Another Goal Met - 1970 John Wheeldon Super Valu Portraits

I had a goal for this year to complete all the living players in the 1970 Super Valu giveaway portraits by John Wheeldon.  There are 12 in the set, and I just got back my 10th signed picture from Ron Perranoski.  The two deceased players include Cesar Tovar and Harmon Killebrew.

I also got back a couple of cards today.  Jim Perry signed his 1961 Topps All Star card.

And Jim Greengrass signed his 1953 Topps and also wrote me a nice note about his career after his playing days.  In his note he thanked me for including him in my collection!  How many of today's players would take that point of view?  I'm guessing none. 

A few days ago I received a 1951 Bowman signed by Johnny Vander Meer that I bought from a member on sportscollectors.net.  He gave me a very nice deal.  Thanks Kyle!

A while ago I also received a surprise in the mail.  Another scn member, and local collector, sent me a 1972 Topps signed by Burt Hooton and Earl Stephenson as a Christmas present.  How nice and unexpected!  He looked at my wantlists posted on scn and sent this card along since I didn't have it yet.  Thanks again Kevin!

George Mitterwald Return

The first of my latest bunch of ttm request was returned today.  George Mitterwald helped me further a couple of my 2011 collecting goals by signing his 1970 Super Valu giveaway portrait by John Wheeldon.

He also signed both of his 1972 Topps for me.  I had purchased the "In Action" card from Mickey's earlier this year so I'm just adding one more to my total, which is now 290, just 10 short of my goal of 300.

I also received a 1973 Topps signed by Mike Jorgensen that I purchased on Ebay from a fellow Twins collector and SCN member.  Thanks Randy!

Progress Update on 2011 Collecting Goals

No returns in today's mail.  So I thought I'd update my progress on my 2011 collecting goals.

1. Send out 250 requests through the mail - As of today (including the 17 I sent out in today's mail) I have sent out 97 requests this year.  I'm well on my way to reaching my goal of 250, but the summer gets pretty busy so I'll have to be careful to keep it up.
2. Reach 300 signed 1972 Topps cards - As I've mentioned earlier, this set is turning out to be tougher than I first anticipated. I currently have 212 signed (not including 8 duplicates).  I have about 20-25 out in the mail, and I bought 20 more from Mickey's over the weekend.  I think 300 is still realistic by the end of the year.
3. Add 5 more signed bobbleheads to my 1987 Twins bobblehead collection.  So far I've added 4: George Frazier, Dan Schatzeder, Keith Atherton and Jeff Reardon.  I'm hopeful I can add at least one more by the end of the year.
4. Finish the 11 possible John Wheeldon portraits (out of 12) - I recently got back Luis Tiant on his portrait, and received one back signed from Chico Cardenas in February.  I need George Mitterwald, Harmon Killebrew, Ron Perranoski and Rich Reese.  The only one not signing through the mail is Killebrew, who is battling cancer.

I think I've done pretty well on my goals since we're only into April, but I'll have to keep up on my collection as it will be September before I know it!

Luis Tiant - John Wheeldon Portrait

Still no ttm returns today, but I did get an item back from a signing that an SCN member had with Luis Tiant.  I took this opportunity to get another John Wheeldon print signed.  If you haven't seen these before, they were a give away item at Super Valu grocery stores in 1970.  This makes 7 from the set of 12 that I have signed.  One player is deceased, but I hope to get the other 4.

I was fortunate enough to get a picture of Mr. Tiant signing this too.

I was really looking forward to opening day for the Twins, until about the bottom of the first inning.  As I write this, the Twins are down 10 to 0 in the 5th inning.  Ouch.

Don Demeter and TwinsFest Pictures

Today is all about my older son.  He got another 1958 signed through the mail.  Don Demeter signed his card for him in about 2 weeks. He has 54 autographs on 1958 Topps now.

My older son also got a few pictures signed at TwinsFest this year.  He had Danny Valencia signed a nice action photo.

