SoCal Autograph Odysses

 I'm not a fan of MMA, that being the UFC, or any of the affiliated organizations with mixed martial arts, but while at Target last week I did see that they had Topps Chrome UFC mega boxes that come with a guaranteed autograph. It was intriguing enough for me to get a box and check it out. My autograph was someone I had never heard of, which is not surprising because there are only probably six or seven names I know in that world.  Belal Muhammad was the autograph I pulled. Maybe someone that knows something about the sport could tell me something about this guy? On a side note, my review of the cards themselves were that they are alright. 

 A couple of months ago I added a couple of  numbered Prizm autographs from two of the better players at their respective positions in NFL history. First, Antonio Gates should be a slam dunk Hall of Famer even though he somehow got skipped on the initial ballot he was eligible on. The Gates is numbered /75. Tim Brown, the Raider's Hall of Fame receiver is the other auto and is numbered /49. I like the look of Prizm parallel autographs. 

 It has been a few weeks since I last posted on this blog because my autograph collecting has slowed down a bit as there was a gap between signings that I sent in to. Breaking the drought is a return from a signing I sent in to for NHL and hockey Hall of Famer Denis Savard. I decided to send a Topps rookie card to have signed with his HOF 2000 inscription, and I am real pleased with the result.

 Fred McGriff is a player I remember watching as a kid when he played for the San Diego Padres, so he was a guy I was curious about as to whether or not he would get into the Hall of Fame. He fell just a few homeruns shy of the coveted 500 homerun hitter threshold which usually guarantees enshrinement, but after being on multiple ballots and not getting in, the "Crime Dog" was elected to Cooperstown. He was one of the few living Hall of Fame baseball players of the modern era that I did not yet have a signed item from, so a couple months ago I sent (another) 1987 Topps card in to a Tristar signing. 

 I made it a personal goal for 2024 to open way less sealed product this year. That includes both retail product as well as hobby products. I feel like the companies are mass producing cards at such a high rate that it lowers the odds for the hits you want to get. Also, I just don't think I'll ever pull a card as good as the David Beckham cracked ice auto I pulled a couple years ago. That being said, I hadn't purchased anything in just under two months when I came across some Premier League Prizm at a local Barnes and Noble. I bought two blasters, and was excited to hit this legend auto. Yaya Toure was a beast for Manchester City back in the day. I believe that autos only are two per case in Premier League blasters so it's only a 1 out of 10 chance of pulling an auto. When you consider how big a star Toure was when he played, this autograph is an even better pull. It is an early contender to make the 2024 best auto pulls I post at the end of the year. 

 With the amount of cards I've had coming in from private signings and through the mail requests recently, I've not had the time to post about another addition to my personal collection for my favorite team. My all time favorite Los Angeles Kings player is Anze Kopitar, and I am stoked that I was able to add this game used mem patch auto for so cheap that it's ridiculous. I know hockey autographs don't have the same value as other sports but adding a card that looks like this for under $40 for a future Hall of Famer to me was a no brainer. To me, this just a really beautiful card. It has an on card autograph, it's numbered 21/25 and the game used jersey piece is a 4 color patch. 

 I already had a Tim Raines autographed card that I acquired insanely cheaply a couple years ago, but when I saw he was having a signing with one of my go-to 3rd parties that I find on sportscollectors.net, I decided to send a rookie card to the event.  I think this came out really well, and the cost of this signing was so reasonable that I felt it was a slam dunk to send in for it. I know Raines is considered one of the borderline Hall of Famers, but he is in Cooperstown for a reason and if a player is in Cooperstown, I want to add them to my collection. 

 You've probably been noticing a trend with many of the recent baseball autographs that I have been posting about, but if not, here's a hint. I really like the look of the 1987 Topps set. It's the first set I really remember seeing as a kid, and I think autographs on these cards look clean. I've been recently resending some requests to athletes I've had successes with in the past, like Wade Boggs and Ryne Sandberg. I did it again for this success, this time from former Major Leaguer and Hall of Fame closer Rich "Goose" Gossage. Goose is a through the mail go to for many of the autograph collectors as he consistently returns your requests with a high probability of success. You just always have to remember with these guys that most have a fee, and if you pay it and do the request correctly, you'll get your card signed and sent back most of the time.

 I've mentioned a few times on this blog now that I really like the look of the 1987 Topps set, so I've been trying to get as many autographs from Hall of Famers that were active during this set as possible. One more player that recently returned a request to me was Cubs Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg, who I've gotten through the mail requests back from multiple times now. This return only took eleven days, as Ryne is not only a MLB Hall of Famer but a through the mail Hall of Famer as well.  For some reason I just really like the way this set turns out with autographs. 

 I've been accumulating autographs at a decent clip lately, so I'm trying to catch up on some of my recent additions. When I was 14 and the WNBA was starting up, one of the biggest starts at that time was UConn great Rebecca Lobo. She was one of the small handful of players I knew during the WNBA's inaugural season, and she catapulted her success in college, the pros, and for team USA into a deserved spot in the basketball Hall of Fame. I got this return on a rookie card back a couple weeks ago after about a month wait. She is the second WNBA star I've gotten after the Katie Smith which I've already posted.

 The first card I sent to Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame lineman never came back to me, so I waited about six months and then tried again. This time, my card came back signed with a HOF 95 inscription as well.  As you can see, the card I decided to send to Mr. Shields was the Flee Ultra rookie card. This is a solid success and I'm just going to assume my first request got lost in the mail somewhere along the way there or back.

