SoCal Autograph Odysses

 The second of the two private signing returns I had from signings found on sportscollectors.net was Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Rod Carew. You can tell that Mr. Carew is getting older based on the shakiness of the autograph on this card, especially when compared to the ball he signed for me about ten years ago.  I chose the 1968 Topps rookie cup card for this signing, and I liked the result. This is the same set I used for the Carl Yastrzesmski card from a couple months ago. The classic card with an autograph is a very nice look.

 I got two returns from private signings held with Tom Orr over the weekend. I was especially excited to get this beauty back from Randy Johnson. As you can see, I picked the Big Units Topps rookie card, which was just screaming out for a nice blue signature. That's exactly what I got back. This time around, I also decided to get the JSA witnessed authentication, and had the sticker placed on the back. I know that is a faux pas for many, but I don't particularly care. To me, you are already ruining the card's grade by getting a signature on it, so what difference does a sticker make on the back? You wouldn't be grading a signed card anyway. 

 I mentioned in my post yesterday that I actually received two returns on the same day. One was hockey Hall of Famer Marcel Dionne, who I already covered, and the other was pro basketball Hall of Famer Louie Dampier. The whole ABA vs NBA thing is still a bit convoluted to me because I'm not always sure who was known for the ABA and who was known for the NBA, but in this case Dampier played in both. He did personalize to me, and included his HOF inscription. He has a nice autograph and I always appreciate every return I get back through the mail. I am really starting to come around to the classic card look with autographs. As always, room for a clean signature trumps everything and so long as a rookie card isn't cost prohibitive or not conducive to a clean autograph, I may tend to go with them more often. 

 This through the mail request in particular was a cool one for me in a couple ways. The first is which Marcel Dionne is one of the few LA Kings greats whose autograph I did not yet have. Anyone who has followed along with this blog for some time will know that hockey is my favorite sport and the Kings are my favorite team in any sport, with the Padres and Liverpool FC coming next and the Chargers in fourth. The second cool thing about this request was that it was the first time I tried sending something to an athlete in Canada, which is a slightly different process. Up until earlier this month, I was always hesitant to send something outside of the states because I wasn't sure I would do it right. Not only did it work, I got this request back in 17 days.  In the letter I wrote to Mr. Dionne, I explained that I am a huge Kings fan but unfortunately had not gotten a chance to have seen him play. He was also kind enough to include the HOF 92 inscription as well as his own Certificate

 Over the weekend, I had an unusual circumstance happen to me when I pulled an envelope I could clearly tell was a returned TTM request out of the mailbox. Even though it sounds corny, every time I open my mailbox and see my writing on an envelope, I feel a twinge of excitement. I know that means it is a through the mail request being returned. In this case however, I noticed right away that something was off as the envelope was way too light. When I got back to the house I noticed that the side of the envelope had purposefully been slit open, and the signed card that was coming back was gone. However, the note I wrote to the athlete, in this case NFL Hall of Famer Jack Youngblood, was still inside and he had signed my note and thanked me for writing. So that means I know he saw it, signed the card, and dropped it back in the mail.  However, sometime between that happening and it arriving in my mailbox, someone had taken the time to notice something might be in the envelope, opened it,

 I received another one of my through the mail autograph requests late last week, and this time the return came from Pro Football Hall of Famer and former Oilers safety Kenny Houston. This was one of the ten or so requests I've sent over the last few weeks, and it did not take long to come back.  Mr. Houston was also kind enough to add the HOF '86 inscription. 

 Five years ago, I got back one of my first through the mail requests from MLB Hall of Famer and Detroit Tigers great Al Kaline . If I recall, at the time he did not sign baseballs and at that point I hadn't begun sending cards (which I later realized was much easier and practical) so I had him send an 8x10. Unfortunately, Mr. Kaline passed away a few years later and I never got the chance to send him a card to sign. Thankfully, in one of the groups I am in on Facebook, people frequently sell off pieces of their collection so when I cam across an Al Kaline signed card, I bought it. 

 On Saturday, I posted about getting two returns back from my through the mail requests. The first one, which I posted about already, was the Brett Favre return. The second one was probably lesser known because he played much longer ago, but arguably the better of the two players. Lenny Moore is one of the best running backs of all time and has a spot on the NFL Greatest 100 list. That's how impressive he was as a player. This was one of the rare instances where I actually sent two cards to the athlete because Mr. Moore only charges $10 per auto and I only had a $20. Both cards came back signed with his HOF 75 inscription. As you can see, I sent a couple reprints of older cards. I did look for original rookie cards to buy but they were all three figures and I didn't want to spend that much on a card I might lose in the mail. Clearly Saturday was a great day of returns for me, and I fully anticipate to be getting a bunch of returns as February goes along. If you check my through

 Today was a very good day for my through the mail requests. I received two returns, the bigger of the two arguably being former Packer and NFL Hall of Fame QB Brett Favre. Towards the end of December I sent my request to Radtke Sports, which now handles the Favre TTM requests. It involves sending a donation to a charity, and I decided to send an Upper Deck rookie card. Fast forward six weeks, and I received this back today; As you can see on the second photo, the Favre photos come with Radtke authentication as a Favre exclusive. I will post my second return from today at a later point in time.

 I was recently perusing  SportsCollectors.net   and looking at some of the upcoming private signings being conducted, when I cam across a signing being done with Seattle Mariners Hall of Famer Edgar Martinez. I hadn't seen signings with Martinez before and I don't have anything of his in my collection. However, I also happened to look on Ebay for signed Martinez cards and found that the certified autos on there were half the price of the upcoming signing. It doesn't happen often, but at that price point I preferred going with Ebay. In this case, I found a 2021 Topps Gypsy Queen auto.

 Before Christmas, I found a cheap numbered Leaf Metal Draft auto card of Patriots rookie running back Rhamondre Stevenson.  The card is numbered 70/75 and I got it for a pittance. Leaf isn't exactly the most valuable product, and running backs tend to be less valued than QBs for obvious reasons. However, Stevenson had a solid rookie season and by virtue of being a Patriot he tends to have a bit more potential value.  I'll probably eventually end up trading this card to my brother in law who happens to be a a major Patriots fan. 

 Pivoting away from the downside of the autograph world which I covered in my last post, I came across a find on Ebay that I felt was something I should buy. The first thing to know is that Ralph Sampson, the NBA great and basketball Hall of Famer, does sign through the mail. However, in this case I was able to add to my Hall of Fame collection by purchasing straight off of Ebay at a cost that was either at or below the cost it would have been for me to buy an unsigned card on Ebay and pay the request fee through the mail. The bonus is that cards signed for companies like Topps, or in this instance Panini Select, are often signed with a nicer pen and in a better spot than a request I'd send through the mail. In this scenario, it is a 2019-2020 Panini Select numbered auto to 199.