He had Michael Cuddyer sign an action photo as well.

He also came across a cool 8x10 of a painting of Cuddyer from one of the vendors that he got signed on the Sunday of TwinsFest.

Finally, he added another John Wheeldon 1970 Super Valu giveaway portrait of Tony Oliva to his collection.

Brant Alyea Return

As I mentioned yesterday, I received a nice return from Brant Alyea.  I sent him a 1972 Topps, a 1970 John Wheeldon print and $10.  He was kind enough to sign both of those items and also included a signed 1971 Topps for me.  He wrote a short note answering my question about his career after baseball and noting that since I was from Minnesota, I needed a card of him as a Twin, which is why he gave me the 1971 Topps.  How nice of him!

I'm pretty surprised that any players bother signing cards and returning them, much less when I come across a player who reads the letters, answers them, and even includes extras.  I once sent a letter to Johnny Schmitz and included 5 dollars since I was sending him four cards to sign.  Not only did he sign those four cards, he also included 4 signed 8x10s which he sent back in his own envelope and paid the extra postage.  Amazing.

Mr. Alyea hit a home run in his first major league at bat.  He had a great year in 1970.  According to baseballibrary.com, he played in just 94 games and hit 16 home runs with 61 RBI and a .291 BA.

I need to get going on these Wheeldon prints.  I have five of the 12 signed and can easily get some more including Luis Tiant, Killebrew (TwinsFest), Ron Perranoski, George Mitterwald, Rich Reese and Leo Cardenas.  Cesar Tovar is the only one of the twelve not still with us.

Just One Return Today - Fred Scherman

Just one return, but since Tuesdays are usually very slow, I'm happy to get it.

Fred Scherman signed a 1971 and 1972 Topps for me.

I also received a few more Wheeldon prints that I bough on eBay.  I had most of them, but added Cesar Tovar to my collection.  I have an extra Oliva and Kaat that my son will get signed at TwinsFest.  This lot also included a Killebrew.  I know I have one, but can't find it!

I also picked up a few copies of this week's Sports Illustrated with Jim Thome and Target Field on the cover, thanks to my Mom and sister for finding them for me when I couldn't find any locally (because I was looking too early).  I haven't read it yet, but this would be a great magazine for a Thome autograph, and maybe the whole team.

Jim Perry Return

I finally have something to post about. I sent a John Wheeldon print to a Jim Perry signing. I was hoping to get this signed at TwinsFest, but Mr. Perry didn't attend as scheduled. I never heard why.


My son sent in his 1962 Topps Tribe Hill Trio already signed by Barry Latman.

Mr. Perry signs through the mail, but for the low cost of this signing, it seemed safer to send these items in rather than directly to Mr. Perry.

Tommy John Return and John Wheeldon Portraits

I FINALLY got back my 1965 Topps from the Major League Alumni Marketing (MLAM) signing that I originally sent my card in for last March. Due to this delay, and the mix up with my Jim Kaat bobblehead that came back unsigned, I got the Robin Yount baseball signed for free that I posted a while ago. I'm satisfied with the whole deal I guess.

My younger son and I went to The Ballpark in Apple Valley today. I won a Twins scorecard from 1962 on eBay and stopped in to pick it up rather than pay for shipping. (I'll post some pictures of that tomorrow.) While I was there, I ran across some John Wheeldon portraits of the Twins that were given away at Super Valu in 1970. There are 12 in the set and I picked up 10 of them including:

• Harmon Killebrew
• Brant Alyea
• Leo Cardenas
• Rod Carew
• Jim Kaat
• George Mitterwald
• Tony Oliva
• Jim Perry
• Rich Reese
• Luis Tiant

The two I still have left to get are Cesar Tovar and Ron Perranoski. I plan to try to get most of these signed. Tovar is deceased but I believe the rest of these guys are still around and are decent signers.



A few of them sign well through the mail and I'll try to get Killebrew and Carew at TwinsFest.