SoCal Autograph Odysses

 One of the last few pending through the mail autograph requests I had sent out came back yesterday for about a five week turnaround time. This time, the success came from former WNBA legend and current South Carolina women's basketball head coach Dawn Staley. Dawn is a deserved member of the Naismith Hall of Fame as she was a multi time gold medal winner for team USA, she was a 6x WNBA all-star and a member of the all-decade team and is now a championship winning head coach. That is quite the resume. I sent her a rookie Skybox WNBA card back at the end of July and was happy to see it come back in my mailbox on Saturday afternoon. Always remember you can check my  through the mail tracker  to keep up to date with my current and former requests to see which athletes send back and how long it takes. It can be an extremely useful tool. 

 Another one of the signings that took place during last month's National Sports Collector's convention was with Hall of Fame NFL running back Jerome Bettis. It was one of a few signings I participated in by sending to third parties via Sportscollectors.net. I sent in a 1993 Topps draft picks card that I pulled as a kid and somehow still had laying around. I think the result was good. 

 Today I attended the Front Row Card Show down in San Diego for the second time in 2025. You can read my recap of my experience in May  here . This time, I went in with a plan of selling one of my two Cristiano Ronaldo autos so that I could turn that money into two big autos elsewhere. I feel that I accomplished this goal because I added Stephen Curry and Kylian Mbappe to my growing autograph collection. The Cristiano Ronaldo auto plus one Mosaic rookie card of Jared McCain (not signed) netted me just under $1000. I bought the Panini NBA Hoops Curry auto and the graded Kylian Mbappe Prizm auto for a bit over $900. 

 One of my last few through the mail requests that I still have pending came back to me signed yesterday, and it came with a bit of a bonus. Former US Women's National soccer team defender Joy Fawcett sent me a signed rookie card back (from 1994 Upper Deck). Joy was a member of both the 1991 and 1999 World Cup winning teams, with the '99 team in particular being a huge influence on the popularity of women's sports in America today. She also played a few seasons for the San Diego Spirit, which was a team that played in the early 2000's in the now defunct WUSA soccer league. As my experience with her former teammate Brandi Chastain went, Joy included a littler personal note in addition to the card she sent back signed.  I am excited to add this autograph to my collection because that 1999 World Cup team put women's soccer on the map and my daughter plays the sport now, so I am invested in women's sports being a success here. As you can see by the note above, we al...

 The National Sports Card Convention is the biggest collectibles convention that happens every year, and as such, it brings over a hundred athletes to the event for signings. This inevitably leads to a bunch of third party organizers that I find on sportscollectors.net posting about them participating in said signings and acting as consigners. One of the signers I sent in for was NFL Hall of Fame lineman Orlando Pace.  As you can see, he also included his HOF 16 inscription. I sent a 1997 Topps rookie and am happy with how this came out.

 Another mail request came back successfully this weekend, this time as NFL pro football Hall of Famer and former CBS color commentator Dan Dierdorf sent me a signed card back. As you can see, he also included his HOF 96 inscription which is always a nice touch to a signed card. I sent him a 1974 Topps card, thinking that it would look good with a signature on it. I'm happy with how this one turned out.

 I went to my local LCS recently and picked up a card I think has the potential to go up in value over the next year or two. Cardinals top prospect JJ Wetherholt has been on a binge lately and moved up the prospect rankings, so I was happy to take a shot on this 1st Bowman auto /150.

 Today I received a card returned to me by NHL and hockey Hall of Famer Cam Neely. This guy was the ultimate power forward in his day, which happened to coincide with the years I grew up watching hockey. I always wanted the Kings to have a player like Neely. Unfortunately, injuries really derailed his career because his numbers would have been a lot better. As it is, he was still an elite player who ended up in the hall anyway. I am happy with the result of this request.

 To be honest, I don't know much about a few of these players I send autograph requests too. I just filter to Hall of Famers, see who has recently signed, and then look them up online to see what they were known for. It only applies to probably 2% of my requests, but one of those was in fact basketball Hall of Famer Bobby Jones.when I looked him up, I discovered he was an elite defender during his day. He was cool and sent me a card back. I'm not on board with what he inscribed but I'll never begrudge someone for their beliefs. He also included a little religious packet. Thank you Mr. Jones.

 I'm always watching signings that are going on. I go onto  Sportscollectors.net  at least twice a week to peruse two things. One, I check to see if any Hall of Famers are signing through the mail that I do not already have in my collection. Two, I go to the private signings page and look through the list of all the upcoming signings that people are running with athletes. At all times there are least 200 names on the list, even more when there is a big convention coming up like last week's National. I cannot recommend using that site enough and have probably harped on it on this very blog a dozen times or more. I wanted to bring it up again because it had been a while since I last mentioned it. It's $15 for the year. It gives you access to all of this information plus more.  One of the signings I decided to partake in recently was that of one being hosted with Larry Bird. Odds are if you're reading this blog you know very well who that is. He's one of the best NBA p...

