Recent Chris Davis PC Pickups

I use the term recent in the title loosely.  I got these Topps Mini Chris Davis cards a couple months ago, then buried them underneath some TTMs and Christmas gifts.  I had my Davis PC box out the other day and realized that these minis needed to get in there, and also get logged on my spreadsheet.

I actually have one other 2015 Topps Mini, numbered 4/5.  There was a third on Ebay, but I missed it.  I'm hoping I can catch it again soon and add it to the collection.  It would be kind of cool to have a monopoly on all of the /5 minis, but we'll have to see what gets posted.  The 2016 shown is numbered 4/5.  I have another on the way, and a third is listed on Ebay but the price is a bit much.  Maybe the seller will come down on it.

I also picked up this blue mini numbered 3/10.  I think the blues look nice, maybe better than the red.  I wish there was an Orange mini.  That would look great!

I have updated my Davis spreadsheet as of this post, so all of my "haves" are listed.  I'm glad I took the time to do the Davis spreadsheet.  It makes it so much easier to be able to see what I already have and work from there.

Christmas Gift From Robert

One of the first Christmas gifts that came in this year was this awesome 2016 Topps Hi Tek red parallel auto of Rafael Palmeiro.  The card is numbered 4/25 and looks awesome!  I this the card scanned great.  Robert has been a great friend for some time now, and I was really happy to get this from him.  I sent Robert some nice Jorge Soler cards for his PC, which I hope he needed.

Thank you so much for the awesome gift, Robert!  I love this card and I will have to go to the card shop for some more magnetic cases, so this one is properly taken care of!

TTM Success - Pat Neshek

I don't do too many TTMs of current players, mainly because I never know which ones are signing.  Everyone who does TTM, though, knows that Pat Neshek is one of the best signers that currently play in the majors.  I had a few cards that I wanted to send him, then I bought a box of 2016 Topps Heritage Update and pulled this purple chrome parallel.  Once I had that, I knew I needed to get my cards in the mail.

I had been pre-treating some chrome and Finest cards with a pencil top eraser and have gotten pretty decent results.  However, I had heard that baby powder worked really well on chromes, so I figured I would give it a shot.  So, this card was put in a ziploc bag with a little baby powder, then wiped clean with a wash cloth.  As you can see, the auto turned out pretty nice, and didn't bubble at all.  Not bad.  I think I'll probably stick with baby powder for the chrome and Finest cards.  I do have some that were rubbed with an eraser coming up in a few future posts, so a comparison can be made.

Rumor had it that if you sent any autographed cards to Neshek, he would send you one of his own, so I pulled a couple autos that I had in my card show box and sent them along.  He returned my mailer back with the two cards at the top, a 2010 Topps and 2013 Topps.  Not bad!  The bottom two are the other cards I sent for him to sign, a 2016 Topps and 2015 Heritage.  All of the cards turned out great.  He definitely has one of the best signatures around.

Neshek (b. 1980) has played in the majors since 2006 (skipping the 2009 season) for the Twins, Padres, A's, Cardinals and Astros.  He has a career record of 28-19 with an ERA of 2.93 and 378 strike outs.

I mailed to Neshek on November 23 and got the cards back on December 3, for a 10-day TAT.

Cristmas Gift From Gerard

Even though he is a huge Red Sox fan, I get along with my friend, Gerard, really well.  He's a great guy who I have talked to quite a bit.  He has won one of my Instagram contests and I have also sent him a TTM starter pack.  We got to talking after the TTM starter pack was sent, and I have helped him get started with that part of his collection.

He messaged me earlier this month saying that he was really excited about the Christmas package he was putting together for me, and he hoped I would like it.  Well, he nailed it.  I was really surprised that I didn't have the above Tristar Projections Chris Davis in my PC.  I mean, I was REALLY surprised.  So much so, I double and triple checked my Davis spreadsheet, and nope, it wasn't listed yet.  Wow.  Someone found something I didn't have yet!

