RBI (231) Bryan Cranston...

Recently some of my friends let me tag along to an event in Los Angeles where they had a feeling we'd be able to run into a few familiar faces and have some luck graphing. We were lucky to be correct and to have a target nearby so we could arrange to print photos for a random person in attendance none other than actor Bryan Cranston.

Cranston is famous for his roles as Hal in Malcolm in the Middle and Walter White in Breaking Bad.
I've always heard that he's a great guy if you run into him, and I was very happy that the rumors were true. Cranston signed and took photos for us and was a great experience.

Adding this Bryan Cranston autographed photo to my wall was very satisfying. It came out looking great and I don't often get actor's autographs so adding one of someone from two great shows I've liked was a good feeling.

RBI (228) Paige Van Zant

Up and coming UFC star Paige VanZant has been catching the MMA world by fire lately. The UFC has found a star on the rise after her debut victory against Cailin Curran. Her dismantling of veteran Felice Herrig solidified her reputation as legitimate prospect and the UFC has been happy to have Paige appear at numerous of the company's most recent events such as the UFC Fan Expo is Las Vegas.

I sent a TTM request to her just after her victory over Curran realizing she was legitimate and going to become incredibly popular with the fans as soon as they realized the talent she had. Paige was incredibly kind and autographed two 8x10's for me.


While I do have a healthy Ronda Rousey autograph collection I don't have the body issue cover signed which is a cornerstone item to have signed by her, so I wanted to make sure my Paige VanZant autograph collection had "the" photo. Her initial UFC promo photo has actually been "the" photo so I was sure to send one of them.

Paige also signed this photo from her UFC debut.

I'm very glad to have these two in my collection as I've heard her events and appearances get swarmed now by huge crowds of eager fans to meet the rising star. She's proven legitimate as a growing young fighter since transitioning from model and ring card girl into UFC star. You can find Paige Vanzant (@paigevanzant) | Twitter

Graphing the Ducks 2014-2015

I've made a few trips out this year to graph the Anaheim Ducks. They're a solid team pushing the pace for best in the NHL this season and have their usual standouts being stronger than ever. Team captain Ryan Getzlaf is playing like a beast right now and on pace to be leading the conversation for league MVP at the end of the season.

Each season I've worked on graphing the Ducks I've liked to get a team set of cards done. I made some progress on last year's Score set getting a few guys that I've missed and started this years O-Pee-Chee team set.

I added a few other nicer items getting a few pucks and some photos done to go along with the cards I got signed by the Ducks.

Ryan Getzlaf autographed puck.

Scott Niedermayer autographed puck.

Cam Fowler 2014 Olympics autographed 8x10 of him scoring the go ahead goal to beat Russia.

Ryan Kesler autographed 8x10 photograph from his time with Vancouver.

Scott Niedermayer autographed 8x10 photograph from when the Ducks won the 2007 Stanley Cup.

Cam Fowler 2014 Olympics autographed 8x10 of him scoring the go ahead goal to beat Russia inscribed "Go USA"

Ryan Kesler autographed 8x10 since joining the Ducks.

Ryan Getzlaf autographed 8x10 photo.

Corey Perry autographed 8x10 photo with the Ducks.

I got Sami Vatanen, Ryan Getzlaf, Cam Fowler, Frederik Andersen, Ben Lovejoy, Devante Smith-Pelly, Bryan Allen, Patrick Maroon, and Kyle Palmieri started off my O-Pee-Chee set and finished off some of the active Score cards I needed.

 Kyle Palmieri, Patrick Maroon, Hampus Lindholm, Ilya Bryzgalov, Andrew Cogliano, Francois Beauchemin, Jakob Silfverberg, Corey Perry signed some of the inserts and team cards I needed for the team set.

 Matt Beleskey, Patrick Maroon, Cam Fowler, Kyle Palmieri, Ryan Getzlaf, Sami Vatanen, Frederik Andersen, Eric Brewer, and Ben Lovejoy all signed their team card for me.

The Ducks are a great team and the couple of days I've spent graphing them has really had me come away with some great signed pucks, photos and cards.

