Stocking Up on Tony Oliva Autographs

At 88 years old, Tony Oliva still has a very nice signature.  When Fan HQ advertised their signing with him, I decided to go all out and get everything done that I wanted, which ended up being 14 items.

Rather than send a bat, I simply bought one from Fan HQ.  The only unsigned bat I had on hand had a very dark grain pattern right where his signature would have gone. This is an upgrade to one I had signed at TwinsFest many years ago that ended up getting done in black sharpie.

Tony O was the batting coach for the 1987 Twins World Series team, so I asked him to sign a ball from that series.

He also won a Gold Glove Award in 1966 as an outfielder for the Twins.

I really like the World Series Programs from the 1965 matchup between the Twins and the Dodgers.  The space-themed Dodger's home version is my favorite.  I had Mr. Oliva sign one of each.  I had Jim Kaat sign one of each of these as well.  I thought I had Camilo Pascual sign these, but apparently I did not.  That might be next.  It would be great to have about 10 players on one these, but it's too late to really get a great project done, and I should have started with Killebrew when I had the chance.  At this point, I think having individually-signed copies is better than a copy with only 3-4 players on it.

Here are the Kaat-signed copies:

My initial shipment to Fan HQ had all of these items included (except the bat).  Unfortunately, my vintage bobblehead did not survive the trip, and the head broke into several pieces.  I decided to give it another attempt, and sent in another one (I have nearly 10 of these).  It turned out really nicely, I think.

I may have another of these signed by Joe Mauer early next year, but don't currently have any plans for other players to sign a vintage bobblehead.

The only other vintage bobblehead I've had signed was by Bill Mazeroski, who signed a Pirate's version.

I also decided to get a bunch of cards signed, including a couple of his 1963 Topps rookie cards. The 1971 Topps is a nice upgrade to one he signed for me ttm back in 2004.  The rest are all cards that I did not yet have signed by him.

I am probably close to wrapping up my Tony Oliva collection.  A quick count resulted in 57 autographs.  I do need a couple more of his cards done though.  And, I'm sure there is a LOT of Twins memorabilia that would be awesome to have signed by him.  Yearbooks, programs, scorecards, etc.  If I come across any of these in really nice condition for a reasonable cost, I'll probably try to hang on to them until the next signing.  I also wouldn't mind upgrading the mini helmet I have signed by him.  My current one had the paint pen poop a little during his signature, leaving a puddle of silver ink.  I need to find better mini helmets that don't have the logo sticker already peeling off though.  I guess it sounds like I'm making a list for his next signing. :-)

Fan HQ has always done a great job with the items I send in.  I appreciate that bobbleheads, fall into their cheapest, "basic" category.  Some promoters have bobbleheads in a more expensive "deluxe" or "premium" category, if they accept them at all.

Another nice benefit of sending items to a Fan HQ signing is that they provide Beckett Witnessed authentication stickers on your item at no additional cost.  Most promoters charge at least $8, and usually $10 for that service.  You can, of course, request that no sticker be placed on your item.  I had all of these items authenticated and stickered.  I know some people really don't like stickers on the back of cards.  I prefer to have them, just in case the autograph is atypical for some reason that wouldn't allow it to be authenticated later.  I appreciate when they are placed thoughtfully and straight, which all of these were.  For example, don't put the sticker over the card number please.  And please don't have a small portion of the sticker hanging over the edge of the card.  It sounds like common sense, but bad things happen.

Did anyone else send in to this signing?

Ray Moore 1958 Topps and More Bobbleheads

I used some more credit card points to help fund the purchase of this nicely signed 1958 Topps Ray Moore card.

I'm at 70 cards needed to complete the set.  It's not hard to find a lot of them, but it's a matter of cost.  There are rather mediocre players that happened to die in the 80's or 90's with not many of these cards signed, so the cards are $200 or more.  I don't think I'll ever complete the set, but there's still enough left to keep me working on it.

I don't think I posted about my latest bobbleheads.  This time wasn't a large purchase with just eight new ones for the collection, and many of them not related to baseball or any sport.  Smokey the Bear, for example.  It's odd, I know, but I find them amusing.

The highlight was the relatively rare "Minneapolis Twins" mini version.  I previously bought another one of these with a different head mold.  These were made in 1960 - 1962, and as the Twins became a team in 1961, there was an assumption, at least by the sticker maker, that the would be called the Minneapolis Twins, rather than Minnesota Twins.  So, this different sticker adds several hundred dollars to the value of this bobblehead.

I was bidding on a 1960 Senators version, which is a similar rarity.  When the Senators moved to Minnesota, they had to abruptly stop making the Senators doll and make the Twins dolls.  So there are very few of the Senators version.  I was willing to spend a pretty ridiculous amount for this piece of paper mache with a metal spring, but not enough I guess.  It sold for nearly $1,400. 

Wes Stock TTM and Reggie Jackson Signing Returns

I wasn't sure if I'd ever see this 1966 Athletics Yearbook again after sending it to Wes Stock.  I mailed it to him on August 21st, and it took a tour of the West Coast, moving from San Francisco, to Seattle, then to San Diego, Portland Oregon, Seattle, Tacoma, and then Seattle again before being delivered to his home in Lakewood, Washington on September 24th.  Crazy.

It only took him five days to sign my items and ship them back on September 29th, with it arriving today.

In addition to the Yearbook, I included four cards and $30.  He signed everything, and also included a 1963 Topps, a 1965 Topps, and a custom card in the style of the 1970 Topps set.  He also included his unsigned 1961 Topps.  I thought that was very generous.  

I'm never sure how players might react to receiving a package with several items that take time to unpackage, sign and repackage.  I try to make it as easy as possible, and hope that the cash lets them know I appreciate their time and effort.  