 I'm trying to catch up daily with autographs coming in and wanted to post about this one before I forget to do so. It continues to amaze me that a card like this, of a great NBA Hall of Famer and numbered to /35, can go for a lot less than a rookie autograph of a player who gets almost no run in his first season. I understand that people are trying to buy into the next big thing and hope to hit big on a massive rookie since the value will skyrocket, but at the same time I think the pendulum has swung too far toward flippers trying to make profits. Personally, I'd much rather collect Hall of Famer autographs and will continue to takle advantage of the mostly low prices. 

 Earlier in July, the soccer world lost one of their own when Liverpool and Portugal player Diogo Jota died in a car accident in Spain. As a Liverpool supporter, it was brutal news to wake up to as Diogo was one of the more popular players on the team and by all accounts, a great person as well. I'd always contemplated getting an auto of his and hadn't yet pulled the trigger. After his death, I waited on eBay a bit for the prices to come down (they are often inflated after an athlete dies) and was able to get this auto numbered 130/150.  RIP Diogo. If you want to see what he meant to the city and the club, watch this. The away supporters serenaded the players with Diogo's song for seven minutes after the final whistle. "Oh, he wears the number 20, He will take us to victory, and when he's running down the left wing He'll cut inside and score for LFC. He's a lad from Portugal, Better than Figo don't you know? Ohhh, his name is Diogo!"

 I've never bought a case of product. Getting one hobby box alone can cost a few hundred bucks plus, let alone getting a case of 12 of them. However, I saw that Dave and Adams had a blowout on their 2022-23 Topps Chrome Bundesliga cases and decided tbe price was so discounted that I may as well take a shot. Bundesliga product isn't as coveted of course due to fewer people watching the German league as opposed to the Premier League in England or La Liga in Spain. Therefore, product can sit for a bit and not be bought which I'm assuming is what happened here. Anyway, not only was it discounted like 70%, I also got $25 off beyond that and did not have to pay shipping or tax. Essentially each hobby box ended up costing me $30. To compare, a blaster box from Target or Walmart costs $30 and you don't get any guarantees. These hobby boxes come with one auto per box plus three numbered cards. You will also get one case hit and two semi case hits. Due to the rookie class being j...

I originally sent a card through the mail to Steve Carlton a few years ago, and had success then. This time, I decided to send a more modern card and wanted to do something differently than before in terms of card style. I chose the 2023 Topps insert "All Aces" because honestly the cards look cool. This set legitimately looks like a playing card Ace, with each one from the set referring to a different great starting pitcher. I had the Steve Carlton one, so sent it to tbe address for his autograph requests and also asked for the Cy Young inscription. The result is fantastic.  These cards are cool as is because the design is unique and the colors pop in person. I figured an autograph on one would look good and I think this nailed it. The Cy Young 72, 77, 80, 82 inscription was just a sweet kicker. 

 If you recall, I tried a Panini La Liga hobby box about a month ago and while my autos did not hit, the box overall still ended up making its value in back in other cards. I also managed to pull an auto from a retail blaster box but it ended up not being a big name. It got me thinking what some of the bigger throwback names on the autograph checklist might cost on eBay. That lead me to Xabi Alonso, who if you play EAFC, you will know is an icon in the game and what of the best midfielders globally during his era. To top it off, he played for the team I support, Liverpool as well as the biggest team in the world, Real Madrid. He also played internationally for Spain. The auto is one of the Blue Pulsar varieties that pop in person. I would have been happy to pull this from a blaster, but also happy that the card cost only a little more than what an unopened blaster would sell for. Make that make sense.  On an unrelated note, I forgot to mention a couple weeks ago also pulling a...

 This is something I acquired about a year ago, but the circumstances of how I ended up with it kept me from posting about it for a while because it had to do with the death of my stepdad. It's a signed and numbered lithograph of an artist whose work is pretty well known in Southern California. I remember going to look at the Wyland gallery locally here in San Diego and thinking his stuff was cool even as a kid.  Fast forward thirty years, and my stepdad actually bought an artist's proof sculpture of Wyland's, and as part of the deal the gallery gave him a signed and numbered lithograph for free. I like art, and it reminded me of growing up, so I told him I'd like to have the piece someday and he did not have a problem with it.  Unfortunately, I ended up with the piece far sooner than I ever wanted. My wife and I hung the piece on a relatively prominent place on our wall, a place where guests will see it every time they come to visit. 

