Dontrelle Willis Mail-In Signing Return

I added another Grand Slam print to my collection today with a mail-in signing return from Dontrelle Willis.

He also signed  seven cards for me, including a three Topps Heritage, a 2004 Topps with the Rookie Trophy, a 1972 Topps ROY award card and a couple 2005 Donruss Diamond Kings card.

I don't know exactly why I like the Diamond Kings cards.  They aren't great for autographs due to the dark colors, but the painted portraits are nice and I like the color combination of the background.  I haven't paid a lot to get these signed, and only have a few in my collection.  The relic cards tend to get creased unless they are packed very securely.

I might just like them because my older son really liked them when he was a kid and got several bigger names as well as a few Twins to sign them.

This Tony Oliva card of my son's is probably my favorite Diamond King, and maybe my favorite modern Oliva card.

After being teased with some spring-like weather lately, we're expecting 10-18 inches of snow over the next day and a half or so.  I visited the ATM today so I'm ready to hunker down and write a few requests to mail out Monday.  I don't write too many requests any more that don't require a fee, or I'm sending a requests along with a pen and 4+ cards so I enclose a fee even when none is required.

I keep telling myself I need to start working on the common cards in the 1982 set, and many of those won't require fees.  So, I do have a lot of requests I can write without fees, and maybe all sprinkle a few of those in.  I also have six rolls of 100 stamps, so I'm good for 300 requests before I need to restock my stamps.

Rod Carew, Reggie Jackson and Tim Raines

Nothing but Hall of Famers today. 

After seeing the results from the last Rod Carew signing I sent in for, I decided that any future autographs would have to be purchased so I could see the autograph before buying it.

I found a couple decent cards at Mill Creek, including a 1970 Topps and a 2016 Allen & Ginter.

Tim Raines signed a Grand Slam print via Tom Orr.  It's hard to know where to request the autograph be placed on these prints and this return is a good example of why.  He signed quite small, which looks okay, but I expected it would be larger.

Some players sign much larger than expected, like the Boog Powell I had signed a while ago.

Without knowing the size of the autograph, it's hard to decide where the placement would look best.

Finally, I sent three cards in for a Reggie Jackson signing, including a couple of his 1969 Topps rookie cards, one of which I had him inscribe with his Hall of Fame year, as well as a 2008 Goudey.

I actually sent in a fourth card, which was another 1969 Topps.  I don't know the status of that one.  I had sent it as a separate order to the same promoter because I didn't know the exact date of the signing and didn't want the cards I was waiting on from my eBay purchases to make me miss the signing entirely.  If it didn't get signed, that would be too bad, but I'd like to get the card back, of course.  It was really hard finding decent cards at a reasonable price, as centering was a big problem.

It appeared that these cards shipped back to me while the promoter was on the road, rather than from their home, so I'll give him a few days to get back home and settled before I reach out.  I actually have several cards from a few signings that I am waiting on, but this Jackson card is by far the most expensive.

Willie McCovey Inscription Confusion

I obviously wasn't paying close attention when I bid on this card on eBay.  It is J.S.A.-authenticated and matches my other McCovey signatures well, so I wasn't concerned about its authenticity.

I was really glad to see an old-time player sign this card as I've been working on these award cards from the 1972 Topps set for a while, including Rookie of the Year, Most Valuable Player, Cy Young and Babe Ruth Awards and even a few Minor League Player of the Year awards.

I didn't notice the confusion of the inscription until I received it, although I should have recognized the error right away.

The card commemorates the Rookie of the Year award, which Willie McCovey won in 1959.  So, the inscription is accurate for the card, except that he wrote "MVP" instead of "ROY", or just leaving it off entirely and leaving just the year, like many players do.

He won the MVP award too, but that wasn't until 1969.  Oh well, maybe I've got a one-of-a-kind card here.

Former Twins Steve Luebber and Camilo Pascual TTM Returns

Both of the returns I received today were sent via Pirate Ship since I included pens with them, and a small magazine for  Pascual.

Steve Luebber has a high number card in the 1972 set and the two previous attempts I've sent were signed in black.  I'd like a nice, blue signature from each Twins player in the sets which I collect: 1963, 1965, 1971, 1972 and a few others to a lesser degree.

