Vintage autographs on first National Sports Collectors Convention poster

Click on poster to enlarge

The first National Sports Collectors Convention was held 31 years ago in Los Angeles, starting August 28, 1980. It was the brainchild of promoters Gavin Riley, Mike Berkus and Steve Brunner and is still the major hobby event. Berkus and John Broggi are now running the event.

At the initial National, dealers were invited to sign a poster that was used to promote the event. A copy was included in the October, 1980 issue of Baseball Hobby News and appears at the top of this page. The signatures are an interesting mixture of notable hobby people, plus many long forgotten, and several who are deceased. The bulk of those who signed were west coast dealers, since it was not yet a truly national event.

Here is a list of those who signed the poster. There were a few names we could not read and somebody signed "Jackie Robinson" and "Babe Ruth".

Jim Beckett, Frank Nagy, Bill Goepner, Patty Johnson, Jerry Johnson, William Mastro, Vivian Barning, Frank Barning, Bill Wesslund, Frank Jazzo, Clay Pasternack, Michael Jennings, Eddie Gold, Audre Gold, Tony Galovich, Bill Heitman, Miles Locke, Barrie Sullivan, Tom Reid, Robert Lifson, Arthur Magnon, Bob Wilke, Jim Sherbourne, George Callahan, Lew Lipset, Mendal Mearkle, Randy Archer.

Stanley Marks, Gervais Ford, Ray Medeiros, Ginger Lilonati, Ruth Vazquez, Jim Horne, Norman W. Shrader, Mary Shrader, Jeff Colton, Drew Skarupa, Barry E. Mathews, William W. Bossert, Elsa Holland, Damaso Vazquez, Marty Ballistreri, Carol Toerpe, Lloyd Toerpe, Joe Pagan, Wes Schleiger, Dixie Schleiger, Philip Stommen, Rosemary Brunner, Kris Herzog, Larry Gladstone, Barbra Riley.