Another TTM Success From Johnny O'Brien

I had gotten Johnny O'Brien before, but when I saw this beat up 1953 Topps, I had to pick it up and send it off to get signed.  I really like the 1953 design, and don't have a whole lot more that I can add to the collection, so I grab what I can, when I can.

The card turned out great.  A lot of folks would shy away from the condition of the card, but I think it adds character to it.  Yeah, I probably would have avoided it, if I were building the set, but I'm not at the moment, so it will look great in my album.

I mailed to O'Brien on March 18 and got the card back on April 27, for a 40-day TAT.

TTM Success - Bobby Morgan

I love adding 1950s players to my autograph album.  There aren't many of them left, but when I get the opportunity to get autographs of them, I jump at the chance.  I saw that Bobby Morgan signed TTM, so I went on Ebay and picked up some nice cards of his that I felt like would look great.  I also wanted to make sure I added a Bowman to the album, preferably one that I didn't already have represented.  So, the above 1953 Bowman color was the one I chose.

The card turned out really nicely, I think.  I have since added a few other 1953 Bowman Color cards, but this was the first one.  I'm happy that I make myself pursue different years of different cards.  It makes every time through my albums an experience.

I did have to add a Topps card of his, so I picked the above 1953 Topps.  It also turned out really nicely.  I really enjoy 1953 Topps.  This is a set that has grown on me over the years.  If I had the money, I seriously would work on this set, but I don't have that kind of money.  Still, I like to pick up star cards from this set when I can.

Morgan (b. 1926) played in the majors from 1950 and 1952 to 1958 for the Dodgers (Brooklyn), Phillies, Cardinals and Cubs.  He had 487 hits, 53 home runs and a .233 batting average.  He appeared in two World Series with the Dodgers (1952 and 1953) , going hitless in two at bats.

I mailed to Morgan on March 8 and got the cards back on March 16, for an 8-day TAT.

The Topps Autograph Project Page Is Now Live

A project that I started last year finally is complete now that I have gotten the final piece blogged.  I was able to get at least one card signed from each year of Topps cards.  This included both 1951 Red and Blue Back.  I had to buy up some cards to send TTM to be able to get some of the autos, but none of the autographs were purchased from a secondary market or collector.

I have created a page on this blog showcasing each year of Topps with the corresponding card that I chose for each year.  Some choices were easier than others.  Some cards were chosen because it showed a big name player, or a team that was no longer around.  The above 1953 Mike Sandlock was chosen because he was 100 years old and the oldest living former MLB player at the time he signed it.

Lots of the cards have stories, like the one I chose for 1970.  I took one look at this John Donaldson card and knew right away that it would represent 1970 in my project.  The card itself is sharp and in great shape.  The card also features the now-defunct Seattle Pilots.  It is only right that the Pilots would be the team I showed on whichever 1970 I picked.  Most of all, though, I chose this one because it was given to me by Donaldson himself when I lamented in my TTM request that I wished I had my own copy of the 1970 card to send to him.  He must have had one, and sent it back signed with the other cards I sent him.  This was an awesome gesture that makes me happy to be able to immortalize this card in my project.

Many of the older cards I have sent TTM have had some pretty outlandish jerseys.  I had to make sure I had the crazy Astros jersey show up somewhere in this timeline.  Luckily, I just got this Ken Forsch signed.

Some of the cards I have gotten signed are pretty awesome.  Some are even more than that.  This Wade Boggs might be my favorite and was the very first card I pulled for the project this morning when I was lining things up.  I was really excited when I got this Boggs signed and it definitely is one of the best looking cards in the bunch.

This 2008 Jamie Moyer is the final year that I needed in order to complete my project.  I use the term "complete" loosely, because I will always have a preference toward Topps issues before any other brand when I am sending cards TTM.  I don't know why 2008 was the more difficult series to get signed, but for some reason it was.