RBI (221) Andre Reed at Dr. Alex Corbin Liu's 11/16/14

As I posted before, Dr. Alex Corbin Liu held an autograph signing with NFL Hall of Fame receiver Andre Reed at his practice. It was a great signing with everything affordable, well run and moving along quickly. 

Reed played most of his career for the Buffalo Bills and a lone season for the Washington Redskins. He's been inducted in the NFL Hall of Fame and the Bills Hall of Fame for his service. He is a 7-time Pro Bowler and 4-time AFC Champion. His 951 receptions went for 13,198 yards and were good for 87 touchdowns.

It was a nice day running into a few friends and I was more than happy to get this Andre Reed autographed 11x14 photo.

Autograph Recap, Kole Calhoun at Stadium Nissan 9/16/14

So it's been a while since I've been slammed with work but I wanted to recap a few things that I've been able to graph since the summer came to a close. One event I made it to was the Kole Calhoun appearance at Stadium Nissan. It was a well run event and Kole knocked out a fairly large crowd, but he was strictly one autograph per person.

I ran into my buddies Al, Matt and David and we had a good time hanging out in line even though it was far too early in the morning to be waiting in a line. I went through the line and got this Kole Calhoun autographed baseball, I had one before but gave it away to a friend and wanted to replace it for my own collection. I asked Kole to inscribe "Red Baron" but he declined saying he wasn't inscribing that day.

After I got my ball signed Matt was kind enough to drop my photo and get this 8x10 photograph autographed by Calhoun. Defense is a big part of his game to go along with the underrated bat so I'm glad to have this photo of him flying for a catch in the collection.

It was a good signing and didn't take too long to get out of there so I was happy with my progress on the day to end up with two Kole Calhoun autographs.

Autograph Recap, 1st Annual Juglife Celebrity Softball Game 8/3/14

I went with my buddy David to Javale Mcgee's 1st Annual Juglife Celebrity Softball game held at UCLA's Easton Softball field. The game was an affordable graph costing only $15 to get inside, and all proceeds were supporting Juglife's bid to fundraise to support their efforts in 2015 to go build wells in Uganda to provide clean water. It's a great cause and McGee's doing good things raising awareness about an issue that may seem basic but is fundamental for life in that part of the world.

Before the game got underway I was able to get NBA center and surprise guest Andre Drummond's autograph on a floorboard piece after he was dropped off at the game. It was nice to get on the board after having struck out with Nick Young declining to sign for me on the way in.

After Drummond arrived I was able to get Denver guard Ty Lawson's autograph when he arrived to support his teammate's cause. Lawson showing up was awesome since he didn't come to play just to hang out and put his support behind Mcgee.

After Lawson showed up I went inside caught the rest of the game to watch the celebrities play ball. It was a blowout game and it even made the wire with Ray J making it on TMZ for blowing over Laura Govan on his way into 3rd base.

When the game wrapped up the Juglife crew set up some tables and the majority of the athletes came over and sat at the tables to sign autographs. John Wall and Nick Young had shown up to the event but they took off quickly without stopping at the tables to sign. Young only signed a few and Wall signed a bit before he came into the event, but I wasn't able to get either of their autographs.

At the tables Andre Drummond started signing but since I already got him and hadn't prepped for him I didn't get another floorboard signed. The next guy was the man himself, Javale McGee autographed two 8x10's for me. The first one was of him participating in the slam dunk contest.

The second 8x10 Mcgee signed was of him with the Wizards winning the tipoff against Yao Ming.

Next to McGee was Terrell Owens who autographed my 8x10 photo of him and Jerry Rice back in San Francisco.

Ty Lawson was signing so even though I got him on my photo I had him autograph a floorboard.

It wasn't a bad haul and there were even more celebrities in attendance than I had prepped for. Ray J autographed my ticket when I was walking out to my car. 

Omarion was in attendance with his wife, Damien Wayans, Laura Govan, and Doug Christie were also there. Those were the main celebrities that I recognized but a few minor celebs from vine, instagram, tv and music were also in the game.

