Another Return? Dave Chalk

Another surprise this week as I received another return that I sent back in April.

Dave Chalk signed his 1976, 1978 and 1979 Topps for me,

Don Mossi - 1963 Tiger Twirlers

I'm surprised to get another card back considering I haven't sent out any for quite a while.

But today I got a card back from Don Mossi, who signed his 1963 Topps Tiger Twirlers card already signed by Frank Lary.  Now it's off to  Jim Bunning to complete it!

I'm Still Here!

I just haven't been sending out requests.  I have a small amount outstanding, so they might trickle in here and there.

Speaking of which, Mike Andrews returned a 1972 Topps I sent to him back in January.  I included $10 for The Jimmy Fund.

I don't think I'll send out any requests for the next couple of months.  This summer we'll be busy with some vacation time and an old Mustang the boys and I bought to work on.  If it's really rainy or something, maybe I'll get a few out.

Trevor May - 2016 Spring Training Return

It took three months, but I received a return from Trevor May that I sent to him during Spring Training back in February. Thanks Trevor!

This makes 3 out of 12 requests that have come back from Twins' Spring Training this year, joining Kennys Vargas and Eduardo Escobar.

Dave Nelson Return

Today I received a return from Dave Nelson.  I sent my request in care of the Milwaukee Brewers about three weeks ago.

He signed his 1972 and 1976 Topps for me.  This makes number six out of my goal of ten signed 1972 Topps for the year.

Catching Up - Bob Owchinko and Doug Bird

I've received two returns this week.

On Tuesday, I received a return from Bob Owchinko, who was kind enough to sign his 1978, 1979 and 1985 Topps for me.

I received my 1976, 1978 and 1979 Topps signed by Doug Bird in today's mail.

 

It looks like Sunday will be a rainy day.  Maybe I'll take that opportunity to send out some more requests.

Paul Thormodsgard Return

Today I received a quick return from former Twin Paul Thormodsgard, who signed his 1978 and 1979 Topps for me.

I wonder if Mr. Thormodsgard still throws.  The Twins bullpen could use him.  An 0-7 start this year.  Brutal.

Gary Geiger - 1958 Topps

After posting my first quarter goal updates, I decided to finish one up.  I had already gotten two more 1958 Topps cards for my set, but my goal was three.  I used some Ebay bucks to help reduce the cost of this, which wasn't too bad to start with.  I think I have 126 cards from the 1958 set that I don't have signed.  Mays and Koufax off the top of my head.  Ouch.

Now I have to get going on my 1965 Topps goal.  I set a goal of five more for the year, but haven't gotten any.  Maybe this weekend I'll review my list to see if there are any more ttm signers that I can try to get.

Eduardo Escobar - 2015 Topps Heritage

A day after complaining that I've only received one return from spring training, I received another. Eduardo Escobar signed his 2015 Topps Heritage for me.  Hopefully more will come back soon!

I also sent out five new requests today, all for my 1978 Topps set.

Q1 2016 Goals Update

I haven't done much work towards my goals in the last month or so.  I did send a dozen requests to Twins spring training and have only received one back.  I expected to do much better than that, but maybe some of those will come back during the regular season.

Here are my 2016 goals and my progress so far:

Goal - Add 3 cards to my 1958 Topps set. - So far I've added two, so I shouldn't have a problem getting one more this year.

Goal - Add 10 cards to my 1963 Topps set - I'm at nine so far, so this one will be easy.  Maybe I set this goal too low.

Goal - Add 5 cards to my 1965 Topps set -  I haven't added any, so I need to get going on this one.

Goal - Add 10 cards to my 1972 Topps set - I'm at five, so this should be an easy one too.

Goal - Add 75 cards to my 1978 Topps set - I'm only at eight, so I have a long way to go.  It's just a matter of taking the time to write some letters.  For some reason, I can't get motivated on this set.

Goal - Send out 150 TTM requests - I'm at only 27 requests do far this year.  I'll need ot pick up the pace quite a bit to meet this goal.

Goal - Get two bobbleheads signed - Since I didn't go to TwinsFest, this one will be tough.  I really don't have that many bobbleheads left that need to be signed, but I did just buy one on Ebay that I'll post about when I receive it.

