Six TTM Returns Including Molitor's Grand Slam Print

Yesterday I forgot to post about my lone return, which was from Nelson Mathews, maybe because I was kind of frustrated with it.  I know these guys don't owe me anything and are not obligated to sign or even respond to my requests, but I still reserve the right to be disappointed with returns that aren't as expected. 

Mr. Mathews doesn't normally charge, but since I sent six cards in a bubble mailer along with a pen, I included $20 in cash.

He signed his three Topps cards, but he used a ballpoint pen instead of the Staedtler I had enclosed.  No big deal, but sending to him was largely intended to upgrade some previous cards and get a nice 1965 Topps in blue for my set.

Worse, he did not return the three team cards I had enclosed.  One of the cards didn't have any signatures on it yet, but one had three signatures, and one had seven.

Mr. Mathews is 84 years old, so it's possible he simply confused my cards with another request.  According to his history on SCN, he has mixed up cards before, but not on a regular basis.  I posted about not receiving these cards back on SCN and offered a reward for their return if someone there happens to get them back   It's a long shot, but it's worked for me before.

Today, I received several ttm returns, including this nice grand Slam print from Paul Molitor, who signed it in about a month.  I had included $30 with my request.

Ron Guidry, who enforces a strict one card per request, but doesn't charge, signed a 1972 Topps Commissioners Award card in about a month.  The Commissioners Award was in place for only a couple years before it was renamed as The Roberto Clemente Award following his passing.

Former-Twin and generous ttm signer Tom Hall signed his 1972 Topps as well as the 1970 - 19723 Twins team cards.  Somehow, these cards made their way to California, were signed by Mr. Hall, and returned to Minnesota in just seven days.  The team cards I sent him are all second copies since I've filled up versions of them already and Mr. Hall had signed those.

Joe Moeller signed his 1965 and 1966 Topps and included a signed religious pamphlet as well, which includes an image of his 1963 Topps.

And the final ttm return for today was from Vern Law, who has taken to adding a lot of inscriptions to almost everything he signs.  It's very cool and must take him a long time to sign.  He even added an inscription to the two team cards he signed for me.  

The 1965 Topps I included was yet another attempt to upgrade the previous ones I've sent him, which always seem to be signed with a fading pen.  I'm sure he goes through pens quickly since he adds so many inscriptions, and I've just been unlucky enough to have my cards signed when his pen was running low.  This one looks quite good though, so I am finally satisfied.  

This one was sent in 2008.  The ink is strong, but it's in black.

This was from 2023, and as you can see, the ink was quite weak.

And this one was from 2024.  It's better, but the ink was still pretty weak.

His eyes must still be quite good at 95 years old to be able to write as small as he does.  His writing is also very neat, especially for his age.  I have a few more team cards I'd like hi to sign, and since he collects a fee, I don't feel bad about sending them shortly after receiving this return.  If I were sending him a more expensive card, like his 1952 Topps, I would probably include my own pen and ask him to use it just in case.

I also received another Bill Pleis purchase to attempt to gather some nice, blue sharpie-signed cards, even though this is a 1965 Topps reprint from the 2014 Topps Heritage set.

I sent him his 1965 Topps in 2004 which he signed nicely, but in black.  I don't know why I didn't take the time to upgrade it over the last 20 years.

Bill Mazeroski TTM Return and Bill Pleis Purchase

My monthly return from Bill Mazeroski arrived today.  I'm only kind of kidding.  I send to him a lot because he has so many cards and is so accessible and reliable for a reasonable $10 per card fee.

This time, I enclosed an extra $10 to add his Hall of Fame inscription on a 1958 Topps.  I have several of his 58 Topps cards signed, but decided I'd like one with an inscription.

 As I mentioned yesterday, I also enclosed a 1961 Bazooka.  I like how he signs diagonally so his signature can still be large and legible.

I previously had him sign a 1963 Pirates team card, which I left with just his signature on it.

But I decided to have him sign the card I was collecting multiple signatures on too.

And finally, he signed a 1980 Fleer Laughlin reprint of the 1971 World Series.  It's a pretty busy card without a good spot for a signature but it looks okay.

