Just one return today to close out the week. Bobby Knoop signed his 1969 Topps, a 1971 Topps Buy Back, and three team cards in about 11 days. Since I sent five cards, I included $10 with my request even though he doesn't normally charge. He returned the $10 with the cards though.
As I mentioned on Monday, I bought 40 signed 1958 Topps cards from Tom Orr's eBay auctions.
Most of these I won unopposed at $4.99 plus tax and shipping. Only a few were more than that, and I think I paid over $10 for three of them. The highest one was about $13.50.
I already have all of these cards signed, but many of these are upgrades to ones that I received ttm many years ago. This is the second copy of the card for 31 out of the 40. For nine of them, I already had two copies, and for one, I had three copies already. So, I'm not exactly hoarding these cards. Maybe, just a little though.
I know this set isn't everyone's favorite. The background colors are kind of weird, and the rest of the card is pretty plain. However, I think that the plain backgrounds make them an excellent choice for autographs, as opposed to the generally dark 1957s, the very busy 1955-1956, and the design of the 59s that take up too much of the card.
Also, the roster in this set is great for old-timers. Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Harmon Killebrew, Stan Musial, Bill Mazeroski, Al Kaline, Duke Snider, Ernie Banks, etc., etc., etc.
The one card that I already had three copies of is Bob Skinner. I won these auctions on Sunday night, and he died the next day. I paid $4.99 for it, plus tax and shipping, so about $6. I wonder what it would have gone for if he had passed away on Saturday. His passing also resulted in every one of the cards I bought being of a deceased player.
This is a really strong copy of both the card and his signature. A little off-center, which is common for the set. Even though at the time I bid on it, he was an automatic signer ttm, I felt $6 was a fair price for a nice example of his autograph on a card from this set.
When I first sent a request to Pete Daley in 2004, he wasn't personalizing them. It looks like in about 2006 he started personalizing all of his cards. In 2023, I sent him a 1955 Topps and a 1958 Topps Red Sox team card. I included $10 in my request, and asked him not to personalize the card if he was okay with that. Otherwise, keep the money and personalize it anyway. He was kind enough to not personalize it and even returned my $10.
Anyway, I'm guessing this 1958 Topps that I just bought was signed 20+ years ago before he started personalizing. I don't see any private signings ever having been listed for him, but that doesn't mean there wasn't one at some point.
Whiles I was very happy to get these cards so cheap, I was also a little discouraged, thinking that the collection I've been working on for 23 years hadn't appreciated in value more than this. The Hall of Famers have, of course, but I guess not the more common players.
The slow trickle of returns continued today after a day off yesterday. George Medich signed a couple team cards as well as his 1976 Topps Traded card.
It looks like I had previously sent the 73 Yankees team card, so now he's on it twice. Oops.
I'm happy to add this card to my set. While Mr. Fernandez has a 72% success rate on SCN, the last few years have been quite spotty, with him claiming he wanted $50 to sign and returning requests. There was a gap in requests from 2022 to 2025, but the three requests since then, including mine, have been successful by including at least $10 per card. I sent $20 just in case.
I know have 514 signed cards from the 752-card set, leaving me with 238 to go.
I was surprised to receive these cards back from J.J. Hardy since I sent them to spring training back in 2025 and had given up hope.
I also received some purchases from Tom Orr via eBay, including another 1970 Topps Batting Leaders card, bringing my total to three. I'll keep buying them if the price is right.
I won 40 signed 1958 Topps from Tom Orr last night on eBay. Mostly deceased players and mostly for $4.99 each. I already have them all signed, all of them ttm I believe. But some are upgrades, and I just couldn't let them go so cheap. I'll post them when I receive them.
