Frank Lary and Rich Rollins

I haven't made much progress scanning in my son's TwinsFest items but hope to get through all his cards tonight and get them added to his web site.

Today I received two returns.  First, Rich Rollins signed his 1963 Western Oil Nicholas Volpe portrait for me.

Also, Frank Lary signed three cards that I sent him last August including a 1959, 1960 and 1963 Topps.

I also received a Return To Sender from Jim Perry on my Volpe portrait.  I guess the address was wrong.  I corrected it and sent it out this morning.

My Son's Signed Cards From TwinsFest

I'm starting to scan in all of our autographs from TwinsFest.  I'm going to streamline the posting of the items here on my blog to speed things up.

Johnny tried to get as many 2012 Heritage cards signed as possible and did a pretty good job on the set.  You can click on the picture below to see a larger version of the cards.

He also got the team card signed by Gardy.

He also did a good job on the Mauer and Morneau cards form the 2011 Heritage set.

And also had the lucky find at the card show to go with these cards:

He also got several other cards.

Tomorrow I'll scan in some of the photos he got signed.

This year's haul

We managed to get through the Mauer line a second time. Both of us. This was a much more productive day than we imagined. My son also bought a large artist's rendition of a Target Field design in the Pro Shop.

It was sleeting and snowing so we took off earlier than expected, but didn't really have any more autographs we wanted and had really been through the card show many times.

It was a long, slow drive home in the nasty weather but we made it home without incident.

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Attendance is pretty light again

Sundays are usually lighter, but even more so this year.

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Made it through Mauer's line

Now we're taking a little break before we head back and see of Mauer's line is empty and they're letting more people through.

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My wristband was called for Mauer

I'm going to get the 2011 Topps heritage signed for my son since he's had such good luck on those with Mauer and Morneau this weekend.

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Willingham signed a ball for me, then we headed up to Mauer's line. On the way, the folks working at the Morneau line told us we could go through because the line was empty. 

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We got through Morneau's line. My son went to go see Gardeners and Kelly and I'm waiting for Willingham and Duensing.

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TwinsFest Day Three

They threw a bit of a curve at us this morning. They only gave out one color wristband for Morneau. So it was a mad dash to his line as the gates opened. We're in a good place in line so we should both get through.

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Day two wrap up

We made the 40 minute drive home before the last autograph session was over. The three cards in this picture made the while weekend worth it for my son.

We'll have to leave earlier in the morning since Morneau signs in the first session and we need to get our wristband before they open the doors.

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Over an hour left

And this is what the dome looks like.

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The crowd is dwindling

There's just one autograph session left and there aren't many people left.  My son is going to see Perkins and Doumit, then we'll walk around just a little more.

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Awesome find at the card show

 Against all odds, we found a 1962 Topps card signed by Killebrew. My son got the 2011 version signed by Mauer yesterday.

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Mauer is next

My son just got done with the Morneau line. My wristband color was called for Mauer so I'm going to finish off the card for him.

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My son is the lucky one again

He had Morneau's wristband. I'm going to go through a line with Dick Stigman, Corey Koskie, Hendricks and Wood.

There are more people here today but not nearly as many as in previous years.

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Waiting for Morneau

We got through the first line pretty quickly and then hit the card show and bought my son a few 1958 Topps to send out for autographs.

Now we're waiting in Morneau's line to see which of us have the right wristband. My son is going to get the 2011 Topps Heritage Twin Terrors card signed by both Mauer and Morneau.

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Back for day two

We're in line for Willingham and Gardy.  The line is longer today but attendance still seems light.

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All done for tonight

We had a pretty successful first night.  We got Willingham twice and my soon got Mauer.  We also got a lot of the other players, some of them twice. My pictures on my new phone aren't turning out great but I'll post some of them tomorrow evening.  Now it's off to bed.

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Lots of progress

This is the fewest number of people I've seen here.  I got through three lines while my son was lucky enough to get Joe Mauer. 

Now we're waiting for Morneau, hoping to get lucky again.

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We Got Through Willingham's Line Twice!

There was nobody in line when we went back the second time!  Now we're in Mauer's line hoping we have the right wristband.

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Well, that was easy

There wasn't much of a line for Willingham.  There aren't many people here at all.

We're In

We timed it pretty well. Not much waiting outside. We have our wristbands for Mauer and Morneau and are going to check out the Willingham line. I doubt we'll get him.
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Off to TwinsFest!

As soon as my older son gets off the bus, we're heading to TwinsFest.  They are doing the wristband drawing for Mauer and Morneau so we'll try to get those.  We'd also like to get Willingham at least once this weekend, but he signs first each day and we're not really willing to wait out in the cold too long so that might not happen.

Otherwise, we'll try to get some Allen & Ginter and Topps Heritage cards signed by guys like Benson, Hendricks and Parmalee.  No plans to foe Hall of Famers like Carew, Molitor or Blyleven this year.  We have quite of few things signed by them already.

My younger son isn't going this year.  He's not a big fan of crowds, and isn't real excited about the current roster either.  That means my wife gets to stay home too.  Usually she goes and we split up, each taking a son to whatever lines they want to go to.

It should be quite a bit cheaper for me this year.  We'll see what the Pro Shop has for sale though!

Another Volpe Print - Lee Stange

I received another 1963 Western Oil Nicholas Volpe print back in the mail today.  This time it is Lee Stange who signed it very nicely.  You can tell from the scan, but it got a little beat up in the mail.  It should be okay if I keep it flat for a while.

