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.  

Cecil Cooper TTM Return

I've been working on three copies of this 1972 Topps card.  One was completed today with this return, and I've got two to send off to Fisk for him to complete next.

Assuming Fisk completes the two card I send him tomorrow, I will have six copies of this card completed, and one signed just by Fisk.  This is a great card and it's very east to complete.  You can see the card signed for $150 or more, but you can probably get it done ttm for less than $100 including the card price (about $20), player signing fees ($65 between the three of them), and $10 for postage and shipping, depending on how you choose to send it.  I mailed cards to Garman and Cooper with regular sases, but use bubble mailers to send to Fisk.

Steve Blass TTM Return - 1972 Sports Illustrated Magazine

Yesterday I received a nice return from Mr. Steve Blass, who signed his 1972 Sports Illustrated cover as requested in just  nine days.  I sent along a blue sharpie for him to use as well as $20 for him despite him not having a fee schedule.  He typically signs for no charge, but I usually assume a player will appreciate the gesture of the fee, even if they don't keep it.

I've had a couple players return the money along with a brief note that they don't accept fees for signing, but never really got the impression that I had offended them by offering the money.  I guess I'd rather offend someone by offering the money when they don't want it, than to not offer the money, and have them feel I was taking advantage of their generosity by signing premium items for me for no charge.

Jim Thome Bobblehead

After receiving my four Joe Mauer bobbleheads back yesterday, I received another bobblehead back today.  This time it is the Jim Thome, Paul Bunyan-themed bobblehead from August 25, 2008. 

This bobblehead wasn't a typical give away version given out at the gates before a game until they were gone.  This one was part of a special ticket package for that game.  I can't find the number of these bobbleheads that were made, but based on the low number available on eBay (only four right now), and the high price, I assume it was relatively low.  It's also possible that since people paid for it as part of a ticket package, the purchasers specifically wanted the bobblehead to keep, so few have been made for sale.  The giveaways, however, probably end up in the hands of people who didn't even know they were being given away and are happy to get $20 for it on eBay or Craigslist rather than have it collect dust on their shelves.

There aren't any other modern bobbleheads that I've paid this much for.  And I'm referring to just the bobblehead, not the signing fee.  I paid nearly twice as much for this bobblehead than I did for Joe Mauer's FOCO Hall of Fame bobblehead, which I posted about yesterday as part of the four I got back from Fan HQ.

I need to do an inventory of the Twins bobbleheads to see which ones I still need to get signed.  I am drawing the line at some point in time, after which I won't collect any more of them.  I don't like the new ones as much as the simple, old ones. And I just don't feel the same connection to the players that I used to, mainly because not very many of them stay with the team more than a couple of years.  This also makes it hard to get them signed, along with the fact that there are very few opportunities to meet the players in person compared to even just a few years go.

Joe Mauer Bobbleheads Signed at FanHQ

I continue to be extremely impressed with the service at FanHQ, after receiving four bobbleheads back from their most recent Joe Mauer signing.

I spent a LOT of time labeling these bobbleheads with very specific instructions regarding signature location, ink color and authentication sticker placement.  I cut small sticky notes to size and used additional tape to help keep the notes in place while packing up the bobblehead and cramming it back into its original plastic and styrofoam packaging and into the original box that it came in. I taped sticky notes on the brim of the caps/helmets and wrote, "sign on the side of the helmet" there so they couldn't assume I wanted them to sign there.

Anyway, my point is that FanHQ strictly followed all of my instructions and even kept all of the labeling in place for the return trip home.  All of the Beckett Witnessed stickers were placed where I requested.  A very sharp silver ink was used.  I've requested the name the maker so I can buy a few for my own use!

One of my previous orders to a different promoter had the authentication sticker placed on the rear of the player's helmet, which is a common request.  However, they HAD TO MOVE my sticky note that asked they put the auth sticker on the bottom of the bobble in order to put it there.  Did they not read it?  Did they read it and not care?

