TTM Success - Jay Buhner

Here's a guy that I was very exc9ted.to see was signing TTM lately.  When I was growing up, Jay Buhner was kind of a bad ass.  He was a pretty potent hitter on some good Mariners teams.  I was glad to send along the above 1996 Topps Gallery, it looks really great signed.

I had Buhner's 1988 Topps Glossy Rookies card, which turned out well.  I haven't gotten many of those signed, so it was easy to pick that one to send out.  I also got his 1994 Studio and his 1995 Collectors Choice SE done.

Buhner (b. 1964) played in the majors from 1987 to 2001 for the Yankees and Mariners.  He had 1,273 hits, 310 home runs and a .254 batting average.  He was an All Star in 1996.  His best MVP finish was 5th in 1995 (AL).  He appeared on the 2007 Hall of Fame ballot and received 0.2% of the vote.

I mailed to Buhner on July 16 and got the cards back on July 28 for a 12-day TAT.  I paid his fee of $5.00/card.

TTM Success - Luis Gonzalez

It took quite a long time, but I got these cards back signed from Luis Gonzalez.  He was among the earliest rounds of players I sent to, way back in the day.  I thought these cards were all gone,

Thankfully, I got them all back, and forgot that I sent an extra 1992 Triple Play (that he signed).

Gonzalez (b. 1967) played in the majors from 1990 to 2008 for the Astros, Cubs, Tigers, Diamondbacks, Dodgers and Marlins.  He had 2,591 hits, 354 home runs and a .283 batting average.  He was a 5-time All Star (1999, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2005) and finished a career-best 3rd in the 2001 NL MVP voting.  He won the World Series with the Diamondbacks in 2001.

I mailed to Gonzalez on March 1, 2016 and got the cards back on June 21, 2018, for an 842-day TAT.

TTM Success - Mike Mussina

I made multiple attempts and finally got a TTM success from former Oriole ace, Mike Mussina.  The above 1994 Studio Heritage is a card that I really wanted to get signed, but the first one I sent out never came back.  So, I had to buy another when I saw it, and then I learned from a fellow TTM grapher that I should send a few bucks and see if that lands me the auto.  Thankfully, the card came back this time after I included $5 in my mailer.

I mailed to Mussina on March 9 and got the card back on March 24, for a 15-day TAT.  The money really turned this card around fast.

TTM Success - Hal Morris

This success from Hal Morris turned out really nice.  Especially the above 1997 Flair Showcase.  The card scanned really well, with all of the glitter in the card really showing up.

These 1996 Pinnacle Museum parallels also look really nice when they are signed.  The cards don't really stand up all that well to time, as some of them, the foil will begin to peel.

Finally, here are the two other cards, a 1997 Finest Competitors and a 1994 Studio.  Both of these turned out really great.  I enjoyed each of the cards that I had sent Morris.  Each of them was a really nice example to put into my album.

Morris (b. 1965) played in the majors from 1988 to 2000 for the Yankees, Reds, Royals and Tigers.  He had 1,216 hits, 76 home runs and a .304 batting average.  He finished third in the 1990 NL Rookie of the Year voting, and 15th in the 1994 NL MVP voting.  He won the World Series in 1990 with the Reds.  Morris appeared on the 2006 Hall of Fame ballot and received 1.0% of the vote.

I mailed to Morris on February 9 and got the cards back on May 2, for an 89-day TAT.

TTM Success - Rich Amaral

I added some cool cards with this success from Rich Amaral.  I have really been wanting to add some Studio cards to my autograph binder, and this 1994 Studio turned out really nice.

I added another 1990 CMC AAA that was in my Mom's box from the attic.  I had the 1993 Jimmy Dean in my collection for a long time, and it is a perfect card to fit into the "different" kinds of cards I want represented in my album.

I also added a couple Topps issues with the 1998 and 1994 shown above.  Amaral has a really nice autograph, and it showed up well on all of the cards.

Amaral (b. 1962) played in the majors from 1991 to 2000 for the Mariners and Orioles.  He had 493 hits, 11 home runs and a .276  batting average.

I mailed to Amaral on March 7 and got the cards back on March 24, for a 17-day TAT.

Checking Out Another Card Shop

Chris and I were bored this morning and decided that after we ate some lunch, we would take a ride out to Kinston and check out a card shop we had heard about.  The shop is located in Vernon Park Mall in Kinston, which is about 30 minutes away from our house.  I didn't go there with any expectations as I have driven around to check out card shops in the past only to find that they either had closed down or didn't have much of anything to offer.  I remember when I came out here to Greenville 3 years ago, I was happy to see that an actual card shop was in town and was a great place to get most of what I needed.  The only drawback about the Greenville shop is that the shop owner has pretty much sold out of his vintage stuff.

The Kinston shop we went to today is a candy store/card shop.  Interesting combination.  They had plenty of supplies as well as a nice assortment of all kinds of cards.  I took my time looking through the boxes they had set up and found a few things for myself and a couple cards for Chris.  They also had a nice selection of vintage Topps from 1955 to 1970.

I found the above Pineda/Britton dual relic in a 3/$10.00 box.  Since I didn't get 3 cards out of it, it ended up costing me $4.00, which still wasn't bad.  They had a lot of Team USA relics which I know a certain blogger would like.  I also found a nice vintage Yankee card for my buddy Drew.  I just wish there was a nice vintage Red Sox card for Scott.

 They had a box of $0.50 stars, and I was fairly sure I didn't have this Cal Ripken.  I went ahead and picked it up.

 Chris and I also bought 90s junk wax, he got a pack of 1991 Leaf for $0.50 and I got a pack of 1994 Studio for $1.00.  The Barry Larkin and Frank Thomas cards pictured are trade bait if anyone would like them.

In all, I was very satisfied with the shop.  The shopkeeper was a really nice guy who was patient with Chris and I as we searched his boxes.  Chris was able to come away with two Tim Lincecums that he didn't already have.  I also bought him a new baseball card album and a box of 100 sheets.  He and I are going to take his Lincecum cards and are going to put all of them together in one album.