CyberErik's Success Thread- just starting out, feedback and help welcome!

[PackerBum9786]

Yeah casinos in PA have some good stuff- got Brian Dawkins, Steve Carlton, Mike Schmidt, Pete Rose, Thurman Thomas and others at free casino events. That is a pretty funny thought about rose and his gambling habits- maybe he should decline casino signings in future...

Haven't been out graphing but I do have some tiny updates. The stickers finally came in for my 12x12" floorboard piece of iverson. I am very happy with the end result- the Iverson photo has a subtle white rim that makes it really pop.




Also, in Pete Rose news- the casino took some photos from the event. Unfortunately my wife and I didn't get any posed photos, but we did interestingly get 2 perfect proof pics- for some reason Pete held up the photos coming back to us and the camera caught them





And, funnily enough, my wife made the front page of the local sports section for that picture above. "Fans flock to meet pete rose" was the headline.

AND I was able to size up a crop job on the mohegan sun photo to remove the logo. The photo below would be exactly 5"x7" if I cut it. Is it worth it or should I leave it as an 8x10 with the mohegan logo?



Starting medical school tomorrow so the graphing will be slowing down immensely. I will still post updates when I do get to do it though!

I think I would just leave the 8x10 alone unless you have some project for it like the AI.

[cyberer]

Long time, no graph. Career stuff getting crazy on the medschool end.

Finally did get out to graph in Scranton (home at the parents' house for the weekend). Lots of superprospects in town- Judge on the home team and Giolito on road team.

I went on Sunday, Giolito had pitched saturday, so I felt good about my chances.

Sure enough, I heard on the ground there that he had not yet signed the entire trip, so I figured he would sign today. He arrived at 10:15 and signed for me and the other guy that were there.



I high tailed it over to the Yankee side, but Judge/Clint Frazier had just gone it. It was almost as if they timed the arrival with the bus to split the graphers in half. It was seriously within 5 minutes of each other arriving. So I missed Judge/Frazier. They had signed on the way in too. Oh well, bummer.

I went inside the park at that point.

There were some nice promotions that day- "mystery" bobble head day- you can get a bobble at random from any team in the country in any sport.

I drew a Chris Archer bobble. That was pretty much middle of the road from what I saw. I saw some good ones like some were signed, I saw an Aroldis Chapman one as well. I also saw a few with minor leaguers that I had never heard of, and one wasn't even a player, it was a generic AAA lehigh valley one. So I counted my blessings and moved on.

Besides the bobble promotion, they had the "Yankee Legends" series going on, where they have a yankee alumnus sign autos inside for free. That day was charlie hayes, world series champion.

I got him to sign my Yankees minibat (i had it lying around and was looking for a way to get it done, so just decided to get it done by him). He was nice enough to add the WS inscription.



Judge signed inside, but only 2-3 graphs and I was in the wrong spot. So I walked away with Giolito but may eventually have to go back for Judge.

Still a pretty sick haul for a 10 dollar ticket and 3 hours of my Sunday morning.

[cyberer]

Finally got a weekend completely off!

Decided to get out and do some graphing.

Did the rockies pregame today. It was the biggest crowd that I've ever seen, like 25-30 people. It was 110 degree heat index and a cluster-eff, so not the nicest day of graphing.

Trevor Story had travelled with the team (in a cast) and went out and said he would sign on the way back.

He came back about 45 minutes later, but by the time I got there he was mobbed in a crowd. I thought no way I get him.

He realizes he is being mobbed and was like "ok guys, let's move over to the steps so I can get all of you and not block the sidewalk." So we did, and I was able to get a spot in front.

I got him on a beautiful SS ROMLB



I withdrew from the crowd after I got him but he legit signed 40-50 graphs. The dealers around each got him 4-5 times each, it was absurd.

About 20 minutes later Arenado went out and got mobbed in the same way as Story. But unlike story he just shut it down once the crowd hit, so he only signed maybe 8-10 autos for the crowd, and I missed him.

It was so hot I didn't stay after that, and doubt I'll go back tomorrow bc I don't know that Arenado is worth fighting the crowds. Still pumped to add Story Time to the collection, though.

I WILL be going to eagles training camp tomorrow, so we will see how that goes!

[cyberer]

Decided to hit the Sixers beach bash today from 3-6 pm. Results were a bit mixed. They advertised it as Embiid, Simmons, World B Free and others all signing autographs. So obviously we knew it would be a cast of 1000s. My wife and I got there 2 hours early and the line was already almost around the block. We got in line around #70th or so. I heard some people were there since 7am!

They told us shortly thereafter that they had ~150 tickets for each player, but that you would have to choose one or the other of embiid or simmons. And that simmons would not be signing outside items due to his contract with upper deck.

So that was kind of a bummer. I do have embiid from the past, so my wife and I both selected Simmons. Some dealer-types were PRETTY mad about the no outside items, let me tell you.

The event went pretty smoothly after that. We got inside around 3:15, Simmons was supposed to sign at 3:30. He was late, he didn't start signing until almost 4, but we were 20th or so in line.

