1958 Topps X6 Purchase

Just as I clicked on the submit button on my previous post, my dog started barking at the UPS truck that had just pulled up to the house.

It's been quite a while since I added any cards to my 1958 Topps set.  I consider this my "primary" set, meaning it's the one I'm willing to spend money on more so than other sets, and a set that I will prioritize purchases over other sets if money is tight.

There is only one living player left that I still need, and that is Sandy Koufax.  A ttm success with him could be categorized as a miracle.

Most of the cards are available on eBay, with only a handful that are truly hard to find.  After this purchase of six cards, one of which is an upgrade, I need 85 cards to complete it.

I don't think I'll ever really complete it.  I find it hard to believe I'd spend the money on Clemente, or for the players that might be even more expensive due to their rarity, but of players most people have never heard of.

Anyway, it's fun to work on it and knock off a few cards here and there.

The one card in this batch that is an upgrade is Don McMahon.  It's not even a huge improvement over my existing card, so now I'm wondering if I added this one to the cart by mistake, thinking I didn't have it yet.  I really can't remember.  That's the problem with shopping at two in the morning when you're having trouble sleeping.

The other five cards are new to my set.  I have Johnny Temple's regular card, but now also have his All Star card.

The seller has some more cards I am interested in, but I had to draw the line somewhere.  I had a few more cards in my cart but had to remove a couple.  I used credit card points to help pay for a portion of this order, which is how I justify a large purchase.  Maybe next month I'll buy a couple more when I get more credit card points.  I guess until then, I better go spend a bunch on the credit card, so I get more points.

John O'Donoghue and Jim Rice TTM Returns

The returns continue to trickle in.  I'm still waiting for the day that my mailbox is stuffed with returns.

As I've mentioned over the last couple of weeks, I've been sending out some cards that I already have to attempt to upgrade some of them.  In some cases, I just send a normal request and hope the cards get signed with a nice blue marker, like a sharpie.  I look at the player's history on SCN to see how likely it appears that I'll get that signature.  If it looks good, I just send a normal request.   

If the player consistently signs in black or ballpoint, I include a blue sharpie with my request.  That means I send it in a bubble envelope at a cost of over $4.00 and typically I use another bubble envelope for my sase.  I use PirateShip for the postage labels.  It's nice to be able to track my request both to the player and back to me.  It's not nice to pay over $8.00 in postage and about another dollar on envelopes.

Today I received such a return from John O'Donoghue.  Unfortunately, he used the same old black pen that he used for my previous requests in 2004 and 2021.  As you can see, it doesn't work well.

These aren't much of an upgrade over the cards I got back in 2004:

or in 2021:

I don't mean to sound rude or unappreciative, but as a collector, I am disappointed.

I'm not sure why he didn't use it.  He was kind enough to answer a couple questions in my letter and even put the cards and the note into his own small, regular envelope before putting it in my return bubble envelope.  So, he took some care in completing my request, but didn't offer up a reason for not using my sharpie.  Maybe he missed it entirely?  I put the sharpie at the bottom of the larger bubble envelope I send my request in, so it's possible he didn't notice it.  I did reference it in my letter, which he obviously read because he answered the questions.  I guess going forward, I'll put a sticky note on the cards requesting that the sharpie be used.  I appreciate his time and effort, but am disappointed in the results, especially considering the cost.  Totally not his fault, and he didn't need to sign my cards at all, so I guess I should be happy to get anything back.

I think I may also begin using a regular envelope for my sase instead of a bubble envelope, depending on the value of the cards and rarity of the signature.  This request would have been a good candidate for a regular sase.

On the brighter side, I received a return from Jim Rice, who did a very nice job signing the 1979 Topps RBI and Home Run Leaders cards already signed by George Foster.  Without my asking, he signed the card in the same location and direction as George Foster, so the card appears symmetrical which I really appreciate.

I sent these cards along with his $40 fee in cash in plain white envelopes, both to him and back, so I guess I can justify using a plain sase when I sent a blue sharpie to players.  I think trying to put a sharpie inside a regular business envelope would be a big mistake and result in a lot of ripped open envelopes.

Foster and Rice were on fire in the late 70's, appearing on the 1978 Home Run Leaders card too.  I just noticed that Rice didn't sign in the same manner as Foster on this card, which I sent in August of 2020.

I am waiting for a UPS delivery today that should include some purchases I am really anxious to get.  I'll post those later if they arrive.

Ralph Garr TTM Return

Just one ttm return today.  At some point, probably soon, I'm going to have a day where I get 10+ returns.  My outstanding requests are building up and since I usually send only to pretty reliable signers, they've got to start coming back at some point.

My return today was from Ralph Garr, who signed his 1971 and 1972 Topps for his $5 per card fee.  

I am struggling to figure out what to do about the 1972 batting leaders' card.  Glenn Beckert passed away in 2020.  I never had him sign this card for me, but I did buy one he had signed, which is the one I got back from Garr today.

I also had Garr sign a blank version of the card in 2023.

I also bought a slabbed copy of the card signed by Torre and Garr early this year.

I have the card signed by all three players, just not on the same copy of the card.  However, since I have one signed by both Beckert and Garr, I still have a chance to complete the card by getting Torre to sign it.  There is currently a Torre signing being rescheduled for which I sent in one card.  It's VERY expensive, but I've emailed the promoter to see if there's time to send in another card.  I'd like to get this card done.

