The Monopoly Project **Updated March 25th 2013**

 

In late 2009 I was on the sportsgraphing.com forum and happened to come across an idea from a member. He took a patriots edition monopoly board and had it autographed by members of the team. In all honesty I thought this was a great idea for a conversation piece. This was also around the time of the Montreal Canadiens Centennial season, Parker Brothers released a Montreal Canadiens edition board.

Canadiens Edition Monopoly

Criteria-For the project I decided to obtain the most autographs I could on the board by members of the Montreal Canadiens who are also in the hockey hall of fame or Canadiens greats. Ideally I wanted the autograph to contain only the signature itself as well as the number of the player. In that regard I have had some set backs, Jacques Lemaire autographed the piece but did not include his number (really my mistake I was in a rush and forgot to ask) Dickie Moore also added his H.O.F inscription to the piece which I assume he does almost automatically on all the pieces he signs.

Players

Guy Lafleur- Was the first to sign the board at a local free signing in Montreal. As always a great athlete to meet in person. Signed the autograph, small talked about the project wished me luck on the idea. 

Yvan Cournoyer- One of the best athletes to meet in person. When I presented him with the monopoly board immediately greeted with laughter asked me where I came up with the idea. He also nudged habs alumni Yvon Lambert  (who also was at this particular event) and asked him in french if he's ever seen something like this. Overall a great interaction, he asked me nicely where I'd like him to sign.

 

Elmer Lach- The oldest living Canadiens alumni. Overall a good experience with Mr.Lach. Had him sign a few items prior to showing him the Monopoly board.When I did he looked at it and looked back at me and asked "I've seen alot in my day but this is new to me!" we shared and laugh and I thanked him for his time. I also forgot to take a picture of him autographing the board. Elmer suggested that  he pretended to sign to board to make it seem authentic. Other interesting interaction with a habs legend.

Dickie Moore- Mr.Moore was great in-person autograph. Asked me when I showed him the board "Do you have the pieces too? cause I got time for a quick game!" A great exprience and a terrific autograph. One of my personal favorite all time habs. This being the first time I had a chance to meet Mr.Moore this was truly a great experience.

Jacques Lemaire-To be quite honest this was maybe the only time I've felt intimidated while getting autographs. Mr.Lemaire seemed like a nice guy but very quiet and with a stern look to him. Signed my piece while one of his handlers asked him if this was his first monopoly request. I was holding so many things at once I forgot to ask Mr.Lemaire to add his number to the piece even after he asked me if I wanted him to sign anything else. Truly one of my only regrets of this piece.

Guy Lapointe-  Possibly the funniest and interesting interactions I've had while doing this project.

The minute I pulled the board out he told me he played a ton of monopoly as a kid and when on to say "Can I ask you something? Why I am I Kentucky avenue? And another thing why is Robinson's piece worth more then mine?" This was a great experience and I was lucky as I arrived late to the autograph session. I had a good amount of time to talk one on one with Mr.Lapointe.  Guy Lapointe truly lives up to his fun loving persona that Ken Dryden depicted in his book. 

Jean Beliveau- The man, the myth, the legend! I've had a chance to met Mr.Beliveau a few times over the years and he truly lives up to his class act reputation. He went on to tell me he signs alot of autographs and this was a first for him. Mr. Beliveau took the time to look at the piece and read who had autographed the board prior to him.

Ken Dryden-Clearly the hardest to obtain on this project to date. After meeting him at Mcgill and was turned down. I was told "I will not sign things of monetary value". I tried again the next week at a book signing at Indigo book store. Oddly enough he signed it this time around no issue and did not even personalize the piece! Mr.Dryden overall is a great guy but very committed to his principals when it comes to autographs.

Dryden Auto over his mask displayed on the board.

Serge Savard-Mr.Savard was doing a autograph session locally in Montreal and I took the chance to add him to the board. Unlike most retired players Mr. Savard is heavily involved in variety projects which limit the opportunities to commit to autograph sessions. This unfortunately was one of the worst to come out on the board. The pen I use for this project must have dried out and caused his autograph to be fainter then the others. However I'm still pleased I was able to now complete 2/3's of the "Big Three".

Savard's autograph placed above Elmer Lach and Guy Lapointe

Serge Savard signing the board.

 Steve Shutt-For this signing I did break one of my cardinal rules. Local Shop AL collections was doing a private with Steve Shutt at a very reasonable price. Due to the fact that this was local and I could drop off and pick up my project in person and also have them use the same colored pen, I decided to do so. Overall I'm very pleased with the outcome.The board was signed where I wanted and no smears or light spots on his autograph.

Steve Shutt's addition to the project.

Henri Richard-The latest edition to the board was Canadiens legend Henri Richard. As most Montreal old timers Mr. Richard was very approachable and took the time to look over the project before signing. I'm not one to have the players force interest by going on about what I'm making them sign. However Mr.Richard was nice and asked me a few questions on how the idea came about etc. Great experience  no issue's with the turn out.