I also didn't have this 2016 Heritage Manny Machado relic.  Gerard really did well with this package.  I can't say that enough.

Maybe it's just me, but this one is kind of an oddball.  Maybe I missed it, but I thought the mini relics in Allen & Ginter were all framed.  I'll have to ask Gerard about this one again.  It is really cool, regardless, and I know I didn't already have it.  I just thought they were all either framed, or regular sized cards.  I haven't busted much Ginter lately, so I probably just missed that they were doing unframed mini relics.  It helped me know that I didn't have the card already.

Finally, Gerard nailed it again with a Cal that I didn't have in my collection yet.  I've said it many times that it is really tough for me to pick up Cal stuff because I have no idea what I even have any more.  So, this red framed 2016 Panini Diamond Kings is definitely an awesome card.  It is numbered 78/99 as well.

All of the cards that Gerard sent (he send a stack of Orioles as well) were great and all, but the best part of the Christmas gift was the full page letter that he included in the package.  I really appreciated his kind words in the letter and can't thank him enough for his friendship over these last several months.  Gerard is a great guy, and I hope I can do many more trades with him.

Thank you so much for the package, buddy!  I love it!

TTM Success - Allan Anderson

I got a TTM success back from a guy who's cards have been floating around in my TTM box for forvever.  I finally got around to getting them mailed and was pretty happy with the cards when they came back.  They are all kind of plain cards, and with all of the cool 90s inserts and sets I've been getting, these kind of got overlooked.

I really liked the Classic card that was signed.  They are really basic cards, but turn out pretty well, I think.  Also, you really can't go wrong with the Topps years that I got.  I always enjoy getting a 1987 back, and 1989 and 91 always look good.

Anderson (b. 1964) played in the majors from 1986 to 1991 for the Twins. He had a career record of 49-54 with an ERA of 4.11 and 339 strike outs.  He was the AL ERA leader in 1988 with 2.45 but was never the same after that season.

I mailed to Anderson on November 9 and got the cards back on December 3, for a 24-day TAT.

TTM Success - John O'Donoghue

I got a bunch of nice mid-to-late 1960s cards signed by former pitcher, John O'Donoghue.  I also got the above 1970 Topps card signed.  I'm glad because it is another Seattle Pilots card.  The auto looks pretty good, even though it is in a thin blue ballpoint pen.

Here is a nice succession of his cards, starting with the above left 1965, above right 1966, bottom left 1967 and bottom right 1968.  It is always cool to line up Topps cards in succession and see how they play out.

O'Donoghue (b. 1939) played in the majors from 1963 to 1971 for the A's (Kansas City), Indians, Orioles, Pilots, Brewers and Expos.  He had a career record of 39-55 with an ERA of 4.07 and 377 strike outs.  He was an All Star in 1966.

I mailed to O'Donoghue on November 22 and got the cards back on December 5, for a 13-day TAT.

Christmas Gift and a Deal From Brayden

I got a surprise direct message a few days ago from someone on Instagram that I had never talked to before.  His name is Brayden, and he told me that he wanted to send me a care package because he had seen that I did a lot for the card community.  Brayden had some Orioles cards that he wanted to give me and we continued talking well after this was established.  It turns out that Brayden gets a lot of autographs from around Texas and had some baseballs I was interested in.  We made a quick and easy deal for the above Adrian Beltre signed ball.

The ball is a 2011 All Star baseball, but it was signed on the wrong side panel.  I didn't mind, and Brayden was really nice and made me a sweet deal that I couldn't refuse.  I wanted the ball because I feel like Beltre will be a Hall of Famer once he becomes eligible, so he would fit into my HOF collection.

Brayden included the initial cards that he wanted to send with the Beltre ball.  Among them was this 2012 Bowman Platinum Schoop.  All of the cards Brayden sent were great, and I really appreciated them.  The best part of it all is that I feel like I made a new friend.  I hope we can keep making deals and talking in the future because he seems to be a really nice guy!