To keep this short story even longer, I believe I have just one more bobblehead (the Cretin H.S. version) to get signed to complete the five Joe Mauer bobblehead set that was given away during the 2019 season.  Beyond that, I believe I will have Joe sign one of the early, vintage bobbleheads.  I won't have any other players sign the same bobblehead, meaning I'll keep it to just one signature per bobblehead.  But, I might have other players, probably limited to Hall of Famers, or fan favorite players like Kent Hrbek or Torii Hunter, sign one of the nine blue-base bobbles I have from the 1961-1962 set.

Wayne Causey TTM Return

At nearly 90 years old, Mr. Causey is one of the better ttm signers with a 97% success rate on SCN and no fee.  He's a generous signer with an eleven-year playing career that allows a collector like me plenty of opportunities to find vintage cards to send to him to sign, as well as team cards and a few oddball cards like the 64 Stand Up and the 65 Embossed.

His signature shows no sign of his age and puts the current players' signatures to shame since it is actually readable and doesn't look like a second grader printed his name prior to learning cursive.

Mr. Causey signed these four cards for me in just 10 days.  This was my tenth request to him since 2005, resulting in 33 signed cards over that period.  Thank you Mr. Causey!

August Vintage Bobbleheads Purchase

This months' bobblehead purchase included only four dolls, but they were pretty expensive ones.

The most expensive one, which shattered my record for the most spent on a single bobblehead by about 4x, was the non-moonface, "Minneapolis" Twins mini version.  A small number of these mini bobbleheads, with a magnet on the bottom to stick to your metal dashboard, were printed with the word "Minneapolis" instead of "Minnesota".  It was quickly corrected and the vast majority were released as the Minnesota version.

I bought two dolls on green square bases, which were made during a transition period between the white, square base version and the green, round base version.  Only nine teams had their nodders released on these bases.  The Senators and Twins are two of those teams.

Finally, I added my first African-American bobblehead to my collection with this very nice Senators version.

Johnny Bench Rookie Card and John "Boog" Powell Return

For being as slow as it has been lately, today was a huge day at the mailbox.

I finally got my Johnny Bench 1968 Topps rookie card signed!  My previous attempt last year resulted in the USPS taking about 11 days to send my card a couple states over and I missed the cutoff.  But I was able to get it done and am happy with the results.  I had the JSA Witnessed sticker on the back, which they put on crooked.  I don't know why, but that bothers me a little :-).  You had one job...

In my previous submission, which arrived too late, I had requested that he sign it above his head.  At the time, I had seen many like that on eBay and thought it looked nice. I know it looks a little squished beneath his face, but it just seems like the right place to me now, so that's the upside of having missed the first signing.

I will include this with my next authentication/grading submission, along with his 1969 Topps, which is a much nicer card than his 68, in my opinion.

I also received my Boog Powell items back today from the Dugout Zone.  They did a great job again.  I had sent these back in April since he was supposed to have a signing earlier in the year, but it got postponed to August.  

I had him sign his 1966 Topps, which I thought is just a nice card.  I'm not working on the set, although if I were to go back 15 or 20 years, I probably would have included more of them along with my requests while working on the 1965 Topps set.  The design is fairly simple, but I like the colors they used in the areas for the name and team, and the photos are better than most years, I think.

I also had him sign a couple post-season cards, of which he has many.  He signed the 1970 Topps American League playoff game 3, and the 1971 Topps World Series Celebration card.

He signed the 1971 Topps World Champions Orioles team card.  I should have been more specific and asked him to sign it bigger.  He signed it nicely, and left room for others to sign it, but I don't intend to have other players sign it.

I had Brooks Robinson sign that card as well.  Like many old-timers, he avoided signing over the pictures of the players, so it's a little hard to see.  I thought about having Powell sign the same one as Robinson, but decided it was nice to have just Brooks on it.  I miss sending my monthly request off to Mr. Robinson!  That's about the frequency I was sending at the time he passed away.  It was getting harder and harder to find cards for him.