Henri Richard signing the board

Myself and Mr. Richard

The newest addition to the project can be seen right above Jean Beliveau's autograph.

 Patrick Roy-Due to the overwhelming cost of having Patrick Roy sign for me at a private or public signing (Price Ranging from 130-179$) I took a chance at getting him in person before a Quebec Remparts game here in Montreal. Now keep in mind going into this I was fairly skeptical given that in-person autograph are usually fairly poor compared to their paid counter parts.  I was disappointed to see what looked like  "dealers" already waiting at the arena. This could have  possibly hurting my chances of obtaining a autograph from Mr. Roy. However things went smooth as can be. Mr. Roy ran with a black sharpie threw a line of 30 or so people waiting for his autograph. As he approached me with the black sharpie I was ready to pull my item away when he was nice enough to switch pens after seeing the previous autographs on the project. I was also the last in the line so this may have helped my chances of having him switch pens for me. Overall I'm very pleased with the outcome and also the experience with such a high profile NHL Legend.

Patrick Roy's Auto Circled in blue.

Chris Chelios-Simple and easy best describes how this went with Chris Chelios. Very friendly took time to make sure he was signing in the right place. When I found out he would be doing a local Montreal show I was ecstatic. Chris Chelios from my personal research has done shows in Chicago and a few sporadic shows in Toronto but never in Montreal (since his playing days).Getting a chance to get a former captain and Stanley cup was a no brainer.I made sure to have him sign over the "Captains" space on the board in honor of the first American captain of the Montreal Canadiens.

Denis Savard-Maybe the best interaction I have had with any athlete for this project. Denis Savard was a extremely nice guy. Like I have mentioned in the past I am not one to tell the players stories about the project etc. However Denis was nice enough to complement me saying he had never seen something like this in the past. He also went on to say "You should sell this to the Canadiens for their museum" which I laughed off. He replied "No Im serious!". It always nice to know others appreciate something you worked hard on. Denis was nice enough to oblige to my specific location for my autograph and made sure everything went smoothly.

               Here are a few photos of the project in different stages.

La Patrie Hockey Posters

In the 1950's La Patrie Newspaper came out with hockey posters as part of a few poster sets. The players and leagues in the sets varied from Junior to Semi Pro all the way to the NHL.  The posters included up and coming stars like Henri Richard and Jean Beliveau (in his aces uniform) to established NHL stars like Maurice Richard and Elmer Lach. Many of us have seen "poster sets" in the newspaper that our grandfathers have kept for us to hang up as kids. This set however really is on a level of its own, Vivid colors and a real vintage hockey feel makes these a true collectable. My first encounter with this set was looking through ebay for a upcoming Elmer Lach signing. I got one of my rare bargains on eBay. Obtaining this specific poster in great condition for about three dollars shipped. After getting it autographed by Mr.Lach I looked for more information on these sets of posters finding prices up to 1200$ for the complete set. Certain individual posters ranging in the 50-100$ range. I was pleasantly informed by a local card shop owner that my Elmer Lach poster was valued in and around 90+ dollars as is with no autograph. I'm to assume that with most things of value autographs make them lose value. However being one of my favorite pieces in my collection I'm not losing sleep over it.

Elmer Lach La Patrie Poster Signed and Framed

I brought the piece to my framer and am really happy with the result. Simple keeping with the vintage feel of the piece. I also attended the Montreal card expo where I was able to purchase one of the pieces on my wishlist for a very long time. The La Patrie Jean Beliveau Quebec Aces poster. Originally the seller at the booth wanted more then I was willing to pay. However I was pleased to have my girlfriend A.K.A "negotiator" with me to get this at a price I was comfortable with.

La Patrie Jean Beliveau Quebec Aces Poster

Being a huge fan of Jean Beliveau and my entire collection revolving around his collectables I'm very pleased to have this. Also what I enjoy about this poster given that this was made during his Aces years his pre-print autograph is completely different to the one he signs with today. I found this extremely interesting and one of the main reasons I wanted this for my collection.

Close up look at Jean Beliveau's autograph in the early years.

After initially being able to obtain the Jean Beliveau La Patrie poster I was able to have it sent for a private signing with Mr Beliveau himself. As you can see he added #9 to his autograph for this piece to go along with the number he wore at the time with the Quebec Aces.In the photo below you can see the finshed project which was recently returned to me from my framer. Very happy with the piece and quickly becoming one of my favorites.

Take note of the change in Jean Beliveau's autograph from the time this poster was made and his now everyday autograph.

