Three More Grand Slam Prints From Private Signings and a Couple TTM Returns

My mailbox was full today.

I received three more Grand Slam prints today, all from Tom Orr signings.  All three have Beckett Witness authentication and all three had the sticker placed on the back of the print, as requested.  These bring my total up to 34 prints signed.

Former-Red Eric Davis signed his print as requested.  His signature is kind of cool.  

Another former-Red and Hall of Famer, Barry Larkin, signed his also as requested.  I wish I knew how large the players are going to sign when I decide where I want them to sign it.  They seem to sign small when I expect large, and vice-versa.  In this case, I might have requested he sign across his legs rather than him starting close to the edge and overlapping his body just a bit.  Oh well.

I also had Barry Larkin sign his 1987 Topps rookie card to add another Hall of Famer signed rookie card to my collection.

The last print for today was Carl Yastrzremski, who signed much smaller than I anticipated.  Oh well, it still looks okay.

I also had him sign his 1971 Topps for my set.  I'm getting pretty close to having him on cards from the sets I collect.  Any more cards I have signed by him would have to be at a really good price.

I also had two ttm returns.  Dick Egan signed his 1966 Topps as well as three team cards.  He also answered a couple questions in my letter.

And finally, Cookie Rojas signed eight cards for me for his $5 per card fee.  I have most of his cards signed (I also sent him eight cards back in June), but wanted to add him to a bunch of team cards.  

Unfortunately, his signature on the 1975 Topps is smeared pretty badly.  I have one signed by him previously, but the pen tip is a little too fine.  No big deal, I was just looking for a minor upgrade.

Here's the previous one he signed for me.

Metrodome Seats

Almost 12 years ago, I posted about driving to the Metrodome to buy a set of seats I had bought as they were dismantling the dome to make room for the Viking's new monstrosity.   

Shortly after that post, I learned of a welding company in the Twins Cities that was making legs for them so they could be used as standalone seats.  This was not trivial, because the seats were designed to bolt into a concrete step that was parallel to the seatback, rather than directly to the floor.  They weren't cheap, but they are very well made and work great.

As I recall, if you were buying full seats, you did not have the option of requesting specific seat numbers, or maybe you could, but you had to pay more.  I didn't request anything specific, but lucked out and got seats numbers 4-7.  Three of the four numbers match the jersey number of a Hall of Fame player for the Twins:

4 - Paul Molitor

6 - Tony Oliva

7 - Joe Mauer

Naturally, I decided to have those players sign the seatback associated with their jersey number.  I wasn't sure what to do with #5, as there was no Hall of Fame player that matched it.  Michael Cuddyer was a great player, but not a Hall of Famer.  So, I decided to have other Hall of Famers from the team sign seat #5 regardless of their jersey number.  So far, I have Jack Morris and Jim Kaat and hope to add Carew and Blyleven soon.

You can click on the photo to get a larger view of it.

Blyleven and Foster TTM Returns and Another 1958 Topps

I received two great ttm returns today.

Former-Twin Bert Blyleven (apparently he played on other teams too, but who cares) signed his 1972 Topps and started another 1972 Twins team card for me.  He signed in two weeks for his $20 per card fee.

His individual card was an upgrade from the card I got signed in 2012 at TwinsFest where he used a black sharpie.

Here is a photo of him signing.  Sometimes, there would be a "handler" taking your item and asking what pen you'd like used, but not always.  There wasn't this time, and since they really try to pump as many people through the line as possible, I didn't feel like asking him to switch.  I should have though.

The team card is the start of a "premium player" card on which I'll get some of the better players from the 1971 team: Blyleven, Carew, Kaat, and Oliva.

I have other 72 Twins team cards going, but I don't want to pay $20 or more for a signature that may end up being hard to even notice on a crowded card like this one that Bob Gebhard returned a couple days ago.

George Foster signed a 1972 Topps MVP Award card already signed by Jim Rice as well as one of his three 1982 Topps cards, in addition to a 1982 Topps Traded card.  I didn't want to spend enough to get them all signed just yet, so I'll send the other two next year sometime.  I don't usually work on the Traded sets.

And I used some credit card points to pay for about half of another 1958 Topps card for my set collection.  This Joe Taylor card has been on my radar for a while but I didn't want to pay full price.

I have one more 1958 Topps card coming in the mail, which will bring the number of cards I need to complete the set down to 76.  When I started working on the set back in 2003, I said my goal was to have all of the living players from the set.  That's a joke, of course, because eventually they'll all pass away and you could fulfill the goal without even having a single card signed.

But, I've worked towards completing the set for the last 22 years and have amassed 417 unique cards, and many, many duplicates.  Probably about 190 duplicates.

The Cookie Rojas return I mentioned yesterday didn't show up today.  It looks like it will be Friday now.  I also have an Eric Davis Grand Slam print on its way back from a signing but that probably won't arrive until next week.

A Couple Days of Returns - Campaneris, Eckersley, Gabrielson, Gebhard, Jones and Wood

I forgot to post my returns from yesterday, which included another Grand Slam Print and the third player to sign my Athletic yearbook.  And today, I received a nice return from Dalton Jones.

Dennis Eckerlsey signed a second Grand Slam print for me.  The artists have a couple versions for some players and since Eckerlsey is affordable at $20, I decided to get them both signed.

Here's the earlier version I got signed back in July.

Len Gabrielson signed his 1963 and 1964 Topps as well as a couple team cards.  He personalized one of them.  He typically personalizes his individual cards but not the cards where there is less room, like muilti-player cards and team cards.

Bert Campaneris was kind enough to be the third player to sign my 1966 Athletics yearbook, both on the cover as well as his interior bio picture.

He also signed his 1966 Topps and 1966 Athletics team card (which I know is for the 65 team, but I'm going for matching card years, and won't ask players that weren't on the 65 team to sign the team cards).

Wilbur Wood signed his 1964 and 1974 Topps nicely in blue for his $5 per card fee.

Bob Gebhard signed a 1972 Topps already signed by Haydel, a 1972 Topps Buy Back card previously unsigned, and a couple Twins team cards.  The 72 Twins team card is about full.  Maybe one or two more signatures can fit over the players section, but people seem hesitant to sign there.  He doesn't charge, but doesn't have a lot of history on SCN signing more than a card or two, so I included $10 in hopes to be sure he'd sign all four cards.  He signed my cards, but also returned my $10.

And today, Dalton Jones signed his 1969 ARCO John Wheeldon print, much like the Jim Lonborg print a few days ago, as well as six cards.  He doesn't normally charge, but since this was a large request and a bubble envelope return sase, I enclosed $30.  He thanked me on my return letter, which I'm always happy to see so that I know he wasn't put out by the large request.

One of the cards was a 1980 version of the Fleer Laughlin World Series cards.  This one commemorates the 1967 World Series.  Jones hit .389 in the six games he played in.  Second only to Yaz, who hit .400 in seven games.  Jones was only 23 years old!  Unfortunately for them both, the Cardinals went on to win the series 4-3.

I sent Jones another large request back in July.  Just 5 cards, but I included $20 with that one.  Anything over four cards seems like it deserves a fee in my mind, and even one card if I send it along in a bubble envelope with a specific pen for them to use.

I'm hopeful I'll receive a return from Cookie Rojas tomorrow.  I sent him a large request this time too; eight cards.  He does charge, so I sent him his normal $5 per card fee.  I also sent him eight cards back in July.  Those were all individual cards, and this time I sent five team cards and just three of his individual cards.  I'll probably be done bothering him after this.  Unless I need more team cards signed :-).