TTM, Mail-In Signings and Purchases

Lots of returns today.

I had three ttm returns.  I sent Lloyd Merritt his 1958 Topps, a 1958 Topps Cardinals team card, a blue Staedtler and $10.  He signed my cards nicely and returned my $10.  I have a few other 58 Topps signed by him, but they'll all in fine black marker.

Masanori Murakami signed four cards for me from Japan. 

And Art Mahaffey signed a couple cards, including another 1962 Post for my son.

I bought a few cards from Tom Orr, including a nice 1970 Topps Batting Leaders card signed by Rod Carew, Reggie Smith and Tony Oliva.

I received another Grand Slam print back from an Ozzie Smith signing.  Like always, I asked for the Beckett sticker to be placed on the back, but it got placed on the front.  The promoter apologized, but it's no big deal.  Just my preference.

And I received three cards back from a former-Twin Lenny Faedo signing.

I have some authenticated cards back from a group JSA/CGC submission, but I had them held at a local store rather than delivered to my house since it required a signature.  I'll pick them up later today or tomorrow.

Bill Mazeroski TTM Return and Some Mill Creek Purchases

It's been a pretty steady week with ttm or mail-in signings returns every day.

Today, I received a ttm return from Bill Mazeroski, who signed his 1958 and 1971 Topps, which are upgrades to my existing cards.  And he signed the 73 and 74 Coaches cards, which complete my Topps run of his cards.

I made another Mill Creek Sports purchase while they had their sale going on.  This purchase included a Dave Winfield 8x10 with him shown in a Twins throwback jersey, as well as a few vintage cards that were pretty heavily discounted.

Chuck Estrada TTM Return

One more ttm return today.  It's been a pretty steady week.  

Chuck Estrada signed his 1962 Post as well as three Orioles team cards for me in just over two weeks.

I've sent out about 15 ttm requests this week and have a bunch of vintage (1960's) cards coming from some eBay purchases, so I hope to keep some momentum going.

Tony Oliva Signing Return - Bobbleheads

I posted the Western Oil (Nicholas Volpe) print a few days ago that was signed by Tony Oliva at Fan HQ.

Today, I received the rest of my order: three bobbleheads.  Two of them commemorate his Hall of Fame induction, and one of them commemorates his Twins Hall of Fame induction.

I think I now have all of his SGA bobbleheads signed, as well as at least one (maybe two?) that were given to season ticket holders.  And, I have one that I bought directly from him (and his daughter) that they commissioned and sold via his web site.  It swivels at the waist, so if you pull it back and let go, it looks like he's swinging the bat.  Clever.  You can still buy one at https://sportslegendsusa.com/product/tony-oliva-spinning-bobblehead-2/

He does an amazing job signing these tricky items, especially considering he is 87 years old.  His signature does not appear to be shaky at all.

I had some signed by Rod Carew a while back, and he clearly struggled to sign them and had some shakiness and even some smearing.

Tony Kubek and Juan Marichal TTM Returns

I received two nice through the mail (ttm) returns today.

Former-Yankee and 1957 Rookie of the Year Tony Kubek signed a 1962 Post for the set I'm working on for my son.  Kubek has a relatively high fee of $35 which goes to his church.  He wrote a nice thank you note on my letter as well.

I've sent him a few cards over the years, including the 1972 Topps ROY Award card, his 1965 Topps, and a cool 1962 Topps action card, as well as a few others.

I also have his 1958 Topps signed, of course, as it is the primary set that I work on.  It took me six years to break down and pay his fee (back in 2009).

I began my collection by saying I wasn't going to pay any fees and just get autographs from the free signers.  That lasted about 6 months, before I realized I'd never get any Hall of Famers or other high-quality players.  However, back then (2003), I was able to get quite a few players on their 1958 Topps cards for free and probably paid 37 cents each way for postage.

Despite already having Juan Marichal's 1965 Topps signed nicely, and a slabbed version with his 1965 All Star MVP inscription. I sent him another copy of the card to sign.  I had the card, I had $20, so off it went.  

The 1965 Topps set is one of my favorites.  I have 454 different cards signed from the set, leaving 144 more to go.  I have about 175 duplicates as well, and then dozens of signatures on the team cards from that year.

Some favorites:

I could go on and on with my favorites, but you can view my entire set collection here:

https://www.thedroidtrader.com/1965topps.html

Jose Santiago and Tommy Watkins TTM Returns

I previously sent a request to Jose Santiago without any cash and my cards were returned unsigned.  I tried again with $5 per and received these cards back today.  I sent two 1965 Topps because all I had was a $20.

His signature is getting pretty shaky.  Here's a card I received from him back in 2006.

I was surprised to see a return in my Informed Delivery email with a local postmark.  It turned out to be Twins Third Base Coach Tommy Watkins.  I sent this request to Twins spring training back in February.

With Rocco Baldelli getting fired from his role, Watkins is probably assuming he's gone as well.  Maybe he's cleaning out his mailbox.  This was my second attempt with him.  I sent the same card back in 2021 and received it back unsigned.

I wonder if I'll receive any other spring training requests back now that the season is over for the Twins.  I had sent 18, I think, and only received 3 or 4 returns.