I believe I last left off talking about that sick run on Yankees signings we had early last week. After a one day lull I headed back out on the road...this time to our flagship store in Roosevelt Field Mall (Steiner Sports Store). The purpose of my day out in lovely traffic free Long Island was a public appearance with Giants star running back Brandon Jacobs. Rarely do we place Giants players in Long Island (most live in New Jersey so it is quite a schlep for them) so I figured this would be a pretty good one. While the weather did not cooporate (really hasn't for several weeks now) we did get a nice turnout. Brandon ranks as one of the most personable athletes in the Steiner Exclusive family and this was never more evident than on Saturday. He took photos with all and even invited a kid to sit with us at the table for most of the event (kid was awesome- he had a similar haircut to Swisher..check out the pics on twitter). After and before the signing Brandon did some pieces in private including mini helmets, photos, footballs and added his name to a special Giants greats project. This project will definitely get a lot of play on this forum over the next few months as we are planning to finish it in conjunction with the start of the upcoming season. Be on the lookout as the weeks go on for more signings and updates on this exciting line of Giants collectibles.
Anyway, after a day off yesterday I came to work early today to start prepping for yet another signing. I was slated to meet up with Jason Kidd mid-morning for a small private autograph session. Even with a small number of pieces being done there is still a ton of preparation that goes into a basketball signing. Each basketball comes in a individual cardboard "Spalding" box where the top and bottom of the ball is covered and can be stood up. The only problem is that the balls do not come with the correct panel for signing flipped up...so, with that in mind, I spent an hour this morning "turning" (as it is intelligently called in the industry) basketballs. This was actually quite easy considering the mammoth signing I have done with Paul Pierce and Larry Bird in the past. Many a time I have had hundreds and hundreds of basketballs drop shipped to me in Indiana and had to turn/flip them with not much time to spare. This time ,however, it was fast and simple and made it downtown in no time for the signing. J has always been one of my favorite athletes to sign with (seriously- check the archives as I have talked him up many times)...granted I am biased towards basketball but he definitely is one of the nicest, most interesting players to talk to. We talked hoops for all twenty minutes of the signing...mostly about my Lakers but about the playoffs in general, the upcoming draft and next season. Once the signing concluded, like always, we were left with a room full of basketballs (they were all over the place..I urged J to be extremely careful as I did not want a freak autograph accident injuring Mr. Triple Double. The next step (which is almost as fun as the turning of the balls) is to bag each basketball. If they are not protected they tend to rub up against each other in the master boxes and smear. The pack up took just as long, if not a little longer, than the signing itself (which is pretty much the norm anyway). Overall though it was a nice, easy and quick signing. Most importantly we finally have Kidd balls back in stock as they are a staple Steiner collectible. The guy is a first ballot hall of famer and a must-have for any hoops collector.
While there are a ton of signings coming up in the next seven days there is one in particular I will touch upon right now. In keeping with the NBA theme of most of this post we have Knicks legends John Starks and Anthony Mason appearing on Saturday at the Steiner Store. These are two of most important pieces of the last great Knicks run. We will have awesome photos on hand...so, all you Knicks fans (there must be some left out there) order a ticket and come by...hope to see you there.
I will try to post as often as possible this week as there is a ton going on. I will also be tweeting (or twittering? whatever it is called) frequently and even running a contest or two on there. Enjoy the rest of the day..Go Mets!


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