Exceptional autographs. Show your best one.

Goldenage

We’ve seen some amazing autographs on our monthly pick up threads. If you’re willing, please take the time to share with us the one that stands out the most in your collection.

Please share with us what’s exceptional about it. Either the way you obtained it, the significance of it, or perhaps the autograph itself is simply highly exceptional.

My one and only contribution to this thread is this card. This card pays tribute to the two greatest hockey players that ever played the game.

The card itself was sold by Topps icon Woody Gellman to my friend Bill (now 85), back in 1969. It sat in a vending case until I pulled it out in Bill’s house and mailed it and $120 to Bobby Orr along with some other cards.

When the package arrived back from Orr, most of the autos were good, but this one stood out. The flow of his signature was beautiful, and the B and the Y of Bobby landed perfectly on the images border.

About five years later Gretzky did his last private signing in London Ontario, so I sent him two OPC rookies and this card at $199 per sig. When the package arrived the rookies were on top and both signatures were average to good.

When I “pulled” the last card I had a Uffdah Jim Brown moment, simply sat back in my chair and said wow. I said Orr and Gretzky just created one incredible card.

The a perfectly connects to the W. The r perfectly connects to the G. The line under 99 perfectly connects to the y. The #99 is perfectly centered from top to bottom and left to right inside the auto. I have never seen a better Gretzky card autograph in my life. The flow and beauty to it is amazing.
Wayne is on record saying he collected cards as a kid. I wonder if that 9-10 year old Gretzky loved this card, because the joy and pride he took in signing this is crystal clear.

Orr and Gretzky. The two greatest players ever, created a masterpiece. This card is a tribute to them, and them alone.

frankhardy

I've had this one a while. This is probably my favorite.

clarke442

I had this one autographed at a show they where both at.
Espo was first and I remember seeing him testing every pen on scrap paper before he started signing.
He did not like some of the markers and threw them on the floor and told someone next to him to "stop getting these shitty markers".
I appreciated that, and he also told me to make sure his auto dried before I had Bourque sign the card.
He did not seem too happy to be there, but was very professional about it.

picklepete

1987.. The Greatest ..

And Stan of course..

NJ born ..Bruce has to be on list !

Goldenage

@clarke442 said:
I had this one autographed at a show they where both at.
Espo was first and I remember seeing him testing every pen on scrap paper before he started signing.
He did not like some of the markers and threw them on the floor and told someone next to him to "stop getting these shitty markers".
I appreciated that, and he also told me to make sure his auto dried before I had Bourque sign the card.
He did not seem too happy to be there, but was very professional about it.

Great card and great autos from this hockey fan. I watched that game on tv. Before the game I said to myself watch Bourque give Esposito his shirt and take a new number. I believe they played the Rangers, but not sure. It was classy.

dmg111

Would've been the two I had from Richard Kiel. They are on the table in this photo. Unfortunately I lost them in an apartment fire in 2020.

Kid4hof03

This is probably my favorite

Goldenage

@Kid4hof03 said:
This is probably my favorite

Nice. 1968- His senior year at UCLA
I believe ?

I coached high school ice hockey with a guy who went to high school with him. Power Memorial ???

Kid4hof03

@Goldenage said:

@Kid4hof03 said:
This is probably my favorite

Nice. 1968- His senior year at UCLA
I believe ?

I coached high school ice hockey with a guy who went to high school with him. Power Memorial ???

April of 68 would have been at the end of his Junior year, he graduated in May 1969. Yes, Power Memorial. Kareem was my favorite player, being a teenager in the 1980's. I always thought the ultimate item to find would be an Alcindor autograph. I have had a few over the years, but most were cuts or magazine pages, when I found this one at the National in Cleveland in 2014 I knew this was the one. The dealer had two that were purchased from the family of the young man in the picture with Kareem. It's signed large and boldly in grease pencil, which is why, even though the photo faded over the years, the autograph never did. I don't collect a lot of Kareem stuff anymore, but this is one item I would really have to be hard-pressed to let go of.

Goldenage

@Kid4hof03 said:

@Goldenage said:

@Kid4hof03 said:
This is probably my favorite

Nice. 1968- His senior year at UCLA
I believe ?

I coached high school ice hockey with a guy who went to high school with him. Power Memorial ???

