There are thousands of people around the world who enjoy collecting autographs. An autograph is very simply, a signature, but to those in the field of philography or autograph collecting, they are much more important than just that. A signature from a famous or well known personality can be a beloved collectible and even an investment. Some collectors seek signatures from any and every celebrity they can, while others are more selective. These people prefer to collect just the signatures of their favorite celebrities.
Many magazines and books are devoted to the study of philography. You may want to purchase some if you are serious about the pursuit. There is nothing that says you have to take it that seriously though and you may just collect a few interesting autographs for your own interests. When it comes to choosing a celebrity or celebrities, the possibilities are unlimited. There are sports stars, movie stars, TV stars, music stars, authors and even politicians who may be considered famous. Many of them will be more than happy to autograph something for you, while others may not be as accommodating.
You will find that most autographs are signitures on common items like photographs or posters though some are on more interesting items like shirts and other less common items. Frequently you will find them on merchandise featuring their likeness. There are several ways to obtain an autograph and one of the simplest is that you can approach the celebrity in person and ask for an autograph. This is often done at events and premieres. Many stars will spend a certain amount of time signing for fans. Some won't, but many will offer at least a few minutes of their time. If you see a celebrity in a public place during their own free time, use your discretion when it comes to asking for a signature. There are certain celebs who will almost always say hello and sign an autograph no matter where they are, but then there are some who will become upset if disturbed on their own time. Be polite and ask for a moment of their time. They may be busy or in a rush as we all are so you may be turned down but being polite always helps.
Alternatively you may try writing to the celebrity and ask for an autograph. You will find that many celebrities have official fan clubs that will respond to autograph requests with a signed photo. It may sometimes be, that these photos cost money, other times you can get them for free. If your celebrity of choice doesn't have their own fan club, try writing to the agency that represents them. This might require some research but is often worth the time. Send a brief request for an autograph and a self-addressed stamped envelope. If you have a picture of the celeb you want signed, enclose that as well. You just might check your mail one day and find your autograph waiting there for you. Philography is a pursuit that is casual for some, serious for others, and fascinating for most everyone! We all find celebrities interesting and to have a momento of your very own is quite special.

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On his first official day as the Mets’ manager, Jerry Manuel proposed molding his team into the Los Angeles Angels. More of an East Coast version, actually.
Come spring training, Manuel said, he planned to do some “serious teaching” with his players, changing their offensive strategy and inculcating the importance of unselfish baseball. He wants them, as well as the organization, to diminish the emphasis on statistics and establish a culture of selflessness that values sharp situational hitting, flawless fundamentals and impervious defense — things that the Angels, perennial contenders, do better than perhaps any team in baseball.
“What has been done in the past is that you get so many statistical people together — they put so many stats on paper — and they say, ‘Well, if you do this and you score this many runs, you do this that many times, you’ll be in the playoffs,’ ” Manuel said Saturday in a conference call after the Mets announced that he had agreed to a two-year contract. “That’s not really how it works. And that’s what we have to get away from.”
...“You don’t see a lot of guys that have statistical numbers play well in these championship series,” Manuel said. “What you see is usually the little second baseman or somebody like that carries off the M.V.P. trophy that nobody expected him to do. That’s because he’s comfortable in playing that form of baseball, so therefore when the stage comes, it’s not a struggle for him.

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There was a time when tickets to events such as Broadway theatre plays, football games, baseball games, hotel tickets and even air tickets were available in the black market for exorbitant prices.
People were willing to stand in the street for hours before the event just in the hope of getting one ticket even at a 50% surcharge. With the advent of technology the scene has changed. Now you can browse Cheap Tickets News and find that hard to find seat at the market price or less!

The Internet has amazing sites which is browsed with determination reveal a haven for deal makers so here are a couple of tips to help you find your dream ticket online.

