TTM Success - Richard Hidalgo

When I saw that Richard Hidalgo was signing, I was really excited. This was because I had a ton of his cards in one of the boxes I got when the card shop closed. I sent off four of the cards to him for signature and they certainly back looking great.  Obviously I had to send the above 2001 Fleer Ex.  I really love this set, and have gotten a few of them signed by now. They always look awesome in my album, and I definitely wouldn't mind adding more.

I also added a 1997 Visions Signatures multi sport card and a 1997 Bowman hometown foil parallel. 

This 1998 Fleer Ultra Rocket to Stardom looks great, as well. This is a die cut card, but that is hard to tell from the scan.

Hidalgo (b. 1975) played in the majors from 1997 to 2005 for the Astros, Mets and Rangers. He had  929 hits, 171 home runs and a .269 batting average. He finished 18th in the 2003 NL MVP race. In 2000, he finished 20th in the NL MVP race, after hitting 44 home runs and batting .314.

I mailed to Hidalgo on October 8 and got the cards back on October 28, for a 20-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Nomar Garciaparra

Nomaaaahhh!  He was one of my favorite non-Orioles when I was a teenager, so when I saw a private signing for Nomar Garciaparra pop up, I jumped all over it.  So much so, I couldn't decide on which card to send.  So, I sent three.  The above 2001 Fleer EX is another version of an early 2000s set that I have really come to enjoy.  This card was an easy choice to send, but I didn't find it until after I had pulled several other Nomars that I thought would look cool.

The card on the left is a chrome version of the 1994 Classic 4 Sport card.  I found it at the last minute and included it in the outgoing package to the signing.  The card on the right is a 2003 Topps Finest, and was the original card I picked out of the bunch to send along.  It was in my former LCS boxes with a ton of Red Sox stuff, and I thought it would look really cool in my album.

Garciaparra (b. 1973) played in the majors from 1996 to 2009 for the Red Sox, Cubs, Dodgers and A's.  He had 1,747 hits, 229 home runs and a .313 batting average.  He was a 6-time All Star (1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 and 2006) and a two-time batting champ (1999/.357 and 2000/.372).  He was the 1997 AL Rookie of the Year.  His best MVP finish was 2nd (1998) and finished in the top 10 in AL MVP voting 5 times.  He won the Silver Slugger Award in 1997.  He had 190 or more hits in 6 seasons.  I have no doubt that Garciaparra would have been a Hall of Famer, had he been able to stay healthy.

He appeared on 2 Hall of Fame ballots (2015 and 2016), but received at most, 5.5% of the vote.

I mailed to the signing on July 8 and got the cards back on August 17, for a 40-day TAT.  I forgot the fee I paid, but I sent 4 cards (a friend of mine paid his way for the 4th card).

Another TTM Success From Carlos Delgado

Another private signing popped up for former slugger, Carlos Delgado, so I sent off thid 2001 Fleer EX.  I really like these cards, and was really happy to see it when it came back.  Since this signing occurred, I have sent off another from the set to another big name, and that card came back looking awesome, as well.

I mailed to the signing on March 27 and got the card back on April 29, for a 33-day TAT.  I paid a fee of $40.00.

A Facebook Trade With Brad Z.

I recently began talking with a guy on Facebook, Brad Zonghetti, because he was good friends with Scott, with whom I'm good friends.  I figured that if he and Scott were good friends, it would be a good idea to get to know him and see if I could help him out at all with his card collection.

I was able to meet Brad's needs pretty substantially right off the bat when I sent him a huge stack of Carlton Fisk, Adrian Gonzalez and Craig Biggio cards.  I can't remember the specifics, but I know his Fisk and Biggio PCs grew tremendously in size.

In return for the cards I sent Brad, he sent me a nice stack of Orioles stuff.  The above Cal Ripken Fleer/Skybox EX 2001 is really awesome, especially in person.  I think I'm a sucker for the clear cards.  He also sent a 2013 Panini Pinnacle clear card of Jim Johnson.  Man they look nice.

Brad also sent me this nice 2010 Topps Turkey Red Brooks Robinson insert.  I'm pretty sure I have it, but it still is an awesome card.  I definitely don't mind doubling up on this one.

Thanks for the trade, Brad!  I know we'll do this again because I found even more Biggios in a box and have already dropped them in the mail to you!