April of 68 would have been at the end of his Junior year, he graduated in May 1969. Yes, Power Memorial. Kareem was my favorite player, being a teenager in the 1980's. I always thought the ultimate item to find would be an Alcindor autograph. I have had a few over the years, but most were cuts or magazine pages, when I found this one at the National in Cleveland in 2014 I knew this was the one. The dealer had two that were purchased from the family of the young man in the picture with Kareem. It's signed large and boldly in grease pencil, which is why, even though the photo faded over the years, the autograph never did. I don't collect a lot of Kareem stuff anymore, but this is one item I would really have to be hard-pressed to let go of.

Will Kareem sign Alcindor today or just Jabbar ?

Any idea of how many Alcindors to Jabbar autos out there ? Like 1000 to 1 ? I don’t know.

Kid4hof03

@Goldenage said:

@Kid4hof03 said:

@Goldenage said:

@Kid4hof03 said:
This is probably my favorite

Nice. 1968- His senior year at UCLA
I believe ?

I coached high school ice hockey with a guy who went to high school with him. Power Memorial ???

April of 68 would have been at the end of his Junior year, he graduated in May 1969. Yes, Power Memorial. Kareem was my favorite player, being a teenager in the 1980's. I always thought the ultimate item to find would be an Alcindor autograph. I have had a few over the years, but most were cuts or magazine pages, when I found this one at the National in Cleveland in 2014 I knew this was the one. The dealer had two that were purchased from the family of the young man in the picture with Kareem. It's signed large and boldly in grease pencil, which is why, even though the photo faded over the years, the autograph never did. I don't collect a lot of Kareem stuff anymore, but this is one item I would really have to be hard-pressed to let go of.

Will Kareem sign Alcindor today or just Jabbar ?

Any idea of how many Alcindors to Jabbar autos out there ? Like 1000 to 1 ? I don’t know.

No, my understanding is that he will not and has not signed Alcindor since he made his name change official back in the early 70's. I have no idea about the ratio. In the vast number of autographs on eBay there are currently on 5 Alcindors available but I'm sure there are hundreds of Jabbar's. Kareem has always done a lot of signings so his autograph is plentiful, but Alcindor's seem to be few and far between.

balco758

Forgive the 4x share! My Dad got these via TTM in the 50's. Had them graded few years ago.

Goldenage

@balco758 said:
Forgive the 4x share! My Dad got these via TTM in the 50's. Had them graded few years ago.

Appreciate the four time share.
Truly exceptional.
Passing things down from generation to generation. Love it.

Kid4hof03

@balco758 said:
Forgive the 4x share! My Dad got these via TTM in the 50's. Had them graded few years ago.

Those are basically the definition of exceptional!

dtmodel

Great post Goldenage.

For me, this is an easy one... Marcel Paille. Goaltender. Providence / RI Reds.

Definitely not the most expensive autograph. Definitely not a household name like most listed above. In fact, only the most hardcore hockey fan will remember this character. But to me, he was the greatest goalie EVER. I was a big Providence / RI Reds fan and have been to more games than I care to admit to. I loved this guy. He never really made it to the show for any long period of time (Rangers had some pretty good goalies at that time) but he was good enough to make the AHL Hall of Fame and actually still holds quite a few records. I was fortunate to get his autograph in the mid to late 1990s before the internet made everyone easy to track down. I worked like a dog trying to track him down. Found him at the Springfield Hall of Fame induction. I was on cloud 9. He passed in 2002 and I have to tell you, that was one very sad day for this collector.

This is far and away my favorite autograph and I should note I am a rabid Bobby Orr and Derek Sanderson auto collector.

burghman

Any of you that have been here for awhile have probably seen and heard this a time or 2...

Sadie Hawkins dance my senior year, the girl who invited me and I head to TGI Fridays for pre-dance dinner. Sitting down, at the raised area around the bar, food comes, and someone from down below reaches up and says "Hey, we can eat this guy's fries." It's my favorite football player of all time, Lynn Swann. Poor girl, I spent the entire meal talking with him - he was there with a buddy who was having a hard time so we just kinda all hung out. A table of football players wanted his autograph so he excused himself, went over to sign, then came back to us. Waitress comes over towards the end of the meal and asks if we're good friends since he spent so much time with us. I told her "No, never met him but he's my favorite football player ever." She asked if I got an autograph and I told her I was too nervous to ask. She got him to sign the back of a placemat for me. Took me a few years to realize that his "S" is a swan

GroceryRackPack

@burghman said:

hey burghman,
Pretty cool there, you have a year & jersey match with 88...

slimies

was at a time share yrs ago with family and hopped down to the Tim Hortons coffee shop with my brother and while was there Wayne Gretzky walked in .. places got packed so he stayed to sign so asked him to sign a hockey mag i was reading .