As I have explained in the past this has really become one of my favorite things to collect. However the living members left of this poster set have become much more of a select group.  When I first started to collect these I was sure that I had seen one of Henri Richard. After extensive internet research I had yet to rediscover this poster of Mr.Richard.  After going to a small collectors show outside of Montreal to meet Henri Richard to autograph my monopoly project I finally found what I had been looking for! The Henri Richard La Patrie poster!

Now, the asking price of the piece was much more then I had planned on paying however this was so rare I could not pass it up. After all I couldn't even find a photo of its existence online!  Once purchased I ran over to the autograph table to complete the piece. This was a nice surprise and validation for my travels to this show. After the dealer had explained to me he doesn't do the Montreal Collectors show that I usually attend.

La Patrie Henri Richard Poster

Another bonus to this was the condition it is in. Most posters (given their publication in 1954) are in much poorer condition. Aside from small holes on the left side this looks like it had been pulled from the newspaper yesterday. I hope to get this piece framed in the very near future.

Scavenging eBay is another way for me to obtain some of the posters I can't find locally at shows.  Once in a while I will punch in "La Patrie" into eBay's search engine in hopes of finding a deal on a poster that I want. This was the case for the Dickie Moore poster I was able to find. Although in rather good condition it seems to have been cut a little short making this poster look slightly different from my others. Never the less once this piece is autographed and framed it should come out like the others in my collection.

Dickie Moore La Patrie Poster

My Autographed Mcfarlane Collection

Two years ago I was in Toronto for the collectors expo waiting for my turn for AJsportsworlds Jean Beliveau signing. The line was massive and I ended up having to wait a couple hours. Given that I had come from Montreal via train I didn't really have many options but to wait my turn. I came across a man selling McFarlane figures which I had not collected or had any interest in at that time. I ended up buying a Jean Beliveau figure from him to have signed that day. Since then my collection has grown tremendously.

My Canadiens McFarlane Collection

I now have 22 autographed Habs McFarlanes in my collection. All obtained in person with the expection of....

-Steve Shutt and Chris Chelios (RED) both purchased from AJsportsworld
-Alex Tanguay purchased from "Mcfarlane Guy" at Toronto Collectors show.

New Additions

NHL 8 Montreal Chris Chelios Varient with "88 Norris" inscription

Mcfarlane Series 21 Carey Price (Grosner exclusive white jersey)

Mcfarlane Limited Edition 12" Series 1 Patrick Roy

Mcfarlane Legends 2 Variant Jean Beliveau with "Le Gros Bill" Inscription

NHL LEGENDS SERIES 1 Yvan Cournoyer Mcfarlane

 

NHL Series 31 Carey Price

 

NHL Series 11 Michael Ryder

NHL Series 21 Alex Tanguay

Olympic Stadium Seat (1981 Montreal Expos Edition)

April 17th 1976, the first day of the Montreal landmark known as the Olympic Stadium was born. Its original purpose was to be the main stadium in which competitions would take place for the 1976 Olympics.  Overtime this has served as the home for many Montreal based sports franchises including the Expos, Alouettes and Impact.

For most Montrealers born after the Olympics this was a symbol of our baseball team. The place where the expos at times celebrated some of there most historic moments. However this was also where the expos sadly had there darkest days and eventually became the grave for the first MLB franchise outside of the United States.

Earlier this year while listening to the Team 990 (another fabric of Montreal sports culture that we may lose) I heard Warren Cromartie explain that he would be bringing back the 1981 Expos! This was in part of a Montreal Baseball Awareness campaign (www.mpb2012.com for more info) set up by "Cro" himself.

The collector in me thought "What would be the best item I could get signed by the only pennant winning Expos squad?" After a little bit of thinking I thought a seat back from the Stadium would be something really great. For those who have been to the stadium remember the unconventional styling of the seats. This to me would truly be something linked to the Expos history.

A month prior to the event I made my way down to the stadium in order to see if getting a seat back was a possibility. Well as it turns out the official answer is no. However the first man who worked at the stadium that I asked explained that there were many seat backs in storage at the stadium however did not think I would be able to obtain one. Prior to sending me off with the name of a manager, he told me to leave him my number and see if he could help me out.

A week later (After my own failed attempts at contacting someone at the stadium) the gentleman I spoke to originally called me and explained not only could he get me a seat back but the entire seat.
Needless to say I was ecstatic at the thought.

After picking up the seat I was pleased but did notice the seat needed some work as it had a rusty stand in a awful color that would not be very nice to look at. The other hiccup with the seat was that it was impossible to remove the seat back for the signing taking place with the 1981 squad.

Seat in its original none restored form

Now the photo of the seat as I received it does not exactly depict the condition it was actually in. the stand in which the plastic of the seat sits on was grey and faded and included cobwebs, dirt, filth and was sitting on this greyish stand which was rusty and discolored. 

Lucky for me my friend owns a construction business not far from where I live and was able to help me strip the paint from the stand and cut off a rusty piece from the front of the stand.