Finally, I had several 2016 Topps to choose from, but chose the more recent of the bunch in this Pat Neshek.  The other 2016s I got signed were 50/50s from my friend, Dilan.  Many of the cards I had to chose from for other years came from the help of my great friend, Max.  Ryan from the blog "O No Another Orioles Blog" was also a huge help.

I hope you all enjoy checking out the page for this project.  The tabs are at the top of the blog, just below the banner.  If you are on a mobile device, you can access the page by clicking on the little white down arrow to the right of the little ribbon that says "home".  I hope you all can access it and give me your feedback on this.  I'm really excited about it!

Also, what do you all think of the choices I made for each year?  Thanks for reading, everyone!

TTM Success - Del Crandall

I had a TTM return waiting on me when I got home from Baltimore, yesterday.  The envelope had come on Saturday, but I was sitting in the heat, watching the Orioles beat the Angels.  Inside the envelope was a success from former player, Del Crandall.  Crandall charges $5/card, but since I bought all of these cards at the Columbia antique shop in April, I went ahead and sent $20 to get them all signed.

Above are the 1953 and 1954 Topps that I got signed.  They both turned out great.  I feel like I really enjoy getting the 53s signed for some reason.  I wish I had the money to build that set, but that one will cost an arm and about 8 legs.  1954 Topps is a great set, too, and it is one that is far more realistic to pursue.

Here are the 1957 and 1959 Topps that I got signed.  I like the huge Braves logo on Crandall's sleeve on the 1957.  Both of these turned out nice, as well.

Crandall (b. 1930) played in the majors from 1949 to 1950 and 1953 to 1966 for the Braves (Boston and Milwaukee), Giants, Pirates and Indians.  He had 1,276 hits, 179 home runs and a .254 batting average.  He was an 8-time All Star (1953 to 1956, 1958 to 1960 and 1962).  He finished second in the 1949 NL Rookie of the Year Award voting to Don Newcombe and finished as high as 10th in the NL MVP voting (1958).  Crandall was also a 4-time Gold Glove Award winner.  He won the World Series with the Braves in 1957.  He appeared on the Hall of Fame ballot 4 times between 1976 and 1979, but only got as high as 3.9% of the vote.

I mailed to Crandall on June 27 and got the cards back on Saturday (July 9) for a 12-day TAT.

TTM Success - Dick Groat

One of the most prolific TTM signers around is Dick Groat.  I wanted to make sure I got him on a few cards when I started this card TTM project, but waited a bit because my good friend, Max, had a card for me to try to send along with the vintage that I had picked up.  This 1953 Topps came from my trip to the Columbia antique shop.

I also got these cards from 1957 and 1966 signed.  They both turned out great.  I don't have a lot of 1966 cards signed, so I might pick up a few more soon to try some other guys.

Finally, here is the card that Max sent me, the 2002 Topps Super Teams.  As you may recall, I got Bob Friend on one of these, so now I have Friend and Groat on them, and they both look great.

Groat (b. 1930) played in the majors from 1952 and 1955 to 1967 for the Pirates, Cardinals, Phillies and Giants.  He had 2,138 hits, 39 home runs and a .286 batting average.  He was the NL batting champ in 1960, which he parlayed into the NL MVP award.  He also was a 5-time All Star and finished second for the 1963 MVP award (losing to Sandy Koufax).  He won the World Series with the Pirates in 1960 and the Cardinals in 1964.  My question is, how is Groat not in the Hall of Fame, but Bill Mazeroski is?  Groat only received as high as 1.8% ov the vote for the Hall, yet Mazeroski is.  I guess it is the dramatic home run in the 1960 World Series that Mazeroski is known for.  I just think that Groat should have gotten a lot more than 1.8% of the vote.

I mailed to Groat on May 21 and got the cards back on June 3, for a 13-day TAT.

TTM Success - Turk Lown

My TTMs are starting to dry up, it seems.  Fewer and fewer are rolling in, but I actually see that as a good thing.  This has allowed me to get closer to getting caught up on posts lately.  I am still way behind, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel; until the National comes.