Thanks for the awesome deal and Christmas package, Brayden!

TTM Success - Ken Forsch

I still have a huge stack of TTM successes on my desk that I really need to make a dent in.  So, I'm going to try to get multiple posts in each day and see if I can make some headway on my piles of stuff sitting here.

Here is a success from Ken Forsch.  I was able to get him on some nice cards, especially the 1980 Topps on the bottom left which shows off a cool Astros jersey.

Here is a nice 1986 Fleer.  I actually have a few from this set, I just need to find out if some of the guys that I have sign TTM.  The cards look great, so I definitely want to get more signed.

Forsch (b. 1946) played in the majors from 1970 to 1984 and 1986 for the Astros and Angels.  He had a career record of 114-113 with an ERA of 3.37 and 1,047 strike outs.  He was a 2-time All Star (1976 and 1981).  He appeared on the 1992 Hall of Fame ballot, but didn't receive any votes.

I mailed to Forsch on November 22 and got the cards back on December 5, for a 13-day TAT.

Christmas Gift From AJ

I got a really nice Christmas gift in the mail from my little buddy, AJ, that had a ton of Orioles and a few other relics and autos included.  AJ is a huge Reds fan that I try to help out when I can.  He has had a couple older "graphers" give him a hard time at games, so I try my best to send him some stuff to help his collection since the older kids seem to think making fun of someone's collection is something to do.

AJ sent me this awesome Manny Machado blue parallel from 2012 Bowman Platinum.  I need to pick up a magnetic case for this.  The card looks great, and I really appreciate AJ sending it along.

AJ sent me a handful of these Orioles holiday parallels from Topps Retail.  I really liked this Wieters, especially since he probably won't be an Oriole in 2017 Topps.

Among the relic cards that AJ sent, he included this Adam Jones relic from 2015 Topps.  AJ also sent one of his own cards, signed, from his past baseball season.  I thought that was a really cool gesture, which I definitely appreciated.

Thank you so much for the Christmas package, AJ!  I appreciate it!

TTM Success - Tommy Greene

Here is a guy with a really nice signature, Tommy Greene.  I had seen that he signed TTM a while back and I just kept on finding cards of his every time I opened a box.  So, I finally put together a few cards that I thought would look nice and sent them along.

For whatever reason, I don't recall opening very many packs of 1993 Stadium Club when it originally came out.  I always seemed to have a ton of 1992 and 1994, but not much 1993.  Kind of weird.  Maybe I pulled the Ripken early and laid off of buying packs after that.  Still, I had this card and sent it along.  It turned out great, and I am glad I thought to include it.

Here are the other cards I sent.  The Flair card (top right) turned out really well, even though I didn't pre-treat the card at all.  It makes me think that Greene was courteous enough to let it sit and dry before he handled it.  It did bubble up some, but not nearly as bad as I have seen other cards do.  I think my favorite of the batch is the 1990 Score.  The blue signature really matches the card.

Greene (b. 1967) played in the majors from 1989 to 1995 and 1997 for the Braves, Phillies and Astros.  He is a North Carolina native, having grown up in Whiteville, a town where one of my good friends lives, and I have worked in quite a bit.

Greene had a career record of 38-25 with an ERA of 4.14 and 461 strike outs.  His best season was 1993 when he went 16-4 with a 3.42 ERA for the Phillies.  He finished 6th in the NL Cy Young Award voting.  He pitched in the '93 World Series for the Phillies, but was lit up to a 27.00 ERA.

I mailed to Greene on November 5 and got the cards back on December 2, for a 27-day TAT.

Trade and A Christmas Gift From Max

I got an awesome Christmas and Trade package in the mail from my close friend, Max.  He really hooked me up with an awesome Chris Davis Panini 1/1 printing plate.  I really wasn't expecting this, but man, I love it.  I need to get a mag for this card, which I plan on picking up tomorrow.

