SoCal Autograph Odysses

 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.