Here is another 1953 Topps that I was able to get signed.  I sent this off to Turk Lown, along with his $20 fee for a signature.  Normally, I would have let that fee scare me away from trying to get a card signed, but when I saw that he donates all of the money to cystic fibrosis research, I felt like I was doing a good thing.  I mailed to Lown on May 2 and got the card back on May 21, for a 19-day TAT.

Lown (b. 1924) played in the majors from 1951 to 1954 and 1956 to 1962 for the Cubs, Reds and White Sox.  He had a career record of 55-61 with an ERA of 4.12 and 574 strike outs.  He also led the league in saves in 1959.  That 1959 season, Lown pitched in three World Series games against the Dodgers (3.1 IP) and didn't allow a run.  The White Sox lost that World Series.

TTM Success - Gene Conley

I got a few more 1950s-era cards signed TTM recently when I received these from Gene Conley.  This beat up 1953 Topps turned out really nice.  He charges a fee of $5 per card, which was ok.

This 1955 Topps card also looks really nice.  I am surprised at how many of these 1950s cards I was able to get done after my April visit to the Columbia antique shop.

Conley (b. 1930) played in the majors from 1952 and 1954 to 1963 for the Boston and Milwaukee Braves, Phillies and Red Sox.  He had a career record of 91-96 with an ERA of 3.82 and 888 strike outs.  He won the World Series in 1957 with the Braves.  He was an All Star three times, finished 3rd in the 1954 NL MVP voting and finished as high as 22nd in the NL MVP voting.

I mailed to Conley on May 2 and got the cards back on May 14, for a 12-day TAT.

TTM Success - Jim Greengrass

I added some more tick marks beside 1953 and 1954 Topps when I received these from former big leaguer, Jim Greengrass.  His signature turned out pretty great on this 1953 Topps.

This 1954 also turned out pretty well, but Greengrass didn't seem to want to sign across the top of the card.  Instead, he kind of dodged his hat.  I like the old Reds logo on this card, and also the McCarthy-era change to Redlegs.

Greengrass (b. 1927) played in the majors from 1952 to 1956 for the Reds and Phillies.  He had 482 hits, 69 home runs and a .269 batting average.  He answered my questions as well when I asked him who the toughest pitcher he faced (Koufax) and that if there was anything about his career that he would go back and change (he would have learned to steal bases more).

I mailed to Greengrass on April 18 and got the cards back on May 2, for a 14-day TAT.

TTM Success - Jim Rivera

I added another nice TTM success recently when I got a few signed cards back from former outfielder, Jim Rivera.  I mailed to him on April 18 and got the cards back on April 28 for a 10-day TAT.

The cards I sent were more from my trip to Columbia, the top 1953 Topps was probably the worst conditioned card that I picked up.  Most hardcore collectors probably would have left it there since it was in that condition, but I thought it was perfect to send TTM.  It did turn out nicely.

The background photo on this 1956 Topps is really cool, and even got a few comments on my Instagram post.  This is a pretty underrated set that I could probably put together rather quickly, as I have several stars already.

Finally, this 1957 Topps caps off the Rivera success.  This is another really nice set that loks great when signed.  I have added quite a few to my TTM/Auto project, and choosing which single card will represent the set will be tough.

Rivera (b. 1921) played in the majors from 1952 to 1961 for the Browns, White Sox and A's (KC).  He had 911 hits, 83 home runs and an average of .256.  He led the league in triples in 1953 (18) and stolen bases in 1955 (25). He had 11 at bats in the 1959 World Series with the White Sox, but did not collect a hit.

TTM Success - Johnny Groth

Another batch of cards came back on April 28 that had some more cards that were picked up during my trip to Columbia.  A few of the guys I picked up charge for TTM, so I had to space out a few of them so I could afford to get all of the guys I picked up.  One of the first guys who charged that was in the first batch I sent out on April 18 was former Brown, Johnny Groth.  I wanted to make sure I had a few former Browns players in this Topps Autograph Project in case I decide later to do an Orioles card from every year of Topps.  This 1953 Topps of Groth turned out really nice, even though he is in a Tigers hat.  The Browns logo will suffice for now.