Overall it was a great day getting a few NBA autographs and Terrell Owens who may go in the Hall of Fame in a few years. Javale's crew did a great job putting on one of the best charity events that I've been to in a while. He was really polite and donated a ton of items for the raffles that went on with nice prices throughout the game, and his guests were also great taking the time to sign for fans and come out. It's nice to see someone local bringing their star power to good use but still being accessible to fans. Bobby Wagner take notes, the Javale McGee softball event was how things are supposed to be.

Autograph Recap, Inland Empire Celebrity Bowling 7/14/14

I went to a new charity event, Inland Empire Celebrity Bowling hosted by Denver Broncos safety Omar Bolden and Seattle Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner. To be honest the event wasn't exactly great for myself and fellow graphers.

The primary goal and what really sold us on going was news that Bobby Wagner's teammate Russell Wilson was supposed to be in attendance. The handler at the door was apparently from his passing camp and said he would be coming to the event latter on so we happily made our donation and went inside.

Now here's where things get a little murky. The event was great in that it had all you can eat ribs, chicken and sides and unlimited cocktails with a decent DJ. Everyone seemed to have a good time. In attendance to begin the event with Bolden and Wagner was Broncos safety Duke Ihenacho and Steelers linebacker Chris Carter. Bolden, Duke and Carter were great being really social, very funny and generally everything you would expect from celebrity hosts at a charity event.

I started the day off getting Omar Bolden's autograph on my 8x10 photograph. It was great to meet and talk to him since I'm a big Bronco's fan and he had a great season for us.

After Bolden I got his fellow Broncos' safety Duke Ihenacho's autograph on an 8x10. I'm not really sure why but he signed it "#27" so maybe he's changing his number next season? But it doesn't make much sense since the photo he signed has number 33 on his jersey. It was that kind of day.

After Inhenaco signed not much action happened besides taking photos and goofing off with really awesome guy Chris Carter. He was one of the highlights of the event hanging out with us but we didn't bring anything for him. That was until we got Bobby Wagner's attention. Wagner came over to sign for us and he wasn't happy about it at all. He was short with us, seemed irritated we had different color pens for our different photos and would only sign one item each. I understand we didn't spend thousands to be there like some of the participants, but we made a donation just like every other person who was inside. No one tried dropping more than 2 items on him it just seemed unnecessary for him to come off like a jerk to us and to give us a rough time.

I'm not really sure what's the real difference between us asking him to sign our photos and other attendees asking him to sign their tshirts. We came prepared to meet the host of the event and wanted a nice item from the event. We donated just as much as some of the other guests who were treated much more politely. Maybe Bobby didn't want us at the event and it shows, but you signing two photos and not glaring when I ask for a photo together makes this a better event that draws more graphers. Yeah you'll have to sign more but you'll make more money in donations for the American Heart Association. I thought that was the point.

Matt didn't have anything for Wagner so he helped me out and got my other Bobby Wagner photo autographed. As you can see theres a random mark under the "B" because Wagner marked the photo with the sharpie before signing it. I appreciate the help in getting it done, but come on Bobby. Really? Regardless I'm glad to have both my photos done so I'm finished getting Bobby Wagner's autograph and have a Superbowl Champion's autograph in my collection.

Russell Wilson never ended up showing up. Twitter showed us he went out to dinner somewhere by the beach instead of showing up to his teammates event. A teammate who had just gone and spent time at Wilson's own camp the day before. Nice support right?

Someone who did have a lot of support was Darren Collison. As the event was wrapping up and we were walking out the door I literally shoulder checked Matt to stop walking as Collison walked right through the front door inside past us. He made the drive from LA to Rancho to spend maybe 25 minutes saying hi to the guests still in attendance taking photos and signing for everyone who was left and asked him. We overheard him saying he didn't realize that the event ended so early and he seemed genuinely surprised. But it was great to see him come by and immediately make himself available to fans.

I ended up getting this Darren Collison 8x10 photograph autographed as the best autograph right at the buzzer to make the day worthwhile graphing wise. I'm sure Clippers fans will agree with me saying it'll be rough seeing him in Sacramento playing for the Kings now instead of in Los Angeles.

Now don't get me wrong. I had come to the event from a long weekend at work. I got my moneys worth from the catering and had a good time meeting players on my favorite football team and getting a few autographs. But the attitude Wagner had and the handler telling us Wilson would come only for him to skip out on it was really disappointing. I'm down to support good causes but I'm not sure if I'll be back next year.

