2022 In Review

I didn't have any specific goals for 2022, but I ended up sending out 481 requests, the third most in the 19 years I've been sending requests through the mail.  So far, I've received 427 of those back.

I don't know exactly how many cards I received, but if we estimate that I average 3 cards per request, and I received 427 returns, then that's 1,281 signed cards.

Not all of those requests were for cards, but the vast majority were.

I did get some bobblehead signed ttm, which I really hadn't expected to so, but once I learned how to remove the head and mail them as you would a baseball, it made things much easier.  I received bobbleheads signed by Jim Perry, Brooks Robinson, Orlando Cepeda and Bill Mazeroski.  All at prices way lower than if I had sent them in to a private signing.  I have reattached Cepeda's head to the bobblehead but haven't taken a picture of that yet.

I think the best card I received would probably be Juan Marichal's rookie card, his 1961 Topps.

I continued to add the generous-signing Hall of Famers to my collection including Brooks Robinson, Jim Palmer, Orlando Cepeda, Jim Rice, Juan Marichal and Bill Mazeroski.  There are probably a couple more I'm not thinking of off the top of my head.

I focused on some of my sets, including the 1975 set which is what I've started most recently.  I've really slowed down on some of the sets I've worked on the longest, including the 1958, 1961, 1963, and 1965 Topps sets.  I did make more progress on the 1971, 1972, 1973, and 1978 sets, in addition to the 75 set I already mentioned.

In regard to the 1958 set, the only remaining living players that I still need are Willie Mays and Sandy Koufax.

After several years of not having my collection available to view online, I decided to pay for hosting again.  It is available here:

https://www.thedroidtrader.com/autos.html

By the way, I also collect vintage Star Wars toys.  My collections includes many toys that I had as a child, and those are noted as "orig. owner" in the listings.  My vintage collection can be viewed at the link below.  It does not include the toys I own from 1995- to present, just 1977 - 1985.  I don't buy many toys these days, as I've been priced out of the market, especially since I have a pretty good collection and the remaining toys I need are the rarer, more expensive ones.

https://www.thedroidtrader.com/starwars/starwars.html

I apologize for the awkward navigation.  When you scroll down in the left frame to click on a specific item, you then need to scroll up in the right frame to view it.  Someday I'll fix that if I can figure out how.

Anyway, in summary, I added a lot of signed cards to my collection in 2022 and a handful of bobbleheads I never thought I'd have.

For 2023, I hope to send out a wider variety of items, including baseball and magazines.  I say that every year though.

Good luck in your collection in 2023 and thank you for reading my blog.  I don't have a good idea of how many readers I have, so I'd appreciate a quick email to droidtrader@gmail.com just to let me know you're a reader.  Thank you!