He is the ninth player to sign the yearbook (Acker signed it twice).  Once in yellow ink on the sleeve of the pitcher, which I thought was pretty cool, but again in blue like the others.

I also ask the players to sign their picture in the interior, and use a sticky note to place a bookmark to the page with their bio and picture.

One of the team cards he signed smeared a little bit, but everything else turned out great.

I also received a couple cards signed by Reggie Jackson.  He signed the 1970 Topps leaders card that I bought already signed by Killebrew, and his 1973 Topps.  I plan to send the 70 Topps to be signed by Boog Powell at his next appearance with the Dugout Zone in Maryland next January.

Weekly Update to Wrap Up September

I hope it's not a permanent change, but as slow as I've been with this hobby, my updates may become less frequent.

Over the last few days, I received a couple ttm returns and some paid signing returns.

Ted Bowsfield, who is a ttm hall of famer, signed a 1959 Braves team card, his 1964 Topps and a 1964 A's team card.  I am wondering now why I sent the Brave's card.  He never played for the Braves!  It's kind of funny he signed it, but after all these years, he probably has seen a lot of very odd requests and sending the wrong team card doesn't even stand out as odd anymore.  So, maybe I've got a 1 of 1 card now.  I probably confused it with another player I was sending out that evening.

Galen Cisco, who is another stellar ttm signer, signed three of his cards.  Oddly, one in black, and the other two in blue.  I did ask for him to use blue ion my letter, so maybe he noticed that after signing the first one.  

For signers like Bowsfield and Cisco, who are great signers and have a lot of cards, I will sometimes send them a bunch of cards, a pen, and some cash inside a bubble envelope, with another return bubble envelope.  This almost always guarantees signatures in blue (but not always), gets a bunch of cards signed at once (like 5 - 8 cards) and the cash hopefully makes the hassle worthwhile for them.

But postage is getting pretty expensive, and the round trip for that type of request will be $11 - $13.  So, I have tried on a few occasions to request that they use a blue sharpie in my letter for a regular ttm request of 2-4 cards, and hope they have one on hand.  In this case, it looks like it may have helped, at least on two of the three cards.  It doesn't always, but there is less risk with the lower postage rate and fewer cards.  I have been trying to upgrade cards from guys like these if I don't have a nice blue sharpie signature on a particular card yet.

This reminds me of my requests to Ted Kazanski.  He typically personalizes one of the cards you send him.  Every time I would include a 1957 Topps, he chose that card to personalize.  I wanted one copy of the card signed, but not personalized.  I didn't want to just ask him not to personalize because I thought that might be rude.  After sending four different requests containing a 1957 Topps, I decided to just include two copies of the card in a single request, and as predicted, he personalized one of them, but I finally got my clean copy.  

I also received a few paid signing returns.  Johnny Bench signed three of his 1968 Topps rookie cards for me.  I was undecided as to the placement of his autograph on the card, since there isn't a lot of room.  I already have one of these cards signed under his face, but I see a lot for sale that are above his face.  So, I decided to have two of each.  I hope to get them authenticated and graded, and have one of each signing location graded a 10.

It's pretty hard to find this card well-centered, and off-centering is a big pet peeve of mine, but I did the best I could.  I've complained about this while looking for a decent 68 Topps Juan Marichal card, but I also think the 68 set used a softer cardboard, because corners are always pretty bad on this set.  I'd love to know if anyone else thinks this too, or if it's just a small sampling of a couple specific cards I tried to acquire that made me think this.  

As usual, these cards graded between 2 and 4 before I cracked them open.  I find that grade to be the range that is affordable with decent eye appeal left.  I don't mind if an old card looks old, but don't like any tape, or significant creases or tears.  I can also accept a little writing on the back of the card, and might even tolerate it on the front if it meant the difference between having the card or not having it, due to the cost.  I think the best value can be found with cards that have pinholes in them.  I have a 1958 Topps Sandy Koufax that looks like someone pinned to their bulletin board.  I think it's awesome to think about that little kid back in the day who was excited to either pull that card from a pack or traded for it from a friend, and then wanted to display it in their bedroom.  Also, I can barely see that pinhole unless I look for it.  PSA automatically gives a card a grade of 1 if it has a pin hole.  My Koufax card would probably grade a 3 or 4 without the pinhole, so I think it was a huge bargain.  I paid about $68 including shipping, and I think a PSA 3 in otherwise similar condition would be $150 - $175.

But I digress.  Sorry about that.

I also received a 1975 Topps rookie card signed by Robin Yount.  I have one already, which received an autograph grade of 10, so this one will go in the vault after getting authenticated, to be traded or sold when I have a need.

Here's my existing copy after authentication:

I think this new copy is on a nicer card, so it might be the permanent one for my collection.

I actually like his 1976 Topps card more.  I'm just not crazy about the brown and orange on the 75, and there's a radio tower in the background on the left that always makes me think there is some gum or wax or something on the card.  

Finally, I received three cards back from a Mariano Rivera signing.  He is a bit younger than most of the non-Twins players I collect, but I felt like since he's a Hall of Fame member, he should be well-represented in my collection.  Due to the years he played, there aren't a lot of his cards that I like.  And his rookie card is far from being my favorite.  He looks like he's about to play a round of golf on this 1992 Bowman.  If it weren't his rookie, I would not have chosen it.  

The other two cards are from sets that I really like.  I have not worked nearly hard enough on the 2000 Fleer Tradition sets, but I really like it.  It's very reminiscent of the 54 Topps set, which is right up there towards my favorite set of all time.  And the 2007 Topps Heritage is a tribute to the 58 Topps set, which is my favorite vintage set for autographs.