Bob Veale TTM Return and Jhoan Duran Purchase

I was happy to get this Bob Veale return back today since I had about given up on it.  He is a reliable signer and most of his requests come back between 2-3 weeks, according to the data on SCN.  But I sent this last November, so I was starting to think it got lost somewhere along the way. 

I was especially bummed out because this request included a 1965 Pirates team card already signed by a few guys like Bob Priddy, Don Schwall, Gene Alley, Manny Mota, Roy Face and Tommie Sisk.  In fact, I assumed this card was lost and already bought a replacement and included that new, unsigned card with a request to John Gelnar that I mailed yesterday!

Mr. Veale wrote "Do Not Bend" on the outside of my sase which is nice and shows he cares at least a little about collectors that send to him.  He probably wrote that because I don't include any cardholders or index cards to try to strengthen the envelope.  In my experience, this makes it harder for the player to handle and sign and can result in smudging when putting a card back into a holder before the ink is dry.  Also, some hard inside an envelope that isn't close to the same size as the envelope seems to attract the sorting machines to rip it apart.

I have had only a handful of cards bent or torn during their roundtrip over the last 20 years, so I don't think the extra work, both on my part and the players', is necessary.

I also received a 2023 Topps Heritage card signed by Jhoan Duran that I purchased from a fellow SCN member that obtained it in person at spring training.  I did send this card ttm to him in care of spring training as well, but it's a bit of a long shot that he'll return it.

While buying some cards on eBay to send out, I came across a seller that has a lot of very low grade vintage cards at very low prices.  I bought 11 1953 Topps for about $2.50 each including tax and shipping.  They still have some eye appeal and are fun to look at and read the backs.  There are no tears, little to no paper loss, no tape, etc.  I scanned in nine of them which is all that fits on my scanner.  The seller has a lot of 1955 Topps and I'm already loading up my cart to buy some of those too.  These aren't for sending ttm, they're just for having.  Whatever that means.