Since I track all my requests, I am able at the end of the year to see how I have done with my ttm requests. In 2008, I sent out 193 requests and received 155 successes, 11 failures and 27 requests still waiting. Of the failures, several were due to incorrect addresses which were subsequently sent out again and received successfully. The failures always indicate that the request was received back either as a Return To Sender or sent back in the sase, so the items sent to be signed were recovered.
The "Waiting" requests are the ones that may ultimately be considered a failure if they are never heard from again. 8 of the 27 requests were sent less than a week ago and will probably be returned successfully.
In 2007 I only sent out 101 requests so I was much more active this year. I hope to keep up the pace in 2009 and send out at least 250 requests.
I started this hobby in 2003 and sent out just over 500 requests that year, which was a lot considering that I started in June. In 2004, I sent out 493 requests and in 2005 and 2006 I sent out 235 and 140 requests respectively.
My overall success rate is 83%. Again, since many of the "failures" were received back and resent with an updated address, I think my overall success rate is probably closer to 90%.
Some of my favorite successes from 2008 include Frank Viola, Camilo Pascual, Johnny Antonelli, Mike Mussina, Duke Snider, and Billy Loes. I was able to add 6 additional signed cards to my 1958 Topps collection, and many more to my 1961 and 1965 collections.
For 2009, I plan to concentrate on these sets as well as the 2008 Goudey set for retired players. I also hope to finish painting and reorganizing my basement by the end of January so I can display more of my collection.
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