SoCal Autograph Odysses

Earlier this month, I joined a Zoom meeting in which Jim Carrey talked and answered questions regarding his new book, Memoirs and Misinformation. He was joined on the call by the author of the book, Dana Vachon. It was an interesting session and gave a bit of insight into the mind that is Jim Carrey.  For me, what really fascinated me was that as part of the group that joined the call, I automatically was to receive a copy of the book along with a "bookplate" signed by both Carrey and Vachon. I think the intent is to remove the sticker bookplate and then attach it within the book, however my plan is to cut Carrey's autograph from it and combine it with a photo from a mainstream Carrey movie and frame it all together. Once the project is done, I'll post a photo of how it turns out. 

As you may have read, yesterday I received the Paul Molitor card signed back to me.  Well, I also received a second return at the same time, marking the first time I've actually received two returns in one day.  The second card was a rookie card I had sent out to Rafael Palmeiro almost in the middle of May. To be honest, I had given up on getting this back because since I had sent mine out a lot of people who sent after me had already received their items back.  On top of that, Rafael started charging for items about ten days after I initially sent mine, so I did not include any money in my request.  Therefore it was a surprise when I opened up my envelope and found this... I know it is on a dark background.  I knew that when I sent the card it might be a tougher one to see, and it is.  However, it was the only Palmeiro card I could find that I already owned and it is kind of cool to get his rookie card signed.  This guy would be an automatic Hall of F...

In one of recent Panini Diamond Kings packs I had a Paul Molitor card with nice artwork that I felt would look good for an autograph. The card is a 3000 hit club insert.  I put this in the mail 20 days ago and got it back today. As you can see, this looks really good and fits the card nicely.  Thank you Paul for taking the time to sign items through the mail. I appreciate it. 

Top prospect, formerly of the Padres but traded to the Tampa Bay Rays in the Tommy Pham trade, returned an autographed card to me today. The card I used was one of the Bowman Chromes that looks real nice, but one in which I had to prepare before sending. The problem is that the cards have a really shiny and smooth cover, so the signatures tend to bleed and look real bad when these cards are used.  I read that you can actually prep the cards with baby powder, which will actually enable the card to be written on.  Here is how my card came out. Here is how someone that posted their card on Facebook received theirs. 

Today I received one envelope in my mailbox, but the envelope and writing on it were what I love to see.  It meant that I had another through the mail return today.   Celtics and NBA great Hall of Famer Robert Parish sent this return back a little more than three weeks after I sent it.  This is a good return I'd have to say, even though the signature is small and slanted and in black.  

Instead of going through all the same stuff I discussed yesterday about liking the look of Panini Diamond Kings, I'll just post what I received today.  

I realize that Panini isn't the favored company of choice for most signed baseball cards.  I also understand that they like to use stickers for their autos, which isn't the preferred choice for anyone really, including myself.  However, there is something about the Diamond Kings set that is very visually appealing to me.  I like the artwork style. I like how they use a textured finish. I like the way they arrange the game used relics around the auto itself. Yeah, it is on a sticker auto but they usually do a decent job of blending the sticker into the card.  Check out my previous post about the David Wright auto card I pulled out of a random box I bought. I went searching for a similar design on some similar level stars to Wright, and one benefit of Panini not being as popular is that the cards are more attainable.  Considering all of the above, I found a numbered to 5 Paul Goldschmidt card. 

Some of you may recall my son sent a 1st Bowman to Anthony a few weeks back and received it back, becoming his very first TTM success. I decided, since I had a 1st Bowman of Anthony as well, that I'd send him a card to get signed too. Today, this was in my mailbox.  This kid is real good about responding to autograph requests so I hope he makes it to the show someday. Also, he signs quiet large and legible. I wonder if that will change as he waves and is asked to sign more and more. 

