Catching Up

I've been sick the last several days and not feeling like doing much of anything.  I received some returns, and a Don Cardwell purchase which I'll just dump here so I don't fall too far behind.

Casey Blake Long Return

In July of 2020 I sent these cards off to Casey Blake and they just came back. 2095 days, or 5 years, eight months and 26 days.  My longest return ever.  The blue sharpie signature looks nice on these older Topps Heritage cards.  

Another Grand Slam Print, a Hall of Fame Plaque Postcard and More

I forgot to post yesterday when I received a couple ttm returns and a couple purchases.

Willie Montanez signed four cards from his home in Puerto Rico.  I love the action shots in the 1973 Topps set.

Charlie Hough signed his Grand Slam print and answered a question in my letter.

I bought a Billy Williams-signed Hall of Fame plaque postcard, which is PSA/DNA authenticated, for a fraction of his current signing fees.

And I bought a Harmon Killebrew-signed 1970 Topps RBI Leaders card.  I think I'll crack this open and send this off to the Boog Powell signing.

Today I received two cards back from Jim Palmer, but neither was signed.  I must have forgot to include the cash, or else he simply made a mistake.  I'll try again.

Four TTM Returns and a George Brett Purchase

I was out of town a couple days and came home to  four ttm returns and a George Brett purchase.

The George Brett purchase was a 1982 Topps All Star card I bought from Tom Orr via eBay.  This is the second 1982 Topps of Brett's I've added to my collection, the other being his "In Action" card.  I still need his regular card from the set.  The prices for his cards tend to vary quite a bit, so I bid on them on the lower end and occasionally I win.  His regular card was also available, but it sold for about $30 more than this one.

On Friday, I received a return from Bert Blyleven, who signed his 1974 Topps as well as a 2025 Allen & Ginter, nicely in blue sharpie as always.  I included his $20 per card fee.

I received three returns Saturday.  Ken Aspromonte signed three cards plus a 1963 Braves team card.  I have two other 63 Braves cards out to other players.  There are several players from the '62 Braves still signing so I'll rotate these team cards among them over time.

Bobby Shantz signed a 1953 Red Man, a 1955 Bowman, pictured with his brother Bill, and a 2004 Fleer Greats of the Game.  I also sent Mr. Shantz a 1952 A's yearbook before receiving this back.  The yearbook had been delayed in the mail for over 10 days so I lost patience and sent these cards.  But I decided to send the yearbook as soon as I received it.  I noted in my letter the multiple requests and included a little more than I usually do as a gift for him signing.  The program is very nice, and I'm anxious to get it backed signed.

And Matt Young signed four cards for me, including the1987 Topps Mariner's Leaders card already signed by Pitching Coach Phil Regan.  Bob Kearney is the catcher on that card, but is kind of a spotty signer, despite a high overall success rate.  I'm not sure I'll send it to him until his recent return rate improves.

I also received a Frank Viola bobblehead back from a paid signing, but I haven't even opened to box yet.  I'll get to that later tonight or tomorrow.

Dick Estelle, Billy Grabarkewitz and John "Blue Moon" Odom Returns

This is my fifth, completed copy of this 1965 Topps with Dick Estelle and Masanori Murakami.  It's not hard to complete, but you do need to send to Japan, which is only a little extra work by getting the appropriate outgoing postage.

I wouldn't mind having a nine-pocket page full of this card, but the card itself has gotten quite expensive, and I'm not sure why.  It's #282, so not close to being a high number card.  Of the last four copies of this card I bought, only one was less than $20.

Typically, Billy Grabarkewitz signs the cards you send him with just a "G." for his last name.  He has done that since my first request to him in 2011, so I don't know if he used to sign his full name and started to abbreviate it at some point, or if he's always abbreviated.  He doesn't charge a fee, but I included $20 with this request along with a polite request to sign his full name, and apologizing if he has difficulty signing in which case any signature would be greatly appreciated and keep the money anyway.  Here are his abbreviated examples:

He signed his full name on both cards and even added an All Star inscription.  Since he added an inscription, I'm assuming he doesn't have trouble signing, so I'd say a full last name request with money is an option with him.

I made a similar request to Danny Cater a while ago when I asked him to add his full last name to a couple multi-signed cards and really wanted his full name signature to match the others.  I also included $10 per card on that request, which was enough apparently.

John "Blue Moon" Odom signed his 1971 Topps, which is an upgrade to the one he signed in black about four years ago, and a 1980 Fleer Laughlin card commemorating the 1973 World Series where the A's beat the Mets in seven games.  Odom pitched in two of those World Series games for a total of 4.2 innings.

Willie Stargell - 1996 Canadian Club

I ran across this card on eBay and hadn't seen this small set before.  I would have thought that MLB would has ceased advertising with liquor companies long before 1996 but I guess not.

This Willie Stargell example is one of the six card set which also includes Ernie Banks, Brooks Robinson, Billy Williams, Frank Robinson and Rollie Fingers.

For $21 shipped, I couldn't resist another Stargell autograph for my collection.  Other than a 1978 Topps, all of my Stargell autographs are from similar sets from the 1990's.

Hillshire Farms from 1999.

Nabisco from 1993.

MLBPA from 1996.

I'm always surprised that these cards go for only $15 - $20.  The cards themselves aren't spectacular, and they're often signed in black, but for a certified, deceased Hall of Famer, they're a pretty good deal.  Even the Don Drysdale card from the 1993 Nabisco set was less than $30.