Three TTM Returns - LaRoche, Pritchard, and Stinson

I received three ttm successes today.

Dave LaRoche, who is a very reliable and generous signer, signed his 1971, 1974, 1977 and 1982 Topps.  While the cards were signed with a blue sharpie, the pen is starting to run out of ink, so his signature appears a bit faded.  You can even guess the order in which he signed, based on how light the signatures get.  I think he signed in this order: 1971, 1982, 1974 and then the 1977 last.  Working on the 1982 Topps set is what prompted me to send to Mr. LaRoche, although his is the only one I got from that set today.

89-year-old Buddy Pritchard signed his 1958 Topps as well as the Pirates' team card from the same year.  He actually played for the Pirates in 1957, which is the team that the 1958 Topps team card is commemorating.  That's how the team cards work, which can be quite confusing. 

The '58 Topps is Mr. Pritchard's only individual Topps card.  He played in 23 games in 1957 at the age of 21, with just one hit in 12 plate appearances, which was not nearly enough game time for him to show off what he could do.

He signed another 1958 Topps for me nearly 19 years ago.  He signed that one in ballpoint, so today's return is a nice upgrade.  

His is the 9th signature on the team card, joining:

• Johnny O'Brien
• Bob Skinner
• Bill Virdon
• Bennie Daniels
• Vern Law
• Bill Mazeroski
• Elroy Face
• Bob Smith

The only player left that is even a remote possibility of signing this card is Ken Hamlin, who was an automatic signer until a couple months ago.  He has a history of occasionally taking a few months, or even a few years, to return requests.  I don't want to try to stomach that kind of wait on this card, so I probably won't send this team card on to him.  He hasn't done a mail-in signing in nearly 13 years, so that's probably not going to be an option either.

Finally, Bob Stinson signed his 1972 Topps nicely in blue sharpie.  This is the first time I have gotten this card signed and I was wondering why, because I've been going pretty hard after this set, and he's a very reliable signer.  But then I remembered that his is a high-number card, and he charges $10 per card, so I've been avoiding the expense.  I should probably get over it and send these types of cards out now or it'll be too late, and I'll regret it.  

Bob Fenwick is still with us but is not a reliable signer.  The last posted success from him on SCN was in May of 2022.  He only has a 33% success rate posted there as well, so I won't be risking this card by mailing it to him.  It doesn't appear he's done any private signings that were posted on SCN either.  I'll add this card to the ever-growing stack of cards by my desk that are only signed by one player despite having two or more players on the card, and hope some opportunity comes up in the future.

I sent out some cards for mail-in signings today, including Randy Jones, Steve Stone and Dave Stewart.  I'm caught up on mailing the cards for all the signings to which I'm committed.  I sent six cards for Randy Jones, and just one card each for the other two players.

Billy Wagner Purchase

No ttm returns today, but I added another Hall of Famer to my collection with a Billy Wagner 2009 Topps Heritage purchase form a fellow SCN (sportscollectors.net) member.

I sent off the last of the mail-in signings I've committed to, so I just need to sit back and wait from them to start rolling in.  Most of them occur the weekend of February 22 with a few in early March.  20 signings in all!  I really need to back off or I'm going to go broke.  I'm pretty excited to get these back though.  There will be a lot to help fill holes in or upgrade my 1972 Topps set.

A couple are outside the U.S. with a promoter traveling around to visit players at their homes.  The timing of these is always difficult to predict so you just have to be patient.  A few U.S.-based ones are another promoter who has a relationship with some players but it's very informal, and he will try to align schedules as he travels and hopes that by the time he's in the player's town, they still feel like signing.  These are players that don't normally sign their mail or do public signings, so getting their autographs is pretty difficult.

I have a few bobbleheads out to these signings, but it's mostly cards. For some signings, I sent in a single card, and for others, I sent in 10 (when the pricing favors getting more signed).  I probably have about 50 cards out and four bobbleheads.

Four Returns Today - Clancy, Estelle, Mura and Saberhagen

Four returns today to start the week.

Jim Clancy signed four 80's cards for me.

Dick Estelle signed a 1965 Topps already signed by Murakami.  The last one I got from him got stuck to the envelope flap and resulted in a little paper loss. He also signed a couple Giants team cards.

Steve Mura, who I wrote to for the first time, signed his 1979, 1980, 1982 and 1983 Topps.

And Bret Saberhagen signed a 1972 Topps Babe Ruth Award card already signed by Frank Viola for his $10 fee.

The Streak Comes to an End But I Received Four Returns Today and an Aparicio Purchase

My continuous return streak came to an end Thursday, and I didn't receive any returns Friday either.

I did receive four returns today though as well as a 1971 Topps signed by Luis Aparicio that I purchased from an SCN member who has done signings with him in the past.

Steve Blass signed a 1972 Topps World Series card, a 1974 Topps and a 1980 Fleer Laughlin card commemorating the 1971 World Series.  For some reason, he didn't sign the 1971 Topps I had enclosed, but he did return it.  Signing four cards doesn't seem to be a problem for him based on his history on SCN.  Maybe he saw the facsimile signature and thought he had already signed it or maybe he simply overlooked it.  I was hoping to upgrade the cards he previously signed for me in black and accomplished that with the 1972 card.  I have the 1971 signed by him in black but would really like a nice blue sharpie signature.

Larry Christenson, Gene Garber and Don Robinson all signed four cards for me, including 1982 Topps for my set collection.

I sent out another six requests today resulting in 40 outstanding requests since the beginning of the year, as well as a handful from late 2024 that I still hope to get back.  I also have a ridiculous 21 mail-in signings that I'm participating in between now and early March.  A couple of those are actually 50/50's/consignments, so they may or may not result in an autograph for me.  

I sent a few Glen Perkins and a Simeon Woods Richardson to an SCN member who has been attending the Twins Caravan and TwinsFest activities.  So far, he's gotten two of the four Perkins cards, and the one Simeon card signed.  I'm not sure if he's actually going through the TwinsFest lines as well or simply trying to catch the players around the event to convince them to sign.

Four TTM Returns Today

The three returns that were in my Informed Delivery email but not my mailbox yesterday showed up, as well as one more. 

Today's returns are mostly cards from the 80's, with the exception of Chuck Essegian, who signed his 1959, 1961 and 1963 Topps as well as the 1962 Topps Orioles team card.

Alan Bannister, Kiko Garcia and Junior Kennedy all signed four cards for me, including 1982 and 1983 Topps from each for my sets.

My returns streak is now at 16 days on days that mail is delivered.  There was MLK Jr. Day and a Federal Holiday for Jimmy Carter when mail wasn't delivered as well as the usual Sundays.  I'm sending out about 10 more requests today and have a lot outstanding, so even if my streak doesn't continue, I should have pretty consistent returns for a while.