GroceryRackPack

Sept 24th 1983

That was the day I busted my tibia all to hell…

I was at football practice and I remember going to my left and I got hit and landed on my back, from the point of getting hit and landing on my back for that split second in between I do not remember. I do remember this; I was lying on my back with my head towards the south, my right leg pointing north, and my left leg at a 90° angle pointing to the west, my body was just numb from the shock. A few hours later I was in a hard cast from my left thigh down to my toes, several weeks later I seen Orestes Minoso AKA Minnie was signing autographs at a mall; I thought at that time, which would be cool to have someone noteworthy autograph my cast.

1951WheatiesPremium

A beautiful signature on the tougher variation of the premium; I think the grade of ‘good’ is due mostly to the indent of the ballpoint as the item itself is otherwise in stellar condition. The signature is typical of the man: legible, ornate and well placed:

Goldenage

@1951WheatiesPremium said:
A beautiful signature on the tougher variation of the premium; I think the grade of ‘good’ is due mostly to the indent of the ballpoint as the item itself is otherwise in stellar condition. The signature is typical of the man: legible, ornate and well placed:

Mickey does have an exceptional signature. What stadium is that ?

georgebailey2

A 3-way tie from my freshman year which was the final year the Flyers practiced at the Class of '23 rink. Western teams typically came in a day early and practiced there, too.

UFFDAH

Goldenage

@UFFDAH said:

Think I read an article where his auto fee has gone from 1k to 1.7k.
Great card.

picklepete

@Goldenage said:

@UFFDAH said:

Think I read an article where his auto fee has gone from 1k to 1.7k.
Great card.

Which is CRAZY !
yeah..yeah 7 SB's etc. but $1700 ?!!
I live in Tampa & huge Bucs fan but no way I ever pay that.

Ironmanfan

When Cal Ripken Jr. was still a prospect Topps had him sign this sheet for use on cards (such as the 82 Topps Traded)

IMF

erba

@georgebailey2 said:

Love these Lindberghs!

georgebailey2

@erba said:

@georgebailey2 said:

Love these Lindberghs!

Thank you. I wish I had gotten more. I have the whole photo pack signed as well as the yearbook.

I was able to buy that season's first home jersey of Lindbergh from the trunk of the trainer's car. I have been trying to find a photo of Lindbergh from the first few games from that season with no luck. They switched them out by Thanksgiving. I am guessing that they weren't happy with them as the back part of the new wide arm stripe connected to the neck opening. All subsequent jerseys went straight across about an inch or two below the neck opening.

Goldenage

@georgebailey2 said:

@erba said:

@georgebailey2 said:

Love these Lindberghs!

Thank you. I wish I had gotten more. I have the whole photo pack signed as well as the yearbook.

I was able to buy that season's first home jersey of Lindbergh from the trunk of the trainer's car. I have been trying to find a photo of Lindbergh from the first few games from that season with no luck. They switched them out by Thanksgiving. I am guessing that they weren't happy with them as the back part of the new wide arm stripe connected to the neck opening. All subsequent jerseys went straight across about an inch or two below the neck opening.

Was that Sudsy Suttlemeyer ? I may have totally botched the name. I knew M. Byron very well. Sure you did as well.

georgebailey2

Was that Sudsy Suttlemeyer ? I may have totally botched the name. I knew M. Byron very well. Sure you did as well.

Yes, it was (Settlemyre). My friend and I asked for Barber and Clarke and settled for Propp and Lindbergh, which we both still have. I have been tempted to reach out to him to see if he remembers us. I believe he runs or owns a rink in NJ.

Never met Byron. I may have emailed him once regarding photos from the start of the 82-83 season.