My friend stripping the old paint off/ Cutting the rusty pieces off

Bracket holding the seat after 10+ layers of old paint were sawed off

After the initial paint removal and cutting of the frame it was ready to be painted and placed back on the seat. Now keep in mind aside from the cleaning of the actual seat nothing was painted or cut from the original seat only the makeshift stand it came with.

Different cleaning products used to clean up actual seat.

After completing the painting of the stand I was also able to purchase a vinyl sticker which I then placed on the chair. Also the seat's number plate was also removed. In order not to leave an empty spot in the seat I had my framer make me a custom plate to fit in the place of the number. Overall I was very pleased with the completed look.

New and Improved stand with decal and custom plate that reads "Montreal Expos 1969-2004"

Once arriving at the event the seat garnered much attention and was a big success with the overall crowd. The only disappointed was my spot in the line. Being approximately 200 people back in the line, my concerns were that I might not be able to get to the signing table prior to the event ending.

Overall the event could not have gone any better, at the start of the event not all the players were signing as they were also running a youth camp. By the time I arrived at the table all the players were now signing with the exception of Warren Cromartie and Bill Lee. The players really seemed to enjoy the seat, I was getting various questions on how I was able to obtain it. The highlight however came from Expos former manager Jim Fanning who offered me 200$ for the seat. I laughed it off initially only to realized Mr.Fanning was serious.

Bill Lee and Warren Cromarite were still on the field taking photos and answering questions from the press. Luckily a photographer spotted me in the crowd and got me direclty one on one with both athletes not only getting their autographs but taking pictures and getting me a real one on one chance with them.

"The Spaceman" Bill Lee and I

This event was a huge success as I was able to obtain what now has become my favorite item. Also given the circumstances I'd like to think this is truely a 1/1 item and something I can pass down in my family.

To Recap the following members of the 1981 Expos autographed this seat:

-Andre Dawson
-Tim Raines
-Bill 'The Spaceman' Lee
-Warren Cromartie
-Jim Fanning
-Ellis Valentine
-Rodney Scott
-Larry Parrish
-Wallace Johnson
-Bryn Smith

Olympic Stadium Seat With Auto 1

Olympic Stadium Seat With Auto2

Special Thanks to my girlfriend and sister for helping me complete this.

A memorable birthday! (featuring Nick Swisher)

This July I celebrated my 25th birthday which makes me entirely to old to be so excited about birthdays. However this was clearly one of the most memorable to date.

On the day of my actual birthday I got what I consider to be one of the greatest pieces in my collection. My mother in law works in a spectrum that allows here to deal directly with a few members of the Montreal Canadiens. Now most of the people who read this blog can conclude that I am a huge fan. When she handed me the gift I had a good idea what I was looking at and luckily for me my assumptions were confirmed with a Game Used Erik Cole Autographed stick!

She explained to me that she was on the hunt for this stick for months and was able to seal the deal with Erik Cole just days before he left back to South Carolina for the off season. Nothing can make this stick more legitmate then having Mr.Cole himself hand her the stick to have it passed on to me.

Erik Cole Signed stick on the blade

Stick shaft with Player edition name.

Needless to say I was speechless. Game used memorabilia is harder and much more expensive to come by then most of the pieces I collect. A great gift by both of my parents in law who were so considerate of my interest and exceeded my wildest dreams with this gift! Thanks again Kelly & Jay!

The night of memorable gifts was not quite over there. I was also given a pair of tickets for the Yankees Vs. Blue Jays in Toronto! Being a big Yankees fan since the departure of my beloved expos this was a great gift also. Thanks Nick & Sheena!

Prior to going to the game I decided to make jumbo Nick Swisher heads for the game which I thought would be fun. Not only was the idea fun for the event but ended being the key ingredient in one of the greatest sports events I have ever been to.

Nick Swisher Jumbo Head

When the ball park opened I presented myself to the 3rd baseline gates. I waited around during the whole session coming up empty on the autograph front. However highlights included Derek Jeter asking me why the jumbo head was not made of him and Yankees catcher Russell Martin explaining that the sign was "fucking awesome".

Batting practice was now over and no autographs or any sign of Nick Swisher. The security guard started kicking people out for the start of the game. I was lucky enough just to sit and have no one tell me to move. Two minutes prior to the National anthem out came Nick Swisher and walked towards my sign. As expected Nick was awesome, he signed autographs and the whole nine yards. I was also lucky enough to capture the whole Nick Swisher event on tape!

Nick Swisher and I

Also in between innings I was told by a Yankees fan that this photo had made it onto the Yankee's Official facebook page and had over 17 000 Likes! To say this was a good time was an understatement.

Screen shots of my internet stardom!

 To recap Curtis Granderson was also nice enough to stop and sign my ticket stub which I turned into a cut for a mcfarlane base. Here is a look at everything I was able to obtain that day.