SoCal Autograph Odysses

 One of the benefits of being in a bunch of Facebook autograph groups is being privy to a lot of different signings that are going on, or sales that people are doing as part of their collections or signings.  Last weekend I saw a couple guys selling off some of their signed cards, and of course I immediately look for Hall of Famers, regardless of sport. One guy in particular was selling a few dozen Frank Thomas cards.  It looks like he got all of these done at a recent Thomas signing.  I bought one off of him and it came in today.

 A rather quick turnaround came through the mail today.  Hall of Fame baseball pitcher Rollie Fingers, who also inscribed HOF '92 at my request.  I found a 2020 Allen & Ginter card for a dollar or so on Ebay, and used that to send to Rollie.  I've actually gotten Rollie a couple times in the past on baseballs.  One time was at the MLB All Star Fan Fest in 2016, which you can recap  here  and the other time was probably 15 or more years ago at one of the first Celebrity Golf tournaments I attended down here in San Diego County. I now have three signed baseballs and this one card from Rollie. I think the blue of the pen he used stands out extremely well against the classic Brewers' jersey.  Golf tournament ball from early 2000's All Star Fan Fest San Diego 2016 ball He's always had a nice signature, and it is also very consistent.  The older ballplayers tend to have the nicer signatures in general.

 A big name in the hockey world came through with a successful TTM request today.  Former Toronto Maple Leafs legend and member of the all time NHL greatest 100 players, Dave Keon. I sent this one off earlier this month so it took a few weeks to come back to me.  Mr. Keon was nice enough to also inscribe his Calder Trophy award 1960-61 as well as HOF 86.   That's back to back days with Hockey Hall of Famers, a pretty good start to this week.  On Thursday I will have a major post coming, and it's not a through the mail autograph.  This item is coming from a private signing that was held last week in Florida, from a young stud QB.  Keep checking back and thanks for reading.

 Today I received a card signed by NHL Hall of Famer and Former Flyers great Bill Barber. He also added the 'HOF 90' inscription. I have a few more cards out there pending so hopefully I get a few more good returns here shortly.

 Sweet shooting Rick Barry, NBA hall of famer and foul line granny shot extraordinaire, returned a signed card to me today. He inscribed "Chris-Best Swishes" which is pretty cool if you ask me.  Again, I don't sell my collection so players putting my name on the card doesn't detract from the coolness of it. 

 Today's through the mail return is a doozy.  Normally Hall of Fame third baseman Brooks Robinson charges more for items to be signed through the mail, but I'd seen on SportsCollectors.net (which I highly recommend again) that he had signed some cards recently for $10.  I took the gamble and picked a cheaper unsigned card I could find on Ebay, one that would lend itself to a nice autograph,  and sent it to Mr. Robinson along with the $10 cash and a note.  Luckily, I got this sweet return. Thank you for reading and I hope over the next week or two I'm going to be having more successes coming through, as well as an 11x14 I sent in to what I thought was a major signing.  Stay tuned and check back often. Or, to make it easier on yourself, just subscribe to this blog and be notified when I post something new. Don't forget to check out the through the mail tracker.  If your using a computer, it's on the left hand side of the page.  If you're using a smartphone, click

 Since it looks like Drew Brees will soon be announcing his retirement from the NFL, I figured now was as good a time as any to share the two pieces of memorabilia I have signed by Drew. Both of these were signed in person for me at celebrity golf tournaments down here in San Diego county.  I've had dozens of successes at the golf tournaments here over the years, and one of my blog posts is about this very  tournament . The first item Drew signed for me was years ago, when I believe the tournament was still being hosted by Stan Humphries.  Drew was a young player at the time and was still a member of the Chargers.  I had a brought a card along and he signed that. The second time around, the event was being hosted by Brees himself even though he had moved on to the Saints.  Since I was better prepared, I decided to bring an 8x10 of him on the Saints, so he signed that for me as well. I really hope that the golf tournament comes back this season, but since it is usually in May and So

 This signing was actually a signing being held by a company that had Pete Rose come in and sign with them.  It was still through the mail, but it was an organized sit down signing. I actually sent this card in November for a signing that was to take place in mid December, but it ended up getting pushed back to January 30th.   As you can see, I wanted to get the same insert of the 3000 hit club that I actually had signed by Paul Molitor last year.  See the comparison  here .  Unfortunately, the texture of these cards is matte, so it takes a bit before the ink dries, and in this case you can see a bit of Pete's signature has slightly bled.  I still like the look of the card, and wish more of the guys on these inserts were alive and/or cheaper to get signatures from.   

 My recent successes have been coming thick and fast for me, as another return was in my mailbox today.  This time, it is former Seahawks Hall of Fame receiver Steve Largent, who also included his HOF '95 inscription on the card.  Again, this is on a lighter background to make for better aesthetics with the signature. 

 Today was a welcome surprise in the mail, with the return of another through the mail autograph request.  This time I received a signed card form Cowboys Hall of Famer and all time great running back Tony Dorsett. I had heard that Dorsett was signing sporadically so gave it a go, and I am happy it came back.  He even included a HOF inscription, though without a date.  I don't recall specifically asking for an inscription, so I was surprised to see one.  When I know a player is not necessarily an automatic success, I won't ask for anything more than a signature.  All in all, a very cool piece to add to my collection and this one is going in the case as well. Be sure to check out my through the mail tracker on this very blog.  It will show when I sent the request so you can kind of gauge how long it can take for some players.

 Another day, another Hall of Fame autograph being returned through the mail.  For the first time in a bit, I dipped back into the NHL market in search of known Hall of Famers that sign through the mail.  I saw that former Quebec Nordique Peter Stastny (father of current NHL player Paul) would sign through the mail.  I sent the request with a nominal fee (many of these autographs I request do have a bit of a fee, or a "donation") and he returned the card with the HOF '98 inscription.  Stastny was the first rookie to score 100 points, and a few years ago when the NHL named their 100 greatest all time players, he was on that list.  He is among the all time elite and since he played in the NHL, is a very underrated TTM success.