Wade Blasingame Mail-In Signing Return

I didn't receive any ttm returns to start my week, but I did receive a Wade Blasingame card back from a mail-in signing.  I had him sign his 1971 Topps for my set.

For some reason, his signing fee is relatively expensive.  I paid even more for a couple cards last year, but I wanted to take the opportunity to add his cards to my sets.

I am participating in a ridiculous number of signings right now (20).  It's a bit morbid, but I feel like I'm on my farewell tour with many of these players that are in their 70s, 80's and even 90's, and trying to get my items signed before it's too late.

I've also been sending out a lot of ttm requests.  32 this month that haven't been returned yet.  I've noticed a few players with cards in my sets that have never really returned a great signature for me.  Usually, it's their pen choice, using a fine, black felt tip that usually just doesn't look good and smears easily.

In order to boost the quality of my sets, I've sent another request to a few of these players with my set cards, a blue sharpie, and sticky notes with instructions on where to sign.  For a few, I've included more than my usual maximum of four cards, but I think six was the most.  

I've mailed my requests in bubble envelopes, with bubble envelopes for the return as well.  I put a piece of carboard in the return envelope to keep it rigid in hopes it doesn't get bent.  For most of these requests, I've included a small fee even if the player doesn't normally charge one.  We'll see how successful this tactic is.

Gagliano and Wine TTM and a Swoboda Purchase

The two sases in my Informed Delivery email showed some pretty bent and creased corners so I was a little worried about my cards.  They all turned out to be okay though.

Ralph Gagliano signed what I believe to be his only card: a 1965 Topps also pictured with Jim Rittwage.  

Mr. Gagliano signed another copy of this card for me about 16 years ago, after Jim Rittwage had already signed it.

These days, we seem to have lost track of Jim Rittwage's address.  I'll keep an eye out for it and try to get this one completed if I can.

Bobby Wine signed his 1970 and 1971 Topps as well as a 1971 Topps Buy Back card.  He also returned a signed, black and white vintage picture.  It's printed on heavy cardstock with a little discoloring on that blank back, which is what makes it appear vintage.  It's pretty cool and a nice surprise to get back.

I also received a 1965 Topps signed by Ron Swoboda that I bought on Ebay.  I'm surprised I didn't have this one yet, but the card is expensive due to it being Tug McGraw's rookie also.

After buying this card, the obsessive collector in me kicked in and decided I should also have a copy of this card that I got signed ttm, so I purchased a blank copy of the card too.  Bethke still signs, but the other two are deceased.

Six TTM Returns

After complaining yesterday that the ttm returns were coming in slowly, I ended up with six returns in the mailbox today! 

Andre Dawson was quick with an 11-day return.  He signed a 1983 Topps All Star card for my set, as well as a 1987 Topps Traded card for his $10 per card fee.

I last sent to Ken Henderson in 2011, when he signed four cards for me all in black sharpie.  I had a bunch of cards I wanted signed for his $5 per card fee, so I also included a blue sharpie to be sure this was money well spent.  I sent the cards and the sharpie in a bubble envelope via Pirateship, so I had tracking and insurance on it as well.

He did a very nice job of signing these cards using the pen I sent.  And it only took him 11 days.

The last time I sent to him I included his 1965 Topps which was already signed by Jack Hiatt in black sharpie.  I don't know if he purposely matched the black sharpie on that card so signed all the cards in black, or if it was just a coincidence.

Juan Marichal signed the 1966 Topps NL ERA Leaders card already signed by Vern Law, in only 11 days.  Now, it's off to Koufax to finish it off!  Just kidding, of course.  Koufax is still with us, but I don't know the last time he participated in a signing.  I don't see any signings in his history on SCN.  I see very sporadic ttm returns on SCN, but only one in the last ten years.  I'd love to have him sign his 1958 Topps, as well as his 61, 63, 65, etc.  It would also be amazing to have a signed 1965 World Series program signed by him.  

The only Koufax autograph I have is on a baseball.  I "won" a 50% off coupon in a pack of Upper Deck cards a long time ago.  I chose to go big and bought this ball with Upper Deck authentication from a signing they did with him.  This was in 2008.  The normal price on the ball was $600, so I got it for $300.

94-year-old former Pittsburgh Pirate Johnny O'Brien beautifully signed his 1956, 1958 and 1959 Topps for my collection.  He used a nice, bold blue sharpie that I didn't even include with my request.  From my previous requests with him over the years, beginning in 2003, about 50% of the time I get blue sharpie, and the rest of the time I get ballpoint or black marker.  This request was one of the "I really miss getting vintage cards signed ttm" batch from a few weeks ago.

Here's a typical, non-blue sharpie return from him from 2010.

Dick Simpson signed a couple rookie cards, one form 1963 and one from 1965, as well as his 1968 and 1969 Topps.  The '63 is signed by Frank Kostro, and the 65 was already signed by Jose Cardenal.  

The 65 was what inspired this request.  Dick Simpson completed another copy of this card back in 2015.  I sent him a nice card already signed by Cardenal:

But when it came back, Simpson had signed it, but the card really got beat up in the mail.  I've noticed some dramatic changes like this on a few vintage cards, but this is about the worst.

While it's not creased or anything, the color loss is very noticeable.  I'm not sure what happened, but it has bugged me ever since.  I finally got around to completing a better one that I am happy with.

Finally, Al Spangler signed a 1962 Post, the 1966 and 1967 Angels team cards, and his 1968 Topps.  The team cards were signed with ballpoint, while the other cards were signed with blue sharpie.