TTM Returns, a Mail-In Signing Return, and a Purchase Arrives

Today I received all sorts of autographed cards and postcards.

I received three ttm returns:

Denny McLain signed the 1965 Tigers team card as well as the 1972 Topps Cy Young and MVP Award cards.  I hadn't really planned as to whether I'd send these award cards out to anyone else, but since he added inscriptions that took up the whole card, I'll keep these as-is.

Jim Perry signed the Twins team cards from 1970, 1971 and 1972 Topps as well as the 1972 Cy Young card.  He won the award in 1970 while with the Twins.

Ryne Sandberg signed his Hall of Fame postcard and a 2014 Topps Heritage card.  He signed the postcard across the plaque rather than the usual spot in the upper margin.  I didn't think I needed to put a post it on these postcards with instructions on where to sign, but moving forward I guess I will.

I also received a return from an Art Shamsky mail-in signing.  I had him sign a 1969 Mets Ron Lewis postcard.  He signed one for me years ago ttm, but signed it in ballpoint.

Finally, I received my third and final (for now) purchase from Mill Creek Sports.  I bought a Fritz Peterson 1975 Topps not noticing that it was a mini, a Dave Roberts 1972 Topps ERA Leaders card and a few team cards signed by Hank Foiles (now charging $20 per), Herman Franks (deceased) and Ernie Broglio (deceased).

Mill Creek Sports Purchase #2

I received purchase number two from Mill Creek Sports today.  Oddly, this is the most recent order I place, and one I placed prior to this has yet to be delivered, despite quick shipping by Mill Creek.  That order arrived in my general area yesterday but didn't make it to my local PO for final delivery.

This order contained a 1966 Topps signed by Jerry Zimmerman and a 1967 Topps signed by Zoilo Versalles.  Zoilo is a relatively tough signature to get, and there are a lot of ghost-signed cards out there.  I believe his wife used to sign his ttm requests.

I bought a lot of signed cards at an auction at a local card club here in the Twin Cities back in 2012 which contained a ghost-signed card of his.  It has a feminine quality to it and doesn't have the odd angle that Versalles signed with.

Aspromonte and Colavito Returns

Today I received a couple more ttm returns.

Ken Aspromonte signed his 1960 Topps, a checklist from the 1961 Topps set, and a couple Indians team cards.  I asked him to sign the back of the checklist since that's where his card is listed.

Rocky Colavito signed his 1959 Topps Baseball Thills card.  His fee is steep at $55, but I had to have this card in my collection.

Claude Osteen TTM Return

Claude Osteen is a very reliable and generous signer.  I recently sent him his 1964 Topps as well as three Dodgers team cards (1971, 1972, 1973), and he returned them all signed in just 10 days.

I have a lot of requests out and they are just trickling in.  Someday I'll probably get a bunch of about 10 back in a single day and regret it because it's time consuming to log them all.  Fun though!

Mill Creek Sports Purchase

Today I received the first of three purchases from Mill Creek Sports.  I buy off their web site directly instead of eBay because they offer free shipping, as opposed to $4.99 shipping on eBay, and because you can usually find at least a 10% coupon.  They also don't collect sales tax. I'm assuming they do for in-state purchases and I think they are in Washington state.

This purchase included some deceased and hard to get autographs.

Randy Hundley did a couple signings a few years ago but I didn't see them at the time.  Bob Burda has a 37% success rate on SCN and hasn't had a success since 2019.  Ron Hunt now wants $50 a card to sign, which really means he doesn't want to be bothered.  Herman Franks (1966 Giants team card) and Harry Walker (1966 Pirates team card) are long-deceased.

I also received a partial 1974 Topps set.  589 out of 660, I think.  Mostly missing stars, which is fine.  I mainly will use these to send out to common players as I send out team cards and work on my 1975 and 1978 sets.

Ray Culp TTM Return

I added another Topps All-Star Rookie Trophy card to my collection thanks to Ray Culp, who was kind enough to sign his 1964 Topps for me.  His signature has been shaky for many years, yet he still signs and does a really nice job despite the shakiness.  I appreciate his generosity, and hope signing for his fans isn't a burden. 

There have been several player deaths lately:  Whitey Herzog, Carl Erskine, Larry Brown, Ken Holtzman and Fritz Peterson.  They were all generous signers though the mail.  In fact, I have requests out to Herzog and Holtzman.

Colson and Palmer TTM Returns, Plummer Purchase

I received two ttm returns today and one purchase.

Loyd Colson signed his 1971 Topps and the 1971 Topps Yankees team card.  He also answered a question in my letter. 

And Jim Palmer signed a Hall of Fame postcard for his bargain-of-a-fee at $10.

An SCN friend of mine was at a big card show in Cincinnati a few weeks ago and found these Bill Plummer cards for me there.  Thanks, Jeff!!  Jeff is a big Reds collector, so I reached out to him after Plummer passed away to see if he had any dupes in his collection I could buy, but he ended up coming across these, which are great.

I have a lot of ttm requests out now so the returns should be steady for a while.  And as I mentioned before, I am participating in about 15 mail-in signings, most of which the last week of this month so those will be coming back as well.

Former-Twin Jerry Terrell TTM Return

I received just one return today.  Jerry Terrell signed and personalized his 1975 and 1976 Topps and signed the 1974 and 1975 Twins team cards.  He also included a couple photocopies of his 1974 and 1976 Topps cards which he also signed and personalized.

His pen wasn't working great on many of the cards.  In the past, he didn't personalize anything, but he added bible verses.  I think I prefer the bible verses to the personalization.  I think the ideal scenario is when a player signs but doesn't personalize your cards, then includes a personalized item, like the pictures he enclosed.  Joe Garagiola used to do this.  Regardless, this was a generous return from him especially considering he doesn't charge a fee.

When I receive items back from players, other than the items I sent to be signed, I put them in a little basket by my desk.  Mostly, these items include the letter I sent on which the player has answered a question, or simply wrote me a short note.  Sometimes it's photocopied articles about them, or maybe an advertisement about a book they've written.  This little basket fills up fast, and I just keep stuffing things into the pile.  It usually seems like this can be done indefinitely, because the pile just grows and appears solid.  

Yesterday, however, there was a big shift in all of the items when I added something to it, and I thought it was all going to collapse.  I've quit adding to the pile and need to find some time to put all these items into plastic pages and add them to 3-ring binders.  It's a chore, which is why I don't do it often and this pile grows so big.

Andre Dawson TTM Return

Many of the $10 Hall of Fame ttm signers have raised their prices to $20, such as Orlando Cepeda, Jim Rice and Juan Marichal.

But Andre Dawson is still signing for $10.  Some comments on SCN say that his official price list notes that cards are $20, but everyone, including me, has successfully been including $10 per card.  This even includes his 1977 Topps rookie card.  Also noted on SCN is that he has a tendency to keep the money and card when rookies are sent in.  I reviewed the comments and while there are some instances of it happening, it doesn't appear to be so often that he's obviously doing it on purpose.  It's probably just bad luck with the request either not getting to him or not getting back due to some failure within the USPS or a mix up on Mr. Dawson's part.

I sent him a Hall of Fame postcard as well as a 1979 Topps.  

This is my 19th Hall of Fame postcard.  I've got a couple out in the mail and a few more that I just need to send out.

I'm not trying to complete the 79 set, but I include it with requests while working on my 1978 set, or my 1983 set.  I have a little over 200 but haven't gone out of my way or paid a lot to get any of them signed, unless it was a rookie card of a Hall of Famer, like Ozzie Smith.