Usually Tuesdays are slow at the mailbox for me, but today I received three returns.
Gene Clines signed his 1972, 1976, 1977 and 1979 Topps.
Chuck Essegian signed his 1962 Topps.
And Jim Maloney signed his 1964 Topps Stand Up and 1971 Topps.
I've sent out six more requests this week and have about 25 requests outstanding so I expect the returns to remain steady.
I received three returns today with quite a variety of items signed.
Joe Carter signed a 2001 Upper Deck jersey card for his $5 fee.
Steve Garvey signed his 1972 and 1978 Topps for his $5 per card fee. Last time I sent these, I received them back unsigned in my SASE with the cash missing, so I was happy to get these back.
And Johnny Grubb is the first player to sign his 1977 Pepsi Disc for me. He also signed his 1979 and 1980 Topps. The postage seemed to work out fine, so I may send out a few more of these discs. I currently have two more of these out.
Today was a good day at the mailbox. I received four returns:
Jerry Koosman signed his Ron Lewis 1969 Mets postcard and his 1970 Topps All Star card.
Hector Lopez signed his 1956 Topps.
Floyd Robinson sign another 1964 Topps Stand Up for my collection.
And Lou Whitaker completed the 1978 Topps Rookie 2nd Basemen card.
All but the Lopez card required fees/donations. I've been spending too much lately, so many of my requests going out will be to players that sign for free (if I can find any).
Today I received a baseball signed by Pete Rose through a private signing with Tom Orr of Atommic Sports.
When I saw the posting listed on SCN, I looked at the cards I have signed by him and decided I didn't really need any more. But then I noticed I didn't have a baseball signed by him yet. How could that be? I've been collecting since 2003 and don't have a Pete Rose signed baseball yet? Anyway, it turned out nicely, I think.
The returns continue to trickle in. I guess it's no surprise, since I've been sending out my requests in small batches, rather than large groups like I've done in the past.
Today I received a return from Mel Roach, who signed his 1955 Topps.
One more return today: Paul Molitor signed his 2016 Topps Heritage in very thin blue marker. It's a little hard to see, but it's a tough card to sign since there are some dark spots, and the only other area to sign it would be right across his face.
I sent along his $20 fee. I had seen some returns on SCN that he included a note that his price was going to go up to $30 per card as of June 1, so I sent out the only other card of his that I was considering having signed.
I received one more return today. I like the steady rate at which I've been receiving my requests back, without getting a lot in one day, but still getting at least one almost every day.
Today I received a 1971 Topps signed by Clay Dalrymple, who signs for a $5 fee.
I also think I've figured out how to send out my 1977 Pepsi discs for a reasonable price. I use a 6x9 manila envelope as the SASE. With the disc and a couple cards, it stays under an ounce and at that size, is considered a "letter", so it can ship for the regular $0.55.
I put that envelope inside a 6.5x9.5 manila envelope, and that also puts the weight up to 2 ounces. So I have to pay the large envelope cost plus the extra ounce, so it's $1.20. Luckily, they weren't concerned about it being too rigid, so it didn't have to be sent as a package.
If I were sending out hundreds of these, I'd find a way to get the larger envelope less than 6 1/8" wide, so it would be a "letter" rather than a "large envelope", and that would cost $0.75. But, I'm probably sending out a few dozen at most and since I've already bought the larger envelopes, I'm just going to stick with them.
My Informed Delivery email showed one return today, but when I got to the mailbox I had two returns, and not the one that was in the email. I also received an Ebay purchase other than the one in the email. I wonder if the holiday weekend affects that process.
Anyway, Art Shamsky signed his 1972 Topps for me. I had sent this card and a Ron Lewis postcard to Mr. Shamsky in 2015, and in 2020 I received this card back unsigned along with the signed postcard. I sent this one out again a few weeks ago.
Also, Ron Gardenhire signed his 2004 and 2013 Topps Heritage cards for my Twins sets. I saw Mr. Gardenhire at a lot of signings when he was with the Twins so I was surprised I still hadn't gotten these signed yet.
Clause Osteen responded to my request in just six days. He added the 7th signed 1964 Topps Stand Up to my collection and also signed his 1976 Topps.
I have four other Stand Ups out right now, and one more ready to send out as soon as I receive another card I bought on Ebay to go with it.
I am focusing a bit on the Stand Ups, along with a few 1970 Topps All Star cards. I still want to send out a bunch of the 1977 Pepsi discs, but my test request hasn't been returned yet. I may try another test so see how the envelopes work for an item of this size.
Craig Mitchell signed a couple cards for me and returned them in about 9 days. The cards got a little beat up, probably on the return trip based on the looks of the return envelope. They aren't torn or anything, but the upper left corners on each have some creasing and the cards don't lie flat anymore.
On his 1976 Topps, it looks like the only other reliable signer is George Throop is the only other reliable signer. Jose Sosa passed away, and it looks like Steve Grilli hasn't had a success on SCN since 2018. However, after a closer look, that was also the latest request. After I have Throop sign it, I'll decide if it's worth the risk.
The 1978 Topps is already signed by Dennis Lamp. Cardell Camper is deceased, but Roy Thomas is a pretty reliable signer. He has a bit of a blacklog of requests going back to March, so as soon as I see some of those coming back, I'll send it on to him.
It took me a while, but I finally got both Pat Neshek and Lowell Palmer on their look-a-like cards from 1970 and 2019.
I got Neshek back a few days ago, but just got Palmer today. He also signed his 1971 Topps for me.
The week has started out well with one return from former-Twin Dwight Siebler.
He was kind enough to sign his 1964 Topps already signed by Jerry (Gerry) Arrigo, as well as his 1965 and 1967 Topps.
I received a couple unsigned cards from Ebay purchases in the mail today, so they will be going out shortly.
I received two more returns today.
Thad Bosley signed his 1978, 1985 and 1987 Topps for my sets.
And Pat Neshek signed his 2006 Topps '52, 2019 Allen & Ginter regular and mini, and 2019 Topps Heritage cards.
Recently I was marveling at some of the great players I used to be able to get autographs from ttm (before they passed away). I was also wishing I had sent more when I had the chance.
For example, Phil Rizzuto signed his 1954 Topps for me for his $12 fee in 2005.
Duke Snider signed his 1958 Topps for $5 in 2003.
And Yogi Berra signed his 2000 Fleer Greats of the Game for $10 in 2004.
There were many other players of similar caliber: Hank Bauer, Whitey Ford, Harmon Killebrew, Ernie Banks and Bob Feller, just to name a few.
And this wasn't really that long ago. I started in the hobby 18 years ago (2003).
So I decided I shouldn't have any regrets 18 years from now and start trying to make sure I've sent to the current generation of high-caliber players that sign for reasonable fees. After putting a top-of-mind list together, I came up with the players below.
Note that this isn't meant to be a living, ongoing list that will be updated to reflect current fees and signing habits, but just a point-in-time list to demonstrate the availability of great willing-signers. I'm not going to list their current fees either, but I believe all of these have fees for cards that are $20 or lower. Note that these players are all in the Hall of Fame, but that wasn't a requirement when I started the list.
In no particular order:
