The Quest

The Baltimore Orioles have been in town since '54 and have had over 900 men don their uniform. My goal is to obtain a signed card of each player. If you have something I need, or see something you want, don't be shy, we can make a deal.

Collection Statistics

Total Players 877/977 = 89.25%
1991 Orioles Crown Set
Total Players 309/465 = 66.45%
Alive Players 274/369 = 74.25

Saturday, January 18, 2014

45 Minutes Of My Life I Want Back

As a nice welcome back to autographing, the Baltimore Orioles wasted my time for 45 minutes today.  Autograph Vouchers went on sale for the Orioles February 1, 2014 Fanfest.  And exactly like last year the site sucks ass.  Again, glitch after glitch and volume issues caused myself, and I am sure others to be shut out from buying autographs. 

Here is this years lineup.



11:20 a.m.-12:20 p.m.
Mike Bordick
Bill Hunter
Matt Wieters
Zach Britton
Kevin Gausman
Steve Johnson
Calvin Maduro
Dylan Bundy
David Lough
Ryan Webb
Steve Clevenger
Chris Davis
Liam Hendriks
12:40-1:40 p.m.
Al Bumbry
Nolan Reimold
John Russell
Chris Tillman
Ryan Flaherty
Adam Jones
Steve Pearce
Nick Markakis
Jonathan Schoop
Josh Stinson
Tommy Hunter
Darren O'Day
Henry Urrutia
2:00-3:00 p.m.
Kevin Gausman
TJ McFarland
Buck Showalter
JJ Hardy
Chris Jones
David Lough
Miguel Gonzalez
Jim Palmer
David Wallace
Ryan Webb
Tim Berry
Steve Clevenger
Manny Machado
Joe Orsulak
3:20-4:20 p.m.
Chris Davis
Steve Johnson
Johnny Monell
Dylan Bundy
Darren O'Day
Troy Patton
Jemile Weeks
Tommy Hunter
Brian Matusz
Chris Tillman
Adam Jones
Wayne Kirby
Josh Stinson
4:40-5:40 p.m.
TJ McFarland
Michael Ohlman
Jim Palmer
Nate Snell
Mike Belfiore
Manny Machado
Jonathan Schoop
Larry Sheets
Larry Bigbie
Kelvin De La Cruz
Henry Urrutia
Matt Wieters
Brad Brach
Ken Dixon
Miguel Gonzalez
JJ Hardy


5000 tickets sold out in 45 minutes and the Orioles were again ill-equipped to handle the volume this process demands.  Buy a ticket for $20 (up from last year) and you get 3-4 autographs.  A great deal when it can be found.  But it could not.  For the first 30 minutes an error message popped up saying volume was too high.  When that finally disappeared half the stations were sold out and a new error message appeared, "request could not be processed".  Then at 10:45am, done. 

I was left with zero vouchers and a bitter taste in my mouth.  The last three years have had the same issues and the team doesn't seem to care, cause they sold out.  I get it, I am in business, money is money.  But service should count for something.  I thought with an increase in price that was the idea this year.  Nope.

Just for shits and giggles I looked at season tickets and was greeted with another error message.  I am done.

So I am now relegated to grovelling, trading, buying from eBay and hounding during the day.

I need some help, a lot of help. 


Mike Belfiore (Postcard)
Tim Berry (Anything, prefer Postcard)
Brad Brach (Anything, prefer Postcard)
Steve Clevenger (Anything, prefer Postcard)
Kelvin De La Cruz (Anything, prefer Postcard)
Liam Hendriks (Anything, prefer Postcard)
Bill Hunter (Anything, prefer Postcard)
Chris Jones (Anything, prefer Postcard) 
David Lough (Anything, prefer Postcard)
Johnny Monell     (Anything, prefer Postcard)
Michael Ohlman(Anything, prefer Postcard)
Steve Pearce (Postcard)
Josh Stinson (Postcard)
Henry Urrutia (Anything, prefer Postcard)
David Wallace (Anything, prefer Postcard)
Ryan Webb (Anything, prefer Postcard)
Jemile Weeks (Anything, prefer Postcard)

Can anyone help, either trade/consignment/anything?  I would even be willing to help in line if anyone has multiple vouchers. I am desperate. 