Surprisingly, upper deck was on site authenticating the items with dual holograms on the COA and photos that they gave out. So my wife and I both got him on certified promo pics, and my wife took a kind-of pic with as I was getting it.






So we got out pretty quickly all things considered and did pretty well. World B Free and TLC, the sixers other 1st rounder, were creeping around somewhere, but we didn't feel the need to chase them. My wife and I were getting hot in the sun so we just peaced out after we got the simmons. Embiid DID do outside items, so I'm sure some people did well there. I myself again didn't need him.

[cyberer]

I got out graphing on Thursday night, I went to a "bowling with the ballers" charity event at the local bowling lanes. The entry was free with a $25 dollar value donation of school supplies. I donated a giant bag. It was being hosted by Jordan Matthews, Mychal Kendricks and Jason Peters.

I went with some buddies, we were the only graphers there. The rest of the clientele were the athletes, their friends, and some scantily clad women trying to score with the athletes.

Matthews got there first. He has historically been a jerk to me and others at various encounters, but he was all smiles tonight. I got him several times throughout the night, got him 3 times total, and a pretty nice selfie.






Actually acted like a class act. I had him already but this is a great success.

Next in was Jason Peters- he was really nice too. Again same deal- hit him with multiples and got a selfie. He is a big man. Pretty pumped that I added this future HOF lineman to my collection for the first time.




Check out the awesome vintage MJ jersey on Peters.



A surprise guest came next, Vinny Curry. He was fine about it as well. I didn't want to use a mini helmet on a borderline starter so I had some leftover 8x10 eagles "Lincoln Financial" sheets that the team gave out last year where I grabbed a whole stack of blank ones. They came out great. He hit multiples.



Last but LEAST was Mychal Kendricks. He ran right past us up to the bowling VIP area. I went over to the rope and asked him to sign. A bouncer got between me and him and said no. I had words with the bouncer. He said he didn't want us ruining their party. I said dude, I'm a guest at their party with a VIP ticket. I can bowl right next to them if I wanted to get real. So the bouncer relaxed his stance and let me get in there.

I waited until Kendricks left the VIP area and went to the DJ booth to put on a song. I asked him to sign (just me there at that time, not my buddies). And he said "I'm not doing that at this time." Thanks jerkface- I'm at your effing charity event.

All in all still a great night and well worth the small donation to get multiples of these guys.

[djauwerda]

Love the Trevor Story ball. Looks great!

[cyberer]

Thanks man! Definitely story was one of my more underrated grabs this summer. I was starting to wonder if anyone still read my thread!

I decided to put in about 90 minutes in the morning before the gates opened in Scranton yesterday. I had previously been after Aaron Judge but missed my opportunity there, figured I'd at least take a shot at Clint Frazier. Heard he has been good.

I waited 45 minutes before he arrived but he signed for all 10-12 of us there. Seemed like a nice guy. The photo didn't pop quite as much as I was hoping, but it was OKAY.



Then I went around to the Syracuse side, figured they would all be in by then. But we made it just in time for the bus. Giolito got off and took his time being really nice and signing for all 15 ppl in line. I have heard horror stories about Giolito but I'm 2 for 2 with him now in attempts and he has been nice both times. I wasn't really after him yesterday (went for Frazier), but he was a nice little bonus.




My extra giolito ball (the one pictured in this post) is for sale.

[walker066]

Just catching up on some of your recent graphs. Great prospects!

I was lucky to get Trevor Story on ROMLB and 8x10 at the 2014 Single A All-Star game. There was NOBODY getting him after a little while, so I scored two. Was glad to see he started out this year on fire!

Got Frazier last year and the guy couldn't have been nicer. Talked to the fans and seemed like he cared about the fans.

Also got Giolito, and while he personalized it, he was pretty cool about signing.

[Atlantaman]

Thanks for sharing your stories. I'm afraid to admit how much time I just spent reading through these. I recently moved to Atlanta and you have inspired me get back into IP autos. I figured ATL is the best place to do it. Keep up the good work!

[cyberer]

Just catching up on some of your recent graphs. Great prospects!

I was lucky to get Trevor Story on ROMLB and 8x10 at the 2014 Single A All-Star game. There was NOBODY getting him after a little while, so I scored two. Was glad to see he started out this year on fire!

Got Frazier last year and the guy couldn't have been nicer. Talked to the fans and seemed like he cared about the fans.

Also got Giolito, and while he personalized it, he was pretty cool about signing.

Good stuff for you as well! Always good to knock guys out before they become big things. I think giolito might not be quite as good as advertised, but he will likely have a ton of hype on that team.

Thanks for sharing your stories. I'm afraid to admit how much time I just spent reading through these. I recently moved to Atlanta and you have inspired me get back into IP autos. I figured ATL is the best place to do it. Keep up the good work!

Hahahaha I've done the same (went back to the beginning and read through the entire thread). I'm so glad that you enjoyed my ride over the years.

Do you have any favorite stories haha?