The last part of my self indulgent tour is here.  This is the remaining product that I have displayed in my house.  This part of my man cave is immediately opposite the wall I did as part of Part 3.  This is where most of my elite NBA player stuff is.   The Jerry West was signed at a public signing he did a few years ago up in Ontario, California.  He was nice to talk to and was inquisitive of my shirt I was wearing that day.  Scroll around in this blog and find that story.  He put HOF for both a player and an executive on this piece.  Below that is a Leveon Bell signed photo from TSE Sports. Both of these items were obtained in person at public signing events as well.  Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was grumpy and didn't talk much, that post is in this blog.  Eric Dickerson was a public signing run through the OC Dugout which is a company I really enjoy going to for public signings and private signings alike.  My Mike Trout stuff has mos...

I sent a Diamond Kings card to Ryne Sandberg about 20 days ago and this came back in my mail today.   In retrospect, I probably shouldn't have sent a card with quite so much blue as it makes it more difficult to see the autograph itself.  That being said, it's always nice to get a Hall of Famer returning something through the mail.  I have another Panini Diamond Kings card that will look better, so I'll send that soon.

We are back to my favorite sport with my latest success!  A funny side note is that in the letter I wrote to Chris, I told him flat out that as a fan of the Kings I could not stand him as a player and that he always managed to piss me off.  I also told him that I kinda always wanted him to be a King too, so I suppose that is a compliment, right?  Anyhow, he sent this nicely signed card personalized to me which is great.  I'm not someone that really minds if the athlete personalizes since I am not selling these anyway.  That actually leads me to another point.  Every item I receive in my collection is something I keep.  I do not sell my stuff unless I am trying to purchase a bigger piece for my collection.  That has only happened one time.  Literally everything you see I keep.  If I get duplicates of an athlete over the years, I might trade for something I don't have.  It irritates me quite a bit that on some of the groups and forums...

Back to our regular scheduled programming of being 100% certain our autograph is from the person we think it is.  I sent this Eric Dickerson card out to the man about a week ago and received it today signed nicely.  Thank you Eric.  

Today for the first time in the history of my blog we get to discuss whether or not something I just got as a return through the mail is authentically signed by the celebrity or whether it is "ghost signed", meaning signed by either an assistant or someone that works for said celebrity.  I sent to Tim Allen because the rate of success with him for everyone else was damn near 100% for a long period of time.  However, I noticed recently that people were getting returns that looked different than what we had grown accustomed to seeing from Tim.  This only started happening within the last week or so of returns.   If you're interested in comparing this signature to more common examples, Google it and look.  I'm going to hold onto this as part of my collection either way and see if it compares to what people start getting from him in person.  If it is vastly different, well I made an effort and may try again down the road.  

Today I received my first basketball return through the mail since I started doing this and sent to Dirk Nowitzki four years ago. This time, I sent to NBA hall of famer and old schooler Bob Cousy of the Celtics.  Mr. Cousy is 92 years old and still a reliable ttm autograph.  I found a cheap Cousy card on ebay and sent it to the right address when it came in along with the typical letter of request and self addresses stamped envelope. Mr. Cousy always personalizes but I don't care since I'm not selling any of my stuff anyway.  He also wrote what I believe is Peace. To Chris. Peace. Bob Cousy. Thank you for reading. Peace.

A ten day gap between getting any through the mail returns had me wondering if my timing was wrong, as I still have quite a few big names out there pending...so today was a welcome sight when I saw my own writing on an envelope being returned to me.  Inside was a signed card from Chargers great Charlie Joiner, an NFL Hall of Fame receiver.   Since Charlie lives near me, the turnaround time was only one week.  Thank you for reading, and hopefully we have another couple big hits coming soon.

Apparently this blog isn't only about the best items I get.  My dad has been visiting recently and while on a shipping trip brought a random card box back for me to open.  Inside are different packs from various companies over a range of years.  These are those boxes where 95% of them are going to be complete junk but one or two boxes have a valuable card so they feel better about packaging and selling them this way.  I opened the box and immediately saw it had been stuffed with at least one autographed card.  I got a tinge of excitement until I pulled the card out. Exactly.  Who?  Sorry Dorssys but I've never heard of you.  The rest of the packs were actually better than the autographed card since I got a couple of useful rookie cards I can keep and a couple others are cards of players who sign through the mail.  One of the prospect cards I found on Ebay was also shipped with a couple of surprise extras that I didn't mention before. It's coo...