1. If you want a ticket to a Broadway show or sports event and the actual box office is closed or sold out before the day of the event has come then go through various forums and blogs related to the site and leave your name and contact information stating how desperate you are for tickets. It will surprise you how helpful people can be and fans are always willing to help out so you may get a ticket from someone who is not as desperate as you to go to the event. Just communicate your enthusiasm properly.

2. Some sites work as broker sites to the original sales agent. So if TicketMaster is selling tickets to the Eagles game you are desperate to see their site may be sold out but the brokers may still have tickets. This is how it works-if TicketMaster had 1000 tickets for the game, they would retain 800 and give 200 to various brokers. So if 800 tickets are sold Ticketmaster may say they are sold out but browse to other sites and you may get tickets that are still unsold by the legitimate brokers.

3. EBay is a great way to get tickets. Some people who have bought a ticket may decide to cancel their program and you may find the ticket online. It may be a bit pricier before the actual event date but on the event date the price may go down or up...all depending on the demand of the ticket.

4. Sites like Stubslash are working on all of the above ways to gather tickets to those hard to find seats. They keep in mind that customers want the best and aim for the best seat tickets to the most popular events. You can get a wide variety of tickets at this site and buy well in time for the event; from sports to concerts and hotel to limo tickets they have a great selection.

While the above listed ways to get tickets work out well a piece of advice would be not to opt for tickets at the last minute if you live well away from the event. A local show is fine but last minute tickets to an event 50 miles from your home means stress and that means the show will just be more work than it's worth.

Also, make sure you do your research about the seat arrangement you do not want to spend money and effort on a ticket that seats you behind a pillar, behind a camera or at an angle where the show is watched from the TV screen above you.

The whole concept of getting hard to find seat tickets online is for the convenience and if the ticket is not worth the seat you get well then, the search was worthless. So the best option would be going to a ticket site like that do the legwork for you.

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We hear a lot 'round these parts about just how underrated Albert Pujols is. We hear how he should have half a dozen MVP awards by now, how he's putting up numbers that almost no one in the history of the game has, and how no other player in the game of baseball right now even begins to intimidate opposing managers to the same level that Pujols does.
Of course, most of that stuff comes from Cardinal fans. As for the rest of the country, well, let's just say there's a reason that Albert only has one MVP award so far.
Once again this year, Albert is making a strong case for himself as the Most Valuable Player in the National League. Early in the year, Lance Berkman of the Houston Astros was having an absolutely unreal year, and would have had to be the choice. Berkman fell off, though. In the second half, Carlos Delgado of the New York Mets made a big charge and began to generate some buzz. That's mostly died down again, though, as Delgado has cooled back off and so have the Mets.
Really, there's only one player right now that stands between Albert and his second MVP award. And that just happens to be the same man that stood between Albert and his second MVP back in 2006. I'm talking, of course, about the local boy (the pride of Lafayette High School), Ryan Howard.

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There was a time when tickets to events such as Broadway theatre plays, football games, baseball games, hotel tickets and even air tickets were available in the black market for exorbitant prices.
People were willing to stand in the street for hours before the event just in the hope of getting one ticket even at a 50% surcharge. With the advent of technology the scene has changed. Now you can browse Cheap Tickets News and find that hard to find seat at the market price or less!

The Internet has amazing sites which is browsed with determination reveal a haven for deal makers so here are a couple of tips to help you find your dream ticket online.

1. If you want a ticket to a Broadway show or sports event and the actual box office is closed or sold out before the day of the event has come then go through various forums and blogs related to the site and leave your name and contact information stating how desperate you are for tickets. It will surprise you how helpful people can be and fans are always willing to help out so you may get a ticket from someone who is not as desperate as you to go to the event. Just communicate your enthusiasm properly.

2. Some sites work as broker sites to the original sales agent. So if TicketMaster is selling tickets to the Eagles game you are desperate to see their site may be sold out but the brokers may still have tickets. This is how it works-if TicketMaster had 1000 tickets for the game, they would retain 800 and give 200 to various brokers. So if 800 tickets are sold Ticketmaster may say they are sold out but browse to other sites and you may get tickets that are still unsold by the legitimate brokers.