Goal - Get three magazines signed TTM - I haven't sent any, so I need to get going on this one.

That's it for Q1.  How is everyone else doing on their goals?

Met Stadium Cups

Today I received a couple oddball items I bought on Ebay from a local dealer.

These are cups used for beverage sales at the Old Met Stadium. The dealer's listing dated these as 1956, which is when Met Stadium opened and the Minneapolis Millers played there.  But these cups say "Major-League Baseball Stadium" and the Twins didn't play there until the 1961 season. 

So I'm not convinced of the date, but it's late 50's or 60's.

I'm not sure why I decided I needed to have these, but I thought they were pretty cool.

Choo Choo Coleman

Corey, a reader of my blog, was kind enough to send me information about a Choo Choo Coleman signing that was being held in March.

I sent in a 1961 and 1963 Topps for my sets and got them back today.

Thanks Corey!!

Kennys Vargas - My First Spring Training Return

Kennys Vargas was first to respond to my spring training requests.  He signed his 2015 Topps Heritage and Allen & Ginter cards for me.


Now I'm 1 for 12 for my spring training requests.  Hopefully there will be more to come shortly.

Two Returns From Dave Stenhouse

I'm not sure I've had this happen before.  Back in September of 2014, I sent a 1963 and 1964 Topps to Dave Stenhouse.  Since I hadn't received them back as of January of this year, I sent another 1963 Topps to him.

I received two envelopes from him yesterday. which contained all my cards back signed.

Finished! 1960 Pitching Leaders

So far my spring training effort has been a complete bust.  0 for 12.  I expected to at least get back a couple by now.

Today I did get a nice return though.  Jim Perry finished off my 1961 Topps card of the American League games won leaders from 1960.

It took 18 months to complete.

Chris Potter Purchases

Today I received a purchase of 15 cards from Chris Potter's Ebay store.  I've sent a lot of items in to Chris' signings and have also previously bought some cards from him on Ebay.  Occasionally he has a sale which I take advantage of.  These cards were 75% off his normal price but frankly, his normal price is way too high.

These were reasonably priced on sale.  These cards are signed by players that are deceased, tough signers through the mail, or who charge a ttm fee that made it either cheaper or about the same to just buy them from Chris.

I added a bunch of cards for my sets, including 1963 and 1972 Topps.

I won't list them all, but here are the scans:

Twins Spring Training Requests

The TTM returns have been really slow lately.  I have 5 or 6 out that I would expect to come back soon.

I also decided to try a few Spring Training requests this year.  Spring Training seems to be a time when current players are more likely to sign than the regular season.  Some collectors send out hundreds of requests to various spring training teams but I've decided just to stick with the Twins.

I didn't attend TwinsFest this year, so I've just sent some Allen & Ginter and Topps Heritage cards that I would normally try to get signed during that event.

I sent out an even dozen over the last week or so.  I didn't bother sending to players that haven't had any successes reported on SCN over the last year or two, so I hope my success rate will be decent.  I'll be happy to get 8 of the 12 back, but that might be optimistic.

Whew! Frank Lary Return After Six Months

I was just starting to think about this card and wondering when it would come back.  Mr. Lary is a very reliable signer, but sometimes it takes a while.

I sent these cards back in August of last year.  Mr Lary signed a 1961 Topps ERA Leaders card already signed by Milt Pappas, Art Ditmar, Bud Daley and Chuck Estrada.    Now I just need to send it off to Jim Perry to complete it!

He also signed a 1963 Topps Tigers Twirlers that I'll try getting Don Mossi and Jim Bunning on too.

Finally, a Return

It's been really slow lately, so I was happy to see a return today.

Buck Martinez signed his 1971, 1972, 1976 and 1978 Topps.  This helps me add to two sets I'm working on; 1972 and 1978 Topps.

Pete Rose Signed Cards

I sent in a few cards to a Pete Rose signing that I learned about on sportscollectors.net and received them back today.

He signed a 1973 Topps and both his 1978 Topps cards.

I'm not really working on the 1973 Topps set, but I remember this card as being a favorite when I was a kid, so I thought is would be cool to get it signed.