#OriolesFail



10 comments:

  1. Hey Kirk - I should be able to get signed postcards of many of those players. Don't worry - I'll keep you posted. Hope all is well!

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Craig, much appreciated. I am not sure what I have in the way of signed postcards to trade. Would be willing to to pay of course, and since I was shut out I could assist in getting autographs if you had timing issues.

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  2. Hey Kirk. I don't have any timing issues but thanks for the offer. We'll be in touch - I'll keep you posted and I'm sure we'll figure something out.

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    Replies
    1. Craig,
      I was able to update my list, here are the postcards I have available, emailed a full list.
      Bell, Josh 2010 Orioles FanFest Postcard (IP Autograph) NNO Orioles
      Berken, Jason 2010 Orioles FanFest Postcard (IP Autograph) NNO Orioles
      Berken, Jason 2011 Orioles Fanfest Postcard (IP Autograph) NNO Orioles
      Berken, Jason 2011 Orioles Fanfest Postcard (IP Autograph) NNO Orioles
      Orsulak, Joe 2010 Orioles Fanfest Postcard (IP Autograph) NNO
      Palmer, Jim 2013 Orioles Fanfest Postcard (IP Autograph) NNO Orioles
      Sheets, Larry 2010 Orioles Fanfest Postcard (IP Autograph) NNO Orioles
      Snell, Nate 2010 Orioles Fanfest Postcard (IP Autograph) NNO Orioles
      Bamberger, George 1977 Orioles Photo Album (IP Autograph) 2 Orioles
      O'Day, Darren 2012 Orioles Postcard (IP Autograph) NNO Orioles
      Patton, Troy 2012 Orioles Postcard (IP Autograph) NNO Orioles
      Gonzalez, Miguel 2013 Orioles Postcard (IP Autograph) NNO Orioles

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  3. I didn't get the Machado group I wanted or the Davis or the Jones but was able to get 2 groups 2:00p.m. Esskay Autograph Station 3 (Miguel Gonzalez, Jim Palmer, David Wallace, Ryan Webb) & 11:20a.m. Esskay Autograph Station 2 (Zach Britton, Kevin Gausman, Steve Johnson, Calvin Maduro) You can always go to Ebay and pay $200 for a Machado group!!!!! As soon as they figure that there all up for resale the O's will just action them off themselves. I think I have said this before that this whole fanfest sucks now! It was meant to be a give back to the fans when they started it and it was GREAT if you put the time in got there early and stayed in lines all day and roamed to get players then someone at the O's desided that the FANS needed to contribute to there Charity which the get the tax write off for not use if I want to give to charity I will If Peter Angelos wants to for the O's then do it don't charge me for it. It's all because a few people complained that they showed up right at the time a session was starting and didn't get there favorite player so they had to make a change that didn't need to be made. As a collector I'm also sick of that the "Kids" didn't get anything too bad the adult pay the players salaries and buy everything not the kids. they actually did that right by the area for 4-14 year olds. which I agree with if they want to provide for chidren. OK I done blow off steam happens every year and I guess it is what it isat this point and I hate that something that started as a give back to the fans is just anothed money grab by the team.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dion, right there with you. I was upset about the aimless nature of the FanFest 4 years ago, but at least you had a shot. Pay for admission, wait in line and get who you get. People looking to profit from the event stayed away because there were no guarantees. Now they get the guarantee and fans will stay away.
      Side note-Do you have items for Wallace and or Webb to sign? I would be looking to deal for signed Orioles postcards if them if you get an extra.

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  4. I have Webb cards and I already have a minor league Wallace card done I will keep you in mind and will as always try and get an extra check my blog after event and remind me if you see something that is of interest to you.

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  5. Sorry to hear about the problems Kirk. I was very lucky to snag all of the ones I wanted with the exception of a Machado. Luckily I already have a signed O's card of him. I'm still trying to finish up my 2012 Playoff Scorecard. After fanfest I will only need Chen and Reynolds to complete it.

    Unfortunately this will be the first time I get many of the new guys so I can't help much there. However I do already have Bill Hunter and Steve Pearce signed postcards available. Drop me an email at amwaddell@aol.com and lets work out a trade.

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    1. Aaron, will do on the trade front. Some of the newer guys have signed a few in advance. Any extras you could snag I would definitely be interested in.

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  6. Any extra postcards I can scoop up you have first dibs on.

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