TTM Success - JT Bruett

The above 1992 Donruss The Rookies card of JT Bruett drove me to send a TTM request to him.  The card came out of a pack I got out of a box my mom gave me a while back.  I finally got around to sending to him, and am glad I can add this card to my autograph album. 

I also found the above 1993 Topps before I mailed, and included it with the request.

Bruett (b. 1967) played in the majors in 1992 and 1993 for the Twins.  He had 24 hits, no home runs and a .250 batting average.  I mailed to Bruett on October 16 and got the cards back on February 26 for a 133-day TAT.

Another TTM Success From Fred Scherman

A few more cards from Conrad's boxes came back signed TTM when I received this success from Fred Scherman.  The above 1974 Topps Traded turned out nicely.  Scherman has a nice signature, and it shows up well on the card. 

I also got a 1971 Topps and a 1975 Topps signed by Scherman.  Both of these look great, also.

I mailed to Scherman on February 15 and got the cards back on February 26, for an 11-day TAT. 

Another TTM Success From Floyd Rayford

Floyd Rayford was the second of the three guys on the 1981 Topps Orioles rookies card that I am working on filling up.  I got Mike Boddicker already, followed by Rayford.  I got the card by signed by Rayford and promptly sent it off to Mark Corey to finish it off.

I also sent Rayford this 1991 Crown Orioles card to go ahead and get it out of the box.  I was glad to get it signed.

I sent the cards to Rayford on February 14 and got the cards back on February 26, for a 12-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Ed Hobaugh

Two move vintage cards from Ryan were signed TTM and added to the autograph album; these being from Ed Hobaugh.  Both of them are a bit rough, but they still turned out nicely.  The above 1963 Topps is a nice card.  I think it may have gotten wet in the past. The card isn't ruined, it just had a funny feel to it.

This 1962 Topps also has been well loved.  Still, it looks nice now that it is signed. 

Hobaugh (b.1934) played in the majors from 1961 to 1963 for the Senators.  He had a record of 9-10 with 115 strike outs and a 4.34 ERA.

I mailed to Hobaugh on December 1 and got the cards back on February 26, for an 87-day TAT.  He also included a note that said "keep the ball down if you are pitching, kindest regards, Ed Hobaugh."

TTM Success - Alan Foster

These Alan Foster cards have been in my to-be-TTMed box for a long time.  I finally got around to sending to him after putting some money aside for his fee.  I especially wanted to get his 1972 Topps signed, and it turned out nicely.

I also got his 1971, 1973 and 1976 Topps signed with this success. 

Foster (b. 1946) played in the majors from 1967 to 1976 for the Dodgers, Indians, Angels, Cardinals and Padres.  He had a record of 48-63 with 501 strike outs and a 3.74 ERA. I mailed to Foster on February 15 and got the cards back on February 26, for an 11-day TAT.  I paid his fee of $5/card.

TTM Success - Mike Rotunda

The next former wrestler that I got TTM was Mike Rotunda, also known as IRS.  I have plans to finish the above 1985 WWF dual card of Rotunda (called Rotundo on the card) and his brother in law, Barry Windham by getting Windham at GalaxyCon in March.

I also picked up this card showing him as IRS, which he inscribed with "pay up".

Rotunda (b. 1958) began wrestling in 1981 and retired in 2003. He is mainly known for his run with the WWF (WWE) as Irwin R Shyster.  He also wrestled in WCW as Michael Wallstreet.  He is the father of Bo Dallas and the late Bray Wyatt.  His father in law was Blackjack Mulligan.  He has held numerous tag team titles with former partners Windham and the Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase.

I mailed to Rotunda on February 12 and got the cards back on February 24, for a 12-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Cowboy Bob Orton

A couple weeks ago, I checked SCN to see who recent signers were for the non-sports/other category and came away with a few people to send to.  I jumped on Ebay and picked up some interesting cards.  One of the people I checked into was WWE Hall of Famer, Cowboy Bob Orton. 

Orton (b. 1950) is the son of former wrestler, Bob Orton, Sr. amd is the father of Randy Orton.  He began wrestling in 1972 in Florida.  He wrestled for numerous promotions across the country.  He spent time in the former WWF, where he was involved in the main event of the inaugural Wrestlemania.  He was in the corner of Rowdy Roddy Piper and Mr. Wonderful Paul Orndorff against Hulk Hogan and Mr. T.  

Orton was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005 and continues to wrestle sporadically. 

I mailed to Orton on February 12 and got the cards back on February 23, for an 11-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Mike Richardt

A couple more 1983 cards were added to the autograph album when I received this TTM success from Mike Richardt.  He signed a 1983 Topps and a 1983 Donruss. Both turned out well.

