Saturday, January 31, 2015

2015 TwinsFest Wrap Up

Other than some Target Field pictures that I use for players and coaches to sign that I don't have anything else, I got a few balls signed.  I got a Carew and Molitor ball that I gave to a family member, and I had Byron Buxton sign one as well.


I think this year went a little better than last year.  The elevator situation is still a little frustrating. It's the only way to move around, and not all elevators got to all floors, so I often found myself trying to find an elevator that went where I wanted to go.  I think I got it all figured out by Sunday.

I saw fellow collectors Steve, Randy and Zane, and they all looked like they were doing well and getting plenty of autographs.

I still need to come up with my collecting goals for 2015.  I think I'll post those tomorrow.

Friday, January 30, 2015

TwinsFest Signed Cards

I was a little slow getting cards signed, but on Sunday I got quite a few, including several from the 2014 Topps Heritage set.

I ended up with eight cards signed from the set, including Phil Hughes, Oswaldo Arcia, Kennys Vargas, Danny Santana, Glen Perkins, Aaron Hicks and Ricky Nolasco and Brian Dozier.






I also got a few signed from the Heritage Minors set, including Alex Meyer, Eddie Rosario, Jorge Polanco and Kohl Stewart.




I got a few signed from the 2013 set, including Aaron Hicks from the regular set and Trevor May from the Minors set.


Jacque Jones signed his card from the 2005 Heritage set.


Ricky Nolasco signed his 2014 Allen & Ginter (which has the same picture as the Heritage card).



Eduardo Escobar signed his 2012 Topps and Mark Hamburger signed his 2014 card from the Red Wings team set.




Finally, Tony Oliva signed a 1972 Batting Leaders card already signed by Merv Rettenmund.


I would have liked to get a few more Heritage cards signed.  I didn't do very well on the 2013 set.  I still need two signed by Mauer, as well as Arcia and Peflrey from the current roster.  I would have also liked to have Plouffe, Gibson, Dozier, Mauer and Pelfrey sign their 2014 cards.  I'll have to keep working on them, and may try sending a few through the mail to Spring Training.

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Photos and Magazines

I really like getting magazines signed by the players on the covers.  I was able to get a few of them signed at TwinsFest as well as a few photos.

The Twins Programs are great for getting signed.  I had Kurt Suzuki sign one from June with his picture on the cover.


Rod Carew signed the cover of a 1970 Twins yearbook.


Kent Hrbek signed the cover of a 1982 Baseball Digest.


Dan Gladden signed a Sports Illustrated from the 1987 World Series.


Joe Mauer signed a Sports Illustrated from 2009.  It would be great to see him play well enough to get on another cover!


Miguel Sano, Michael Tonkin and Mike Kvasnicka all signed 8x10 photos for me.




I scanned in all the cards I got signed and I'll post those in the next day or two.

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

My TwinsFest Bobbleheads

There were only two things I wanted to get signed at TwinsFest that I didn't get done.  One was a mini helmet for Torii Hunter, and the other was the Tom Brunansky bobblehead.

I had good luck with other bobbleheads though.

On Friday evening, the first line I went through was Joe Mauer, who signed this bobblehead already signed by Justin Morneau through a FanHQ event.



Also on Friday, I was able to have Torii Hunter sign his Gold Glove Award bobblehead.



On Saturday, I was able to have Glen Perkins sign his bobblehead.


On Sunday, I made sure to see Hunter again to sign his 2003 stadium giveaway bobblehead.


Also on Sunday, I had Brian Dozier sign his season ticket holder bobblehead.  This one's a bit odd, as it's smaller than the others.



Lugging these around TwinsFest is a bit of a hassle, especially ones that have a bigger box, like the Mauer/Morneau and the Dozier bobbleheads. My son helped me carry a few on Friday by letting me put a couple in his backpack.

Monday, January 26, 2015

My Son's 2015 TwinsFest Autographs

John went with me on Friday night only this year, so the number of autographs he got is relatively small.

We got Joe Mauer and Kent Hrbek first, and John had Mauer sign a 2009 All Star Game ball and Hrbek sign a 1987 Topps.



We wanted to get Torii Hunter, but after the Mauer line we decided to get Brian Dozier, but his line was already really long, so we decided to skip it and get in the Hunter line.  It's a good think we did because the Hunter line got really long.  

Prior to the Hunter signing, Ervin Santana was signing and the line was really short, so John ran through that one.  John didn't ask him to sign the ball on the sweet spot, and he ended up signing the side panel.  In addition to Santana, the line had Jordan Schafer, B.J. Hermsen and Max Murphy. Corey Koskie was supposed to be there too but wasn't.  For those players that we didn't have anything for them to sign, we used a picture of Target Field.






We got through the Hunter line with no problem, and John had him sign his Gold Glove bobblehead.



Also in Hunter's line was Jacque Jones and Michael Tonkin.  Roy Smalley was scheduled, but didn't show.



After Hunter's line, we went to one more with Kennys Vargas, Kohl Stewart, J.R. Graham, Butch Davis and JT Bruett.



That's it for John's autographs this year.  Not too many, but we were happy to see Torii Hunter again.

Sunday, January 25, 2015

2015 TwinsFest Haul

It's not nearly as much as we usually have after three days, but I went alone two of the three days and on Friday I just had one son with me.

On the bright side, I didn't spend nearly as much as I normally do.



I had one more bobblehead I wanted to get signed (Brunansky) and I would have liked to get a mini helmet signed by Torii Hunter.  I also didn't get to see Trevor Plouffe who I'd like to get to sign a couple Topps Heritage cards.  Other than that, I ended up with more than I thought I would get.

On The Train

And not as exhausted as I thought I might be. Still tired though.

This is a picture of Sano signing my picture.

Tonight I'll take a picture of everything I got signed over the weekend and over the next few days I'll post each item individually.

Done!

I got Sano and Oliva, and I'm on my way to the train.

My View From The Line

In My Last Line

I finished with the Arcia line quickly and now I'm waiting for Tony Oliva and Miguel Sano.

It's been very easy to get through the lines today.

Made It Through Molitor and Buxton!

With no problem. There's 20 minutes left and almost no one in the line!

Done With The Perkins Line

I'm going to try for Molitor and Buxton. I'm at the end of the line, so I'm not sure I'll make it.

Lots of Media Here Of Course

Dick Bremer walked by a bit ago, and I just saw La Velle from the Star Tribune in the hall too and said hi to him.

Getting A Lot Done Today

I made it through the Santana line that also had Alex Meyer, then went through a line with Ricky Nolasco and Trevor May.

Now I'm waiting for Glen Perkins, Logan Darnell and A.J. Achter. It doesn't start for over 45 minutes though.

Taking A Breather

After going through Dozier's line twice, I'm waiting in the same area for Danny Santana. He starts in about 20 minutes.

It's noticeably less crowded today.

Went Through Dozier's Line Again

Trying to make some decent progress on the 2014 Topps Heritage set.

Done With Hunter's Line

After getting through Hunter's line very quickly, I headed off to Dozier's line and had him sign his bobblehead.