When I was buying the cards at the antique shop, I had a list of guys that signed TTM as close to 100% of the time as possible.  I pulled a few cards of each player on my list, and tried to make sure different years were represented.  I didn't pay attention, at the time, to who charged, and who was free.  So, I ended up with quite a few Groth cards, but couldn't decide which ones I wanted to send and which I wanted to hold back.

In the end, I decided to go ahead and spend the $5 per each card and send them all to him.  I'm glad I did, because each card turned out great.  It was well worth my "investment" in picking up all of these cards,

Groth (b. 1926) played in the majors from 1946 to 1960 for the Tigers, Browns, White Sox, Senators and A's.  He had 1,064 hits, 60 home runs and a .279 batting average.  Groth has a connection with a dear friend of the blog, as well.  Not only was he a teammate of one Virgil Trucks, he was also traded with Mr. Trucks from the Tigers (along with Hal White) in 1952 to the Browns for Owen Friend, Bob Nieman and Jay Porter.

I mailed to Groth on April 18 and got the cards back on April 28, for a 10-day TAT.  Groth charges $5 per autograph, and I believe it is well worth it!

TTM Success - Ted Lepcio

Another player I got back from the lot of cards that I picked up from the Columbia antique shop was a success from Ted Lepcio.  I mailed to him on APril 18 and got the cards back on April 25 for a 7-day TAT.

I really enjoy seeing these 1953 Topps cards come back.  It was pretty painful paying for all of the ones I got, but in the end, the price I [aid was well worth it, since they have been sent out for TTM and most have come back so far.

The other Lepcio card I sent was this 1959 Topps.  It also turned out great.  I should have saved the extra 1959s I had from when I built my set, but I didn't know at the time that I was going to be doing this TTM project.

Lepcio (b. 1929) played in the majors from 1952 to 1961 for the Red Sox, Tigers, Phillies, White Sox and Twins.  He had 512 hits, 69 home runs and a .245 batting average.  Mr. Lepcio also answered the questions that I asked:

Are you still involved in baseball? Not specifically but we support several issues that the Red Sox are involved.

Do you still root for any specific teams or players?  Red Sox - Tigers.  There are a few Seton Hall players in organized ball, I keep up with them.

If you could choose to face one pitcher, who would that be?  I [hit] only .250, but I did have good luck against the Indians staff.

TTM Success - John Hetki

I'm really liking these 1950s TTM successes.  The cards seem to always turn out really nice, and they provide a bit of a history lesson as I typically haven't really heard of most of the players.  It is a lot of fun to look them up and learn a little bit about their careers.

John Hetki (b. 1922) played in the majors from 1945 to 1948, 1950 and 1952 to 1954 for the Reds, Browns and Pirates.  He had a career record of 18-26 with an ERA of 4.39 and 175 strike outs.  He also answered one of the questions that I asked:

Who was the toughest batter you ever face?
They were all tough.  You can't underestimate any hitter.

I always enjoy when they take the time to reply to some of the questions asked in the letters.  I mailed to Hetki on April 18 and got the cards back on April 25, for a 7-day TAT.

TTM Success - Dick Brodowski

I received quite a few TTM successes on April 25.  Several of which were cards I had gotten from the Columbia antique shop.  The first TTM success I opened that day was from Dick Brodowski on this 1953 Topps.  I mailed to Brodowski on April 18 and got the cards back 7 days later.  This card came with a personalization of "Bill - Best Wishes" which was a nice touch.

Brodowski (b. 1932) played in the majors from 1952 and 1955 to 1959 for the Red SOx, Senators and Indians.  In my TTM success, Mr. Brodowski put in a small note about the time he missed during the 1953 and 1954 seasons:

1953-54 "Battle of Fort Dix" - it took a couple of years to get back to the level of the Major Leagues. - Korean War!!

I thought that was a nice touch from him.  I know a lot of fellow collectors who enjoy folowing the careers and obtaining autographs of World War II veterans, yet there were players who also left the sport to fight in Korea, Vietnam and even Iraq.

