Mike Cammalleri Event

By far the more interesting interactions with an athlete. I only heard of this sighing a day before it happened. I began on the hunt for a variant Mike Cammalleri mcfarlane. I was lucky enough to find a fan from terrbonne who was willing to overnight it to me. I got the mcfarlane about 2 hours before the event. Once I got there Mr. Cammalleri he jokingly told me after I requested for him to sign with a blue sharpie "Blue sharpie? straight to ebay!". Funny to say the least I manged to tell him I have a website but I dont sell my stuff. I'll try and tweet the proof to him lol. In anycase here are the results from the event.

White Mike Cammalleri Mcfarlane (On the left) obtained at the signing!

Hockey news magazine already framed on my wall from the event!

Flea Market Finds

Over the weekend my girlfriend and I decided to head over to a flea market. Now for those who know me know how much my girlfriend dislikes "dirty" places. Well my friends, this was the mecca of "dirty" places.  Are outing to said flea market started earlier in the week when my girlfriend spotted a full sized Patrick Roy cardboard cutout at a garage sale near our home.  I did a little research and confirmed this cutout was a promotional item for Provigo in 1994. To be honest as a kid I always wanted one of these cutouts so I bought it. I'm not sure what I will do with it as it is quite large. However as we speak full size Patrick Roy stands in my office.

1994 Promotional Patrick Roy From Provigo Grocery Stores

After Purchasing this fine item from the man at his garage sale he mentions these cutouts go for 100+ at flea markets (which I took with a rather large grain of salt). However I do like to go places to find vintage sports items so I convinced my girlfriend that this would be something to do on a Sunday afternoon.


After overcoming the initial shock of the smells and characters found in this place, the whole day ended up rather fruitful. Initially I purchased a few novelty items which I always get a kick out of. First up a Pete Rose expos glass circa 1980's and a Albert Pujols Jack-In-The-Box that plays "take me out to the ball game".

Albert Pujols Jack-In-The-Box

1984 Provigo "Pete Rose" (Montreal Expos) Promotional Glass

 

After that, I found the first real gem of the day. In 1996 when the Montreal Canadiens closed the Forum they gave a framed poster to season ticket holders of all the ticket stubs for that year which included head shots of some of most influential members in team history.  In 2006 www.classicauctions.com had this frame at a starting bid of 200$, which is quite some ways from the 10$ I paid at the flea market. Notice the same gold frame in the auction photo as the one I purchased (link below).

 http://www.classicauctions.net/Default.aspx?tabid=263&auctionid=34&lotid=242

1995-96 Montreal Forum Framed Ticket Poster

The other gem(s) I was able to find were 1945-1954 Quaker Oates 8x10 vintage posters from the likes of Montreal Canadiens legends Maurice Richard, Butch Bouchard and Boom Boom Geoffrion. I purchased all three photos for 15$ and the Maurice Richard photo alone is currently posted on ebay anywhere between 100$ and 300$ dollars! A great find which I plan on framing individually with signed pucks I have of all three players.

Quaker Oates 1945-1954 Vintage Posters.

P.K Subban at Best Buy /Louis Leblanc / Canadiens Rookies

Still working on the piece for later today but I thought I would share these results. I found out last minute that PK Subban would be doing an autograph session at a local best buy. Naturally I was there as I never turn down free stuff (might make that the blogs moto...stay tuned!). Great guy in person for the Price photo he made sure to let me know he was leaving room for "carey aka price is right" in his own words.

To Recap: 2 11x14's, 1 Chase Mcfarlane, 1Mini Helmet.

Also last month I was able to catch both the Canadiens Rookie camp and the Canadiens Draft class camp. The day I attended the rookie camp was rather slow only really doing skating drills therefore not greatly stimualting for on lookers such as myself. However both outings were good for autographs.
In total I was able to obtain autographs from Louis Leblanc, Morgan Ellis, Michael Bournival, Nathan Beaulieu, Brendan Gallagher, Alex Galchenyuk and Sebastian Collberg. Here is a picture of most of the things I was able to obtain at the camps.

Louis leblanc 4 Rookie Cards and Bournival Mini Jersey (pucks same as below)

Pucks Signed at camps (Left to right).  (Top Row)Duel signed Galchenyuk Collberg Puck, Galchenyuk signed puck with "3rd Overall" inscription (Bottom Row) Morgan Ellis Puck, Nathan Beaulieu puck and Brendan Gallagher puck.