Autograph Recap, Bernie Nicholls at the Offices of Dr. Alex Corbin Liu 7/12/14

Well as previously posted Dr. Alex Corbin Liu had an appearance scheduled with former LA kings great Bernie Nicholls at his practice in Rowland Heights. It was only my second time going to a signing held by Dr. Liu and it was a great experience for me once again. The line this time was longer than the Reggie Bullock signing, but it wasn't too bad especially considering the hype around the Kings winning the Stanley Cup this year.

First off I made a untypical mistake and printed out the wrong quality photo and didn't discover it until it was too late to arrange for another print. I went into Dr. Liu's office and was happy to see a variety of high quality items available for purchase at the event. There was a selection of 8x10s, 11x14s and different pucks all for a really reasonable price especially for being sold with the autograph included with purchase. I was honestly really impressed as I've seen other places host signings and player appearances with no items available or a poor selection of poor quality, but this is the second time I've seen nice items available at Dr. Liu's office.

Nicholls arrived early and spent some time inside chatting with a few guests before starting to sign for those in line. After he really started signing the line started to move pretty well and he allowed fans to take a photo with his ring from being on the Kings Stanley Cup championship.

Bernie Nicholls autographed this 8x10 photograph and inscribed "70 Goals 80 Assist 150 points" on it for me. I think it came out really well and I really like the vintage jersey he's wearing in it. Definitely a well chosen photograph to have available for people attending the signing.

This one wasn't as popular a choice with the Kings faithful but I also was able to get this photo of Nicholls playing for the New Jersey Devils signed.

Overall it was another great event run by Dr. Liu and his staff and I'm glad to have made the trip out to meet Nicholls. This has been a recent way for me to find autographs in the Los Angeles/Southern California area and I'm definitely liking how they're coming out. I'll be keeping an eye out for the next event and will be posting any information I find about a signing and recommend making your way out that way as well.

Autograph Recap, Reggie Bullock 6/14/14 at Dr. Alex Liu's Practice

As I previously posted Dr. Alex Corbin Liu hosted an appearance by Clippers player Reggie Bullock at his practice in Rowland Heights. It was a good chance to pick up an NBA autograph at an affordable price, and the limited number of appearances made by members of the team this past season made me jump at the chance.

Reggie made a prompt arrival and the signing started on time. The line moved along quickly with Reggie signing and taking photos with fans.

I was able to get this Reggie Bullock 8x10 photograph autographed and inscribed "Rookie Season" by Reggie. It came out great and I'm really glad to have made it out to the signing. The North Carolina product was selected by the Clippers in the 1st round of the 2013 NBA Draft and provided limited minutes off the bench. Hopefully next season he can provide some more firepower off the bench. Regardless it was a great experience at Dr. Liu's event and I look forward to making it out to more in the future. Definitely keep an eye out here for more postings of the events that Dr. Liu will host.

You can follow Reggie Bullock's Twitter @ReggieBullock35

Autograph Recap, Howie Kendrick Pechanga Appearance 5/22/14

I've posted previously about All Star Angels second baseman Howie Kendrick and he's off to another tear to start off this season. Kendrick had an autograph appearance scheduled at the Pechanga Casino so I decided to make my way there after work. Previously I had a great time at the Jered Weaver autograph appearance at Pechanga so I was hoping for a repeat.

When I got to the casino the line was in the grand ballroom and was extremely small. Even though I only got there about an hour ahead of time I was about 60 people back from the front. Howie started signing for the Pechanga VIP club members at 6 and quickly was through the VIPs. He started signing for the general public line by 6:30 and started knocking autographs out.

Howie was strictly one item per when I handed him my card and put my photo on the table. He asked which one I wanted done but had already started to sign the card. I got him to sign my 2014 Topps Heritage to cross one more off the list while I work to get the complete set signed.

After Howie signed my card I went to the casino and played a few quick hands of blackjack. I pocketed some quick winnings and decided to leave while I was ahead. I was walking out and saw the line for Howie had shrunk even more to less than 20 people so I got back in line.

