I was getting low on his cards, but found the above 1985 Fleer for myself and a 1982 Topps for Nate.

We were in and out of the line for Madlock in less than 5 minutes, so it worked out very easily for us. Madlock was nice, and commented on my WWE Joe Hendry shirt, which was cool. It set a very nice tone for the upcoming show. 

2026 National Card Show Pickup - 1955 Topps Duke Snider

My wishlist has been updated, kind of. I picked this 1955 Topps Duke Snider up at the National this year after seeing it at a table. I have known the vendor for a very long time, so I wanted to make sure I picked something up from him. I also had an upgrade to my 1955 Topps Duke Snider on my blog wishlist for something like 10 years. I figured it was a good time to actually make a change to the list, and cross this card off once and for all. I honestly can't think of anything to ADD to the list, so I may just do away with the top 10 wishlist. It is getting harder and harder for me to think of things I want, save for some set needs, which are already listed below the top 10 list. Having any kind of PC these days just leads to disappointment, it seems. Prospects get overrated, their stuff gets expensive to acquire, and then they flame out. Seemingly good players tease you with a few good years, then their feelings get hurt and they forget to hit (or field, or both). So, the only real player PC I have at the moment is former Wood Duck Cody Freeman, and once Gavin Collyer gets some mainstream cards, I probably will start a PC of him, as well.

As for sets I'm building, I probably could populate a list of cards to upgrade for the 55 set. I may do that for real at some point. This Duke wasn't cheap, but it was nice to have something different to search for at the show. I did buy a stack of 24 cards from 1964 Topps and 4 from the 2013 Topps emerald parallel set that I am still working on. I didn't make an attempt at shaving any cards off of the needs lists for 1955 Bowman, 1962 Topps or 1967 Topps. Those are going slowly, but I do work on them from time to time.

All of that being said, I do still enjoy building sets. I still haven't finished 2025 Topps and need to sort my Series 2 from 2026 to see what else I need from there. I'll get there some rainy weekend.

Oh, and I now have a rough grade 1955 Topps Duke Snider that I would sell, if anyone was interested. Stick around and check out the series of posts coming up from this year's National. I picked up a ton of autographs, but aside from the above-listed set needs, the bulk of what I bought was stuff for graphing and TTMs.

TTM Success - Matt Creighton

A nice 2004 Topps card came back signed TTM when I got this one from Matt Creighton.

Creighton (b. 1979) was an undrafted free agent who played in the Cubs minor league system from 2002 to 2005. He had 258 hits with 27 home runs and a .280 batting average. 

I mailed to Creighton on February 23 and got the card back on April 10, for a 46-day TAT.

TTM Success - Tom Edens

A 1994 Donruss came back signed TTM by Tom Edens recently. This set always looks sharp with a very minimalist design. It can be mixed up with 95 Donruss, which had a very similar design, but more foil.

Edens (b. 1961) played in the majors in 1987 and from 1990 to 1995 for the Mets, Brewers, Twins, Astros, Phillies and Cubs. He had a record of 19-12 with 182 strike outs and a 3.86 ERA.

I mailed to Edens on February 23 and got the card back on April 10, for a 46-day TAT.

TTM Success - Jacob Dahlstrand

This 2015 Topps Heritage Minors card came back signed TTM from Jacob Dahlstrand. I had it in my box to send out for quite a long time, and I finally got it out in the mail earlier this year. The card came back signed and looks great.

Dahlstrand (b. 1992) was a 10th round pick by the Red Sox in the 2010 June Amateur Draft out of Memorial High School in Houston. He played in the minors from 2010 to 2017, all in the Red Sox system. He reached AA Portland by the time he hung it up in 2017. He had a record of 27-29 with 243 strike outs and an ERA of 4.41.

I mailed to Dahlstrand on March 12 and got the card back on April 10, for a 29-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Brett Krill

A pass through my early 2010s Bowman box led me to pulling some players from those years and sending cards out TTM. One of the ones that came back from that batch was this 2012 Bowman Chrome of Brett Krill.

The card turned out great. Some of those Bowman cards from that era are really clean and look great when signed.

Krill (b. 1989) was a 25th round pick by the Giants in the 2010 June Amateur Draft out of UCLA. He played in the Giants system from 2011 to 2014, reaching AAA. He had 284 hits, 13 home runs and a .268 batting average. 

I mailed to Krill on March 23 and got the card back on April 6, for a 14-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Kirk Saarloos

The above 2002 Bowman Chrome of Kirk Saarloos was a card that came in the early 2000s Bowman package that Ryan sent me last year. I am still working on getting some of those cards out, but most of them have been sent.

I got the card back signed TTM, along with this 2004 Topps that I sent. He signed them in silver Sharpie.

Saarloos (b. 1979) played in the majors from 2002 to 2008 for the Astros, A's and Reds. He had a record of 29-30 with 251 strike outs and a 5.02 ERA. 

I mailed to Saarloos on March 9 and got the cards back on April 6, for a 28-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Tyler Townsend

Another former Oriole farmhand was added to the autograph album when this 2009 Bowman came back TTM signed by Tyler Townsend. I have very few 2009 Bowmans signed, so this one was a nice addition.

Townsend (b. 1988) was a 3rd round pick by the Orioles in the 2009 June Amateur Draft out of Florida International University. He played in the minors from 2009 to 2012, all in the Orioles system. He reached AA Bowie before retiring. He had 234 hits, 36 home runs and a .272 batting average. 

I mailed to Townsend on December 10 and got the card back on April 6 for a 117-day TAT.

TTM Success - Eric Nolte

Ah, a 1988 Topps. A signed one at that. Going through the 5,000-count box I have that holds 1988 and 1989 Topps is so tough to go through. Still, I have to go through that box every so often just to keep pulling guys here and there. I pulled this Eric Nolte to send out TTM. It came back sognef in black Sharpie, and looks good.

Nolte (b. 1964) played in the majors from 1987 to 1989 and 1991 for the Padres and Rangers. He had a record of 5-8 with 69 strike outs and a 5.63 ERA.

I mailed to Nolte on February 21 and got the card back on April 3, for a 41-day TAT.

2025 National Paid Signer - Miguel Cabrera

The last paid signer that I missed posting from last year's National was Miguel Cabrera. I may have gotten a grunt from Pujols; I didn't get anything from Miggy. He talked to the handler the whole time. I wish Tristar would tell their folks to try to sway the conversation back to the customers if the athlete is talking with them. Either way, I got my ball signed and it'll be a part of the Hall of Fame collection when he is inducted.

Cabrera (b. 1983) played in the majors from 2003 to 2023 for the Marlins and Pirates. He had 3,174 hits, 511 home runs and a .306 batting average. He was the AL MVP in 2012 and 2013. He was the AL batting champ in 2011 (.344), 2012 (.330), 2013 (.348) and 2015 (.338). He was an All Star 12 times (2004-2007, 2010-2016 and 2022). Cabrera is eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2029.