Tom Murphy, Floyd Robinson and Jim Strickland Returns

I received three returns today which included several team cards from the 70's that I've started to focus on.

Tom Murphy signed the 1973 Royals and 1978 Blue Jays team cards, as well as his 1972 and 1973 Topps.

Floyd Robinson signed his 1962 Topps which includes the Topps All-Star Rookie team trophy.  I probably have enough of these to put together a 20-card display to hang on the wall, but I'm waiting for a return from Carlton Fisk to include in it.

And former-Twin Jim Strickland signed the 1971 and 1972 Twins team cards as well as his 1972 and 1973 Topps cards.

Vic Albury has passed away and Rick Dempsey hasn't been signing lately, so this might be it for the 1972 Rookie Stars card.

Carlos Silva - FanHQ Signing

 I've had a god start to the year by sending out 14 requests so far, focusing on some vintage cards from the 60's and even 50's.  Many of them are cards I have already but could be upgrades since the existing ones were signed in black or had some other issue.  I also just wanted to send out to some older players while I still can.

I think I'll be focusing on players from the 70's and 80's moving forward, just because they're still around and I don't have their autographs yet.

Today I received a return from a FanHQ Carlos Silva signing that occurred just yesterday.  I got his 2005 and 2008 Topps Heritage cards signed for my team sets.

I'm missing five cards from the 2008 set now, including Mauer, Morneau, Santana, Mike Lamb, and the team card.

I'm not sure how many I'm missing from the 2005 set.   I only have five, and don't have Mauer, Morneau, Santana, Cuddyer, Kubel or Hunter.  So, I'm a long way from completing that set.

My First Returns of 2022 - DiLauro, Martin, Nash and Washburn

I had more returns in my mailbox than my Informed Delivery email showed, which is a nice change from the returns that are in the email but don't actually show up in my mailbox for a couple days.

Jack DiLauro signed a 1970 Topps World Series card he appears on as well as a 1969 Mets Ron Lewis postcard.  He signed one of these postcards for me several years ago, but this one is a nice upgrade to the skipping, black ballpoint pen he used on the previous one.

J.C. Martin also signed a 1970 Topps World Series card, as well as his 1973 Topps.

Cotton Nash signed his 1971 Topps rookie card already signed by Steve Brye.

And finally, Ray Washburn signed his 1964, 1969 and 1970 Topps.

I'm still pondering my 2022 goals.  I think they will be less specific than in the past and try to focus on quality rather than quantity.  We'll see.

2021 Goal Results

I'm still thinking about my goals for 2022, but here's how I did on my goals for 2021: 

Goal:  Add 10 cards to my 1965 set.

    Progress: I added 12 signed cards to my set.

Goal: Add 25 cards to my 1971 set. 

    Progress: I added 77 cards to this set but had to spend some money to get this done.  I'll probably slow down on this set quite a bit now.

Goal:  Add 15 cards to my 1972 set.

    Progress: I added 21 cards to this set this year.

Goal: Add 50 cards to my 1978 set.

    Progress: I completed this goal by adding 68 cards to this set.

Goal: Add 5 signed baseballs to my collection.

    Progress:  I added exactly five signed balls to my collection this year.

Goal:  Add 5 signed magazines to my collection.

    Progress: I added five signed magazines this year/

Goal: Send out 200 requests.

    Progress: I sent out 370 requests this year.  The most I've sent since 2004, when I sent 491 requests in my second year in this hobby.

So, I met all my goals for the year.  But I spent too much money getting them done.  I think for 2022 I'll focus on some sets that I already have and try to avoid too many paid signings or players that charge ttm.  I always say that, but we'll see if I can follow through on it.

 

My Last Return of the Year - Sam McDowell - Strikeout Leaders

My last return of the year was a good one.

Sam McDowell signed the 1969 Topps of the 1968 American League Strikeout Leaders, previously signed by Denny McLain and Luis Tiant.  I included his $5 fee.

I have a few requests out that I put tracking on and none of them seem to be in motion yet.  I was hoping for at least one to come back before the end of the year, but it's a busy time so hopefully they'll come back shortly after the new year begins.

One of those requests is a 1971 Topps sent to Nolan Ryan in care of his foundation.  He signs a few times a year and it looks like some people on SCN got theirs back at the end of November, so it might be a while before I see that one.

Ken Singleton - 1971 Topps

Just one return today: Ken Singleton signed his 1971 Topps for his $5 fee.

Lou Piniella - 1969 Topps All-Star Rookie (1970 Topps)

I recently decided to start sending out a few cards of players that were named to the Topps All-Star Rookie team.

I sent one to Lou Piniella from the 1970 set earlier this month and it came back on Friday.  Unfortunately, the signature smeared a bit at the end.

Shane Mack Poster - FanHQ Signing

A few weeks ago, I shared a 1991 Twins bobblehead that I got signed by Shane Mack via FanHQ.  This was a mail-in signing where they collect all the items, then mail them to the player to sign in bulk.  The player then sends them all back to FanHQ, who then mails them back to each individual who participated.  FanHQ was not present for the signing.

When they got the items back, there was an issue with my poster.  Mack had signed it in silver towards the bottom, as I requested.  But something odd happened either with the pen he used or with the poster itself, but the second part of his name was very light, and it did not look good at all.

To try to compensate for this, Mack then signed it towards the top in black.  Nice effort, but the result was a very odd-looking piece.