3. EBay is a great way to get tickets. Some people who have bought a ticket may decide to cancel their program and you may find the ticket online. It may be a bit pricier before the actual event date but on the event date the price may go down or up...all depending on the demand of the ticket.

4. Sites like Stubslash are working on all of the above ways to gather tickets to those hard to find seats. They keep in mind that customers want the best and aim for the best seat tickets to the most popular events. You can get a wide variety of tickets at this site and buy well in time for the event; from sports to concerts and hotel to limo tickets they have a great selection.

While the above listed ways to get tickets work out well a piece of advice would be not to opt for tickets at the last minute if you live well away from the event. A local show is fine but last minute tickets to an event 50 miles from your home means stress and that means the show will just be more work than it's worth.

Also, make sure you do your research about the seat arrangement you do not want to spend money and effort on a ticket that seats you behind a pillar, behind a camera or at an angle where the show is watched from the TV screen above you.

The whole concept of getting hard to find seat tickets online is for the convenience and if the ticket is not worth the seat you get well then, the search was worthless. So the best option would be going to a ticket site like that do the legwork for you.

Similar posts: baseball card

With our economy in crisis, the US Government is scrambling to rescue our banks by purchasing their "distressed assets", i.e., assets that no one else wants to buy from them. We figured that instead of protesting this plan, we'd give regular Americans the same opportunity to sell their bad assets to the government. We need your help and you need the Government's help! Use the form below to submit bad assets you'd like the government to take off your hands. And remember, when estimating the value of your 1997 limited edition Hanson single CD "MMMbop", it's not what you can sell these items for that matters, it's what you think they are worth. The fact that you think they are worth more than anyone will buy them for is what makes them bad assets.

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With our economy in crisis, the US Government is scrambling to rescue our banks by purchasing their "distressed assets", i.e., assets that no one else wants to buy from them. We figured that instead of protesting this plan, we'd give regular Americans the same opportunity to sell their bad assets to the government. We need your help and you need the Government's help! Use the form below to submit bad assets you'd like the government to take off your hands. And remember, when estimating the value of your 1997 limited edition Hanson single CD "MMMbop", it's not what you can sell these items for that matters, it's what you think they are worth. The fact that you think they are worth more than anyone will buy them for is what makes them bad assets.

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The Bottom Line:

Overall, (based on a two pack sample size), I give the 2008 Upper Deck Baseball Heroes a 75/100.



Pros: The set appears to be solid with a relatively small base set. To the best of my knowledge, the base set contains no short prints, though it seems like the multi-player cards are seeded about 1 per pack. The different parallels are a bit annoying, but that seems to be the way Upper Deck is doing things this year (the Goudey different colored backs are a more blatant example). I like the fact that the inserts are numbered though, that gives you a rough idea of how "special" or "rare" a card actually is without having to resort to a price guide.



Cons: Why did Upper Deck stop listing odds on their pack wrappers? The first thing I like to do when I pull an interesting card is to see how rare of a pull it was. Upper Deck has completely abandoned printed odds (and I am unable to find them on their website as well). As for the set itself, it is a bit bland for the most part. The Baseball Heroes logo is too large, taking up valuable space on the front of the card. In addition, there are no statistics on the backs of the card - something that I always like (might be the mathematician in me).

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The Bottom Line:

Overall, (based on a two pack sample size), I give the 2008 Upper Deck Baseball Heroes a 75/100.



Pros: The set appears to be solid with a relatively small base set. To the best of my knowledge, the base set contains no short prints, though it seems like the multi-player cards are seeded about 1 per pack. The different parallels are a bit annoying, but that seems to be the way Upper Deck is doing things this year (the Goudey different colored backs are a more blatant example). I like the fact that the inserts are numbered though, that gives you a rough idea of how "special" or "rare" a card actually is without having to resort to a price guide.