Brodowski had a career record of 9-11 with an ERA of 4.76 and 85 strike outs.

TTM Success - Gil Coan

When I went to Columbia to visit my brother a couple weeks ago, he had to work one of the mornings I was there, so I was able to take some time and hang out at the antique shop.  I've been going there for years, but this time was different.  Conrad let me go into the back room where he had all of his boxes of cards stored.  I should have taken some pictures back there, because it was boxes and boxes of vintage cards.  He allowed me to buy a couple unsorted boxes in addition to a stack of cards from 1952 to 1959 that I wanted to use for TTMs.  I spend a good bit of money, but I ended up with a ton of cards.  When I got home, I sent out 25+ TTM requests in the span of two days.

One of those TTM requests was to former player, Gil Coan.  He was the first to come back out of the batch of 50s guys I sent to.  This 1953 Topps card turned out great.  I really liked the scoreboard in the background of this card.  Not only did Coan sign the card, he also signed my note "Sincere Best Wishes, Gil Coan".  I thought that was a really nice touch.

Coan (b. 1922) is a fellow North Carolinian (born in Monroe, but spent a lot of time in Brevard) who played in the majors from 1946 to 1956 for the Senators, Orioles, White Sox and Giants.  He had 731 career hits, 39 home runs and a .254 batting average.  He finished 23rd in the 1951 AL MVP voting when he had 163 hits, 9 home runs and a .303 batting average.

Coan is notable because he was traded to the Orioles for Roy Sievers, another great TTM signer.  Sievers was a St. Louis Brown, but never played on the Orioles.  He was traded before they played an official game.

I mailed to Coan on April 18 and got the card back on April 23, for a 5-day TAT.  Stay tuned for a ton of 1950s guys.  A bunch came in over the last few days, so I plan on getting some posting done to catch up!

TTM Success - Bob Addis

I received a really cool TTM success on April 5 from former player, Bob Addis.  I was told by my good buddy, Max, that Addis signed TTM, so when I was at the card show last month, I picked up these two cards.

I mailed them out on March 28, and got the cards back on April 5, which was an 8-day TAT.

Addis (b. 1925) played in the majors from 1950 to 1953 for the Boston Braves, Cubs and Pirates.  During those four seasons, he had 150 hits, 2 home runs and a .281 batting average.

Addis was one of six Cubs sent to the Pirates in 1953 in exchange for Joe Garagiola, George Metkovich, Howie Pollett and Ralph Kiner.

Rest in Peace, Mike Sandlock

I just saw on Facebook that former player, Mike Sandlock has passed away at age 100.  According to a post on the Baseball Player Passings page, his son confirmed that Sandlock had passed away at 11:18 PM last night, April 4.  At the time of his passing, he was the oldest living former baseball player.  I had just recently received a TTM success from Mr. Sandlock on March 18, and posted it here.  From everything I have read, and from my own experience of getting him TTM twice, Sandlock was a really good guy.  While you mourn his passing, he had a really full life and gave back to so many.  He definitely will be missed.

A TTM Success and My New Project

I hope folks who read my blog and follow me on Instagram aren't getting bored with all of the TTM successes that I have had coming in recently.  If so, I apologize in advance, because it is about to get crazy.

I have sent off a ton of TTMs over the last month, and I intend on continuing this for the foreseeable future.  I have enjoyed the repurposing of old cards, and seeing them come back to me signed after being sent out into the world.

That being said, after receiving a succession of Topps cards signed from some players a few weeks ago, I started thinking about how cool would it be if I could get at least one signed card from every year of Topps.  With that in mind, I went to Ebay and picked up a couple 52s, a 51 Red Back, a 51 Blue Back, and a 1955 to add to what I planned on sending out.

I kicked off the project by going into my personal vintage collection and finding the above 1953 Topps Mike Sandlock that I picked up a couple years ago after getting his signature on a baseball TTM.

