SoCal Autograph Odysses

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.