FanHQ contacted me about it and let me know what happened.  They told me they would get another copy of this poster signed for me at a signing with another promoter occurring later in December.  I was really impressed with their willingness to get this done for me.  It would have been really easy for them to simply send me the first attempt on the poster and refund my money or something, but they made sure I got what I had intended.  I told them if it was safer, to go ahead and have him sign it in blue at the bottom, which he did.

I'm not sure what the story is with these posters.  They have WCCO (TV and Radio) and TCF Bank logos on the bottom, so my guess is they were giveaways.  I've also seen copies without the logos.

Anyway, I think there are 14 of these posters, including Rick Aguilera, Chili Davis, Scott Erickson, Greg Gagne, Dan Gladden, Brian Harper, Kent Hrbek, Tom Kelly, Chuck Knoblauch, Shane Mack, Jack Morris, Mike Pagliarulo, Kirby Puckett, and Kevin Tapani.

I plan on sending one to be signed by Chuck Knoblauch in January and will work on the rest as I can. They are oddly sized at 7 inches by 18 inches, so I'm not sure how to display or store them.  I'll figure that out later, I guess.

Craig, Guidry and Wills

I was surprised to get three returns today.   I thought my returns might start dwindling a bit before Christmas.  We'll see how the rest of the week goes.  I also expect to send out a bunch more this week and next while I have time.

Pete Craig signed his 1965 Topps already signed by Dick Nen.  I sent this card to Nen in October and received it in early November.  I sent it to Craig in early December.

Ron Guidry signed his 1983 Topps for me.  I'm still undecided as to how hard I'll go after this set and how much money I'll spend on it.  I'll probably prioritize some stars and any Hall of Famers I am willing to pay for before deciding to spend any real money on it.

And Ted Wills signed his 1961, 1962 and 1965 Topps.  I have wanted to send his 1961 Topps for a while, but it's a relatively expensive card and I've been putting it off.

Ivan DeJesus and Bobby Valentine

I was a little nervous about one of the returns I saw in my Informed Delivery email this morning because it had a return stamp on it that I didn't recognize. I was afraid that I had forgotten to put a stamp on my return envelope and the signer had to put one of their own in it.

But it turns out it was just an old request as Ivan DeJesus signed his 1978, 1979 and 1980 Topps for me in about 18 months.

I also received a return from Bobby Valentine, who signed his 1973 Topps for me.

Steve Brye Return

Just one return today.  Former-Twin Steve Brye signed his 1971, 1973, 1975 (mini) and 1976 Topps for my collection.

It appears as if Cotton Nash is also a good signer, so I'll send the 71 off to him next.

I also ordered a few early 1960's cards of players with their Topps All Star Rookie Team trophies on them to send out for autographs.

Roy Thomas and Jim York Returns

I received two returns today.

Roy Thomas signed his 1978 Topps already signed by Dennis Lamp and Craig Mitchell.  Cardell Camper is deceased, so this card is now retired.  He also signed his 197 and 1980 Topps.

And Jim York signed his 1973, 1975 mini and 1976 Topps cards for me.

I've sent out a few requests lately.  Hopefully enough to keep the returns consistent for a while.  I also sent out a relative longshot request today (at least for me) to a former Twin who is a spotty signer.  And I didn't just send the typical card.  I sent a 1964 Western Oil Nicholas Volpe print.  We'll see if it ever comes back.

I also came across a 1988 All Star game program that I didn't remember having.  I read up on the game a bit and there are some Twins and former-Twins that played in that game.  Frank Viola was the winning pitcher and won the AL Cy Young that year.  Terry Steinbach, who was with the A's at the time, was the MVP.  Paul Molitor and Kirby Puckett went hitless.  Dave Winfield got a hit and scored a run.  Gaetti and Laudner also made appearances.

I think I will have Frank Viola sign the cover and ask that he add his Cy Young inscription.

Jim Rice - 1976 Topps

I've continued to send out to the "cheap" Hall of Famers like Juan Marichal, Harold Baines, Jim Palmer and Jim Rice.  I guess I consider $20 or less cheap for a Hall of Famer.  Molitor, Blyleven and Andre Dawson also come to mind.

Last time I sent to Jim Rice, I sent a 1976 and 1985 Topps along with $20.  At the time, he had been charging $10 per.  I sent to him just as he decided to raise his prices, so he signed my 1985 Topps and returned the 1976 Topps unsigned.

I recently decided to go ahead and send the 76 back to get it signed.  I am trying to get the Topps All Star Rookie team cards signed where possible, so this seemed like a good one to get while he's still signing ttm.

I'm a very amateur photographer, but isn't this photo about the worst you can take on a sunny day?  The shadow nearly obscures his face and there's a very sharp line between light and dark across his chest.  Photographers who may be reading this: please confirm or correct my thinking here.

Anyway, I'm glad his signature shows up as well as it does, considering the darkness and contrast on the card.  I'm hoping to get 20 of these Topps All Star Rookie Team cards signed and put them in a 20-card display that I got at Michael's years ago.  I've recently sent out a few more of these cards but think I could probably put together a display now.  I can think of one card that's going to be included for sure:

I'll try to include as many Hall of Famers as I can but try to mix up the years and teams as well.

Sonny Siebert - 1971 Topps

I added another signed 1971 Topps to my collection today, thanks to Sonny Siebert, who signed his card in nine days for his $7 fee.

I had set a goal of adding 25 cards to this set this year, but this one is the 75th card I've added.  Almost all the remaining players I can add require fees, as have many that I added this year.  I may not add too many next year as I try to cut down on my spending.