Cons: Why did Upper Deck stop listing odds on their pack wrappers? The first thing I like to do when I pull an interesting card is to see how rare of a pull it was. Upper Deck has completely abandoned printed odds (and I am unable to find them on their website as well). As for the set itself, it is a bit bland for the most part. The Baseball Heroes logo is too large, taking up valuable space on the front of the card. In addition, there are no statistics on the backs of the card - something that I always like (might be the mathematician in me).

Similar posts: baseball card

We are now 70 members in total as of right now. Thank you all for joining and welcome to our newest site members. This baseball card website was created to showcase my baseball card collection and my articles and forum posts, etc. The goal is to have everyone participating and posting their pictures of cards and sports items if they want and also to chat with one another and participate in forum discussions on sporting events and sports memorabilia. Our membership comprises of a worldwide audience and it is exciting to be part of this great site. It has already exceeded my first expectations of it when it first started. Trivia contest is on Saturday, free prizes for correct answers on 1980's basketball questions.

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Crashed and burned. Horrible tech support.
I bought this game after having really enjoyed the first CoH. It was a truly innovation on strategy games, no more silly minerals to mine! The first CoH had some minor technical issues but the company worked them out and got the game running just fine. So I decided to give CoH Opposing Fronts a try.

It was a total waste of time and money.

My machine was a month old top-of-the-line souped up laptop. 4 GB of RAM, dual core centrino, 512 MB of video. One would think that so much power would be enough to run a simple WWII game, right? Wrong!

I couldn't get the game to run, so after I jumped some hoops, downloaded about 700 MB of patches and followed complicated install-uninstall-reinstall sequences I got the game to finally run. Now I'm a senior software engineer and even I got frustrated by this, I can't even imagine what it would be like for the ocassional non-technical user.

The cinematic sequences ran truly slow and sometimes crashed the whole game, so I just pressed ESC when one of those popped up to avoid these crashes. Playing the German Campaign was OK, but sometimes it got really frustrating because I couldn't get my units moving in time to save the barracks or whatever because the game engine ran too slow!

Then the game just stopped working at all in the middle of the British Campaign. No matter what I tried, and I spent hours debugging the problem, the game would not advance, so I decided to contact Tech Support.

The guys at Tech Support demanded some files from the DirectX diagnostics tool, the game's log file and other information about my operating system. I guess they were trying to discourage me from further contact because their demands were extremelly hard for the non-technical user (ie. opening the game's debug console mid game) but since I had no problem getting this information so I sent it right away. Then they asked me for a few days while they looked into the issues.

A whole week passed and no response, so I decided to email them to see what was happening. To my surprise they didn't do anything with all the information I provided. So I asked again if they could look into it.

A few days later another tech support guy, an outsourced foreign guy I could barely understand, told me that my laptop wasn't on the supported list. Well of couse my laptop model wasn't on the list because it was a NEWER 2008 model! Then this dude just said "the game requirements were printed on the box previous to your purchase, sorry, no luck, no refund, bye bye"

I was truly polite, understanding, and helping right until the point they told me to stick it. But even after I escalated the issue, I got no response from them.

Lesson learned. I gave them some money, and they gave me a buggy game. No tech support whatsoever. I haven't bought anything from THQ since. There were some games I was interested for my PlayStation 3 but I didn't buy them because they were from THQ. They've lost about 0 right there! That .99 refund would make sense now wouldn't it.

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Scott Lewis
Lewis, a 6 lefty, was drafted in 2004 by the Cleveland Indians out of Ohio State.  After spending three years in single A ball, Lewis spent most of 2008 split between the AA Akron affiliate and the AAA Buffalo affiliate.  In four starts at the AAA level this year, he garnered two wins with a 2.63 ERA, and 21 strikeouts in 24 innings pitched. 
He was called up to the bigs on September 10th to start against the Orioles, and got the win with a nice outing, pitching eight innings with 0 earned runs and 3 Ks.  He followed that performance up on the 15th with another win, this time over Baltimore, again giving up no runs, with 5 Ks in 6 innings pitched. 
While the Tribe may not make the playoffs this year, look for Lewis to be a key contributor in their rotation in 2009.
2007 Bowman Chrome X-Fractor
Chrome X-Fractors are always nice cards, in my opinion, and this one is no different.  A card that can be had for several bucks, its a nice addition to any collection, not to mention a prospectors.