The significance of Sandlock doesn't stop at the fact that I had gotten him TTM before, or because I had a 53 Topps of him sitting here available to be sent.  His main significance is that he is 100 years old and is still signing TTM.  To me, that is amazing.  At this moment in time, he is the oldest living former MLB player.  That is a really cool accomplishment.  As you can see, his signature is really nice, and looks cool on the 53 Topps.

Sandlock (b. 1915) played in the majors from 1942, 1944-46 and 1953 for the Boston Braves, Brooklyn Dodgers and Pittsburgh Pirates.  As you can see, two of those teams have relocated since his playing days.  When Sandlock was born, Woodrow Wilson was president, the Red Sox had just won the World Series and Ted Williams hadn't even been born yet.

In his career, Sandlock had 107 hits, 2 home runs and a .240 batting average.  I mailed to Sandlock on March 11, 2016 and got the card back signed on March 19, 2016, for an 8-day TAT.

For my signed Topps project, this is my first signed 1953 Topps card.  I am missing signed cards from 1951 RB, 1951 BB, 1952, 1954-57, 1961, 1962, 1964-69, 1973, 1974, 1977-79, 1982, 1983, 1994-97, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2015 and 2016.

My goal is to obtain the signed cards by either TTM or IP autos.  I have accepted a bunch of IP autos from friends like Max, who I send cards to and they get signed.  I plan on not buying any signed cards, if I can help it.  1951 will be tough, but I think I can get one or two from some of the few living players who remain in those sets via TTM.  I have a couple pending that I am really excited about.  I intend to put the signed cards, in order, in either an album or some kind of display.  For years that I have multiples of, I plan on picking the one that I feel looks the best, or has the best story, player, etc to represent that year.  Right now, I have 11 different signed 1987 Topps, the leader among years I have gotten signed.  I plan on playing a little game of this in my head as well in seeing which year I have the most of when I finish this project.

I also would be interested in seeing other folks' attempts at this same project.  I would like to see which cards that others choose to represent what years, and what years they end up with the most signed cards.  I think that would be a lot of fun, and would make for some interesting blogs!

Columbia Antique Shop Pickups - 1953 Topps Hall of Famers

I finally got a chance to visit my brother in Columbia, SC after almost a year.  I try to get down there a few times a year, but last year, I was only able to get down there for the crawfish festival in May.  We went down there to hang out, since it had been a while, and also to get out of town for a bit.  The drive down wasn't bad at all, even though there was a winter storm a little farther west of where I was.  It was cold as crap all weekend, though.

As always, I made sure to visit Conrad at Chic Antiques while I was in Columbia.  I emailed him ahead of time so he would have an idea of what I was looking for.  This time around, though, he wasn't able to locate any of the Hall of Fame baseballs that I had on my mind.  That made it easier for me to focus on cards, however, and I was able to knock a nice chunk out of my 1969 set while I was there (will be shown in a later blog post).

Since I didn't get a ball, I got some nice vintage for a few friends of mine.  Aside from the 1969s, I only took home two vintage cards for myself.  The above 1953 Yogi Berra was one that I have seen there a few times, but haven't bought.  Finally, I took the plunge and added it to my collection.  It is a really cool card and I am glad to have it alongside the rest of my Berras.  I think 1953 Topps is a very underrated set.  I have a couple of the big name cards, with the Satchel Paige, Berra and a couple others.  The Mantle is ridiculously priced, but otherwise, this may be a nice set to work on here and there at some point.

Speaking of 1953 Topps, I added another with this nice Ralph Kiner.  Conrad pretty much did a buy one, get one free on these.  For the price he had the Berra listed, I paid that price for both of these cards.  I don't know which card looks better, Berra or Kiner, but I do enjoy the old school Pirates logo on this one.

I intend to start up another 50s set sometime soon, and Conrad has been enlisted in helping me get started.  I doubt it will be 1953, but I do look forward to the day when I can work on this one.  I think they are beautiful cards.