A few days ago I mentioned that former-Twin Bill Pleis passed away.  I had been gathering some high grade cards to send to him along with a blue sharpie, since he typically signed in black, including a PSA 8 copy of his 1964 Topps.  After I heard he passed away, I decided to try to buy some blue sharpie signed cards of his and received this 1964 today.

Last night I cracked another card out of its case.  This time, a 1968 Johnny Bench rookie card.  I paid more than you would have to for a PSA 4 card, but it was hard to find one nicely centered, and poor centering is a big pet peeve of mine.  I'd rather pay an additional $20- $30 on a $200+ plus card to not cringe at the centering every time I look at it.

This card was part of Ebay's "Authenticity Guarantee" program, which I don't really get.  I didn't realize it when I bought it, but the seller sends it to an "Authenticator", who verifies it is what the seller says it is.  In this case, it's already been slabbed by PSA, so I am not sure what they are verifying.  Maybe it's just to protect both buyers and sellers from one or the other claiming they sent it when they didn't, or saying they received an empty box or something.  I don't know exactly.  

This Authenticator but the slab in a slab bag and put a sticker across the opening as pictured below.  Of course, I ripped it open to crack the slab to get the card signed.

I am also waiting for Rod Carew's 1967 Topps rookie card that also went through the Authentication program.  It's a PSA 2, but looks nicer than that and has nice centering.  It's the most I've paid for a single card, but less than I've paid for a single comic book or single action figure.

And 2.5 times more than I paid for my first car, but that was 40 years ago.

I also dropped a lot of cash on a full set of the 1966 Topps Batman set.  I've always wanted them but the task of putting a set together seemed too expensive, considering the shipping involved with buying individual cards.  But I found a seller with some complete, lower grade sets and got what I think is a pretty good deal on the entire run, including #s 1 and 2 of the black bat series, which can cost more than the rest of the set combined.  I should receive those next week sometime.

My spending has to slow down significantly, so I may have to resort to simply sending out some ttm requests to work on my late 70's and early-mid 80's sets.  However, I feel rushed to get anything I want from older players ASAP as they won't be around forever.  Hence the investment in the Hall of Fame rookie cards.  I can't imagine what a Rod Carew or Johnny Bench-signed rookie card will cost after they've passed away.

Cecil Fielder Grand Slam Print and Billy Grabarkewitz and Camilo Pascual TTM Returns

Another Grand Slam print has been added to my collection, thanks for Mr. Cecil Fielder.  I included $20 with my request. 

I was surprised to see that he didn't sign it where I had requested, despite what I thought were pretty clear instructions.  You can click on the image below to see a larger version.

But, it still looks fine and I'm happy to add it to my collection.

I also received a ttm return from Billy Grabarkewitz, who abbreviates his last name to the first letter.

And one of my favorite former-Twins, Camilo Pascual, signed his 1958 Topps, a 1960 Bazooka, a 1961 Post and a 1964 Topps Giant for my collection.  You can tell I'm running out of cards to send him based on the oddball mix here.  I've had the Topps Giant laying around for a long time and finally got around to sending it.  

The Bazooka's aren't cheap.  I sent a 1964 to Mr. Pascual previously, and sent a 1961 to Mazeroski which I should get back any day. The three Bazooka cards cost about $100 in total.

Crackin' Slabs

It's Sunday, so no returns obviously, but I am getting some cards ready to send out to some signings.

I've decided to go all in on some Hall of Fame rookie cards, so I bought Cal Ripken Jr.'s 1982 Topps Traded. It was more expensive than several of the cards I recently bought from the 60's, although it's in better condition.  I just couldn't see getting a card signed from 1982 that wasn't just about perfect.  And, centering is my biggest pet peeve so it took a while to find just the right one.  I will also get his "true" rookie card signed, the 1982 Future Stars card featuring him, Bob Bonner and Jeff Schneider.

Today, I cracked his 1982 Topps Traded as well as a 1971 Topps Yaz card that I'm also sending in to get signed.

My son helped my with a few "how-to" posts on cracking cards from various companies such as this one for a Beckett slab, this one for a GAI slab, and this one for a PSA slab.

