A Private Signing and TTM Returns

First, I received a failure from Ron Lolich, who returned my 1971 Topps unsigned with a kind of confusing note that he wants to sign for $5 to the MLBPAA.  That part I get, but he notes where to send the donation, with his name in the memo section of the check or listed on a separate piece of paper.  It wasn't clear if I also include the card with that donation, or if I'm to send the card back to him, and the MLBPAA will give him a list of donors that he can sign for?  Not really sure.

Lowell Palmer signed his 1972 Topps high number card for his $10 fee.

Former-Twin Tony Fiore signed his 2003 Topps for my team set.

And Joe Borowski signed his 2004, 2005 and 2007 Topps Heritage as well as his 2007 Allen & Ginter.

I also received a return from a mail-in signing with Larry Hisle, who signed his 1970 Topps (with the Topps All Star Rookie Trophy), as well as his 1971, 1973 and 1975 Topps.

I received another 10 orders from Ebay today as I try to get moving on the team cards from the sets I collect from the 50's and 60's.  It's confusing to try to match the team card with cards from players since the team card is for the team from the previous year than the year of the card.  For example, the 1958 Topps card of the Baltimore Orioles pictures the team from 1957.

Four Returns From the Weekend

I left town Friday morning and arrived home today to find four ttm returns waiting for me.  This was no big surprise since I had seen them in my daily Informed Delivery emails.  I know I mention this service a lot, and I promise I get no compensation for promoting it, but I really like being able to see what awaits me in the mailbox, especially if I have to wait until the afternoon to actually get the letters themselves.

Another nice feature of the service is that I know which day the returns arrived in my mailbox, so I can keep accurate recordkeeping of my requests and the day they arrived back to me.

Anyway, on Friday I received a return from Paul Popovich, who signed his 1973 and 1975 Topps for his $5 per card fee.

Also on Friday, I also received a return from George Stone, who signed his 1969, 1973 (Hi#) and 1976 Topps.  He did not return the 1975 Topps I had sent.

On Saturday, former-Twin's coach Scott Ullger signed his 1984 Topps.

Finally, and also on Saturday, Bill Stein signed his 1983, 1985 and 1986 Topps.  I had sent these cards to Mr. Stein just a few weeks ago, and he answered a letter in my question, but did not sign the cards.  I explained the situation, so he didn't think I was double-dipping, in case he recognized my name from my last request.

I also received 10 purchases from Ebay, which contain mostly team cards from 1958, 1961, 1963 and 1965.  There are also a few individual player cards to send along with these team cards when I send out the requests.  I have neglected the team cards from the sets I collect, and this will be a good way to make some progress on my sets without spending too much.

Former-Twin Denny Hocking - 2003 Topps TTM Return

Denny Hocking signed his 2003 Topps for me which I received back today.

All of a sudden, I have become nostalgic for the 2003 set.  The first ttm requests I sent out back in June of 2003 were some 2003 Topps to current Twins players.  I received two of those back in just 4 days (I lived about 30 miles from the stadium) and I was hooked!  Those two players were Brad Radke and Jacque Jones.  I found this to be amazing and I was hooked!  Corey Koskie also returned my cards, but it took him 16 months, and Torii Hunter never returned my request.  No surprise, as he was a fan favorite and was probably drowning in fan mail.

After the recent Shannon Stewart signing, at which I was fortunate enough to get him to sign his card from the set, I decided to try to get the entire team set signed.  I didn't have the unsigned cards lying around so, after a few Sportlots.com orders later, I'm ready to get going.

Between 2003 and now, I've managed to get quite a few signed:

Flipping through the cards I bought, it looks like I still need the following players:

• Chris Gomez
• LaTroy Hawkins
• Torii Hunter (on two cards)
• Bobby Kielty
• Joe Mays
• Doug Mientkiewicz
• Dustan Mohr
• David Ortiz (probably not!)
• J.C. Romero
• Joe Mauer
• Justin Morneau
• Tony Fiore
• Johan Santana

Some of these guys might be hard to track down and if I get the chance to see some of the stars, I'm not sure this set would make the cut as to what I'm willing to pay for and what other items I'd rather get signed.  But it's something to work on.  I might also try to upgrade a few of the ones signed in black or red.

Dick Bosman and Jack O'Connor Returns

A couple nice returns today.

Dick Bosman signed his 1972, 1973, 1977 Topps as well as the 1975 Highlights card showing the No-Hitters thrown by him, Steve Busby and Nolan Ryan in 1974.

Also, former-Twin Jack O'Connor signed his 1982 and 1983 Topps.

Four Returns Yesterday

I forgot to post my returns from yesterday.  I should have a couple more later today as well.

Cookie Rojas signed his 1969 Topps.

Bob Reynolds signed his 1972, 1973 and 1975 Topps.

Juan Marichal signed his 1962 Topps and a 1969 Topps Deckle Edge.

And finally, Luis Gomez signed his 1977 Topps as well as the 1976 Topps Twins team card.  In addition to Gomez, this card has signatures from Dave Goltz, Jerry Terrell, and Ray Corbin.

Fred Scherman Return

Generous-signer Fred Scherman signed a few more cards for me, including the 1972 Topps Tigers team card, as well as his 1973, 1974 and 1974 Topps Traded cards.