SoCal Autograph Odysses

 Since it's the last day of 2023, I think I am safe to post my ten favorite autograph additions to my collection over the course of this last year. For the first time, you'll notice every item on this list is a card because I have slowly transitioned to a heavier autographed card focus than I have ever previously had. Mostly, it comes down to the ease in which I can store these items without them taking too much space on my walls. Without further ado, here is my list; 10. LaDainian Tomlinson This one is pretty easy to explain. Tomlinson was a huge player during my peak Chargers fandom which has since waned a little since the move to LA. The card above is from arguably my favorite player of all time, from a coveted set (National Treasures), has a low number 14/49, is signed on card, and includes some game worn material. This makes the list. 9. Isaiah Thomas I like this card for two main reasons. One, it came via a private signing so I sent this card into the signing myself. Two,...

 My wife always gets me some cool cards I would not normally get for myself on Christmas, and this year was no different. One of the gifts I received was a 2022-23 Panini Prizm hobby box of Premier League soccer. These are extremely fun to open because you get a guaranteed autograph, many numbered cards, and you can hit some very cool case hits like color blasts. I pulled the requisite five numbered cards, including a couple cards with real low print runs (/15 and /25). The autograph I pulled, although not one of high monetary value, was a cool one for me because it ended up being a Liverpool player and I am a supporter of LFC. Nat Phillips, a Liverpool cult hero of sorts, and currently out on loan to Celtic, was the auto I hit. I took the photo on my mouse pad to give you an indication of what I mean when I say I'm a Liverpool supporter. Although not autograph related, and I realize this is predominantly an autograph blog, my wife also gave me one of the coolest gifts I have ever ...

 It is just a coincidence, albeit a cool one, that I close my 2023 year of collecting with a relatively big add from my favorite sports franchise, the Los Angeles Kings. I've mentioned it before but if you have not yet seen me say it, I am first and foremost a hockey fan and the team I have been watching like a die hard for 36 years is the Kings. After winning the Stanley Cup in 2012 and 2014, they went on a bit of a rebuild and accumulated a bunch of picks. The highest pick they ended up with during this time was the second overall pick in 2020. In the last season plus, this kid has really started to develop into a very good player and his ceiling remains quite high. I wanted to add a rookie auto of his to my personal collection (99.9% of the items I get end up in my personal collection) and was able to hone in on an Upper Deck rookie patch auto numbered 2/15. As you can see, this card was already graded, slabbed, and authenticated by Beckett. It wasn't a cheap card to obtain,...

 One of the notoriously tough autographs to get among all modern era sports figures, I saw recently that John Stockton was going to be doing an ultra rare signing. After looking at the prices, I decided that they were on the pricey side, so instead looked into getting a card off eBay. It is often the case that signings are more expensive than getting an auto card from Panini or Topps, etc. because you can send in exactly what you want to get signed. I don't typically complain about pricing for signings, but I did observe that the cost to send in my own card was 4-5x what buying a John Stockton signed card off eBay would cost. Therefore, I found a fairly priced one and went that direction.  As you can see, I went with an Obsidian auto and this particular card is numbered /35. 

 I've recently been on quite a roll with NFL Hall of Fame quarterbacks, and the return I got back in the mail from a signing I sent to added to that momentum.  As you can see, this a Steve Young Topps rookie card from his time when he was on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The signature came out clean and I am really pleased with the result of this request. Young goes onto the list of elite all time great QBs that I've added to my collection in recent history, joining the likes of Joe Montana, Dan Marino, John Elway, and Kurt Warner, all of whom were added within the last few months.  The top row of my football autograph card case is looking quite strong.  The top row now includes Roger Staubach, Drew Brees, Steve Young, Brett Favre, Peyton Manning, Joe Montana, Dan Marino, Kurt Warner, John Elway, and Warren Moon. 

 Finally, a through the mail success to mention on the blog! Consistent readers have probably noticed these requests are becoming fewer and farther between and the reasoning behind that is I send far fewer requests than in the past and some of those that I have sent recently haven't come back. I was under the impression this card was about to fall into the latter category because it took close to three months from me sending it to get it back. Reminder, check my through the mail tracker here . Rod Langway was known as one of, if the not the best shutdown defenders of his era and is a hockey Hall of Famer that spent most of his career with the Washintgon Capitals.  This card was clearly signed with a thicker, drying sharpie or marker but that's okay. I'm always happy to get Hall of Famers added to the collection, even if the signature itself isn't the prettiest. 

