Updates After Being Distracted For a While

Our new cabin is taking up a lot more of my time than I expected, especially since it's only about a four year old cabin.

Anyway, filling up that cabin with furniture, including beds, along with other household items has resulted in a lot of credit card points.  I used a lot of them to buy three new cards for my 1958 Topps set.

In that same order, I bought a couple Jim Nash cards, who is a good ttm signer, but personalizes.

Last week, I received a disappointing Jack Hiatt return.  Mr. Hiatt usually uses a black pen that smears easily.  Last time I sent to him, I included a sharpie and that worked well.  So, I tried including a sharpie again, which means it cost about $6 in postage each way.  I also included $20 as a thank you for the hassle.  But this time he didn't use my pen, and used 'old smeary', which didn't disappoint.  He smeared three of the four cards, including a team card that had five signatures on it.  Ugggh.  I know, I know.  Don't send anything you can't afford to lose, and he doesn't owe me anything, but I can still be disappointed.

Today I received ttm returns from a couple TTM All Stars: Ken Aspromonte and Marty Keough.  They both signed my cards nicely and in just nine days.

I should have another JSA/CGC submission back by the end of the week.  I also received my last bobblehead order back but haven't had the time to photograph them yet.  They are still in their boxes.

Kessinger, Law and Pascual

Today brought three returns, all of which I had sent in bubble envelopes via Pirate Ship rather than regular sases.

I sent Don Kessinger a Grand Slam print and four cards, which he signed nicely with the pen I enclosed.

Vern Law signed six cards for me and included a seventh.  He sent a preprinted note asking for some donations for him to use to contribute to a favorite charity.  On the back of that note, he wrote that this is the last time I'll get "subscription" for free.  I think he meant "inscription".  And from here out, it will be $20 per card.  I actually wouldn't mind to get a few cards signed by him with just his signature instead of the ton of inscriptions he almost always includes now.  I do love the inscriptions though, and a card like the 58 Topps he signed this time is really amazing.  But sometimes a simple signature is nice too.

Finally, Camilo Pascual signed his 1963 Jell-O and a few Twins team cards.  I sent him both a blue sharpie and a blue Staedtler, and noted in my letter that I'm appreciative of his habit of using a thicker pen when space allows, and a finer pen in smaller spaces, like team cards.

I've been "investing" in some more Hall of Fame rookie cards.  I sent three Johnny Bench 1968 Topps rookie cards into a signing today, as well as a 75 Topps Yount, and a 73 Topps Mike Schmidt.  I took advantage of a few signings that have lower fees than most signings, even though these lower prices are rising, as are the regular prices.  For example, Carl Yastrzemski's price on cards has gone from $60 in 2017, to $100 in 2020, to $135 in 2024, to $195 this year.  I know I say this occasionally, but my days in this hobby are numbered.

For most of the expensive signings I've been sending in for, I look at sold listings on eBay to see what that market value is, and try to be sure that the price I pay for the cards plus the signing and slabbing are at least 10% less, so that if I needed to, I could turn around and get my money back on these cards.  For several of the Hall of Famers, it can be cheaper to find an authenticated card already signed for less than the cost of finding a decent card and sending it in.  I am still going to send in for Yaz this time, but it's probably my last.  And at $195 per card, I'm only getting his rookie card signed.  Most others can be purchased for less already signed.

I'm building on some vintage bobbleheads tonight and hope to add about a dozen to my rapidly growing collection.

Leo Cardenas and Bobby Shantz TTM Returns and a Luis Aparicio Purchase

I was away from home for a few days and came back to a few autographs in the mailbox.

I added a couple Luis Aparicio cards to my 1962 and 1973 sets with a purchase from a fellow SCN member.  I have purchased several Aparicio cards from him in the past as well.  He has organized at least one signing with Mr. Aparicio in the past, but when I brought it up with him the last time I bought from him, he didn't sound as if he had any plans to do another.  That signing was back in 2021, which is the last one posted on SCN.

I sent Leo "Chico" Cardenas eight cards, a blue Staedtler and $40 cash.  He signed my cards very nicely and packaged them up way better than most players do when he sent them back in the bubble envelope I provided as an sase.

I sent the cards inside a team bag with a plastic backing board inside it.  I put that inside a bubble envelope with a cardboard backing, so neither the envelope, nor the team bag, can be bent under even pretty extreme circumstances.

Most players will put the cards back in the team bag but don't always include the little plastic board.  And sometimes, the player will just put the cards into the bubble envelope loose, so they are sliding all over.  But, if they've left the cardboard in, the cards usually don't get bent.

Mr. Cardenas packaged up my cards so nicely back into the team bag that I briefly thought he may not have signed them.

Bert Blyleven is the only other signature on that 1972 Twins team card.  For some reason, I still have a bunch of cards for Cardenas.  They would all be duplicates though, so I am not sure if I'll pay the $5 per card to complete them.

The other TTM return I received was from the 1952 A.L. MVP, Bobby Shantz, who signed his 1954 and 1957 Topps, a 1968 Fleer Laughlin card commemorating the 1957 World Series, and the 1972 Topps MVP Award card.

I love the 1954 Topps set.  It's probably my favorite set of any brand or time period.  I have about 112 unique cards from the set, with many, many duplicates.  This is the 4th card from the set that I have signed by Mr. Shantz. Here's the one I just received:

And here are the other three, which I received ttm in 2004, 2021, and 2024.

His 1957 Topps card is surprisingly expensive.  It's not a "high number" card, but I guess the 4th series from this set is more scarce than the 5th, with the prices reflecting that. You have to pay over $20 to find a copy that doesn't have some paper loss or a tear on it.  I paid over $30 for this one, and that's after requesting and receiving a $6 discount on the card, and then paying taxes and postage.

I upgraded to this card because the one I sent to him in 2023 is just so bad.  I don't recall buying it, but I'm guessing I was trying to keep the cost down by settling for the extremely poor corners on it.  It looks like someone was handed a decent card and told to make it look old by wearing down the corners.  They are so worn, it looks like someone used a belt sander to round them over.

Anyway, here is the new one I just received.

I really like the Laughlin World series cards, but they often aren't a good design for autographs, which was true for this one as well.  Despite the lack of room, I may send it to Bobby Richardson next.

And despite already having his autograph on the 1972 MVP card, I sent him another.  I was thinking it would be nice to get another MVP winner from the same time period, early-to-mid-fifties, to sign it as well.  However, the next MVP award winner after 1952 that is still alive, is Sandy Koufax, who won it in 1963.  I doubt I'll get the opportunity to have Mr. Koufax sign this card.  Moving on to the next player, Carl Yastrzemski in 1967, has a pretty steep fee, but maybe I'll consider it.

I received 20 cards back from a Beckett authentication/slabbing.  I need to scan them all before posting more details about them.  All my cards passed, but this submission switched to a "training card" label rather than authenticating the card itself.