Instagram Trade With Blaine - Awesome Vintage Pickups

I completed another great trade with my friend, Blaine, on Instagram when I sent him a ball signed by Jim Palmer in exchange for this Monte Irvin 1953 Topps.  The card is in pretty good shape, with the exception of a few rounded corners.  I think the '53 design is one of the great ones in Topps's history, and this card might just exemplify that.

The other big part of our deal was this 1962 Topps Gaylord Perry RC.  I already have Perry on a ball, and now I can say that I have his rookie card as well.  I also have his 1963 Topps "rookie stars" card as well, but this '62 is his true rookie.

Thanks so much for another successful trade, Blaine!  I'm excited to think of what we could exchange next!

Awesome Vintage Pickups From The Columbia Antique Shop

I love traveling to Columbia, SC.  The reason I go is to see my younger brother, Adam, who has lived in Columbia for something close to 7 years now.  We alternate trips, so the next time we see each other will be when he makes his way to my house.  Adam is always in step with what is going on concerning the local scene, always knowing which are the best restaurants, pubs and shops to check out while we are in town. This always makes our trips adventurous and never dull.

This time down marked the second time we went to the Rosewood Crawfish Festival.  Last time we went was 2012, missing 2013 due to one of Chris's baseball games.  Before the festival, however, I took a few hours to check out my other favorite thing about Columbia, the Chic Antiques shop at the Columbia Antique mall.

Usually, when I head to the antique shop, I pick up a few vintage set needs and a baseball or two.  This time, Conrad, the shop proprietor, didn't have any that I needed readily available.  So, along with the 70 1959 Topps cards I got for my set, I also picked up some amazing vintage cards, starting with the above 1952 Topps Bob Feller.

I had this Feller on my Top 10 wishlist and figured it would be fairly easily attainable.  Supposed book value is around $250 and I was able to get this card for $75.  Not bad at all.  I figured that this card took the place of whatever signed ball I would have picked up.  I haven't been afforded the luxury of having access to too many 1952 Topps cards, but while looking at this card, and one you'll see below, I can see why there is such a draw to them.  They are very sharp cards and I really want to pick up a few more.

I have been wanting a 1953 Topps Roy Campanella for quite some time now.  This one has a bit of paper loss on the top and bottom, but the coloring and artwork look great.  For $40, I think I got a steal and am really happy with it.  I definitely want to pick up some more Campanella cards sometime in the future, and this one is a very good start for me.

One of the more underrated Hall of Fame pitchers of all-time is the man above, Phillies ace, Robin Roberts. I thought I was done when I decided to purchase the Bob Feller, but when Conrad told me I was getting a "friends and family" discount on the cards, I decided to add this one to my stack.  This card is also very sharp-looking.  The colors are bold and the portrait of Roberts looks great.  He and Feller, both, are players that I wish I could have met.

Finally, as a bit of a surprise to myself, I remembered to ask Conrad if he had any 1948 Bowman.  I keep forgetting that I am working on this set, mainly because the cards themselves are sort of "unremarkable."  I'm one who really enjoys the bold colors or a sleek design (I know, wave something shiny in front of me and I'm easily distracted).  However, this 1948 set has been a lot of fun to build over the years.  Before this weekend, I had 24 of the 48 cards in the set.  Mathematically, I had half of the set completed already, but having 5 of the 6 major cards (Musial, Feller, Kiner, Spahn and Berra rookies; missing Rizzuto) really puts me well over halfway toward my goal.

So, including the above Snuffy Stirnweiss, I picked up 5 cards I needed for my set.  That means I have 29 of the possible 48 cards, or 60% of the set.  I bet I will have this set wrapped up before too long.  I don't know if I will attempt another Bowman set at this moment, but you never know.  If I can knock out the '48 set, I know that will be a huge feather in my cap, though.

That being said, I really enjoyed my weekend with my brother.  Not only did I get to see him, I also got to hang out with my older brother, Philip, my younger brother, Andy, and Andy's lady-friend, Camryn.  We all had a great time eating crawfish and having a few beers.  I can't wait til the next time I can make the trip down to see Adam, probably sometime in July.