SoCal Autograph Odysses

 A few weeks ago I noticed a private signing was posted on Sportscollectors.net in which former NFL running back and Hall of Famer Earl Campbell was signing. I decided to send in a Topps cards I purchased on Ebay for a few bucks.   As you can see, I made my typical choice of using a card with a light background. The signing included the HOF 91 inscription for free.  I threw this one into a one touch immediately and it's now displayed in my card case. It was another great signing found on a great resource. 

 While using SCN again a handful of weeks ago, I saw that Johnny Bench was going to be signing for one of the promoters in the beginning of May.  As always for these types of events, I found a nice looking, signature friendly card on Ebay and had it shipped to me before sending it out and requesting it to be signed at this signing.  A couple weeks after the signing took place, I found this waiting for me in the mail.   This is a 1983 Topps, and I requested that it be signed in blue, which it was probably going to be anyway.  Johnny has a really nice signature and I think this card looks great.  I am definitely happy with how it turned out.  Again, I highly recommend SportsCollectors.net.  If you are at all serious about this hobby, and aren't already on there, it is a fantastic resource for all things through the mail and private signings, etc.  This particular signing was done through  East Coast Collector's Service .  For tho...

 I've grown to like the look of this year's Topps Heritage, therefore thought it would be cool to add a few more of the autographs from that set.  Of course I wanted to add a couple of the bigger current stars in the game, so I added Christian Yelich and Pete Alonso.  I also found an underrated player Starling Marte for really cheap, so added him to the mix as well. I like the look of the 1972 style cards.  They are a bit cheesy, but it works well with the signatures themselves.  If you recall as I've opened retail boxes of this product, I pulled a Vlad Guerrero Jr. and a Patrick Corbin from other packs.  All in all, it has been a fun set to collect and build with my daughter.

 As my through the mail requests have slowed to more of a trickle, I'm finding that these posts are happening less and less frequently. Therefore, I was pleasantly surprised to open my mailbox yesterday and find a return stamped from South Carolina.  I knew immediately that this meant I was getting a return from MLB Hall of Famer and former pitcher Gaylord Perry.  In previous posts on this very blog, I have talked about meeting Mr. Perry at the All Star game fan fest here in San Diego.  I already had two official major league baseballs signed by him, and this time I sent him a 1968 Topps.  The card came back signed with black sharpie, making it a bit difficult to see but a cool return nonetheless.

 My second racing autograph was returned recently.  I sent a Donruss Race Kings orange foil to famous driver "The King" Richard Petty, and he was kind enough to return the card to me signed in gold.  Typically I will send lighter background cards in hopes of getting a cleaner, more visible signature.  As you can see in the below photo, this may have looked better if it was signed in black ink as opposed to the gold.  It's still a really cool return, and at certain angles you can see how nice the autograph itself is.