Seven TTM Successes, One Failure and a Purchase

I can't remember the last time I had eight TTM returns in the same day.  It's been a long time.

Unfortunately, one of the returns was a failure.  I Sent a 1960 Topps to Maury Wills along with a $10 bill.  It came back in my sase unsigned with the $10 bill, which I ripped when opening the envelope!  I saw a couple other failures on SCN from Wills, but also many successes, including successes where he signed this card.  I may try again with $20 to see what happens.  The 1960 Topps is a 1959 World Series game #5 card, showing Luis Aparicio stealing second base with Maury Wills covering the bag.  It is a pre-rookie card for Wills, who I think has a 1963 Fleer as his official rookie card.  Anyway, I'll try it again after I see if I can figure out what might increase my chances.

The purchase I received was a 2017 Allen & Ginter signed by Byron Buxton from an SCN member.  I think Buxton has a lot of potential, if only he can stay healthy.  That's a big if, apparently.

To save me time and work, I'm going to skip listing my successes again, and just show the cards.  I'll highlight the Cepeda return however, who not only signed my three cards for a $30 check made out to him, but he also answered a question in my letter!  I included $15 with my Maxwell request, and $10 with the Campaneris request.

Jack Heidemann Return and a Large Purchase

Jack Heidemann signed his 1975 and 1977 Topps for my collection.  Both cards ended up with a crease in the upper left corner, unfortunately.

I also received some Ebay purchases from auctions that ended on Sunday.  All of these cards were sold by Tom Orr of Atommic Sport, who I have trusted with countless mail in signings over the years.  I went a little overboard, but I honestly didn't think I'd win all of the auctions.  I feel like I got a very good deal on these cards, but the total added up quickly.

For those players that sign ttm, these purchases were cheaper than their fees, with the exception of the two Cepeda cards, which I paid a couple dollars more than his fee and the postage I would have spent to send to him, but I removed the risk of not getting them back, or getting a bad signature, etc.

For those that don't sign ttm, the cost was far cheaper than their typical private signing fees.  For example, I paid about $41 for the 1987 Topps Eddie Murray card.  I f I had sent this card to Tom Orr for his last Eddie Murray signing in February, I would have had to pay $80, plus shipping both ways in padded envelopes with tracking, so probably a total of about $88 - $90.

I was surprised I won this many auctions, but I had bid on several more that I didn't win, which is probably a good thing.  There are eleven cards, so I'm just going to post the pictures rather than list them all.  The lot includes several Twins, which I'm especially happy to add to my collection.

Four TTM Returns and Some Purchases

I received a few nice TTM returns today and three cards I purchased from a fellow SCN member.

Steve Busby the 1973 and 1975 Topps Royals team cards as well as his 1974 and 1975 Topps.  He wrote "Not My Picture" on the 75 but signed it as well.  Apparently, the person pictured is Fran Healy, which I discovered after a quick web search.

Charlie Hough signed his 1975, 1976, 1983 and 1985 Topps.  There is conflicting information on SCN as to whether or not Mr. Hough charges a fee and appears to have been signing through JD Legends for a while.  I did not send a fee.

Al Spangler signed his 1960 and 1961 Topps as well as a 1961 Post card.

And finally, Jerry Walker signed the 1960 Topps Young Hill Stars card that I had signed by Milt Pappas back in 2008.  I'm not sure why I never sent it out sooner than this, but as soon as I get a little cash, it's off to Jack Fisher to be completed.

The three cards I purchased include a 1961 Topps Elmer Valo, 1964 Topps Sam Mele and 2009 Topps Heritage Denard Span.  I was surprised I still needed this Span card because I saw him many times at TwinsFest during his time with the Twins.

Johnny Edwards TTM Return

The always-generous Johnny Edwards signed his 1962, 1963, and 1967 Topps cards as well as the 1971 Topps Astros team card.

As he often does, he also included three signed, personalized photos (which I didn't scan).

Tippy Martinez Return

I received one return to start off the month.

Tippy Martinez signed his 1979, 1981, 1983 and 1986 Topps for me.