 I haven't been able to catch up on a few of the autographs I've recently pulled from sealed product, dating back quite a few months. On Black Friday I went to my local card shop and bought a Panini Recon basketball hobby box, which guaranteed two autos.  As you can see, both autos were out of /49. The first is multiple time NBA all star Victor Oladipo, whom I consider a solid vet autograph. The second autograph card ended up being a rookie auto of Jazz rookie Walker Kessler. He's not the best rookie you can get but he's a pretty good one. Overall, I really liked the look of the cards as I had never opened Recon before. The box also came with numbered cards. The other autographs I'm going to mention are a bit cool since they came out of a retail blaster boxes, which means no guaranteed autograph. Any time you get an autographed card from retail, it's a little bit of a surprise. This first card came from a Panini Elite box blaster of NFL cards. Marvin Mims rookie...

 Much like the Dan Marino and John Elway autos I have posted about recently, I also acquired a Joe Montana Panini autographed card.  Like the Marino card, this is also a blue cracked ice numbered /75. Of the big name, all tike great QB's in the league, I believe the only one I might be missing still is Tom Brady. It might be a while yet before I find a way to get something he signed into my collection.

 My Hall of Fame and elite quarterback train is still steaming along, as I just added a signed John Elway card to my collection. This card comes from 2023 Prestige football, is numbered /25. I saw that a lot of people were having a lot of luck with their hits in Prestige megas in retail, though the few boxes I opened were crap. I jumped into the eBay market to get this card, as card prices have come down and you can get some of these all time greats for much less than even a year ago. Honestly, I bought this card for the price of two mega boxes, so I'm not sure what I'm even doing buying sealed product in the first place.

 I received a card back from a signing this week and I again decided to go with the 1986 Fleer NBA set for it since that set has become so iconic. This was not his rookie card, but I sent this card to a signing for Alex English and also asked for his HOF 97 inscription.  If you're a reader of this blog, you may remember I've recently gotten another card from this set signed, that one by Hall of Famer Isaiah Thomas. These cards look goof signed in my opinion, so I am happy with my choice and with the outcome. 

 This card came neither by private signing, public signing, nor a through the mail request. I tend to lump these acquisitions into one post to avoid having to do so too often, but felt this player deserved his own standalone post. Dan Marino, former Dolphins QB and easily one of the greatest of all time, has been added to my autograph collection finally. I found a moderately priced modern card (2021 Prizm) and bought it. The card looks real clean and in person really pops. The light blue cracked ice really comes close to a team color match as well. This card is numbered 01/75. This is the type of card that would be awesome to hit out of a sealed box, and I've been wanting to add Marino to my collection for quite some time. I do keep an eye on his private signings but determined it was actually much cheaper to go the modern card route (albeit with sticker auto). Needless to say, this one is already in my case. 

 A couple of months ago, I found a good price on a Wander Franco Prizm rookie autograph card /99. For those that aren't aware, Franco has come under some legal scrutiny due to an alleged relationship with a minor, and the case and investigation are ongoing from both a legal and major league baseball perspective. This guy was one of the hottest, most sought after baseball players in the market but with the allegations came a huge cratering of his value. Ignoring the potentially scummy feeling of dipping my toe into that market, I found such a cheap card that I felt compelled to pull the trigger. The range of outcomes here is pretty straightforward. It is entirely plausible (perhaps even probable) that he will be found guilty of his discretions and his market and career will forever be sunk. In that case, I'm out a very tiny bit of money. However, in the unlikely scenario that his name is cleared and all is forgiven, what happens? When I say forgiven, I mean beyond the obvious le...

 I'd previously sent a request to Pirates and Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Bill Mazeroski back in the beginning of 2021, and it was successful as I got a card back signed from him. That original request was an Upper Deck modern card, and over time I've changed to wanting older players on cards from their era. As such, I decided recently to send a 1965 Topps To Mr. Mazeroski, as it was more representative of the era in which he played. It came back in the mail signed yesterday, along with his HOF 01 inscription. I am much happier with this result.  For comparison, here was the last one I was chose to send;

 I actually sent to a request to Bernie Federko, but for whatever reason, it wasn't successful. Sometimes mail gets lost on the way there or the way back. Sometimes mail gets stolen (which I've documented before). Many things can happen. Thankfully, my second request was successful and I got this back earlier this week.  As you can see, he was also kind enough to include his HOF 2002 inscription, which is always a nice bonus. 

 I did not put any of my through the mail autograph collection in the Top 10 list I posted a couple days back so it got me thinking. I wanted to try and formulate a list of  my ten favorite requests I've had returned to me over the years via the through the mail process. That means everything on this list was sent by me directly to the athlete, and I did not use a third party and participate in a signing. Much like the last list, the criterion I used to come up with this list can vary due to provenance or the story behind it, and it could also just come down to frankly what I thought my chances of getting my item back or the status of the athlete themselves.  Please check my Through the Mail Tracker  on this very blog to see every success I have ever had.  To date, I have 141 successes. I have six failures. I had to pare those 141 successes down to the list below. Let's get to it! 1. Peyton Manning This autograph was a slam dunk to make my list because Peyton M...