I was excited to see another old return in my Informed Delivery email this morning, which was obvious due to the Bonsai forever stamp on the sase. Unfortunately, Jim Dickson returned my 1965 and 1966 Topps unsigned that I sent back in December of 2023. I see another return on SCN today that was sent about a month after mine, but it was signed. Maybe I'll try again and include $10. Maybe it was just a mistake. And maybe I'll lose $10...
I had two nice successes today, however.
87-year-old Bob Aspromonte signed another 1964 Topps Stand Up for me, as well as his 1971 Topps and a 1972 Mets team card. He wrote a short note and signed it on his letterhead notepad. Mr. Aspromonte, and his 94-year-old brother Ken, are very generous and reliable ttm signers.
And the ever-reliable Bill Mazeroski signed his 1963 Fleer and a couple Allen & Ginters for me for his bargain price of $10 per card. I was surprised I hadn't sent the Fleer yet. I need to take another inventory and make sure I'm not missing any other cards. I have a TON of his cards signed, including a handful of duplicates. Probably more than any other single player in my collection. As well as a couple balls, a bat, two bobbleheads, an ice cream helmet, a photo, a magazine and a couple programs/scorecards. I might be approaching 100 Mazeroski autographs.
I also received another Reggie Jackson rookie card I bought on eBay, but had to go through their "authentication" process despite already being authenticated and graded by SGC. I've mentioned this several times, but for these vintage cards, I think the grades of 3 or 4 offer the best value, but you have to shop around a bit tom find a card that has the least offensive flaws. This one is nicely centered (comparatively), has no creases other than a tiny corner crease, and reasonable corners. It's very similar to the one I already sent off to be signed. I will send this one off too, but didn't want my first two cards to arrive late and I didn't know when this one would show up.
I took a bit of a chance on this card since the photo on eBay had what appeared to be either a shadow across his body, or a stain on the card. Based on the shadows around the rest of the photo, and assuming the card wouldn't grade a 4 with a big stain, I made an offer just about 10% below asking price and the offer was accepted. I'm guessing some buyers may have passed it by due to the shadow in the photo.
Anyway, I'll crack this open and get it in the mail on Tuesday (Monday is a holiday) and it should still make it in time. 11 days is plenty, although a previous shipment of mine, with a Johnny Bench rookie card, didn't make it in 10 days and I missed the signing. It didn't have far to go, either.
I actually have one more of these cards on its way. I found a pretty good deal on another PSA 3 copy. Its centering is off a bit, but otherwise as nice as this one and $50 less. So, if that one arrives in time, which I doubt, I'll end up with three signed rookie for Reggie. Unfortunately, that one also has to go through the eBay authentication, so it is being shipped from the seller in Florida, to the eBay authenticator in California, and then back to me in Minnesota. It's out for delivery to the Authenticator today, but we'll see if it makes its way to me in time. I'd need at least 5 days to get it to the promoter.
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