Carey Price is in town this week but not just for the Montreal Canadiens' home opener on Wednesday Night, he was also one of the signing guests at the Expos Cartes Sports Montreal.
Carey Price is in town this week but not just for the Montreal Canadiens' home opener on Wednesday Night, he was also one of the signing guests at the Expos Cartes Sports Montreal.
While Carey Price spent 15 years playing for the Montreal Canadiens, the market isn't saturated with his autographs. The netminder has an exclusivity deal with Frameworth Sports Marketing and doesn't stop all that often at the team's training facility in Brossard to sign autographs for fans (unless there are kids in attendance, then he would). So when Expos Cartes Sports Montreal reached a deal to have the winningest goaltender in franchise history sign at the event, it was big news.
Die-hard fans wanting to get various items from their collection were over the moon when they heard the news, but many had no idea how much they would have to pay to get the goaltender's graph. For an autograph on a single regular item (pucks, small photos, etc.), fans had to pay $130; for premium items (jerseys, oversized pictures, etc.), it cost $200.
For those wanting to meet the legend, a VIP package was available. For $1000, two people could get to meet the goalie, get a picture with him (printed 8x10, not autographed, but you had a fast pass ticket to join the fast track queue to get it signed), and get two items (one premium, one regular) autographed one of them with an inscription as an inscription ticket was part of the deal. The package included a Frameworth 20x29 Price Expo exclusive canvas, which he would sign, and an unsigned Carey Price Fanatics jersey. If fans wanted anything else signed in the meet an greet, they had to buy extra autograph tickets at the above price.
There was also a Carey Price Expo package that included a regular and a premium autograph, an unsigned Price Fanatics jersey, one inscription ticket (to get a special mention added, such as Go Habs Go, but there were restrictions; no milestone inscription was permitted), and one fast pass ticket (so you could go in the fast track line and not queue for as long a time).
Even at these prices, the event was a huge success and the fans involved were over the moon. Jean-Claude Tremblay, a lifelong Canadiens fans, who had a lot of pieces autographed (including the Price game-used Stanley Cup final jersey he wore on the picture above) was clearly having the time of his life. So was Super Fan and Habs cave owner Sunil Peetush, who got Price's graph on his Habscave jersey.
What put a damper on the day, however, was the impossibility of getting masks or equipment signed by the goaltender. When tickets for the show initially went on sale, it was clearly stated that masks could be autographed. However, the mention was later removed because Frameworth had an exclusivity with a company that specializes in masks for those items.
Some fans who had bought Price masks for the occasion were understandably annoyed and demanded reimbursement. Some were successful, while at least one never heard back from the show's organizers and dealt with Frameworth directly instead, which is how he did manage to get his mask autographed.
Overall, the event was a big success, but the show's organizers would do well to double-check their information new times before publishing pricing lists and selling tickets. Furthermore, those who had bought VIP access to the event for the privilege to get in an hour before the doors of the event opened to the general public on Friday were disappointed when plenty of dealers hadn't even set up their table by then. Collectors do not take kindly to paying extra to see empty tables.
Still, the biannual event is the biggest card show in Montreal and the only one in town where fans can have access to that many athletes. In addition to Price, Teemu Selanne, Felix Potvin, Doug Gilmour, Petr Svoboda, Cayden Primeau, Jake Evans, Logan Mailloux, Pierre Mondou, Denis Dejordy, Dennis Martinez, Ron Hassey, and Ted DiBiase were also in attendance for signing sessions.
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