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The Hall of Fame Veterans Committee has named its 10 finalists. And the candidates are . . . (drumroll). . .
Dick Allen, Gil Hodges, Jim Kaat, Tony Oliva, Al Oliver, Vada Pinson, Ron Santo, Luis Tiant, Joe Torre and Maury Wills.
I'd love to talk about the Chicago connection (Allen, Kaat, Santo and Pinson), but isn't it time to end the silliness and put Gil Hodges in the Hall of Fame?
Forget the stats, guys. Hodges' stats don't measure up. But he was was one of the preeminent first basemen of his era and an integral member of the Boys of Summer. Plus he's got a bowling alley and a bridge named after him. How more famous can you get?
Santo? He doesn't really measure up, either although he's got similar numbers to Yogi Berra, Carlton Fisk, Johnny Bench and Gary Carter. But they're all catchers. I feel bad for him, with the diabetes, amputations and all, but he wasn't a Hall of Famer then and he's not a HOFer now. I'd ban him just for the heel-clicking.
Kaat has nice numbers because he stuck around a long time. But hit didn't hit the magic 300 number in 21 seasons. So, no sale.
Dick Allen was one of the most amazing ballplayers I've ever seen. I watched him crush a home run to dead center at old Comiskey Park - a frozen rope that went 460 and would have gone another 100 if the bleachers weren't there to block it. But injuries and his antics make him more of an anti-Hall of Famer.
Tony Oliva? I can't give you one reason why he wasn't elected during his early years of normal eligibility. He belonged then and he belongs now.
Pinson, Oliver, Tiant and Wills. Good players, not great, Wills' SB records aside.
Which brings us to Joe Torre. Here's a guy who absolutely belongs in the Hall of Fame, but not yet.
This consideration is for him as a player. He was very, very good, but not an immortal during his playing days. As a manager, his Yankees run, plus a division title with the Braves, makes him a Hall of Famer. Even if Anthony once called him Clueless Joe.
Wow, that was long.
If you got to the end, give yourself a treat. Then hit the comment button and rip me.

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Across the pond in Dublin, Ireland is a new show entitled Macabre Magick. As you can see in the trailer above, it has a distinct creepy gothic feel to it (Insane clown. In a dungeon. In a straight jacket.) and is clearly a showcase for star Daemon Cordell.
However, whats really unique element of the show is the involvement of horror icon Wes Craven who, as we were told, helped with the story.
iTricks has been informed by folks working on the production that the run in Ireland is a proving ground to see if the show could port to either Vegas or New York City. Presumably at that point Cravens name would be more prominently attached for drawing power.

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We are now 70 members in total as of right now. Thank you all for joining and welcome to our newest site members. This baseball card website was created to showcase my baseball card collection and my articles and forum posts, etc. The goal is to have everyone participating and posting their pictures of cards and sports items if they want and also to chat with one another and participate in forum discussions on sporting events and sports memorabilia. Our membership comprises of a worldwide audience and it is exciting to be part of this great site. It has already exceeded my first expectations of it when it first started. Trivia contest is on Saturday, free prizes for correct answers on 1980's basketball questions.

Similar posts: baseball card

Scott Lewis
Lewis, a 6 lefty, was drafted in 2004 by the Cleveland Indians out of Ohio State.  After spending three years in single A ball, Lewis spent most of 2008 split between the AA Akron affiliate and the AAA Buffalo affiliate.  In four starts at the AAA level this year, he garnered two wins with a 2.63 ERA, and 21 strikeouts in 24 innings pitched. 
He was called up to the bigs on September 10th to start against the Orioles, and got the win with a nice outing, pitching eight innings with 0 earned runs and 3 Ks.  He followed that performance up on the 15th with another win, this time over Baltimore, again giving up no runs, with 5 Ks in 6 innings pitched. 
While the Tribe may not make the playoffs this year, look for Lewis to be a key contributor in their rotation in 2009.
2007 Bowman Chrome X-Fractor
Chrome X-Fractors are always nice cards, in my opinion, and this one is no different.  A card that can be had for several bucks, its a nice addition to any collection, not to mention a prospectors.