Richardt (b. 1958) played in the majors in 1980 and from 1982 to 1984 for the Rangers and Astros.

He had 131 hits, 4 home runs and a. 226 batting average. I mailed to Richardt on February 9 and got the cards back on February 23, for a 14-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Howie Bedell

This 1961 Topps of Howie Bedell that I picked up at a card show a while back took a while to come back signed. It finally did, and Bedell included a 1990 ProCards AAA along with my card.

Bedell (b. 1935) played in the majors in 1962 and 1968 for the Braves (Milwaukee) and Phillies.  He had 28 hits, no home runs and a .193 batting average. 

I mailed to Bedell on November 18 and got the cards back on February 23, for a 97-day TAT.

Another TTM Success From Eddie Leon

The mail has been slow the last several weeks.  TTMs have been slowly trickling in.  One of the latest TTM successes that I've gotten was this one from Eddie Leon.  He signed a 1975 Topps Mini, 1971 Topps and 1974 Topps.  These cards came out of the boxes I borrowed from Conrad.

Leon has a great signature; all three cards turned out nicely.

I mailed to Leon on August 9 and got the cards back on February 21 for a 196-day TAT.

TTM Success - Ben Harrison

A couple cards from 2005 Topps Update were signed TTM recently by Ben Harrison.  I found the above gold parallel and checked to see if Harrison signed TTM.  I saw that he did and quickly found his base cars to pair with the gold.  Both of the cards look great.

Harrison (b. 1981) was a 7th round pick by the Rangers in the 2004 June Amateur Draft out of the University of Florida. He played in the minors from 2004 to 2009 in the Rangers and Marlins systems.  He would reach AAA and end his affiliated minor league career with 534 hits, 80 home runs and a .260 batting average. 

I mailed to Harrison on February 9 and got the cards back on February 20 for an 11-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Jeff Schulz

Another TTM success with some Junk Wax era cards came back the same time as my Greg Cadaret success when these three cards came in from Jeff Schulz.  The above 1991 Score is a nice card. I like the white border on the card.

I also got a 1991 Upper Deck and a 1991 Donruss signed with this success. 

Schulz (b. 1961) played in the majors from 1989 to 1991 for the Royals and Pirates.  He had 19 hits, no home runs and a .244 batting average.

I mailed to Schulz on February 5 and got the cards back on February 20, for a 15-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Greg Cadaret

Some Junk Wax era cards were removed from the boxes and added to the autograph album when I got this TTM success back from Greg Cadaret.  I had to dig to find the working address, but I was successful.  The above 1991 Donruss turned out nicely. 

I also added a few of his Topps cards; a 1988, 1989 and 1994.

Cadaret (b. 1962) played in the majors from 1987 to 1994 and 1997 to 1998 for the A's, Yankees, Reds, Royals, Blue Jays, Tigers, Angels and Rangers.  He had a record of 38-32 with 539 strike outs and a 3.99 ERA.

I mailed to Cadaret on October 16 and got the cards back on February 20, for a 127-day TAT.

TTM Success - Scott Moore

A former Oriole from their dark days was added to the autograph album when I got this 2008 Topps of Scott Moore back signed TTM.  I had seen that he was signing recently, so I pulled this card and sent it out.  There aren't a whole lot of 2008 Topps in the album, so u was glad to add this one.

Moore (b. 1983) played in the majors from 2006 to 2008, 2010 and 2012 for the Cubs, Orioles and Astros.  He had 93 hits, 16 home runs and a .242 batting average. 

I mailed to Moore on January 6 and got the card back on February 20, for a 45-day TAT.

TTM Success - Larry Burchart

Another card from Ryan came back signed TTM by former pitcher, Larry Burchart.  He has a really nice signature that pops on this 1970 Topps card.

Burchart (b. 1946) played in the majors in 1969 for the Indians.  He had a record of 0-2 with 26 strike outs and a 4.25 ERA.

I mailed to Burchart on January 31 and got the card back on February 17, for a 17-day TAT. 

Another TTM Success From Tom Hall

An effort has been made to clear some room in my boxes, which is always the case, it seems.  I pulled some more Tom Hall cards and sent them out TTM.  I got this nice 1974 Topps back; it turned out really well.

I also got a 1971 and 1976 Topps signed by Hall.  I'm not sure if the cards came from Ryan or from a trip to the card shop in Winston-Salem. 

I mailed to Hall on February 7 and got the cards back on February 16, for a 9-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Jack DiLauro

This is another vintage card that came from my friend, Ryan, that he wanted me to send off TTM.  The above 1970 Topps Jack DiLauro card is in rough shape, but still looks nice signed.  The airbrushed cap is a nice touch.

