With an autograph lineup second to none, the return of the popular "What's It Worth?" booth, a new venue and the country's top dealers all in place, SportsFest 2007 is ready for takeoff.
Former University of Oklahoma standout and current Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson was recently added to the many autograph guests at this year's SportsFest show, which gets underway Friday and runs through Sunday at the Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel & Convention Center in Schaumburg, Ill.
Peterson will be signing memorabilia from 12 p.m. - 1:30 on Sunday. Fees for Peterson-signed memorabilia are as follows: Flats $69, Mini Football $79, Helmets/Jerseys $99 and Inscriptions $29.
In related news, Upper Deck announced plans for an exclusive SportsFest card redemption program. Show attendees simply need to open any five packs (SRP of $2.99 and above) of 2007 Upper Deck or Fleer Baseball, Football, Basketball or Hockey and receive the following pack of four SportsFest exclusive redemption cards. Look for randomly inserted autograph cards.
The redemption program schedule is as follows:
Friday, June 8 - Ken Griffey Jr., Michael Jordan, Sidney Crosby and Derrek Lee; Saturday, June 9 - Cal Ripken Jr., Kevin Durant, Evgeni Malkin and Daisuke Matsuzaka; Sunday, June 10 - Derek Jeter, Kei Igawa, LeBron James and Alexander Ovechkin
Upper Deck will also be offering collectors a chance to get their own personalized trading cards at the Upper Deck booth. Upper Deck will be giving away the personalized cards on Friday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. through 3 p.m.
Laura Seeley, award-winning illustrator, will autograph and make personal dedications in her New York Times best-selling illustrated children's book, The Boy of Steel: A Baseball Dream Come True at this year's SportsFest show.
Limited-edition prints will be available for personal dedication. Seely, author Ray Negron and the New York Yankees have dedicated all royalties to children's cancer research organizations, including Chicago's Children's Memorial Hospital. SportsFest and Art of the Stars will host the book signing. There is no charge for the signing, but contributions for Chicago's Children Memorial Hospital are welcome.
New Orleans Saints running back Reggie Bush, who made one of his first public autograph appearances last year at SportsFest, will make another appearance at this year's event.
Friday is Mounted Memories' Fan Appreciation Day, with featured guests Monte Irvin (HOFer), Al Oliver (seven-time All-Star), Bill "Spaceman" Lee, Raymond Berry (HOFer) and four-time NL Batting Champion Bill Madlock all providing fans with a chance to obtain their respective autographs for just $10 each.
Bush, Joe Montana, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bob Gibson are among the headline signers announced thus far. Other confirmed signers for the Saturday portion of the show include Sal Bando, Ted Simmons, Tim Brown, Dale Murphy and Tyrus Thomas.
Meanwhile, Johnny Bench, Fergie Jenkins and Gale Sayers will sign during Sunday's show. Other Sunday guests include HOFers George Kell, Luis Aparicio and Steve Largent.
SportsFest will also be welcoming a group of autograph guests from the world of wrestling. The WrestleFest at SportsFest group will feature Mick Foley (a.k.a. Mankind), George "The Animal" Steele, "King Kong" Bundy, Nick Bockwinkel and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan.
Back by popular demand this year is SportsFest's "What's it Worth" booth where collectors can get their memorabilia appraised by SportsFest's panel of experts right at the show. Collectors can get up to five items appraised free of charge and see if that old relic is actually a treasure chest in disguise.
Mounted Memories New COA's
Mounted Memories will be launching a new authenticity program at SportsFest 2007. Now for $7 you can purchase a numbered tamper-evident Mounted Memories hologram. There will be an online database at mountedmemories.com to lookup your number. You can purchase one authenticity hologram for each autograph ticket you buy at SportsFest. Please note this will be replacing the paper cert we have attached to the tickets in the past.
To Purchase Tickets please call
954-742-8544
M-F 9-5p.m. Central
Tickets are on sale now
SportsFest will also feature 300 of the country's leading Sports card and Memorabilia dealers.
Hours for the show are 10 a.m.-8 p.m. on Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Sunday. For more event information including autograph prices, click www.sportsfestshow.com.
