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.