I pulled off a trade with Max as well that landed me a bunch of Orioles autos, but this Sonny Gray dual patch was the key of the deal.  The Gray is numbered 4/10.

I really appreciate the Christmas gift, Max!  The O's autos are great as well, but I didn't have enough time to scan them all.  Thanks buddy!

Christmas Gift From Kaleb

I wanted to lead off my 2016 Christmas haul with a gift that really touched my heart, and it came from my good friend, Kaleb.  I may not trade with Kaleb often, but I talk to him almost daily.  He is a great guy who I sincerely enjoy talking to,and my hope is that we can keep it going for a long time.

I met Kaleb through my buddy, Josh; the two of them have been best friends their whole lives.  I'm really happy that Josh introduced Kaleb and I.

Kaleb went through his collection and sent me what seems to be every Oriole that he had.  He also included a really nice note.  I always love getting notes in care packages, so those become great gifts for me in themselves.

Thank you so much for the Christmas package, Kaleb!  I love it, and I am very happy that you thought of me!

TTM Success - Al Hawkins

I got a really awesome TTM success from a card that was for some reason hanging out in my boxes.  I think this came out of some repack box somewhere in in the past and it just kind of sat around for years.  Finally, when I started looking up folks who signed TTM, I kept seeing this card when I was searching my boxes.  I found out that Al Hawkins does sign TTM, so I figured, why not?  Then, when I looked at where he was from, I had to send to him!

Hawkins (b. 1978) was born in Elizabeth, NJ, the same place where my father, uncle, aunt, grandmother and grandfather were born.  My family has long lived in Elizabeth and the surrounding towns, such as Linden and especially, Roselle Park, where my great grandparents made their home.  My great-grandfather (emphasis on the great) built so many houses on one of the streets in Roselle Park, he was allowed to name the street.  He named it after my grandmother, but of course the town misspelled it.  So, if you are ever on Elinor Avenue in Roselle Park, NJ, you are driving on that street.  I could go all day about the family history, but I need to get a lot of stuff done for Christmas.

Hawkins wrote me a nice note back saying that any time I wanted something signed, to send it along and he would sign it.  He seems to be a really nice guy.  He was drafted by the Brewers in the 15th round of the 1996 MLB Amateur Draft.  He never cracked the majors, having spent 6 seasons in the minors and one in independent ball.  His career minor league record (including independent ball) was 36-44 with an ERA of 4.97 and 351 strike outs.

I mailed to Hawkins on October 25 and got the card back on December 2, for a 38-day TAT.

TTM Success - Hector Lopez

I think my venture into getting cards signed TTM has helped me appreciate cards that I normally would have glossed over in the past.  I never really cared all that much for TCMA or SSPC cards, but now that I have been getting some signed, they really have become some that I really enjoy seeing.  This one of Hector Lopez turned out great when I got my TTM success back from him.  It just looks really sharp.

Of course, both of these Topps cards look nice, as well.  I didn't have very many of 1958 Topps in my autograph project, nor did I have many of 1963, so this success helped out in several areas.

Lopez (b. 1929) played in the majors from 1955 to 1966 for the A's and Yankees.  He had 1,251 hits, 136 home runs and a batting average of .269.  He won the World Series with the Yankees in 1961 and 1962, and appeared in five straight World Series with them (1960 to 1964).

I mailed to Lopez on November 21 and got the cards back on December 2, for an 11-day TAT.

TTM Success - Phil Roof

Here are two more vintage cards that I was able to get signed TTM with this success from Phil Roof.  I really like the 1967 Topps card on the left.  You get to see the Kansas City A's uniform, and Aa really cool looking catcher's mitt.  There sure is a lot of green on that card.  The 1977 on the right probably isn't Roof's best card, but it's not terrible.  They probably could have found a shot of him without a shadow covering half of his face, though.

