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 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 - 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 - 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.

2024 National Free Signer - Mike Tomczak

The next free signer from the National was former quarterback, Mike Tomczak.  I got this 1988 Topps football card signed.  His line didn't take too terribly long, which was nice. 

Tomczak (b. 1962) played professionally from 1985 to 1999 for the Bears, Packers, Browns and Steelers.  He had 16,079 passing yards, 88 touchdowns and a QB record of 42-31-0.  He won Super Bowl XX with the Bears.  That's the first Super Bowl that I can remember watching.

2023 Topps Free Signer - Jim Morrissey

The time has come for the final signer from the 2023 Naional, former Bear, Jim Morrissey.  He would have been a voucher I would have traded away in the past, but I didn't really make much of an effort to trade any vouchers this year.  So, I found some of Morrisey's cards and added them to my autograph album. 

Morrissey (b. 1962) played professionally from 1985 to 1993 for the Bears and Packers.  He had 9 interceptions for 52 yards in his career.  He was part of the 1985 Bears that won Super Bowl XX.

Over the next several posts, I'm going to catch up a bit on some incoming autographs from some buddies and knock a few TTMs off of the pile.  I'll circle back with a few more National posts shortly.

I've gotten a lot more comments recently than I have in a while. I read all of them and I appreciate them.  There isn't a reply feature that would notify folks if I respond to a comment, so if there are questions, just shoot me an email.  Thanks for reading.

2023 National Free Signer - Doug Plank

The next free signer at the National was former Chicago Bear, Doug Plank.  I had zero cards of him, so I had to take advantage of the ones a dealer had for sale at $5/card. A definite overpay, until once realizes how hard it would have been to get into a table and search for Plank's cards at the show. My time was worth $5/card for sure.

I went through the line for Plank with my brother's buddy, Nick, who had come to the show for the day.  Nick had the platinum pass that gets you to the front of the line, so he let me use it with him.  He went with me to see several of the Saturday signers, and I helped him get one of his.  I'll probably post that later.  Had my brother come to the show, he probably would still be talking to Plank.  Plank was very personable and animated while telling stories.  I enjoyed meeting him.

Plank (b. 1953) played professionally from 1975 to 1982 for the Bears.  He had 15 interceptions across 101 games in his career.

2023 National Free Signer - Mark Carrier

Another National is in the books, and this year's was definitely a challenge.  In the end, I had a good time, which is all that matters. I'll be breaking down the National over the next several weeks, starting with the first free signer I got, Mark Carrier. 

I got the above card from Max the day before the National, and it overrode the card I had.  I skipped the VIP signers on Wednesday, since none of them were baseball guys and I didn't have ant cards of any of them.  I mistakenly grabbed a couple cards of the other Mark Carrier, but quickly realized before I left on the trip that there was another Carrier, of whom I had found one card.

Carrier (b. 1968) played professionally from 1990 to 2000 for the Bears, Lions and Redskins.  He played collegiately at USC.  He had 32 interceptions and 1 touch down in his career.  He led the league in interceptions in 1990 with 10 and was named the AP Defensive Rookie of the Year.

Carrier was super nice, and the card turned out great. Lots more to come regarding the National, so stay tuned.

TTM Success - Johnny Lujack

Here is the last former football player I was waiting on TTM.  I got a nice 1950 Bowman signed by former Chicago Bear, Johnny Lujack.  This card turned out great, I think.  It cost me a decent amount, but I'm glad I took the plunge on these football cards.

This 1951 Bowman also turned out really nicely.  I like the old Bears logo.

Lujack (b. 1925) played professionally from 1948 to 1951 for the Bears.  A quarterback, he threw for 6,295 yards and 41 touchdowns in his career.  He was the fourth overall pick in the 1946 draft out of Notre Dame.  He was the 1947 Heisman Trophy winner, three-time National Champion with Notre Dame (1943, 1946 and 1947) and is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.

I mailed to Lujack on November 10 and got the cards back on December 9, for a 29-day TAT.