Interesting.....
My first Phestival and it was interesting to say the least. As others mentioned there is no way you are going to see everybody! Autograph session was two hours, 6:00-8:00 PM.
I had a #2 (Davey Lopes/Milt Thompson) I got with my admission ticket plus one exchange. When we got there at 1:00 there were 4 lines for the exchange and it was a crapshoot - especially when Ryan Howard wasn't there due to the flu. My 10 year old and I lucked out because we were in the line that included the exchange for Utley. Once they posted what players were going to be in what booths, the lines on our side shifted all over, apparently to get Hamels.
Then the guy behind us coudn't make up his mind so he gave us an exchange ticket plus a second exchange to get him an Utley. I also bought another exchange for $5. Before entering I had tickets for Lopes/Thompson, Utley/Mackanin, Ruiz/Dubee and Bruntlett/Coste. For our team WS bat I needed all of these except Coste.
We made a slight mistake waiting in line for 2 grab bags (signed JC Romero hat in one, NL Champions hat and Utley helmet in the other) and then waited to rolled the dice (Phillie Phanatic book and nice World Champs t-shirt). By the time we got to the Utley waiting area we were way back and ended up waiting over an hour! We raced from Utley to Ruiz which was much faster and learned that Hamels line was now taking cash ($10). We got there just before they cut off the line and got two for $20: the bat and a WS ball (that he wouldn't sign on the sweet spot OR underneath the WS logo

) We then raced back to Bruntlett and a girl said it was cut off so we tried Lopes/Thompson but they had left. We went back and they let us in the Bruntlett line since we had a ticket!
The net of the night:
On the WS bat: Utley, Hamels, Ruiz, Bruntlett and Dubee to increase our total to 12.
WS Ball: Hamels
OMLB multi: Mackanin, and Coste
Auto Hat: JC Romero
Other: World Champs Tee, Utley Helmet, Phillie Phanatic book
Total spent: $105 ($30 for admission, $5 for one exchange ticket, $20 for 2 Hamels, $40 for 2 grab bags, $10 for two rolls of the dice)
Would have liked to have gotten the Lopes/Thompson on the bat but I'll see Thompson on 8/8 at a card show.
Sidenotes:
- It was fun watching folks trying to trade auto tickets before things got started. Girl behind me traded a Rollins for a Ruiz/Dubee. Others were walking around with a fistful of tickets and if you got Hamels and Utley you weren't getting more than a couple others without help!
- JC Romero would have signed until next Monday if they didn't have a plane to catch tonight to head for Florida. They had to drag him out of his booth.
- Hamels started signing alot earlier than Utley - which probably cost us the Lopes/Thompson
All-in-all it was a pretty good night and something I'll do again, especially if I still need a bunch on the WS Bat come next year.
Thanks again to those who provided the good info and helped make it a success for us.
KenJ