A Christmas (Eve) Surprise

I haven't sent out any requests since October, so I was surprised to get one back today.

Eddie Robinson signed his 1956 Topps for me.

Eddie Guardado Ball

I've been ordering a few magazines to get signed at TwinsFest lately.  One seller also had an Eddie Guardado signed baseball for less than the price of a ball, so I bought it.  It's also JSA authenticated.

The list of players appearing at TwinsFest is up on the Twins web site.  It's pretty much the list you'd expect.  I always hope to see a few more ex-Twins.  Players like Doug Mientkiewicz or Dave Winfield.  The players listed so far are great, but most have been there in the past.

I see the Twins signed Jason Kubel to a minor league deal.  I hope to see him at TwinsFest, but he's not on the list so far.  I'm not sure he's a great choice as a DH.  I'd think Target Field is better suited for a right-handed hitter.

TwinsFest Tickets

Today I ordered my TwinsFest tickets.  I'm not sure what to expect this year, since it's being held at Target Field.  Both my sons and I are going on Friday and Saturday, and I'm going alone on Sunday, since they have a baseball clinic that day.

I have a lot of bobbleheads I want to get signed.  Mostly giveaway bobbleheads like Blyleven, Gardenhire, Gladden, Hrbek, Willingham, etc.

I saw Greg Olson's name on the list early, but then it disappeared.  I'd really like to have him sign the Sports Illustrated with him and Gladden colliding at the plate.  It's already signed by Gladden.

I'll probably work on the 2013 Topps Heritage and Allen & Ginter sets as well.

Anyone else going?

Tony Oliva Bobblehead

I had some paypal funds left over from some comic books I sold and I happened to find a 2001 Tony Oliva bobblehead.  It's the version that was given away to season ticket holders.  Since that year, all the bobbleheads given to season ticket holders had red bases.  But this year they had green bases, and a slightly different uniform, although the pose is exactly the same.

When it arrived, I found that it was autographed!  I emailed the seller to make sure it wasn't a mistake.  It turns out, it was kind of a mistake, but he doesn't have another bobblehead like this so he was fine with me keeping it.

Josh Willingham Game Used Batting Glove

Today I received an eBay purchase from Fan HQ.  I bought a signed, game used Josh Willingham batting glove.  They also sent me a photo with a matching hologram sticker.  It's odd that the picture is of him signing cleats though.

I have quite a few Willingham autographs now, but I still want to have him sign his bobblehead and his 2013 Topps Heritage card.

Hank Foiles

I was out of town for the weekend but came home to one return waiting for me. 

Hank Foiles signed his 1959, 1960 and 1962 Topps for me.

I have very few outstanding requests but bought quite a few cards on eBay to send out.  Now I just need to take the time to write the letters.

Jim Golden

One more return today (another Tuesday return?).

Jim Golden signed a 1963 Topps I sent back in September.

Art Ditmar - 1961 Topps

One return today.  Art Ditmar signed his 1961 Topps to add to my collection.

Johnny James Return

For whatever reason, Tuesdays are usually really bad for returns, but I managed to get one today.

Johnny James signed his 1960 and 1961 Topps for me in just 6 days.

Carlton Fisk - 1972 Topps

I sent in a 1972 Topps in for a Carlton Fisk signing a few months ago.  The signing was delayed a bit, but I received it back today.  
 

I'm not sure if I'll have the other two players sign this card or not.  Maybe I'll start another one and send it off to Garman, who signs well through the mail.  Then off to a Cooper signing if I can find one, and then finally off to Fisk again.  Meanwhile, I'll hold on to this one in case the other one gets lost.

Brian Harper Signing - 1991 World Series Bobblehead

My younger son and I headed over to the Har Mar Mall for a Brian Harper signing and card show.  I was able to have him sign his bobblehead from the 1991 World Series set.  He commented that he hasn't signed one of these yet.

I now have 14 out of the 26 bobbleheads from this set signed, including:

• Rick Aguilera
• Jarvis Brown
• Scott Erickson
• Greg Gagne
• Dan Gladden
• Brian Harper
• Kent Hrbek
• Tom Kelly
• Gene Larkin
• Terry Leach
• Jack Morris
• Al Newman
• Kevin Tapani
• David West

The ones remaining to be signed include:

• Steve Bedrosian
• Randy Bush
• Chili Davis
• Mark Guthrie
• Chuck Knoblauch
• Scott Leius
• Shane Mack
• Junior Ortiz
• Mike Pagliarulo
• Kirby Puckett
• Paul Sorrento
• Carl Willis

I only looked around the card show for a little while.  I bought just one card to send out.  There were a few 1961 Topps high number cards I needed, but they were very expensive, so I didn't buy any.

Alex Grammas

One return today.  Alex Grammas signed his 1956 Topps for me.

It's going to be slow for a while.  I'm going to a card show on Saturday so maybe I'll pick up a few more cards to send out.  I'm also going to see Brian Harper at the show and will have him sign his 1991 World Series bobblehead.