As usual, we seem to be having the coldest weather of the year right around TwinsFest.  I don't expect to be standing outside much, so it shouldn't be too bad.  I haven't heard if they'll be using the wristbands this year for Mauer and Morneau.  If they don't, I expect to be able to get through all the other lines, with the possible exception of Willingham.

1991 Twins Bobblehead Set Case

Today I finally got around to assembling a display case that my family gave me for Christmas.  I am using it to display the 1991 Twins World Series bobblehead set.

I have 13 of the 26 signed.  Unfortunately, there will be no players at TwinsFest this year that I need on the set.

I have two other cases just like this one.  I use one to display Twins items form 1965, including a few signed bobbleheads, some balls, mini helmets, photos and programs.  In the other case, I have items from current players, including Mauer and Morneau.  I have one shelf with Denard Span items that I'll have to change out.  But with who?

A Quick Return and a Long Return

Surprisingly, I had two returns today.  I've been hoping to get back my Jim Perry 1963 Western Oil print so when I saw the big envelope in the mailbox I assumed that was it.  However, it was Sam Mele who returned his print, in just 5 days!

I also had a regular sized envelope waiting for me and was very happy to find a signed 1972 Topps Chris Chambliss card inside.  I sent this to Mr. Chambliss in November of 2010, and received in back in 789 days.

I spent a lot of time yesterday getting TwinsFest binders ready for my older son and me.  It's just the two of us this year.  I have a few cards I want to get signed, mostly Topps Heritage and Allen & Ginters from the last couple of years.  I also bought a bunch of photos to get signed.  I don't intend to get any balls, bats, bobbleheads, or anything like that signed, so at least I won't have a lot to carry.

Many of the players only have a couple of cards since they're so new.  I ordered a bunch from sportslots.com.

I was hoping there would be a few players from the 1991 team that I needed on the World Series bobbleheads, but I don't see any of those guys on the list.

Camilo Pascual - 1963 Western Oil Portrait

I made quick progress on one of my 2013 goals.  On January 2nd, I mailed a 1963 Nicholas Volpe Western Oil portrait to Camilo Pascual along with $10 and a silver sharpie.

He signed it very nicely, and returned it quickly.

I spent some time trying to order some cards and photos for TwinsFest.  There are several players that I can't find items for so I'll probably start a team ball or a Target Field photo for those signatures.

2013 Goals

This year's goals won't be too original, but more of the same from previous years.

• Add 13 more Nicholas Volpe Western Oil portraits to my collection.  I have two in the mail already and will send more out in the next few weeks.
• Send out 100 requests through the mail.  I'm toning this down a bit this year in quantity, but plan to concentrate on vintage cards from the 50's and 60's.
• Add 1 more signed bobblehead to my 1987 Twins bobblehead set.  The three I have left are Don Baylor, Randy Bush and Les Straker.
• Add 3 more signed bobbleheads to my 1991 Twins bobblehead set.  Hopefully I can add at least one at TwinsFest this month.
• Add 3 more cards to my 1958 Topps set as well as my 1965 Topps set.

That's it for my goals.  I think it's pretty reasonable and should be pretty easily accomplished.

Final Status on 2012 Collecting Goals

I didn't do too well on my goals this year.  My interest is dwindling a bit as I've built up my collection quite a bit over the years, and am kind of running out of things I want to get signed.  Also, the Twins really haven't been having as many in person signings during the year as they used to, and they've quit holding the summer autograph party completely.

Anyway, here's how I did:

• Goal: Send out 150 requests through the mail.  Final result: I sent out 132 requests.  Towards the end of the year I even sent out cards to players that I already had signed just to try to meet this goal but it didn't really hold my interest.

• Goal: Get 3 more bobbleheads signed from the 1987 Twins set.  I only need Don Baylor, Randy Bush, Mark Davidson, Greg Gagne and Les Straker to complete the living players.  Status: I got Mark Davidson and Greg Gagne to sign their bobbleheads at the Minneapolis Sports Card and Autograph Convention last spring.  Now I'm down to needing just Baylor, Bush and Straker. I fell short of this goal by one.

• Get 8 more bobbleheads signed from the 1991 Twins set.  Status: I surpassed this goal, having gotten 6 of them signed at TwinsFest, as well as three others. Hopefully I can get a few more done at TwinsFest this year.

• Reach 400 signed 1972 Topps. I ended up with 384, so I fell short on this one.

• Additional sets - Add 5 more 1958 Topps (not including team cards), 15 more 1961 Topps and  10 more 1965 Topps.  Status: I really don't know how I did since I didn't keep close track on these.  I got at least 14 1961 Topps according to my records, and I bought at least a couple more, so I met that goal.  I'm pretty sure I only added one 1958 Topps, and only a handful of 1965 Topps.  In general, I did not meet this goal.

I'm thinking about my goals for 2013.  My interest has turned a bit towards my comic book collection which may take some of my time and money this year.   I am blogging about that hobby as well, over at My Comical Problem.  I will post later today on what I decide for 2013.

Some of my favorites from this year included the 1948 Leaf I got signed by Bobby Doerr and the 1961 Topps ERA leaders card I got signed by all four.

I also like the Minnie Minosos magazine I received.  I may focus more on magazines this year.

I also like the Western Oil portraits, and plan to send out a few more in 2013.

I made some progress on some Heritage and Allen & Ginter Twins sets, but mostly through purchases since many of the players have left (Baker, Span, Liriano, Cuddyer, Nathan, Revere, Kubel, Pavano, etc, etc, etc!).