Autographs
TRISTAR Autograph Pavilion delivers plenty of fun moments, fond memories for collectors
ROSEMONT, Ill.—The TRISTAR Autograph Pavilion at the 46th National Sports Collectors Convention was a record-setting, energy-filled and truly eye-popping part of the sports memorabilia supershow.
About 175 autograph signers—a record for the National Sports Collectors Convention—added their names to countless items, including cards, bats, balls, hockey pucks, sticks, photos, jerseys, pennants, posters, and many more collectibles and souvenirs.
The list of autograph guests included about 40 first-time signers, plus athletes from baseball, football, basketball, hockey, pro wrestling and MMA. The Hollywood world also was represented with Ralph Machio, Chuck D, Flavor Flav, and others.
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The autograph pavilion was “a blockbuster, awesome on every level—execution, celebrity, media, absolutely everything,” said TRISTAR Productions Vice President Bobby Mintz.
“It will go down among the top three [autograph pavilions] of all time—from number of celebrities to how smoothly it ran, and so many other metrics.”
The top 10 signers based on the number of autographs signed were not surprising:
- Cal Ripken, Jr.
- Hakeem Olajuwon
- Barry Sanders
- Mike Tyson
- Johnny Bench
- Bo Jackson
- Roger Clemens
- Jeff Kent
- LaDainian Tomlinson
- Evander Holyfield
The list of signers who finished 11-20 and just missed cracking the top 10 was plentiful.
“That’s how strong this show was,” said Mintz, who noted those slightly missing the top 10 were Marshall Faulk, Kurt Warner, Mike Schmidt, Doug Collins, Sheryl Swoopes, Miguel Cabrera, Calvin Johnson, Mariano Rivera, and Jon Jones.
“We received a lot of positive feedback to this year’s autograph pavilion—from collectors and athletes, including Bo Jackson, Miguel Cabrera, Rob Gronkowski and others,” Mintz said. “Flavor Flav and Chuck J said [the show] was one of the coolest things they’ve ever done. Both couldn’t have been nicer and both sold out. And the reaction to Chuck D and Flavor Flav from other signers was cool to see.”
Mintz said he plans to lean on the Public Enemy duo to secure future non-sports signers for The National. The Hollywood element, which included Macchio, Michael Papajohn, Chelcie Ross, Mike Starr and others, was popular and is expected to return to the 2027 National, which is back in Chicago before the 2028 event hits Detroit.
Four signers who were surprises, inking more autographs than some anticipated, included Doug Collins, Sheryl Swoopes, Geovany Soto and Jay Cutler.
“Reggie Jackson was great. He was talking to other signers and many [others] went up to meet Reggie,” Mintz said. “Chris Sabo was excited to talk to Roger Clemens as the two never faced each other. Marv Levy signed autographs days before turning 101—and his autograph is still as great as ever. Hakeem Olajuwon had a large line of autograph seekers, as expected.
“There were so many fun stories from the autograph pavilion.”
And there were many amazing pieces of memorabilia signed above and beyond the standard fare. Case in point: collector Paul Murray added an autograph from Andruw Jones to his 1989 Baseball Hall of Fame lithograph, numbered 225/250.
A lifelong collector from the Chicagoland area, Murray said picking out the story around one litho signature is impossible. “All stood out,” he said.
Dez Bryant and Devin Hester had long lines for their autograph, as did Dennis Rodman who “seems to get more popular every year,” Mintz said.
Calvin Johnson hugged countless collectors. Macchio gave fist-bumps. Longtime rivals Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield were seated next to each other. Roger Clemens rocked a University of Texas hoodie.
Soto signed a Rawlings baseball bucket. Sabo commented on a fan’s Chicago Bears T-shirt, so the fan asked how Sabo thought Da Bears would do in 2026. Sabo answered, “I’m from Detroit.”
Steve Lyons added his nickname, Psycho, to many signatures and wore a supersized Boston Red Sox championship ring during his signing session.
Eddie Murray was asked to autograph a bobblehead on the bill of a helmet. He hesitated, telling the collector that it would be very small and, instead, suggested he sign on the base, albeit a bit of a rough surface. The collector agreed and Murray slowly delivered a perfect autograph.
Lee Smith wore a Chicago Cubs hat and button-down shirt, naturally.
Johnny Manziel is always a popular autograph signer and always delivers a fan-first and fan-friendly experience.
Sammy Sosa often grabbed fan’s cell phones when they wanted a selfie with the former slugger.
“The hobby is alive and well, as well as it’s ever been,” Mintz said.