Roof (b. 1941) played in the majors from 1961 and 1964 to 1977 for the Braves, Angels, Indians, A's (KC and Oakland), Brewers, Twins, White Sox and Blue Jays.  He had 463 hits, 43 home runs and a .215 batting average.

I mailed to Roof on November 19 and got the cards back on December 2, for a 13-day TAT.

TTM Success - Travis Driskill

I saw that former Orioles pitcher, Travis Driskill, was signing TTM, so I went ahead and sent the one card that I had to him.  This 2004 Topps turned out really nice.  I actually had only one other of this year of Topps signed.

Driskill (b. 1971) played in the majors from 2002 to 2005 and 2007 for the Orioles, Rockies and Astros.  He had a career record of 11-14 with 123 strike outs and an ERA of 5.23.  He pitched during the Orioles dark ages, so I don't remember much of his time there.  Still, I was really happy to get this card back.

I mailed to Driskill on November 22 and got the card back on December 2, for a 10-day TAT.

TTM Success - Juan Pizarro

I was able to use a few more vintage cards from my box when I got two autographs back from former pitcher, Juan Pizarro.  This 1962 Topps was in fair shape, and I didn't have very many of those signed, so I thought it would be good to send it along.  It turned out pretty nice, I think.

I wasn't sure if I had any other Pizarro cards, so I went through my partial 1972 set and found this one to send as well.  I have raided my partial set a few times.  I probably should stop so I can complete the set.  I'll get to it eventually.

Pizarro (b. 1937) played in the majors from 1957 to 1974 for the Braves, White Sox, Pirates, Red Sox, Indians, A's, Cubs and Astros.  He had a career record of 131-105 with 1,522 strike outs and a 3.43 ERA.  His best seasons were 1963 (16-8; 2.39 ERA) and 1964 (19-9; 2.56 ERA) where he was an All Star both seasons, and finished 19th in the AL MVP Award voting.  He won the World Series with the Braves in 1957.  Pizarro was on the 1980 Hall of Fame ballot, but did not receive any votes.

I mailed to Pizarro on November 11 and got the cards back on December 1, for a 20-day TAT.

TTM Success - Skeeter Barnes

Here are some nice mid-90s cards that I was able to get signed by Skeeter Barnes.  The above 1992 Upper Deck looks great, especially since it is a horizontal card.  I also like the old Tigers jersey.

Stadium Club always looks nice when signed.  This is a 1992 Stadium Club.  I've had a few that I could have sent out, but they always got trumped by something else, most times.  I'm glad I sent this one, though, because it turned out great.

The 1993 Gold was lying around on my desk for what seemed like forever.  I'm glad I finally was able to put it to some use.

Barnes (b. 1957) played in the majors from 1983-85, 87, 89 and 91-94 for the Reds, Expos, Cardinals and Tigers.  He had 159 hits, 14 home runs and a .259 batting average in his MLB career.

I mailed to Barnes on November 8 and got the cards back on December 1, for a 23-day TAT.

TTM Success - Pat Corrales

I added autographs of a former manager when these came in TTM from Pat Corrales.  I like seeing some of these old team cards get signed, so I picked it up from my LCS a few weeks ago.

I had these two cards in my bulk Topps boxes.  You can't go wrong with an 87 Topps auto (especially since I have around 27 of them now).  I also sent Corrales three cards of him as a player (1969, 1971 and 1974 Topps), but he didn't sign them.

Corrales (b. 1941) played in the majors from 1964 to 1966 and 1968 to 1973 for the Phillies, Cardinals, Reds and Padres.  He had 166 hits, 4 home runs and an average of .216.

As a manager, Corrales had a career record of 572-634.  He managed the Rangers (1978 to 1980), Phillies (1982-83) and Indians (1983 to 1987).

I mailed to Corrales on November 12 and got the cards back on December 1 for a 19-day TAT.