DiLauro (b. 1943) played in the majors in 1969 and 1970 for the Mets and Astros. He had a record of 2-7 with 50 strike outs and a 3.05 ERA.

He was part of the 1969 World Series Champion Mets, but did not pitch in the series.

I mailed to DiLauro on February 1 and got the card back on February 16, for a 15-day TAT. 

February 2024 Mad Monster Party Graphing Recap

On Saturday, my wife, son, mom and I all went to the 2024 Mad Monster Party in Charlotte to do a little graphing.  The main attractions this year were actors from Lost Boys, Jason Patric and Kiefer Sutherland, as well as Kevin Spacey, who was making his first ever Con appearance.

I had set my expectations pretty low; I didn't want to go to the event and expect to get Sutherland, only to see his line wrapped around the building like the time Chris and I went when Robert Englund was there.  I had seen that Tim Capello, the shirtless saxophone guy from the beginning of Lost Boys was going to be there.  That scene in the movie is so random, my brother Andy and I laugh about it a lot.  I thought it would be cool to meet Capello and get an autograph, so that was the goal I set.

Capello was the first person we got.  I paid $40 and got a photo signed and a photo op.  He was such a great guy.  You could tell that he has embraced that small role in a great film.  I didn't realize at the time, but his auto had smeared. So, I went back later and Capello was nice enough to sign another photo for me and apologized.

The next table we went to, after Capello's, and after Mal and Chris split up from Mom and I, was Lou Diamobd Phillips.  He was super nice and polite, asking Mom and I how we were doing.  Mom told him, then asked him how he was doing.  He said he was doing 'fantastic, thanks".  Mom talked to him for a bit while he signed for me.

I told Phillips that I grew up with LA Bamba and Young Guns.  He thanked me for being a fan.

After Phillips, we parked Mom in line for Kiefer Sutherland.  It looked like we might be able to get him quickly, but then they stopped the autograph lines in order to handle all of the paid photo ops.  They had it laid out as such: Jason Patric, Patric and Sutherland dual photo ops, Sutherland only, Sutherland and Phillips and then Phillips only. There were a ton of people in line for all of these photo ops. Mom was fine people watching while Mal, Chris and I took turns hanging with her.  Once Mal finished with Kevin Spacey, I broke away and went for CJ Graham.  Kane Hodder was also there, but I had met him before.

Graham's line was short when I got there, but he was talking with a family of four people (two were teenagers) and he was having a lot of fun with them.  He even got the teem boy to FaceTime his ex girlfriend and filmed himself with the buy telling the ex that she blew her chance to meet him. It was hilarious. I didn't mind waiting to see how all that would play out.  By the time I got to Graham, he thanked me for my patience and signed two photos for me.  He was so nice.

Because Graham took Paypal, I had conserved some cash and went ahead and got John Glover.  I loved this 8 x 10 from Gremlins 2, so that's what I chose to get signed.  Glover was really nice and spoke to me for a few minutes. 

I went back and checked on Mom, who I had left with Chris.  She was doing well; still sitting there people watching. Mal met up with us after Kevin Spacey, and dropped some of out signed photos at the car so we wouldn't have to hang onto them.  She noticed that the Capello photo had smeared, so Chris and I set off to replace that one.  After we got that done, we spotted WWE referee Charles Robinson talking with someone near Arn Anderson's booth.  Chris wanted to meet him, so we waited for him to finish his conversation.

Chris asked Robinson if he could get a photo with him, and got one.  Robinson wasn't a scheduled signer, he was there visiting, but was impressed Chris recognized him and said hello, so he posed for the photo.  He told Chris that since he was nice enough to come say hello, he would give him something in return.  He reached in his bag and brought out an 8 x 10, that he signed in white paint pen.  He asked me if I wanted one as well, which I gladly accepted.  He was really awesome and genuinely glad to be recognized.

We got back to Mal and Mom to see that the Kiefer Sutherland line was actually moving.  I had decided that if it wasn't moving, I was happy with what I had gotten and would be ok leaving.  However, since the line was moving, we hung out some more and finally got into the room to meet Sutherland.  We got up to the photo table while I was pushing Mom along the line.  I stopped and noted a photo for Mal and got a bit distracted.  It was our turn so Mom yelled to me "move me!" to which Sutherland laughed.  So we got up there, and he couldn't have been nicer.  Mom asked him "what did they have to do to get you to come here to podunk North Carolina?" Sutherland stopped what he was doing and looked her in the eye and told her: "You know, I've only done a few of these but these things are maybe the only chances I get to interact with the people who have made it possible to do what I do for the past 40 years. This has been my life and I really appreciate the fans..." It was so cool that he stopped what he was doing to answer her truthfully.  I asked hik how his dad was doing, and he thanked me for asking about him.  He shook my and Mom's hands, asked our names and was just reappky pleasant and persobable.  Then he said "ok, now move her!" Which was pretty funny.  I really enjoyed it.

