Stan The Man Inc autos

[scmavl]

Has anyone bought a Musial autograph from Stan-The-Man.com? I believe it's the site run by his grandson. They will also allow you to send an item in and have it signed. If anyone has done business with them, did they have any issues? Were the autos legit (as in NOT signed by his grandson or autopenned)? If you sent your item in, did you get it back quickly? I know Stan's signature has deteriorated in his old age, but everything pictured on the site seems to be a very strong signature.

I'm wanting to send a '48 Bowman in to be signed, so any info is helpful. Thanks!

EDIT: Update on page 2.

[mr2686]

I sent in a magazine about a year ago and got it back very quickly. Signature looks good. No issues at all, however, I have seen him charging less at shows like MaB-Celebrity etc., so that's where I usually get most of my Musial sigs. Also, if you see a picture of him over the last year or so he looks very frail, but his sig has remained pretty darn strong. Not sure how long that will last though.

[abothebear]

I used to be a teller at the bank where they have their account. From my dealings as a teller with the bookeeper, and from what some of the veteran tellers said, it seems like a down-home legitimate family business, for what its worth. Stan is slowing down, but I've never heard of him denying an autograph. Call their 800 number and ask them.

[scmavl]

Thanks guys, that makes me feel better. I know Musial signs so much, an unsigned one may be more rare than a signed one, but I think an auto on his RC would be great.

[Hot Springs Bathers]

I ordered from them a couple of years ago and they were fantastic.

My wife just bought a signed ball for our 32nd wedding anniversary from LTD Enterprises which is run by Yogi's sons. Dale even called to make sure it arrived in time, may cost a few bucks more but these days it is nice to know it is real.

[murphusa]

The Berra Family, Bob Feller and Stan's family have been running great businesses for awhile. As with the case of Feller, I wouldn't wait too longer to send a request.

I know Musials will give bulk discounts

[Big Ben]

Based on the remarks on this thread, I had to check out the Stan Musial site. I agree with a comment above that Stan's signature looks very strong. For a comparison, I got this autograph of Musial in person around 1989.

[thenavarro]

If you send them the 48 Bowman rookie, make sure that you let them know whether or not you want their hologram attached to your card or not. If you don't want it and don't tell them, you might end up with it stuck to the back of your card.

Here's mine that I sent them about a year and a half or so ago. I sent $100 and I asked for it to be signed "Stan "The Man" Musial" or if they needed a higher fee to let me know, but they didn't comply and he signed it simply as shown.

http://i44.tinypic.com/2w4blmb.jpg

[scmavl]

Thanks guys, great info.

[scmavl]

Wow, I received my card back today... and I just sent it off last Saturday (it's Monday, and there was a holiday in there). Stan signed it and they were nice enough to not affix the hologram to the card as I had asked. They also double packed the card with cardboard. His signature is a little worse now than when the other user ^ who posted his card had it signed, but it's legible. I had also called them to ask a question before I sent the card and the lady was very helpful. She said Stan was coming in to the office almost every day, at least while the weather was nice.

So I must say YES, they are a great company to deal with. I have a few Musial autos but now this one is easily my favorite. I'll get a pic up as soon as possible.

[baseball tourist]

http://www.bnd.com/2011/02/27/1604498/me-my-daughter-and-stan-the-man.html

I met Stan in 1995. I was managing the private club in the outfield of the Blue Jays stadium, then called the SkyDome in Toronto. Stan was enjoying a dinner and game with about 10 business colleagues and having q great time. He was very jovial and agreed to sign anything that was presented to him by the other patrons. Somewhere about the 5th inning he called me over to the table and asked if I could take him and his friends down to the field level.

I had excellent access to the clubhouse area, even during game time so I agreed that it shouldn't be an issue, especially as I would be escorting a HOF'er. So we got the group together and set off to take a freight elevator down to the field. We all piled in, that is, everyone except Stan! I jumped out as he was heading back to his seat, halted the elevator and politely asked him if he was OK.

He mentioned that he had a little indigestion and wanted me to continue on without him. I knew it would be a challenge getting 9 men anywhere interesting during the game without Stan or another ball player in tow, but I went along. It worked about pretty well and I toured the group behind the outfield wall (a home run was hit while we were there and one of my group picked it up), past the home and away bullpens (players came down from their seats and signed autos) and then to the clubhouse entrance. Finally we retuned to the restaurant and Stan had left!

He left a note for menthat he had a headache and had returned to his room in the Hotel in the stadium. Inside the note was $400 and a signed photo!

I followed up with a note to his room asking if he was OK (worried that the restaurant's food didn't agree with him) and urging him to please take his cash back, as it was too big a gift for such a simple favor.

Stan came to see me the next day and gave me the warmest greeting and said that i done him a huge favor - he needed to get away from on of his dining companions (something about verbal diarrhea) and I had done that and shown his companions a great time.

At the end of our short meeting he took back the offered $400 and gave me a new envelope, this time with $500 inside!