Thoughts on Walker Stalker - Charlotte - Dec 2016

I went to my first Walker Stalker convention yesterday in Charlotte.  I found out about it through my close friend, and huge Walking Dead fan, Josh.  He told me about the show, and also told me that Kane Hodder would be one of the autograph signers in attendance.

I grew up on the Friday the 13th movies.  My older brother was born on a Friday the 13th and always enjoyed the movies when we were kids, and they just kind of stuck with us.  Me being the "cool" (terrible) parent that I am, allow my son to watch the movies as well.  Chris is a huge fan of the series; his birthday cake this year was Jason's hockey mask.  When I found out that Hodder was going to be at the show, I made sure to get tickets for Chris and I.  Also, since my niece's birthday was this past week, and she is a huge Walking Dead fan, I told my mom that it would be a cool birthday present for her, so Mom got my niece tickets.

Chris and I were first in line for Hodder on Sunday morning.  When he finally got into his booth, he made small talk with the staff there, then motioned for Chris to come and talk with him,  The line wasn't very long at all, so he made a decent amount of time to chat with Chris.  Chris was wearing the mask at the time, so Hodder could tell that Chris was a huge fan.  He also complimented Chris and I on our shirts (I was wearing a matching shirt to Chris's, which you will see in a later photo).

I bought the mask off of some promotion I saw on my Facebook.  It only cost $10 shipped, which was pretty cool.  He has actually sat in the front yard chopping roots with a hatchet while wearing it.  I imagine there will be a few wrecks in front of the house from people slowing down to watch him.

Hodder was really nice.  He made a lot of time to talk with Chris.  He was very friendly and engaging.  I could tell that Chris was nervous.  He started to talk to Hodder while wearing his mask, but he was speaking so softly, Hodder had to ask him to take the mask off so he could hear him.  Chris answered his questions, then looked at me and asked "What am I supposed to do?" so I told him "Talk to him!  He's talking to you!  Ask him questions."  So, Chris asked him "So, if I were in a Jason movie, how would you kill me?"  Hodder leaned back in his chair and laughed saying "Wow, that's a really good question!" (I honestly wonder if anyone has ever asked him that before) He said "I guess I would go with the standard machete.  Cut your head off, chop you up, haha."  Chris giggled, then asked if Jason would eat the pieces, now comfortable with him and making jokes.  Chris then asked Hodder what his favorite kill in a Jason movie was.  His response was the sleeping bag death in Friday the 13th part 7.  That is one of my favorites, too.

Skipping ahead to the end of the day, there was a cosplayer in the game room dressed as Jason.  Hodder himself noted that he saw the guy the day before and thought he did a great job.  This dude was huge.  I went up to him after he posed for pictures with Chris and let him know what Hodder had said.  Look, I know the movies aren't real, but while I was talking to the guy, there was a little piece of me in the back of my mind thinking "WTF are you doing, you need to be RUNNING in the other direction."  I'm 36 years old and I still have nightmares that Jason is coming to get me.  If I had to make a tally of all of the bad dreams I have had, Jason stalking me would have the lead by far.  Still, it was a really cool moment, regardless if it was real or fake.

The cosplayer (person dressed in costume if you were wondering what that means) was really cool with Chris.  The photos look so cool as well.  He fist bumped Chris and gave him a thumbs up.  He also stood in one place for so long, some girls walked by thinking he was a statue or figure.  Until he lunged at them and they screamed.  That was worth the price of admission in itself.

I didn't trust Chris to take my picture without cutting my head off (see what I did there?), and my niece was in line for a photo op, so I had to resort to taking a selfie with the Jason cosplayer.  This might be one of the better selfies I have taken.  I am not doing duck lips and I have a shirt on, so this is a definite positive.  Seriously, though, this picture turned out amazingly.  I do believe that this guy being there in costume was icing on the cake of an amazing day.

