Claremont Shows Purchase

Today I received the rest of my purchase from Claremont Shows.  I received the Dean Chance bat I ordered a few days ago.

Many of the items I bought were priced pretty close to what I would expect to pay for the unsigned item,  $5 for pictures, $12 for balls.

I ordered two balls: Larry Hisle and Jack Dittmer.

I also ordered a few cards, including Bill "Moose" Skowron on a 1994 Upper Deck and 1994 Topps Archives.

I bought the same cards signed by Herb Score.

I added Frank Howard and Tommy Davis signed 1964 Topps Giants.

I really like these two cards, and may consider sending out a few Topps Giants through the mail.


My order included seven photos:

My favorite, Earl Battey.

Johnny Blanchard.

Al Dark.

Al Dark and Larry Jansen.  This one is a little odd since Jansen's not in the picture.

Sam Jethroe.

Andy Pafko.

And finally, Johnny Sain.

Now off to Ebay to look for some 1964 Topps Giants....

Jim Bunning and Russ Heman

Tuesdays are usually really poor days for returns so I was surprised to get a couple of returns today.

I was happy to see that Jim Bunning signed and returned the 1961 Topps card of 1960 ERA Leaders, already signed by Frank Bauman.

Also, Russ Heman signed his 1959 Topps.

Dean Chance Signed Bat

I mentioned a few days ago that I bought several items from Claremont Shows over in Wisconsin.  Today I received the first item: a Dean Chance signed bat.

I don't normally have pitchers sign bats (kind of doesn't make sense to me), but this one was extremely reasonably priced and has several inscriptions including his Cy Young award, two no-hitter dates (one was a rain-shortened 5 inning game, and I think an inscription for that game is pretty rare) and 2x All Star.

I bought a lot of other signed photos and cards from Claremont Shows that I expect to receive this week.

Jack Harshman Return

Today I received 3 cards back from Jack Harshman that I sent to him about two weeks ago.

He was kind enough to sign his 1955, 1959 and 1960 Topps.

Charles "Whammy" Douglas

I got one nice return in the mail today.

Charles "Whammy" Douglas signed his 1959 Topps for me.  I included $5 with my request.

For a long time, Mr. Douglas was a very tough autograph to get but started signing through the mail over the last couple of years for a small fee.  Sometimes you still see a few of his signed cards on Ebay for over $100, but he's a very reliable signer these days.

Willingham and Butera Signed Items

When we first arrived at the signing today (at Festival Foods in Brooklyn Park), I was surprised to see how long the line was.  However, once we walked by everyone, I was pretty certain we'd get through with no problem, as many of the people in the front of the line were very spread out.

However, after we were there for about 10 minutes, a woman from Klements (I think), who was sponsoring the event, came to the back of the line where we were and told us it was unlikely that we'd get an autograph.  She said they were guaranteeing 100 autographs, and that tickets had been handed out to the first 100 people in line.  She said she'd been doing this for 5 years, and they'd never got more than 125 people through a line.  I've been to enough of these signings to know that they get way more than that through the lines.  Unfortunately, several people left that probably would have gotten an autograph.

The line moved very quickly and when we got towards the front of the line, they had just handed out tickets up through number 200.  I'm not sure why the woman originally told us 100.W  e were #202 and #203 in line, but we were close to the front and there was still 15-20 minutes left in the signing.

The woman had also told us that the folks that were in the front of the line camped out from the previous evening at 8:00 pm.  If that's true, those people are not too bright.  We got there just under an hour before the signing started, or over 14 hours later than they did, and still got an autograph.

They gave out some kettle corn samples from Angie's, and malt cups from Kemps, so at least my son was well-fed.  They also had some hot dogs from Klements for a donation to a food shelf, but we headed to Taco Bell for lunch.

Anyway, my son had Butera sign a 2005 Bowman card, and Willingham sign a photo.

I had Butera sign a photo and decided to have Willingham sign his 2012 Topps Heritage.  Butera signed his picture in a dark area in blue sharpie.  This always seems to happen to me.  Oh well.  Beggars can't be choosers.

I have several more items I'd like to have Willingham sign, including his 2012 Allen & Ginter and a photo.  It would be cool if he could get to 40 homeruns this year, but he'll need quite a run here in the last few weeks to hit that.

We Made It

I'll post pictures later today.

Looks Like We'll Make It

Still 30 minutes left but we're nearing the front of the line. We'll make it easily.

The Line's Moving

But we still have a ways to go with 45 minutes left.

We've Been Warned

They've told our section of the line that it's unlikely we'll get through the line. That surprised me a bit as the line didn't look that long. But we'll see.

Willingham and Butera Signing

The line is pretty long already at an hour before it's supposed to start. The line starts outside the store and wraps around the side. Luckily it's very nice out.

Seven Returns Today!

The only problem with sending out a bunch of requests at once is that they all all come back at once.  Today I received seven returns.  An odd thing about these returns is that two of them signed in green! I also received a few very nice notes written from the players.

Foster Castleman signed the 1956 and 1957 Topps I sent along with $10.  He also gave me a signed 1958 Topps, a signed index card, and he wrote me a letter as well.  Very nice!

 

Gail Harris signed his 1959 and 1960 Topps in green.  He also included a signed stat sheet.  Another odd thing about this request was Mr. Harris also sent me, in a separate envelope, a short not eon my letter and another signed stat sheet.  Maybe he sealed my sase before he remembered to put the note in it?

Mike Baxes signed his 1958 and 1959 Topps.

Hector Lopez signed his 1959 and 1963 Topps.

Phil Nevin signed his 2007 Topps Heritage in green ink.

Herb Plews signed his 1957 and 1959 Topps and wrote a short note to me.

Finally, Sam Mele signed his 1952 Topps, 1952 Bowman, and 1964 Topps.

Tomorrow my older son and I are going to Brooklyn Park to get autographs from Josh Willingham and Drew Butera.  I'm still debating what to have him sign.  Maybe a 2012 Allen & Ginter?

Bowman, Keough, Umphlett and Smith

My recent requests are starting to come back, as well as an older one.

Bob Bowman signed a 1958 and 1959 Topps.

Marty Keough signed his 1959, 1960 and 1963 Topps.

Tom Umphlett signed his 1954 and 1955 Bowman that I sent to him in April.

Finally, Hal W. Smith signed his 1957 and 1959 Topps.

There were two Hal Smiths that played in the 1950's, and both were catchers, so it can be confusing when sending out requests through the mail.

Diego Segui and Bill White

I've sent out about 15 requests in the last week and received the first one back yesterday.  Diego Segui signed his 1971 Topps, 1971 Topps ERA leaders card already signed by Clyde Wright, and 1972 Topps.

 

I also received a 1965 Topps signed by Bill White that I bought on Ebay.  I occasionally see Bill White signing at shows but I was able to purchase this authenticated card cheaper than I've seen his show prices.

I also ordered a bunch of stuff from Claremont Shows today.  Lots of Milwaukee Braves items and a few Twins items.  I'm excited to get those items soon.

I hope to send out a few more requests on Tuesday, but I'm running low on cards to send out.