Howie autographed my 8x10 photograph I had taken from a few years before and he gave it a nice signature. While he was writing I asked him if he could inscribe All Star and he responded "No sorry but I can sign it for you." Obviously.

I'm glad to have finished getting Howie on things that I need done. He's a bad signer at the stadium and even though his signature is nice it's good to be done with the not most pleasant person.

Autograph Recap May 3, 2014 CJ Wilson at Cox Irvine

Angels pitcher CJ Wilson made an appearance at the Cox store in Irvine, and rather than start the day waiting around in the heat for the Rangers to roll in I made my way out there.

I got there and walked down the fairly long line until I finally found the end. Members of the Angels strike force were there and gave me a wristband to guarantee an autograph as long as I was within the first 200. Getting there about an hour and change before it was scheduled to begin got me wristband number 149. CJ was scheduled to be there from 12:00-1:00 but arrived about fifteen minutes late and started signing immediately. He actually was able to get the line moving rather quickly since photos with CJ weren't allowed.

I snapped a quick shot of CJ before it was my turn.

 You may recognize the guy to the left of CJ, he's a regular member of the stadium CSC security team at Angel Stadium. Why he and another CSC security guard was there is beyond me.

He was strictly one item per and held to it while he was going through the line. I had him finish an item I've been randomly lugging along for years. I finally got my Jerry Dipoto and CJ Wilson autographed photo of the pair of them together at the CJ and Albert Pujols press conference in 2011 when they signed with the Angels. It feels good to finish projects as now I've gotten both photos I took and printed done since I go the Albert Pujols signed at the end of last season.

Spring Training 2014, My 1 Day Trip

Well I got bit by the bug and decided to make my way out to Arizona for Spring Training. It was a very unexpected trip so I was light on supplies for the adventure so I decided to focus on the Angels only instead of hitting up multiple teams. Here's a summary of how I fared.

I arrived in Tempe at about 5 am after driving through the night to get there. Nice drive, going through the desert is always fun especially at that time. I posted up at the spot everyone had told me about and began the wait.

The first person to stop for me was Chris Iannetta, he signed a pair of cards for me, Topps 2011 and Topps Heritage 2012.

After Iannetta autographed those cards for me JB Shuck came over and signed his 2011 Bowman prospects rookie card and a 2012 Topps Heritage card for me.

After Shuck signed it was nice to get a new face to sign for me, I got this Tyler Skaggs autographed baseball. I think he's going to put it all together now that he's got veteran lefty CJ Wilson to learn from and will pan out to be a great pitcher.

From Skaggs on it was pretty terrible. I went inside to watch the Angels practice and got ignored by the rest of the team with Trout only signing one home made sign and Kole Calhoun doing like four people with the rest of the team waving us off and then going to leave for their game against the Royals. I jumped in my car and drove up to the Royals facility in Surprise to meet the team for their game.

Inside I was able to get Mike Scioscia to autograph this photo I took of him at the Pujols-Wilson press conference when they signed with the Angels. It's nice to cross this off the list of things I need to do and can finally take it out of my folder.

After Scioscia signed the photo it was time for baseball and it was great to watch the guys play ball. When the starters got pulled I booked it back to the car and made my way from Surprise back down to Tempe to wait. My driving and patience paid off and I was one on one with the man, and I was able to get this Albert Pujols autographed baseball. Of course it's the APS short sig under the reverse Rawlings but at least it's a big reasonably clean one.

After Albert took off I was able to begin my newest project, getting the 2014 Topps heritage set signed. I was able to get it started off very nicely getting David Freese's autograph on his short print card and he inscribed "2011 WS Champs" for me on the card. I'm looking forward to working on the set and hope to get as many of them inscribed as I can.

After Freese signed for me I called it a day and got back into my car to meet up with an old friend for dinner and a nap, then got back into my car and headed back to Southern California. It was a long drive and an even longer day, but was definitely was an adventure and fun day at Spring Training.

Padres Fan Fest 2014 Summary and Autograph Recap

I made it down to San Diego for the Padres Fan Fest 2014 to enjoy my last big graph before the relative calm until the season starts. I won't be making it down to Spring Training so I wanted to knock off as many autographs as I could and have fewer things to work on during the year when I go down to San Diego. Anyways, last years fan fest was great and I was looking forward to this years.