What really topped the day, however, happened before we took our photo ops with the Jason cosplayer.  The only other actor I had any desire to meet was Scott Wilson, the actor who player Hershel Greene on Walking Dead.  I have only seen three episodes of the show, but I know quite a bit about it through my good friend, Josh.  Actually, good friend doesn't do him justice.  I can't say best friend, because some folks feel that you can have only one, and I feel like I have several.  Anyway, Josh is a huge Walking Dead fan.  So much so, he has met Wilson on so many occasions, they know each other by name.

One Christmas (I think it was Christmas, or maybe it was near Wilson's birthday), Josh gave Wilson custom "Hershel" Converse Hi Tops.  It was this that gave me an "in" when I went through Wilson's line for a meet and greet.

Josh was unable to go to this convention because he couldn't make the drive from West Virginia to Charlotte, but he knew I would be going.  Josh asked me on several occasions if I was planning on meeting Wilson.  I wasn't quite sure how the convention would work, so I kept saying that I would try to met him, but wasn't going to make any promises.  Finally, Josh told me that instead of getting him something for Christmas, he would be happier if I just got a photo with Wilson.  He enjoyed the man so much, he wanted me to share in that experience.  Then, Josh decided that it might be cool to have Wilson sign a photo that said Merry Christmas... then he though it might be cool to get Wilson to record a Christmas message.....  Josh was getting far more excited than I was about the show, and he wasn't even going!!!

I messaged Josh on Friday night after having a thought that maybe it would be cool if JOSH recorded a message for Wilson and I play it for him at the show.  This sealed the deal with Josh that I was going to meet Wilson, and he spent the next day and a half fretting over what exactly to say to his idol.

I got through Wilson's line and walked up to him; he immediately shook my hand and asked me how I was.  I told him I was great and was there to deliver a message to him from "the kid who gave him the shoes..."  He knew right away who I meant when he said "Josh? Oh, he's such a great kid!  His dad is too!  You tell them I said hello and Merry Christmas."  I told him that I could do better with the video, which he watched several times since it was really loud in there.  I asked him if he would do a video for Josh that I could send to him.  He said he would, so I recorded one with my phone and sent it to Josh.  I thanked Wilson and stepped out of line.

Josh was blowing up my phone with how amazed he was at the video.  He asked me if I got a photo with Wilson or got his autograph.  I told him that I didn't have time and there were a bunch of people behind me.  I also told him I wasn't able to get an auto, since there were so many people, he couldn't sign for me since I didn't pay.

What I didn't tell Josh was that I had gotten back in line and was texting him while I was heading back to Wilson TO get something signed.  When I got back up to him, Wilson recognized me and said, oh its you again!  I had a Pop figure that I wanted to get signed for Josh, and I asked him what his rate would be to sign it for Josh.  "Oh, for Josh?  Here, I'll just sign it."  I told him "This kid is such a huge fan of yours."  He said "Oh, I KNOW!!" I had my wallet out and told him I would pay for the auto, but he kept refusing.  I then said, "well, let me pay you for a photo op..." and he refused that as well, which is what led to the above photo with him.

Josh already knows he is getting the signed Pop figure, because I suck at surprises and went ahead and sent him a photo of it.  He told me that this was the single most amazing Christmas gift he has ever gotten.  I didn't set out to be amazing yesterday, but I guess I came through for someone.  Josh is a really awesome person, and someone who messages me every day, even if it is just for a minute to see if I'm doing ok.  He is on my short list of really close friends, and I was happy to be able to make all of this possible for him.

I was also told my my niece that this was her best birthday ever.  She talked on the way home about how much she loved Walker Stalker and how great it was that I took her.  She and I had never taken a trip together, so this was a nice little bonding trip for the both of us as well.  Grace is a good girl who really has a passion for Walking Dead.  I am really happy that I was able to make a memory with her.

I also can't forget that Chris had a blast as well.  He and I spent some time walking around the show while Grace was waiting for photo ops.  I definitely would take Chris to another one of these.