The slabs have changed a bit over time, but the process is the same: using a chisel and hammer, crack the plastic along the seams until you can use the chisel to pry the front and back halves of the slab apart.  Of course, you need to be careful that the chisel doesn't touch the card, and when you are able to pry the halves apart, don't let the card fall to the table/floor.  It will, without a doubt, land squarely on a corner and reduce the grade by 2-3 levels :-).  Also, be sure to wear eye protection because the little pieces of plastic that go flying are pretty sharp!

Now it's time to package them up and send them off.  SCN was down for a while today, but it appears back up now so I can print out my trades to include with these submissions and package them up for mailing tomorrow.

Tom Hutton TTM Return

I received just one ttm return today.  I have several that have been out for 10-14 days which seems to be the sweet spot for returns, so I was hoping for more.

But, I was happy to get a nice return from Tom Hutton, who signed his 1972 Topps rookie card that I received back from Rick Miller a couple weeks ago.  He also signed three more cards nicely in blue sharpie.  I had sent him a request back in July, so I apologized for the multiple requests and included $10 with my request.

John Milner passed away 25 years ago, so this 1972 Topps is as complete as it's going to get.

I purchased a like-new, 1966 Kansas City Athletics Year Book.  It's in such nice condition, I was wondering if it was a more modern reprint or something.  It would be hard to buy this at a ballpark and get it home after watching a game in this kind of condition.

Anyway, the cover has a lot of space for autographs, and despite the 66 A's not having been a great team, I decided to try to get a bunch of the players to sign it.  I sent it off to Jose Tartabull today, asking for him to sign the cover, his picture by the little bio within the magazine, as well as his 1966 Topps.  We'll see how this project goes.

I randomly came across my Rod Carew autographs on my web site and cringed, as I always do, when I saw both of his 1972 Topps that are signed in black sharpie.  I had them signed at TwinsFest so I probably could have easily requested that they be signed in blue, but I didn't for some reason.  

I decided to right this wrong and have both of them, as well as his 2008 Goudey which is also signed in black, signed in blue at an upcoming signing.  I hadn't remembered that his 1972 Topps cards are in the high number series, so it won't be cheap and the cards will cost more than his autograph. I'm also finally getting his rookie card signed.

Pete Hamm TTM Return

Former-Twin and former-elusive signer Pete Hamm signed three cards for me with the pen I sent (again).  He typically signs in ballpoint, sometimes black ballpoint.  I sent him a Staedtler in the past, and I've seen him use it, or something similar, to match Jim Nettles signature on the 71 Topps if someone sends him that card previously signed by Mr. Nettles, but otherwise he sticks with the ballpoint.

Anyway, as I mention every time I get a return back from him, Mr. Hamm was a non-signer for decades, and then a little over a year ago, suddenly started signing.  He even returned requests sent to him over 20 years prior.  Amazing.

So, I've been afraid that the spigot is on temporarily, and have sent to him several times now, hoping top not miss this opportunity.  After the first two times, I started sending cash as well.  I didn't want to be the guy that caused him to stop signing again :-)  Last time I included $20 cash.  This time, $40.

He only has two Topps cards: the 1971 shared with generous-signer Jim Nettles, and his 1972 Topps.  

This time, I sent him the usual two 1971 Topps (one signed by Nettles, and one unsigned), as well as his 1972 Topps.  I also came across a postcard that pictures him in a White Sox uniform.  I had no information on him ever having playing for them, so I sent it along and asked him about it.  He said it was Spring Training in 1972, and after just 10 days, he got traded back to the Twins!  Unfortunately,  he didn't sign it.  Either it was an oversight, or, since my letter didn't explicitly ask him to sign it, but did ask him to sign the "cards", maybe he thought I didn't want it signed.

Either way, I'm happy to get the three cards back and complete another of the 71 Topps with Nettles.

I now have two copies of the 1971 Topps with just Hamm on it that I'll send off to Nettles soon.

Just for my own piece of mind, I had one of the first returns I received from him authenticated.

I currently have a copy of his 72 Topps signed in blue Staedtler in for authentication/grading, and just sent a dual-signed 1971 Topps in authentication and grading as well.

I've had him sign two different copies of the 1972 Twins team card.  

Last time I also sent him a Rowe picture card.  

Next time, I'll probably send a copy of the 1971 Twins team card.  I'd like to find some other, different cards as well.  Maybe some team-released photos or postcards or something.  We'll see.