 As mentioned in my last post, on Monday this week I had two through the mail requests come back to me. The first was the John Stallworth I mentioned and the second was this Willie Roaf rookie card in which he also included his HOF inscription. I've said all along the best way to get these requests back is to not be greedy and request just the one, and if there is a fee, pay it. On the site I use to track which athletes send requests back, I see a lot of instances where people are sending three, four, or five cards per request. We all know what those people are doing. They are flipping the autographs on eBay and elsewhere. I suppose there is an argument to be made that those people are collectors trying to complete sets but I think more often than not those are the exception to the rule.  Like the Stallworth, I think this card came out great. Nice big signature with an inscription and signed in blue, which I typically prefer. I still have a third through the mail request out t...

 It has been since the end of 2024 that I have sent out a through the mail request. A few weeks ago, I sent three requests out because I saw there were some players on the list that I hadn't tried before. Two of the requests came back to me yesterday which was a nice surprise. The first I am posting about is former Steelers wide receiver and Hall of Famer John Stallworth. I sent a 1978 Topps card and requested the HOF 02 inscription and Mr. Stallworth obliged and added it to the signature. I think this card came out quite nicely and it was nice to get an autograph through the mail again after not doing so for quite some time. 

 I'll start this by directing your attention back to the post I made back in January about pulling my first ever redemption card. Some background; redemptions are Panini's and Topps' attempts to fulfill cards that they did yet have ready for the set before it was released. Instead, they stick these redemption cards into the packs and if you pull one, you go online to submit your request and they open a ticket. Once the athlete signs the card or signs stickers that they will put on the cards, they are able to then complete your open ticket and mail you the card you were supposed to get in the first place. It all sounds very straightforward, except for one problem. It isn't. Panini is unfortunately notorious for being unable to fulfill their redemptions much of the time, which is exactly what happened in my case. My Erick All Jr. rookie auto /299 was not able to be filled after six months, so I got an email asking me whether I wanted to keep waiting, whether I wanted Pan...

 Lots to catch up on here, as I've opened some recent releases in the form of Panini Select La Liga (one hobby and two blasters) as well as Select FIFA (two blasters). Starting with the La Liga hobby, you are guaranteed 3 autograph or memorabilia cards per box. I've opened Select hobby boxes in the last and had decent returns, in particular with Serie A. This time, the biggest hit of the three ended up being the mem card which is never a great sign, although the patch itself was pretty legit and it was a low numbered rookie of one of the chase rookies, Marc Bernal. The Bernal rookie mem auto looks like a part of his jersey number which is cool and is numbered to /25. That was easily the hit of the box and I knew it meant my autos would likely be relative duds from a value standpoint. They were. The two autos were Javi Puado and a rookie from Barcelona Sergi Dominguez. I probably made my money back with the box overall as I got a case hit, solid numbered cards (seven overall), p...

 The last of three rookie autos I purchased came in the mail yesterday, this time in the form of the Giants' Malik Nabers. Nabers does not sign for Panini, so I wasn't able to get a Contenders rookie ticket auto like I did for Ladd McConkey and Brian Thomas Jr. Since Nabers only signs with Topps (and therefore Fanatics), I had to go the unlicensed route to get a rookie auto, hence the reason there are no team logos or names. The good news is that it is an on card auto.

 I haven't ever participated in buying any hobby boxes from Panini Contenders, so instead recently decided to just get a couple singles for rookie wide receivers I like. If you aren't aware, Panini doesn't have agreements with many of the NFL rookies, so the rookie auto list is pretty bare. Topps (and therefore Fanatics) has the agreement with a lot of the big-name rookies so you have to look at Topps cards to get autos from some of these guys. Of course, the downside to that is then that Topps does NOT have the NFL license, so the autos you pull do not have team logos or team names on the cards. As such, I went with what is considered by some to be some of the cooler rookie NFL autos you can pull, Panini Contenders. Both of these are on card autographs, meaning they aren't on stickers. Ladd McConkey had a fantastic rookie season with the Chargers and his card is the red variation. The Brian Thomas Jr. is numbered 005/149. I think both of these autos look good and go wi...

Last year, I had a lot of luck with my Bowman blasters. I pulled nine autos out of ~30 or so blasters and hit some big names like Paul Skenes and a Colton Cowser rookie auto /99. I also hit quite a bit of color last year with 1st Bowmans and the like. Bowman is always one of the biggest baseball products of the year because it's where you can pull the coveted '1st Bowmans' of prospects which, if they pan out, can lead to some very valuable cards down the line. The consensus every year is that there are a select few high-end ceiling players that people want but the reality is with baseball, you never truly know which players will go boom and which bust.  As you can see, the three autos are all 1st Bowmans, which is nice. The top card is numbered /99. I've opened about 20 blasters and three mega boxes this year and only pulled these three autos. I believe I heard somewhere that they increased the print run and I can believe it based on how many fewer autos I have gotten i...