Aker, Eckersley, Essegian and Maloney TTM Returns and Some 1958 Topps Purchases

I received four ttm returns back today.  Three were regular returns in my sase, and one was a padded envelope via PirateShip.

Jack Aker signed four cards nicely in blue sharpie for his $5 per card fee.

Dennis Eckersley signed a 1972 Topps Cy Young Award card for his $10 per card fee.  He won the Cy Young Award in 1992.  51 Saves and a 1.91 ERA.  Wow!

I have sent autograph requests to Chuck Essegian nine times over the last 22 years, and I've purchased a few of his signed cards as well.

The only card I had signed by him that was in blue sharpie instead of black ballpoint, was a 2012 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs card that I pulled from a pack.

His signature, even in black ballpoint, looks pretty nice on vintage cards, but sometimes it just wasn't very strong and was hard to read.

I decided to send him the cards I really wanted to upgrade, which was nine, along with a Medium blue Staedtler and $20.  I sent all this in a padded envelope via Pirate Ship.  He doesn't normally charge a fee, so I hoped that the $20 cash would smooth over any negative feelings regarding the large number of cards and the hassle of the padded envelopes and using my pen. I specifically mentioned this in my letter, along with letting him know how much I appreciate him signing for me.

The cards look great!  I feel kind of bad because he returned my $20.  It's not as if he overlooked the cash.  It was in a team bag with the cards, which he had to take the cards out of and return to, so the $20 bill was in his way while doing this.  Hopefully he appreciated the gesture at least.

He didn't return the 1963 Post I had enclosed, so either that was an oversight, or he kept it for himself which is perfectly fine considering he signed eight other cards for me.

Finally, I received four more 1958 Topps for my set, bringing the number of cards I need to complete it down to 78.  I bought these from Tom Orr on SCN.  He posted some signed cards from a 58 set that was about 60% complete.  These four cards were the only ones I didn't already have.  The prices seemed more than fair and I'm happy to add these to my set.

The Dotterer card is inscribed to "Barry", but for the price, that's okay.