We had an amazing time.  Mom has been sick lately, which is why we had to push her around the event in a wheelchair.  She's doing pretty well, at the moment.  She's big on "making memories", and this was a big memory made.  I'm glad Mom felt well enough to go with us and that everyone we met was amazing.  We all had an amazing time and I'd definitely do it again. 

In all, I got the following autographs: Kiefer Sutherland x 1, Tim Capello x 1, CJ Graham x 2, Lou Diamond Phillips x 1, John Glover x 1 and Charles Robinson x 1 (7)

TTM Success - Nolan McLean

Just when I thought my 2023 Bowman Draft TTM successes were drying up, another one came in.  I received a 2023 Bowman and a 2020 Panini Stars and Stripes back signed from Nolan McLean.  His were the first cards I sent out from the 2023 Bowman Draft set.

Each card turned out nicely.  I'm hoping this means a few of the others I sent out may still be coming back.

McLean (b. 2001) was a 3rd round pick by the Orioles in the 2022 July Amateur Draft out of Oklahoma State, but did not sign.  He was again drafted in the 3rd round in the 2023 July Amateur Draft, this time by the Mets.

He made it into 8 games last season between the GCL Mets and Low A St Lucie Mets.  He had 2 hits, 1 home run and a .125 batting average.

I mailed to McLean on December 15 and got the cards back on February 14, for a 61-day TAT.

TTM Success - John Doherty

These are two different cards, even though they don't look different.  One is a 1975 Topps John Doherty and the other is a 1975 Topps Mini Doherty.  My scanner enlarged the mini for me, so it looks like I scanned the same card twice.

Doherty signed both cards for me TTM, and they both turned out nicely. It was when my mail person rammed them into my mailbox that I had a problem.  She hasn't been doing the best job lately, and I may have to say something to the folks I deal with at the counter.  I'm tired of her leaving the mailbox open and ramming stuff in there. It's a big mailbox, the stuff will fit.

Anyway, Doherty (b. 1951) played in the majors in 1974 and 1975 for the Angels.  He had 76 hits, 4 home runs and a .240 batting average.

I mailed to Doherty on January 13 and got the cards back on February 23, for a 21-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Alonzo Mourning

Several weeks ago, my friend, Jack, asked me to check on some addresses for him to see if I could get any confirmations.  One of the addresses was one he had seen for Alonzo Mourning.  I wasn't 100% sure about what I found, but Jack seemed convinced that it was a good address.  Surprisingly, not too long after that, I found the above Mourning card in one of my boxes.  I decided to take a shot and test the address I had found to see if Mourning would sign my card TTM.  I was pleasantly surprised when it came back signed!

Mourning (b. 1970) played in the NBA from 1992 to 2008 (missing the 2002-2003 season) for the Hornets, Heat and Nets.  He had 14,311 points, 7,137 total rebounds and 946 assists.  He finished second in the 1992-1993 Rookie of the Year voting (to Shaq) and was an All Star 7 times. He won the NBA Championship with the Heat in 2006.  He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2014.

I mailed to Mourning on January 8 and got the card back on February 10, for a 33-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Mike Boddicker

One more 1991 Crown Orioles card was added to the autograph album when I finally sent a TTM request out to former Oriole, Mike Boddicker.  I thought I had gotten him TTM before, but apparently not.

I had some nice cards of his to send.  I got the above 1985 Topps Glossy All Stars and a 1988 Topps signed. I also got a 1981 Topps Orioles rookies signed, then sent that one off to Floyd Rayford.  It also has Mark Corey on it, so I should be able to fill that card up.

Boddicker (b. 1957) played in the majors from 1980 to 1993 for the Orioles, Red Sox, Royals and Brewers.  He had a record of 134-116 with 1,330 strike outs and a 3.80 ERA.

He was a 20-game winner in 1984.  That season, he was an All Star.  He also finished 4th in the AL Cy Young race and 25th in the AL MVP voting.  He finished 3rd in the 1983 AL Rookie of the Year voting in 1983 and was a Gold Glove Award winner in 1990.  He won the World Series with the Orioles in 1983.  He appeared on the 1999 Hall of Fame ballot, but received no votes.

I mailed to Boddicker on January 31 and got the cards back on February 10, for a 10-day TAT.