Goldenage

@georgebailey2 said:

Was that Sudsy Suttlemeyer ? I may have totally botched the name. I knew M. Byron very well. Sure you did as well.

Yes, it was (Settlemyre). My friend and I asked for Barber and Clarke and settled for Propp and Lindbergh, which we both still have. I have been tempted to reach out to him to see if he remembers us. I believe he runs or owns a rink in NJ.

Never met Byron. I may have emailed him once regarding photos from the start of the 82-83 season.

Mt. Laurel rink, The Igloo. My son took a few skating lessons with him before Jonathan played for Team Comcast in Pennsauken years ago.
Briere, Hatcher, and Primeau were always there coaching their kids. Kerry Fraser his grandson or son I believe.

Cubbies1416

mrburns443

gonzer

The ultimate for me was getting Yaz's in the mid 70's. Hanging upside down over the visitor dugout at Anaheim (my bro held my ankles) he couldn't resist my ingenuity. He happily scribbled his name. That auto now resides with this forum's resident Yaz collector extraordinaire.

MrTim

The first ever hockey game my dad took me to was at Maple Leaf Gardens where I got to see the Howe line playing with the Houston Aeros against the Toronto Toros. We sat in the nosebleeds and I remember looking through the binoculars, bringing the Aeros bench into focus just as Gordie stood up to hop over the boards. Seeing that just blew my mind. We had a black and white TV so seeing this in person was even more exciting as the colours made it all pop that much more.

A few months later I was able to make a trade for his autograph on the back of a 1966 Stan Mikita, which was one of six cards comprising a composite of Gordie Howe on the reverse. Here is the entire composite. When I was older I personally obtained signatures from Frank Mahovlich and Henri Richard, but this Howe is exceptional as far as my inner 10-year old is concerned. Even if I now wish he hadn't carried so many cards in the back pocket of his jeans.

mattyc_collection

Goldenage

@DM23HOF said:

Spectacular eye appeal on both.

This doesn’t come close to your ball, but we have Babes auto on a piece of stationary from the hotel that his daughter ran or owned. Babe visited there to see her and my uncle Joe saw him at the desk and had him sign on it. That ball you have is one of a kind.

The Mantle pictured has had a 5-10x price appreciation over the past ten years I’m guessing ?

mattyc_collection

That Ruth auto sounds like a great one with fantastic provenance— which is really an enormously important part of the equation these days. Thanks regarding the autos I posted. Yes on the 53T Mantle. It has had a 4-5x appreciation since I acquired it only about two years ago. With signed vintage cards, the value is determined by the overall eye appeal of the piece, as opposed to the mere grade of either the card or the auto. It is very akin to the way eye appeal and centering can have a high impact on price with an unsigned card, only more so.

Goldenage

@DM23HOF said:
That Ruth auto sounds like a great one with fantastic provenance— which is really an enormously important part of the equation these days. Thanks regarding the autos I posted. Yes on the 53T Mantle. It has had a 4-5x appreciation since I acquired it only about two years ago. With signed vintage cards, the value is determined by the overall eye appeal of the piece, as opposed to the mere grade of either the card or the auto. It is very akin to the way eye appeal and centering can have a high impact on price with an unsigned card, only more so.

It’s interesting you say that because that is exactly the direction I go in determining which cards I get signed. Sounds like you’re light years ahead of me in baseball knowledge, but it’s interesting that we think exactly alike. Centering and a nice signature are 9/10ths of the law.

steel75

Steel Curtain Autographed Mini Helmet ~ Joe Greene is the only left around

Goldenage

@steel75 said:
Steel Curtain Autographed Mini Helmet ~ Joe Greene is the only left around

That is super nice. As in Super Bowl nice.

Stone193

I don't collect autos as a focus and besides pack auto cards on rare occasions will pick one up.

This "pre" accident auto is the year before his accident - Roy was a real fan favorite in NY.

downtown

I collected first day issues as a kid, so I had this signed by Hank.

oilers99

My favorite basketball autograph

redlegs

Goldenage

@redlegs said:

The Robinson is a beauty.

scmavl

Elvis Presley signed at The Cotton Bowl show in Dallas, 1956 (his breakout year). I bought it raw years ago, and had it slabbed/graded so I could feel more comfortable displaying it. Doesn't hurt that it got a PSA 9.

threeofsix

Wow.