Joe DeMaestri

I received a very quick return today.  Joe DeMaestri signed a 1956 and 1958 Topps for me that I sent out Tuesday.  The postmark was from Oakland, CA.  I'm not sure how it got from Minnesota to California and back that quickly.

Five Years

I've been blogging for five years now.  This is my 959th post.

I've slowed down a bit because I'm just not sending out as many requests and not buying as much.  My basement is quite full, and I've sent out many of the cards I'm interested in collecting. 

Lately, I've been narrowing in on those remaining cards from the sets I collect (1951 Bowman, 1958 Topps, 1965 Topps, and 1972 Topps).  When I have a dry spell finding these cards, I send out a few from other vintage sets.

I'm also focusing on my Twins collection, including signed bobbleheads, and miscellaneous vintage memorabilia.

Thank you to all of you who read my blog regularly.  I appreciate it!

Bunning, Carroll and Neshek

I received some great returns today.  I took a chance by sending to some current players pretty late in the season but it paid off.

Remember when I asked anyone if they had a 2007 Topps Heritage Pat Neshek card to sell me?  Well, I got one from a member on SCN and after sending it to the Oakland A's address, I received it back today.  While updating my web site, I realized I had made an error back in 2007 when I updated it with a return from Pat.  I actually sent and received a 2007 Heritage way back then, but when I updated my web site, I listed it as a 2007 Topps, and also referenced an image of a 2007 Topps I had signed by him.  All along, I had this card signed and forgot about it!

Oh well, now I have two.  I wasn't sure how long it might take to get this back, since Neshek was sent down to the minors in August, and was back up in September, but he's not currently on their roster.  So I wasn't really sure exactly where he was.

I also sent a couple of cards off to Jamey Carroll at the KC Royals address.  He's a great signer through the mail but it's late in the season so I didn't know if I'd see these come back.  He was kind enough to sign them and return them to me.  Carroll was one of my favorite players and I'm sad to see him go.

He signed a 2013 and 2014 Topps Heritage for me.

Finally, Jim Bunning signed  his 2013 Allen & Ginter for me.  How many Hall of Famers will sign a card for free these days?  Let's see:  Jim Bunning...Bobby Doerr...  I think that's it.  Thanks Mr. Bunning!

2007 Twins Radio Ad

Today I also received an eBay purchase.  It's an odd item: a mock up of a potential advertisement for a radio station.  It's got 31 signatures on it although two of them are duplicates (Neshek and Perkins).  Odd.  It's authenticated by JSA.

Anyway, I thought this was a cool piece and has autographs from some of my favorite players from the last few years.  These include:

Pat Neshek (x2), Michael Cuddyer, Torii Hunter, Mike Redmond, Lew Ford, Jason Kubel, Justin Morneau, Juan Rincon, Matt Garza, Joe Nathan, Jason Tyner, Luis Rodriguez, Matt Guerrier, Josh Rabe, Boof Bonser, Carlos Silva, Johan Santana, Jesse Crain, Chris Heintz, Jason Bartlett, Julio DePaula, Kevin Slowey, Glen Perkins (x2), Carmen Cali, Brian Buscher, Scott Baker, Joe Mauer and Nick Blackburn. 

You can click on the image below to see a larger version.

There's one autograph I can't identify.  Here's a closeup of it.  Any ideas?

Ned Garver Return

Just one return today.

Ned Garver signed the 1953 Topps I sent and also enclosed a signed Diamond Signatures card for me.

Catching Up

I received a couple of returns yesterday and two more today.

Yesterday, I received a return from Joe Jay, who signed his 1954 and 1961 Topps.

And Johnny O'Brien signed his 1953, 1956 and 1959 Topps.

Today I received a return from Wayne Terwilliger, who signed his 1953 Topps and also included a signed postcard photo.

And Ted Lepcio signed his 1955, 1959 and 1960 Topps.

I only have about 7 or 8 outstanding requests that I would expect back soon, so things could start slowing down.

Rocky Bridges and Bobby Smith

Two more returns today.  Not bad for a normally slow Tuesday.

Rocky Bridges signed his 1956 Topps.

And Bobby Gene Smith signed his 1958, 1959 and 1960 Topps.

 

I still have several requests out so I hope the returns continue at this pace for the next week or so.

More Returns - Some 1956 Topps, Including Whitey Ford

I had four returns waiting for me today, three of which included signed 1956 Topps.

First, Whitey Ford signed his 1956 Topps.

Ed Roebuck also signed his 1956 Topps.

Wally Moon signed both his 1954 and 1956 Topps.

Finally, Dick Schofield Sr. signed his 1959, 1963 and 1964 Topps.

 

Stu Miller and Hal Smith Returns

I received a couple 1956 Topps in my last two returns.  That makes 91 signed 1956 Topps in my collection.

Stu Miller signed his 1953 Topps in addition to his 1956 Topps.

And Hal R. Smith signed his 1959 and 1960 Topps as well as his 1956 Topps.

I have about 20 outstanding requests that will hopefully come back in the next week or two.  I'm far short of my goal of sending out 100 requests for the year.  I think I'm only at about half that number now.  I don't have a lot of cards to send out either, so I'm not sure I'll meet my goal.