 

Also later in the month I was out with my girlfriend helping her pick things up she needed for her business (www.salonhills.com). In exchange she agreed to try and get Louis Leblanc with me after the Canadiens practice (it was on our way which made it easier to convince her). Well the whole exchange may have taken 5 minutes. We arrived as the players were getting on the bus for their road trip. Louis was the first one out and signed for us. Didn't stick around for anyone else. Here are the photo results.

8X10 & Official Game Puck

Finding Stuff.

As a collector finding collectables locally rather then ebay can be extremely rewarding. In my opinion most things on ebay are either over priced from the start or become over priced by overzealous collectors. When I have time to kill I like go through kijiji and poke around local markets in hopes of finding something interesting. I have to say that the last couple days have been great in that regard.

I have managed to find a Montreal Gazette sports section from the day they closed the Montreal Forum.  I had hopes of coming up with a unique framing idea for framing my Program and ticket from that game. Its seems like the addition of the newspaper may just be what I was looking for.

Montreal Gazette March 11th 1996

I also got the chance to score a few retirement ceremony packages from two of the greatest goalies in Montreal history. I was able to obtain the complete package Patrick Roy package (Ticket,Program,Litho,Mask,Banner and pucks) as well as parts of the Ken Dryden ceremony package (Mask and program). I was extremely pleased to come across these pieces as time passes the harder some of these pieces will be to find in good condition.

Ken Dryden set (Front)

Ken Dryden Set (Back/inside of program)

Complete Patrick Roy Ceremony Package.

 While purchasing the retirment bundles I was able to haggle that two Metro Game giveaway bobbleheads be thrown into the deal. Not bad, I already had the Koivu bobble but nothing beats the great price of free.

The infamous Guy Lafleur disco album. Probably the worst music ever made but truly interesting and must have for any Montreal Canadiens collector. This is the second one in my collection but the price was so low I figure one day I will make use of my double. Fun fact the album includes a shirtless poster of Guy Lafleur...I'm not sure if I was the demographic for this album.

Guy Lafleur Vinyl Record.

Here is a look at the "Launch Party" for the album. Seems corny now but the ladies back then seem to feeling flower's music.


Overall I was very pleased with what I was able to pick up for the price I paid (total under 40$). My favorite piece hands down has to be the Gazette from the forum's last night. The interesting cover page work and from front to back the section was a great read. I'll post the finished product once I frame it with my other forum pieces.

A day in the life of a memorabilia junkie.

I recently attended a family event in Toronto and took the opportunity to drop off an item at AJ Sports World for there upcoming expo. As my girlfriend would jokingly tell me as we left the store "Your like an addict when you come to these places!" and sadly she is right. I left a much poorer man then when I came in. However I did pick up some things I had been after as well as items that caught my eye and I just could not pass up.

This Pete Rose signed sports illustrated from 1975 was something I just could not walk out of the store without. One of the main things I enjoy collecting is in fact autographed sports illustrated magazines. The "Sportsman of the year" caption really captures the peak of Rose's career years before his legacy was tarnished by his gambling issues. The beautiful autograph mixed in with the celebratory theme of this cover was something I really liked and was the reason I had to snatch this up. The fact that Pete Rose oddly resembles Jim Carey in the dumb and dumber movies was really just a bonus.

I also couldn't pass up a chance to pick up a Autographed Series 8 Chris Chelios Mcfarlane. My interest in autographed Mcfaralane's began last year while at the Toronto sports expo. I had underestimated the wait time to meet Jean Beliveau and had a few hours to kill. I came across a Montreal based dealer at the show. After a brief chat he talked me into purchasing a Jean Beliveau Mcfarlane to have autographed. The figure came out so great that this became one of my must have collectables. I came across this Chris Chelios at the store and figured my chances of buying an unsigned Chelios and having it autographed was slim to none. So I decided to bite to bullet and pick it up.

Made room for the figure in my cabinet and very please with the overall look of the piece.

Overall my first experience in the AJ Sports store was a good one. The staff was very nice and shared some interesting stories about the business which made the experience that much better. In case anyone was wondering I also picked up a Chase Pk Subban Mcfarlane, Jose Theodore Mcfarlane, Habs Puck and a Habs Replica mini helmet.

An Overview of everything I picked up (Plus a special bonus look at my stove).