The last card I had Powell sign was the 1972 Topps MVP Award card.  He was voted MVP in 1970.  His tenth year in the big leagues at age 28.  That seemed to be the peak of his career, and his stats drop off after that, with a bounce back in 1975, his first year with the Indians.

I had (and still have) a lot of items for Boog to sign.  I even have a bobblehead that, for some reason, I decided against sending.  He was pretty popular around 1969 - 1971 and I sent a couple magazines from that period

The October, 1969 Sports Illustrated has Boog's teammate, Frank Robinson, on the cover.  I bought this magazine already signed, with a PSA/DNA authentication sticker on the inside cover.

The front cover has a fold out section, and Powell's photo is on it.

 

The medium Staedtler struggled a bit to keep up with the fierce signature that Powell provides.  He signed this one with his real first name (John) as well as his nickname.  I didn't ask for it that way, but I like it.  As I mentioned, the PSA sticker under Boog's photo is actually for Robinson's signature on the front cover.

I also had him sign a copy of the 1970 All Star Sports magazine.  Part of his signature gets lost in his black sleeve on this one, which is a little unfortunate.  I think I'll send it off to Koosman now.  I kind of have to, right?

I also received more vintage bobbleheads, which I'll post about separately in a day or two. 

Thank you to everyone who checks in on my blog now and then!  I appreciate that you take the time to see how I'm spending my kids' inheritance.  As I mentioned a while ago, my wife and I finally bought a lakeside cabin and much of our spending has shifted to getting it furnished and updated a little.  But, I hope to still send out a lot of ttm requests as well as the occasional paid signing.  Even if I fail to send out many requests, I'll try to update this blog frequently, even if it's just highlighting parts of my collection from the past.  It's been almost 18 years since I started this blog and don't intend to just let it sit idle!

Dick Estelle - 1965 Topps

I received a couple 1965 Topps back from Dick Estelle, who signed them nicely and matched the pen used by Mr. Murakami, which he always does.  I included $20 with this request even though he doesn't charge because I've sent to him several times.

Mike Garman and Don Lee TTM Returns and a Joe Mauer Consignment

I've been really busy lately with no time to send out requests, so things are going to slow down.  I might take the opportunity to highlight some of my collection rather than focus on new additions, of which there will be very few.

I did have a couple ttm returns lately though.  Mike Garman signed a couple 1972 Topps Red Sox rookies cards, one signed by Cooper and the other signed by Fisk. I have three of these cards in various stages of being signed.  I was experimenting with a method to continually route cards and only include one or two to any single player at a time, but it's kind of a mess.  So, I'll just finish them up as efficiently as possible, which involves sending two cards to Cooper, which will finish one of them and add the second signature to the other, and then once those are returned, sending two cards off to Fisk to end up with three more finished cards.  This will result in a total of six completed cards for my collection.

Don Lee was kind enough to add his signature to four team cards, including a 1962 Topps Twins card that I bought with five signatures on it.  I also received a completely unsigned copy of this card from an Ebay purchase over the weekend that I intend to get a couple bigger names on.

Finally, I received four Joe Mauer cards back from a Celebrity Golf Tournament consignment.  I sent two cards from two different Topps Heritage Twins sets that resulted in having all but one card signed from the 2011 set (still need Kevin Slowey) and the 2013 set (still need Oswaldo Arcia).

I have four Joe Mauer bobbleheads out to FanHQ for their upcoming Joe Mauer signing.  I believe I'll be up to 11 different Joe Mauer signed bobbleheads once this signing is complete.  I only know of one more that I need to get signed.  I'm sure there are more, but I've been focusing on Stadium Give Aways (SGA) and season ticket holder versions.  When I get these four back, I'll do a detailed post about all of them.