Fanfest autograph signing advice

[Nevermore]

I have no interest whatsoever in making off with some sort of "valuable" piece of memorabilia. I want to meet the players involved, if only for a very short moment, so I can tell them how much I appreciate their efforts as a fan. And then I plan to have all 3 sign one of those white-fronted Orioles hats. Then I can wear it to games or anywhere else.

[Tx Oriole]

I am going to Fanfest next week. I purchased a Dyland Bundy/Larry Bigbie/Adam Jones autograph voucher.

I enjoy autograph collecting but am not an avid collector. In the past I have mostly just taken balls and gotten them signed, but each and every one I've gotten in the past, including Adam Jones and Matt Wieters, have bled out and gotten fuzzy. The memory is still enjoyable when I look at them (which is the primary concern) but still, it is a little sad when you look at a ball with a blotchy, barely readable autograph on it.

Last year I bought a Jim Palmer autograph voucher and got him to sign a big poster of him that his ex-wife had designed many years ago (I found it in a consignment store in Ellicott City). It is cool, but it is poster sized and now I have a giant Jim Palmer head hanging on my wall. I honestly don't want a giant Dylan Bundy head on my wall.

Aside from a ball, and another giant poster, what is a cool thing to take to an autograph session? All have been able to think of are bats, which I might do, or baseball cards, and I don't even know where I would get a Dylan Bundy baseball card.

Any advice on something cool and smaller-than-poster sized to take?

Can't you use a marker that won't bleed? I have balls in a display that don't bleed

and I keep them away from sunlight. Just some ideas.

[JackiMoon]

It's been a while since I've gone to Fanfest. Will they have hats, baseballs, etc. on sale, or do I need to buy something ahead of time?

Last year they had a room setup where you could buy items. It was crazy busy in there! I had my husband stand in line while I looked and vice versa. But, they did have balls, mini helmets and the like to purchase for autographs.

There were also a lot of booths that had 8x10 pictures that you could purchase for signatures as well.

Between my husband and I we have everything from cards to wearable baseball hats, bats to helmets, batting gloves to pictures and jerseys to baseballs. You just have to choose what you like.