Sorry for the wordy post, but I felt amazing when I went to bed last night.  I was able to provide an awesome memory to three people who are close to me, and all in time for Christmas.  This was a great way to get in the Christmas spirit, and I hope that Chris, Grace and Josh don't forget this cool event.

TTM Success - Dick Cole

I added one more 1954 Topps to my auto album with this success from former player, Dick Cole.  I was making a purchase on sportlots and decided that I wanted to fill out my cart with someone from '54 who signed, so I picked this up for a really cheap price (that I fail to remember).  The card turned out great, and Cole also included a signed business card of him as senior consultant to the Giants and inscribed 2010, 2012 and 2014 (World Series Championships).

Cole (b. 1926) played in the majors from 1951 and 1953 to 1957 for the Cardinals, Pirates and Braves.  He had 303 hits, 2 home runs and a .249 batting average.

I mailed to Cole on November 21 and got the cards back on December 1, for a 10-day TAT.

TTM Success - Bob Bruce

I received a TTM success recently on even more 60s cards.  This time I have a great version of 1964 with the Colt .45 jersey.  This success from Bob Bruce really turned out great. I picked up a few of these from sportlots and COMC to round out the ones I had found in my vintage box.

I believe this 1960 Topps RC was in my vintage box.  I have one signed by Ron Hansen, so adding another was a plus.

The 1963 on the left was also one that I already had.  The 1966 came from wherever I bought them, COMC I think.

Bruce (b. 1933) played in the majors from 1959 to 1967 for the Tigers, Colt .45s/Astros and Braves.  He had a career record of 49-71 with 733 strike outs and an ERA of 3.85.

I mailed to Bruce on November 21 and got the cards back on December 1, for a 10-day TAT.

TTM Success - Gary Bell

Here are some more vintage cards that I was able to pull in via TTM recently with this success from Gary Bell.  I picked up a few of his cards from COMC and sportlots so I could add a few more tick marks to my notebook.  I love the 1959 set, so adding another to the TTM/IP auto album is always a plus.  Bell's signature is really small, but it is nice and also legible, so I don't feel like it takes away from the card.

Here is another 1964 Topps and also a 1969.  Surprisingly, even with me working to complete the 1969 set, I only had a couple signed cards from the set.  I need to try to find a few extras here and there of guys who sign.

Bell (b. 1936) played in the majors from 1958 to 1969 for the Indians, Red Sox, Pilots and White Sox.  He had a career record of 121-117 with 1,378 strike outs and an ERA of 3.68.  He finished third in the 1958 AL Rookie of the Year voting (behind Albie Pearson and Ryne Duren).  He was also a three-time All Star (1960, 1966 and 1968).

I mailed to Bell on November 21 and got the cards back on November 30 for a 9-day TAT.

TTM Success - Garry Roggenburk

I received another TTM success on some nice vintage cards when I got these two back from former pitcher, Garry Roggenburk.  I believe both of these cards were in the vintage box at my LCS, and I got a sweet deal on a bulk stack.  Roggenburk signed them with a ballpoint pen, and the signature is hard to see, but it is still cool that I got the autos.

This one was interesting, mainly for a kind of embarrassing reason.  Roggenburk's left front tooth is chipped in this photo.  I also had that very same tooth chipped when I was 10 and it looked exactly the same.  So, I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask him how he chipped his, especially after I explained I was asking because mine had looked exactly the same.  He replied to my note saying he chipped it playing basketball.  I was glad he responded, because I know how self-conscious I was about mine (I've had it fixed somewhere around 5 times; the last time around 12 years ago).  Just a kind of odd interaction with a former player.

Roggenburk (b. 1940) played in the majors from 1963, 65, 66, 68 and 69 for the Twins, Red Sox and Pilots.  He had a career record of 6-9 with 56 strike outs and an ERA of 3.64.

I mailed to Roggenburk on November 21 and got the cards back on November 29, for an 8-day TAT.