John O'Donoghue and Jim Rice TTM Returns

The returns continue to trickle in.  I'm still waiting for the day that my mailbox is stuffed with returns.

As I've mentioned over the last couple of weeks, I've been sending out some cards that I already have to attempt to upgrade some of them.  In some cases, I just send a normal request and hope the cards get signed with a nice blue marker, like a sharpie.  I look at the player's history on SCN to see how likely it appears that I'll get that signature.  If it looks good, I just send a normal request.   

If the player consistently signs in black or ballpoint, I include a blue sharpie with my request.  That means I send it in a bubble envelope at a cost of over $4.00 and typically I use another bubble envelope for my sase.  I use PirateShip for the postage labels.  It's nice to be able to track my request both to the player and back to me.  It's not nice to pay over $8.00 in postage and about another dollar on envelopes.

Today I received such a return from John O'Donoghue.  Unfortunately, he used the same old black pen that he used for my previous requests in 2004 and 2021.  As you can see, it doesn't work well.

These aren't much of an upgrade over the cards I got back in 2004:

or in 2021:

I don't mean to sound rude or unappreciative, but as a collector, I am disappointed.

I'm not sure why he didn't use it.  He was kind enough to answer a couple questions in my letter and even put the cards and the note into his own small, regular envelope before putting it in my return bubble envelope.  So, he took some care in completing my request, but didn't offer up a reason for not using my sharpie.  Maybe he missed it entirely?  I put the sharpie at the bottom of the larger bubble envelope I send my request in, so it's possible he didn't notice it.  I did reference it in my letter, which he obviously read because he answered the questions.  I guess going forward, I'll put a sticky note on the cards requesting that the sharpie be used.  I appreciate his time and effort, but am disappointed in the results, especially considering the cost.  Totally not his fault, and he didn't need to sign my cards at all, so I guess I should be happy to get anything back.

I think I may also begin using a regular envelope for my sase instead of a bubble envelope, depending on the value of the cards and rarity of the signature.  This request would have been a good candidate for a regular sase.

On the brighter side, I received a return from Jim Rice, who did a very nice job signing the 1979 Topps RBI and Home Run Leaders cards already signed by George Foster.  Without my asking, he signed the card in the same location and direction as George Foster, so the card appears symmetrical which I really appreciate.

I sent these cards along with his $40 fee in cash in plain white envelopes, both to him and back, so I guess I can justify using a plain sase when I sent a blue sharpie to players.  I think trying to put a sharpie inside a regular business envelope would be a big mistake and result in a lot of ripped open envelopes.

Foster and Rice were on fire in the late 70's, appearing on the 1978 Home Run Leaders card too.  I just noticed that Rice didn't sign in the same manner as Foster on this card, which I sent in August of 2020.

I am waiting for a UPS delivery today that should include some purchases I am really anxious to get.  I'll post those later if they arrive.