Many moons ago, when I was around eleven or twelve years old, I sent a card into the best player in NHL history, Wayne Gretzky, to see if I could get his autograph through the mail. It was the very first time I had ever attempted a through the mail autograph, so imagine my surprise when my 1993/94 Upper Deck card came back signed! It automatically became the biggest autograph in my collection. Keep in mind I'm a Los Angeles Kings fan so this particular card meant even more to me.  Fast forward 25 years and I find out through being in and around the autograph hobby that Gretzky was notorious for using what is called an autopen during the time in which I received my card. That clearly set alarm bells ringing and sure enough, when I did some research on mine, the card I had for all those years was autopen. Autopen is a machine that will sign the person's autograph, so it really is their autograph, just not signed by them personally. Not ideal! I tried getting his autograph through

 I've had an influx of through the mail requests come back to me recently, the latest of which is a bit different and cool nonetheless. Billie Jean King, tennis Hall of Famer, civil rights pioneer, and renowned for her win in "Battle of the Sexes", sent me a signed card back through the mail after a couple month wait.  As you can see, I sent her a Topps Chrome blue cracked ice card. She returned it having signed the card in silver so this autograph really pops. In person, it looks even better. Since the card was of the chrome variety, I prepped it with a white eraser before sending, which helped remove the glossy part that tends to make the autograph itself bleed.  Overall, this is a really cool success. 

 The extent of my through the mail request history is such that I've begun to hit a wall in terms of the Hall of Famers that sign through the mail that I have not sent a request to yet. Recently, I saw a newer name on the success list on the site that I used and it was former Minnesota Lynx player and WNBA all time great Katie Smith. She has been inducted in the basketball Hall of Fame since 2018 and is considered one of the greatest players in WNBA history. As you can see, I sent a rookie card from the 1999 Skybox Hoops WNBA set.

 I got this through the mail request back from basketball Hall of Fame broadcaster Dick Vitale. Unfortunately it got a bit of a smudge on the HOF inscription but it's still a solid return from someone famous for his catch phrase. I have a few more requests currently pending, so I'm hoping to have more to share here over the next few weeks.

 Anyone following along with this blog knows by now that the primary focus to my collection is obtaining Hall of Fame autographs from Hall of Famers in any sport. I have so many of them already, and the announcement of today's MLB inductees was a welcome sight, as I've already gotten autographs of the three players elected. They are Adrian Beltre, Todd Helton, and Joe Mauer. I actually obtained Beltre's autograph in person after a game at Petco Park years and years ago. He signed a ball for me on the sweet spot. I did not realize at the time that Beltre would turn into one of the all-time best third basemen. He struggled for a bit while on the Dodgers and there was no notion then of what he would turn into, particularly when this was obtained circa 2004 or 2005. Todd Helton was another autograph I got in person, only this time it was inside the ballpark at Petco Park and while his team was taking batting practice. He was a bit of a curmudgeon so getting him to sign anything

 2024 has been off to a flying start with the consistency of the autographs I've been pulling from sealed sports card products. I have not been pulling a bunch of huge names, but none of them have been bad autographs to get either.  I did try my luck with the newly released Panini Prizm football mega boxes. I ordered three off of Target and one of the three boxes contained this hit. This is Titans rookie running back Tyjae Spears on the pink parallel version of the Prizm autographs. I also hit another running back in a Prestige box I opened randomly the other day. Baltimore Ravens former Pro Bowl running back Jamal Lewis was another solid hit. It's not a highly priced autograph but Lewis was a good player and had a good career. He was the 2003 player of the year, a member of the all 2000's team, and has over 10,000 career rushing yards. He would be considered one of those guys that ends up in the Hall of Very Good. 

 After the New Year, I opened some products for my birthday. I was given a mega box of some 2023 NFL Panini Prestige, and hit a pretty rare autograph. I had opened a handful of these boxes over the last couple of months and gotten skunked, so it was nice to find an on card NFL Passport Signatures card of Miami Dolphins rookie running back Devon Achane.  I had seen that many other people were pulling some pretty big autographs out of this product so I was happy to get this. It's the same product I had a lot of success with in 2022 when I pulled five autographs out of only like eight boxes, including two autographs in one box. I live in northern San Diego County, and we don't have a lot of local card shops, nor do we have much in the way of collectibles stores. A few months ago, a collectible exchange similar to the one you'd see at Frank and Son's in LA was opened and while perusing the sports card vendors, I found an H2 Panini Prizm Breakaway box of English Premier Leag

 My second through the mail success of 2024 has arrived and it is another autograph I have obtained in the past, only this time in the form of another 1987 Topps. I've sent to Wade Boggs three times, and all three times have gotten my items returned very quickly for a nominal fee. I've received two very early returns on through the mail requests to start the year, and although I don't send many out anymore, it's always nice to get them back quickly.  Reminder, to see all the requests I have sent and how long they have taken, please check out my through the mail tracker on this very site. 

 We are kicking 2024 off with a return that came back yesterday from Brewers/Twins/Blue Jays and Major League Baseball Hall of Famer, Paul Molitor. This was actually the second card I have sent to Paul, the first being during the summer of 2020. I don't often send the same athlete multiple requests, and have never sent more than one item at a time. However, I've become really into the look of the 1987 Topps cards being signed, so I recently decided to send a couple more requests out to guys I've gotten returns from in the past with the intent on getting them on the 1987 set as well. The previous card mentioned above was a Diamond Kings 3000 Hit Club card with a nice artistic look.  Here are the 1987 Topps cards in my collection;