[scmavl]

What a great story Chris (and so is the one you linked to). I've never heard a story about Stan that didn't tout him as one of the nicest guys around. It seems unlikely I'll ever have a Stan story of my own, but I love to hear them.

[mcgwirecom]

Yeah sometimes you can get Stan at a show or private signing for less than his family price. Tom Orr is actually doing a private signing tomoprrow (3/2) with Stan. I sent in the 8x10 giveaway photo that was handed out to the fans on his last game. Was pretty neat and still had the original dated envelope.

[Hot Springs Bathers]

Yesterday I had the great pleasure of having lunch with former major leaguer Jack McMahon (Pirates & Athletics.) He told the story of the first time he ever faced Stan. Figuring that Stan had never seen him he would take a pitch or two--Jack threw a slider and then said Musial hit it out of the state of Missouri.

I have seen Stan several times at shows and he was so very gracious to everyone. The only others I would put in that group are Brooks Robinson, Ernie Banks, Bobby Richardson and of course Bob Feller. All of them usually try to shake hands with every customer.

On the other side, Willie Mays is the worst I have ever seen.

Speaking of Musial and Berra's mail order companies, are there other HOFers doing the same thing? I sure wish Koufax and Aaron would offer this service!

[scmavl]

Yesterday I had the great pleasure of having lunch with former major leaguer Jack McMahon (Pirates & Athletics.) He told the story of the first time he ever faced Stan. Figuring that Stan had never seen him he would take a pitch or two--Jack threw a slider and then said Musial hit it out of the state of Missouri.

I have seen Stan several times at shows and he was so very gracious to everyone. The only others I would put in that group are Brooks Robinson, Ernie Banks, Bobby Richardson and of course Bob Feller. All of them usually try to shake hands with every customer.

On the other side, Willie Mays is the worst I have ever seen.

Speaking of Musial and Berra's mail order companies, are there other HOFers doing the same thing? I sure wish Koufax and Aaron would offer this service!

Brooks Robinson offers this, although he only opens his list every six months or so. Harmon Killebrew does it through his Foundation, although due to his illness he has suspended that until he is doing better.

[murphusa]

Nolan Ryan also does it through his foundation

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Many HOFers (especially the more recently-inducted) have websites for this purpose. Just search a little on the internet. They're not hard to find.

[Collectorsince62]

I have visited their office several times and the entire staff is absolutely first class all the way. Very professional, and very cognizant of collectors' needs and whims. And best of all, Stan is sometimes in the office. I have had the honor of meeting him several times during these visits and I can't even describe how cool it is to sit down and chat for a few minutes while he signs or personalizes an item. The signature, however, is not as strong as it used to be. A few months ago, I watched as he signed the two scorecards from his 5-homer doubleheader. He happily obliged to add "my five home runs" to the autograph. His grandson, who is terrific, watched very closely to make sure Stan understood what I wanted - he seemed a little worried something might happen. But everything was fine. Stan took his time and very carefully signed both items. Not his boldest signatures, but still very nice. Then he told me "I should have had six that day. I tried to hit one my last time up and popped up to first." We looked at the scoring and sure enough, he was right. The Man.

[chaddurbin]

judging from topps' latest issue, stan's health may be worsening. his sigs look pretty bad compared to the beauty of just 1-2 years ago.

(also comical how topps had stan signed 62 in red ink and numbered it...like it's supposed to be rarer and carry a bigger premium than his "regular" auto)

[scmavl]

I don't think I ever posted the card I got from Stan The Man a couple of weeks ago. Sorry, I need a better pic of it though. You can see the sig has gotten a bit worse, but still very legible and very Stan.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v258/santaclausmachine/stanm.jpg

[mr2686]

Thought I'd bring this thread up to date. Just got my 3000th hit Sports Illustrated signed by Musial to go along with the Aaron signature. This was at a MAB-Celebrity show two weekends ago and just arrived today. As you can see, the Musial sig is barely readable. I had commented to Lordstan a few weeks ago that despite his age, that his sig was still very strong...I guess that's not the case anymore.

[Lordstan]

Nice mag Mike.
Wow..His sig certainly has gotten weaker recently.
It really is too bad.
I fear when he does pass, we'll lose our last connection with not only a incredible player, but also a certain class of Human from a bygone era.
Pardon me if I wax philosophically, but Stan and Feller really are two that stand out as legendary players who carried themselves in a certain manner that is really to be admired.
Mark

[jerseygary]

That's too bad about Stan's signature, I really hope he is doing ok and just had a bad day or something. What many people don't know is that there is a STAN MUSIAL FIELD in, of all places, Kutno, Poland! I visited there 2 years ago and it is part of a large complex that is home to The Little League Baseball European Training Center. Most of the complex was built by the Cubans back during Communist times, but Stan donated his much more modern field in 2000. I got to say, it was really a nice feeling to see a ballpark so far from home!