The day started off really well with big help from Rob and Kyle who were able to hook me up with a Carlos Quentin autograph ticket. The ticket got me into the area, but Carlos was signing so slowly he actually got up from his session without finishing everyone who had an autograph ticket. I was about 10 people back in line and was able to catch him at the stairs to leave. He was apologizing to fans that he had to leave and signing a few as he was talking and without really looking took my sharpie and knocked out my photo. That's appropriate because it's the photo of him charging Zack Greinke and knocking him out of part of the season when he broke his collarbone. I'll cherish this photo because I know if I had caught him 1 on 1 sitting down I doubt Carlos Quentin would have autographed it.

At the end of the day I went on the stadium tour and saw this note posted on the PA box between the Padres dugout and clubhouse. And yes it is real. I wonder who it was posted for…

After getting Carlos Quentin I got Josh Johnson's autograph on this 8x10 photograph. It's a nice shot from his time with the Marlins and I asked him to inscribe All Star, he responded he was a two time All Star. I responded that I hoped he'd earn more. He responded by shrugging and inscribing "2x All Star" anyways. I guess Josh can do without more All Star nods. Take note voters.

With Johnson was with Tommy Medica so I got him to autograph this 8x10 photo of him up to bat. I think he was surprised to see me drop a photo on him and was pleased he didn't have to sign a blank autograph card.

When I finished getting those autographs I went to wait in the next line which was to complete my purchase from my stop at the Padres yard sale. I picked up a Yasmani Grandal MLB authenticated Game Used bat. After buying the bat I was really happy to have already picked up an autograph ticket for him so I was able to get Grandal's autograph on the bat.

It's cracked from the game but I'm happy the Padres hadn't taped it back together so it looks better in my opinion.

Yasmani Grandal also autographed this 8x10 photograph I had originally printed for him to sign, and he didn't mind signing it for me after he signed the bat.

With Grandal was Robbie Erlin and I didn't have anything for him so I got one of the provided Padres autograph cards.

My next session was one I really had been looking forward to before heading to San Diego. Last year I was able to get Casey Kelly's autograph but injury really has hindered his chances in the bigs so far. He's going bounce back and I really believe he'll make it with all his talent so I got this Casey Kelly autographed 8x10 photo done.

Current rising Padres star Jedd Gyorko was with Casey and this time I got Gyorko's autograph on this 8x10 photograph. I'm not really sure why but as he was signing I felt inspired and asked him to write "rookie year" on the photo. I don't think he quite heard what I said because he said no problem and inscribed "Rookie" above his name. I think it still looks cool and with PSA charging for Rookie Graph I think I'm more than happy with this photo and inscription.

After getting Casey and Jedd I moved on to snag a quick bite and then got into a overflow line for a session I hadn't gotten a ticket to. I made it in and first I got this Dale Thayer autographed 8x10.

With Thayer was former NL steals king Everth Cabrera and I got him to autograph this nice action shot of him diving in for a bag.

Kyle Blanks autographed one of the Padres autograph cards for me.

His signing partner was someone I always seem to have trouble with, Cameron Maybin. Last year I got Maybin's autograph and it was smudged on my card. This year I was toward the end of the line and he was trying to quickly get through as many people as he could, which I'm fine with. But he didn't take the silver paint pen I offered to him and grabbed a provided silver sharpie. You can see the sharpie almost immediately died on the photo. He took my paint pen and finished the signature then went back over the faded section, which was very nice of him. I just think it's funny a clean signature from him continues to elude me even though the photo is still nice to me.

All in all I had a very productive and fun experience at the Padres Fan Fest 2014 and am already looking forward to heading down there again. It's a nice day, very relaxed and I'm able to knock out a ton of autographs of guys I actually think are pretty decent baseball players. Getting the MLB authenticated bat was a nice pick up and having Grandal sign it the same day was a big score for me. Shout out to Al, Rob, Matt, Kyle, David, Alex, Scotty, Mark and everyone else I ran into down in San Diego and the week before at Dodgers Fan Fest. Great seeing everyone and looking forward to the next year to start.