Roger McDowell Grand Slam Print

I forgot to post this earlier today.  I received this back from a mail-in signing today.

 

TTM, Purchases, a Consignment and a Mail-In Signing Return as Well as Some Grading Returns

I received all sorts of returns today.

I received a through the mail return from Jake Gibbs, who signed his 1967 Topps and a couple Yankees team cards.

I sent a couple cards to a Dave Concepcion signing to fill some holes in my 1975 and 1978 sets.

I also sent in a couple rookie cards to a Cal Ripken Jr. signing, including his 1982 rookie card, as well as his 1982 Topps Traded which is his first solo card.  I don't get why he was in the Traded series, since he was drafted by, and played for, the Orioles his entire career.

An SCN contact got a Tyler Clippard card signed for me at a golf tournament in Florida.

I made a few purchases lately, including a Yastrzemski baseball and 1976 Topps Vic Albury card from Mill Creek, and a Nolan Ryan 2000 Fleer Greats of the Game card.  Ryan recently doubled his fee through his foundation, so this was cheaper than sending a card to him.  $150 per card now?  Yikes.  I'll try to buy any remaining cards I need already signed.  There aren't currently any cards I need, but would buy a few if the price was right, such as a 1973 Topps.

I also received five cards back from Beckett grading.  A collecting buddy of mine let me include these in his submission.  I was happy and surprised that all five came back with grades of 10.  All five of these autographs were obtained ttm.

More Vintage Bobbleheads

The second box of bobbleheads showed up yesterday.

I bought a Minnesota Gopher version.  I have no intention of buying more college football bobbleheads but figured I should have the Gophers.

I came close to setting my record for the most spent on a single bobblehead on this Willie Mays doll from the 1960's.  I spent just a little less than the Mickey Mantle one I bought a while ago.

The other two include green base dolls of the Phillies and Giants.

I have several bobbleheads of the Giants.  These bobbleheads are the perfect thing for collectors like me who get sucked in and have to have all the variations.  There are SO MANY variations of these dolls that even very experienced collectors see ones they never knew existed every once in a while.

Here are all the Giants versions I have:

Jim Strickland TTM Return and Some Vintage Bobbleheads

I received one of my few remaining recent ttm requests back today.  Jim Strickland signed four cards for me, including a couple buy back cards.  He also answered a question I had in my letter.

I also received one of two boxes of vintage (1960's) bobbleheads.  It's amazing to me how, more often than not, when two identical-sized boxes are shipped to me from this seller, they don't arrive on the same day.

This box has some nice baseball nodders and one football.  The Browns bobblehead is part of the very earliest set from 1960 and has a wooden base.

I bought another Twins bobblehead from the 1963 - 1965 green base set.  My previous one is the version holding a glove and ball, while this one is holding a bat.

I love the Cubs dolls with the mascot head.  This one also came with its original box.

Speaking of mascot heads, I bought another Orioles bobblehead.  This time from the 1963 - 1965 green base set.

I also bought a couple more from the gold base set, made between 1967 and 1972, including a Brewers and White Sox doll.

I should get the other box tomorrow, but it only contains four more bobbleheads.

Oliva, Sheffield and Walker

I had a good start to the week with a paid-signing return and two ttm returns.

I haven't sent to Tony Oliva ttm in 20 years, but I was seeing some returns on SCN and thought I'd give it a shot.  He appeared to be personalizing returns, even with fees enclosed, but it wasn't clear to me if all returns were coming back personalized.  I decided to send him his 1964 Topps, which is a card he shares with Jay Ward.  I hoped that the small space available for signing would result in him not personalizing, but I was wrong.  I enclosed $20 with my request.

I sent a Grand Slam print and four cards to a Gary Sheffield signing.  It was more than I wanted to pay but thought that if he got elected to the Hall of Fame, his prices would go even higher.  Unfortunately, he didn't do too well in the voting, and it appears likely he'll never get elected.  I'm not saying that he does or does not belong, I've given up trying to guess how the voters will vote on the Hall.  I'm happy with how my items from the signing turned out though.  I just didn't get an instant appreciation in their value :-)

Larry Walker has been signing through his charity for many years but earlier this year he sent out notes that he would continue to sign up until a postmarked date of October 25th.  So, I decided to send him a few items that I wanted signed but had been procrastinating sending in.  Each item was $25 to have signed.  Not bad for a Hall of Famer.

I can definitely feel my interest waning a bit in the hobby when the rookie cards I'm getting signed by Hall of Famers are from the 1990's, instead of the 1950's.

I just discovered, although it hasn't been a secret, that Roger Clemens signs ttm through a foundation for $100.  Do I send in a 1985 Topps?  He charges more than that at paid signings.  Sometimes way more, especially for rookie cards.  While he's a suspected PED user, he's still part of baseball history and I don't avoid players like him.  I just don't know if I want to spend $100 on him.  I do kind of work on the 85 Topps set, so it would be nice to have his card included.  I'll have to think about it.

I don't have the Mark McGwire card from the 85 Topps set signed yet either but would consider it if an opportunity arose that I thought was reasonably priced.  The 85 set was the last regular set I can remember to have any cards worth more than a nickel, so having the two most sought after cards from the set signed would be nice.

I don't have any Roger Clemens autographs at all, and just one Allen & Ginter signed by McGwire that I bought from Tom Orr.

Closing Out a Slow Week With a Return From Frank Linzy

This has been the slowest week that I've had in a while, but it will probably stay this way for a few weeks at least.  I haven't sent out many requests, but should be getting a handful of paid signing returns.

Yesterday I received a return from Frank Linzy, who signed three cards for me, including a 1966 Giants team card already signed by Bill Henry, Dick Estelle and Jim Duffalo.