Here are the previous attempts:

So, I sent along a blue medium Staedtler with this request, which he used on his 72 Topps as well as some twins team cards.  This included a 1972 team card, as well as a Buy Back version, and the 1977 Twins team card.  While he doesn't normally charge, I included $10 with my request to show my appreciation for his time and effort.

The ever-generous Camilo Pascual signed four out of the five cards I sent, as well as a 1958 Kansas City Athletics scorebook versus the Senators.  The scorebook was used at the August 2, 1958 game in which Mr. Pascual started.

The Senators won, 6-3, behind Pascual's 4.1 innings in which he gave up two runs, including Roger Maris' 30th career home run in the first inning.  Pascual also hit an RBI double in the 5th inning and was batting .206.

I'm running low on new things for Pascual to sign, which is why I added a couple less-common cards like the 1960 Leaf and 1961 Nu Cards Baseball Scoops card.  The 1965 Topps is a really nice upgrade over a couple previous attempts, which weren't bad, but not as nice as this.

Terry Fox and John O'Donoghue - Upgrading to Blue

I've been sending some requests out to players who are generous signers, but always seem to sign in black, or ballpoint.

Today I received a couple of those requests back.  

Terry Fox signed his 1962 through 1967 Topps for me using the blue Staedtler I had enclosed.  In 2009, he signed one card for me in blue sharpie, but since then, all of my requests to him have been signed in very fine black marker.  They look just fine, and he's been very kind to even respond to my requests, which had no fee or gift enclosed, but I've wanted to upgrade several of those cards to a nice blue marker for quite a while.  

I sent him these six cards, a medium blue Staedtler, and $20.  Despite not having a fee, I felt that six cards, and bubble envelopes to open and repack deserved a little gift for his hassle.

He signed them all very nicely, and even returned my $20, which makes me feel kind of guilty.  He didn't include a note or anything, just the cards and money back.  Thank you Mr. Fox!

I previously sent John O'Donoghue a blue sharpie with my request, but he signed my cards in fine black marker that was kind of clumpy, for lack of a better word.  Again, he signed my cards for free so I can't complain, but I've wanted a couple of his cards signed with a nice blue marker

This time, it was a mail-in signing rather than a request directly to the player.  Unfortunately, the date kind of snuck up on me, and having committed to sending in five cards, I only had 1965 and 1971 Topps cards to send to him.  I had intended on sending two 71 Topps because they are high number cards, but would have preferred to send in a couple different cards in addition to the 65 Topps.  These were the set cards I really wanted upgraded, so I guess it worked out okay.

Willie Horton, Vern Law and Rollie Fingers

Weird weather in Minnesota this time of year.  I fell asleep to thunder, and woke up to fresh snow on the ground.  It was feeling like spring until the new snow landed.

Any, two ttm returns and a paid signing return arrived in my mailbox today.

The paid signing was from Willie Horton, who signed six cards for me, including a couple Tigers team cards.  I really like the 1976 Topps set, but while the photography is great, they aren't always great for autographs, thanks to busy and sometimes dark backgrounds.

I had asked specifically for him to sign over the players' pictures on the team card to be sure his signature showed up and he didn't have to sign too small.

TTM All-Star Vern Law signed four cards for me in just eight days.  As usual, he added a bunch of inscriptions.  He signed three Pirates team cards and his 1967 Topps.  I now have all of his regular Topps cards signed from 1952 though 1967 (He didn't have cards in the 1953 or 1955 sets).  I also have several of his Bowman, a Fleer, and some oddball and Leaders cards.  I have quite a few duplicates because he sometimes signs in black, and I had a few signed in very fading ink, and sent the same cards again later to try to upgrade them.

I'm disappointed I didn't send some of the Pirates team cards from years other than the sets I'm working on to these Pirates players that are (and were) such good signers.  Face, Mazeroski, Friend, Groat, Thomas, Vernon, etc., etc.  I have some nice ones like this 1963 for the 1961, 1965, and 1972 sets though.

Rollie Fingers, another ttm All-Star, also signed his cards in just eight days.  He finished off the 1979 Topps Leading Firemen card, which I can't believe I haven't already completed, his 1976 Topps, and both of his 1982 Topps.  He charges $15 per card, as he has since I started this hobby in 2003.

I'm hoping for me paid signing returns as well as some ttm returns next week and hope it's a busy one.