Similar posts: baseball card

I have a 1989 Topps card in near mint condition that has a mistake. Its got Terry Kennedys picture on the front, but it has Ron Karkovices stats on the back. There arent any card shops around where I live. Ive googled the card and I havent been able to find any info on it, so I guess its rare. How much do you think it is worth?
For the record, it is NOT two cards stuck together, LOL.

Its what is called a wrong back card. When the sheets are printed the fronts are printed and then the sheet is flipped over and the backs are printed. Sometimes the sheets get turned and flipped which results in cards with the wrong backs. There are some collectors that may be interested in cards with wrong backs but because neither the front or the back is a big name youd probably only get about a dollar for it.
I have a wrong back card from 1980. It has a checklist on the front and Robin Younts stats on the back.

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When we cleaned out the garage recently, the kids found some things they were thrilled to be reacquainted with. Unfortunately, we didn't find any Honus Wagner, Mickey Mantle or Joe Jackson cards, which would have been interesting, since we moved here in 2002 and didn't have any before, either. But I digress.

One thing we did come across is a baseball lunch box in mint condition. Before they got way popular and expensive as steel lithography relics of the pop culture past, we collected lunchboxes. We have quite a few very nice ones, especially from the sixties, such as Yellow Submarine, The Jetsons, Star Trek, Bonanza, and like that.

But along the way we do occasionally pick up newer ones, or people give them to us, and we'd forgotten about this one.

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Question: How do you tell the difference between regular Topps Traded and Topps Traded Tiffany.  It is pretty important in terms of determining pricing for rookie cards in those years.
Answer: That is an excellent question.  This is pretty hard to determine if you plan to purchase one over the internet.  If you are trying to determine a Topps Traded card from a Topps Traded Tiffany card in person, you will want to take a close look at it.  A Topps Traded Tiffany card will have a shiny, gloss-like finish to it.  A standard Topps Traded card wont have such a shiny coating on it.  Topps Traded Tiffany cards usually use a thicker card stock as well.  Topps Traded Tiffany cards were printed on white card stock versus grey card stock.  Depending on the set, some Tiffany cards will have a logo on the front of the card as well.  The regular Topps Traded cards are thinner and arent as sturdy when compared to a Topps Traded Tiffany card.  Topps Traded Tiffany cards can be worth quite a bit of money depending who the card is of.  Most of the time a regular Topps Traded and Topps Traded Tiffany card look exactly the same.  I would be careful if purchasing one over the internet.  Sellers could tell you that a card is Tiffany when indeed its not.  I would only purchase one that is graded and/or certified if you plan to buy one over the internet.  Thanks for the question.

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I picked up a 10 pack lot of 2006 Upper Deck Special F/X on ebay a few months ago, back when I delusionally had desogns on completing that monster of a base set (1025 cards at 1-2 per pack ha! x_x).  They arrived shortly before I sent out my end of a trade with Steve from the awesome White Sox Cards blog.  I should have sent it out well before then, but as luck would have it, I pulled a green parallel of Rob Mackowiak.  I thought it would be pretty dang cool to throw it in with the rest, so I did.  Turns out ol boy Steve went to school with him and shared a really cool memory.  It started me down a path of enlightenment.  Well, something like that.
This is insanely late, and I never scanned the cards, but I do have to say thanks, and mention that he completely put my lot to shame with the Cubbies he sent me.  As soon as I figure out how, Im totally putting him on me blogroll.  Oh hes good.
Anyway, I think the point of this post was something to the effect of: Timing is a beautiful thing, no.

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