TTM Success - Nick Hundley

Another former Oriole was added to the autograph album when I got this TTM success back from Nick Hundley.  I saw that he was signing (after I tried and failed to get him TTM in the past), so I sent off a couple cards.  The above 2014 Topps Update was the key card I wanted back.  I'm glad it did come back, because it is a great shot.

I also got this 2017 Topps back.  Both cards were inscribed with Bible verses.

Hundley (b. 1983) played in the majors from 2008 to 2019 for the Padres, Orioles, Rockies, Giants and A's.  He had 766 hits, 93 home runs and a .247 batting average.

I mailed to Hundley on March 26 and got the cards back on June 16 for an 82-day TAT.

TTM Success - Eddie Butler

A couple 2014 cards were added to the autograph album when these two came back signed TTM by Eddie Butler.  Above is a 2014 Bowman Chrome mini refractor.

The above card is a 2014 Topps Update of Butler.  I thought I had more cards of him, but I wasn't able to find them before I put these two in the mail.

Butler (b. 1991) played in the majors from 2014 to 2018 for the Rockies, Cubs and Rangers.  He had a record of 12-22 with 153 strike outs and a 5.80 ERA.

I mailed to Butler on April 22 and got the cards back on May 20 for a 28-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Cole GIllespie

Here are some nice cards that came back signed TTM from Cole Gillespie.  2010 Topps (above) is one of the worst sets around, as far as the cards lasting over time.  The ones that weren't already curling in the packs curl over time.  I have had to store mine racked together tightly in a box so they remain somewhat flat.  They were also notorious at not having many chrome parallels showing up in packs and boxes.  Weird.  Still, the cards look nice when signed, so I was glad I got this one back. 

I also got a 2010 Bowman Chrome refractor and a 2014 Topps Update back.  Both of these are nice.

Gillespie (b. 1984) played in the majors in 2010 and 2011 and from 2013 to 2016 for the Diamondbacks, Giants, Cubs, Mariners, Blue Jays and Marlins.  He had 110 hits, 6 home runs and a .251 batting average. 

I mailed to Gillespie on January 18, 2022, and got the cards back on December 19, 2024, for a 1,066-day TAT.

August 19, 2023, Graphing of Revolution at Rockers

Yesterday, Chris and I met up with my friend, Tyler, and the three of us graphed York Revolution at High Point Rockers.  I had wanted to get back to High Point since my two cards of Daikan Yoh (aka Dai-Kang Yang) came in.  The above 2013 Topps Tribute WBC card turned out amazingly.  It should have; I spent a good bit on the card.

I had also picked up this awesome Japanese card of Yoh.  This also looks awesome.

I had a bunch of cards pulled for High Point, so I graphed them by the dugout pregame.  I got most of the guys I needed, so we graphed by our seats at the York dugout post game.  I only needed a few York guys, so I finished off who I could outsode post game, then went over to the High Point side and finished off everyone I could over there.  I finally was able to get Cam Bedrosian when he was one of the last guys out of the clubhouse.  I was really happy to get the above 2014 Topps Update red foil card signed.

I picked uo a team set for High Point before the end of the game, and was able to get a few guys on that.  I also got a 2011 Bowman Chrome Taylor Guerreiri and some 2018/2019 Shed Long cards out of the boxes.

I didn't sweat too hard over trying to get the team set guys done. I just got who I saw.  I probably will try to finish some of those guys off if they come back next season.  The set was cheap enough; I'm just happy with what I got. 

Between Chris, Tyler and I, all of the Frank Viola cards I had pulled over the course of the last two seasons have been signed.  I'll have to do a deep dive through some of my boxes if I want to find more cards of him.

These two might be my favorite Viola cards that I added to the album.

There weren't a whole lot of York guys with cards, but I was still able to get a few things done. I did miss Richard Urena, so that was disappointing. 

Tyler gave me a 2020 Bowman Drew Mendoza, since I couldn't find any in my Bowman box.  I also had the above Nellie Rodriguez sitting on my desk for quite a long time.  It is now resting in the album, finally out of the way.

In all, I got the following autographs: Cam Bedrosian x 4, Ryan Dull x 2, Albert Gonzalez x 1, Taylor Guerreri x 2, Shed Long Jr × 7, Frank Viola x 21, Dai Kang Yang x 2, Joe Johnson x 1, Trent Giambrone x 2, Drew Mendoza x 1 and Nellie Rodriguez x 2 (45 total autographs). 

TTM Success - Mike Bolsinger

Here are a couple nice recent cards I got signed TTM by Mike Bolsinger.  The above 2016 Topps Update turned out really well.  I always liked that design, and this one will look good in my album.

I also got a 2014 Topps Update signed by Bolsinger, and it looks really good, as well.

Bolsinger (b. 1988) played in the majors from 2014 to 2017 for the Diamondbacks, Dodgers and Blue Jays.  He had a career record of 8-19 with 210 strike outs and a 4.92 ERA.

I mailed to Bolsinger on July 23 and got the cards back on January 8, for a 169-day TAT.

TTM Success - Josh Collmenter

I was able to get some nice mid-2010s cards signed via TTM from Josh Collmenter.  The above 2012 Topps turned out really well.

Collmenter also signed cards from 2013 and 2014 Topps Update, 2015 Topps Heritage and 2011 Bowman.

Collmenter (b. 1986) played in the majors from 2011 to 2017 for the Diamondbacks and Braves.  He had a record of 38-35 with 494 strike outs and a 3.64 ERA.

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

Set Complete - 2014 Topps Update

I got a package in the mail today from my buddy, Max.  The stuff he included in the box will be saved for a later post, but I wanted to go ahead and close out 2014 Topps Update with this completer card that he sent me.  So, I finally have this set closed out and I can take it off of my want list and notebook.

I plan on doing another post tonight from some of my trade queue.  I hope I get time tonight to get that done, but I need to get to Staples to get a couple manila envelopes for TTM projects I have cooking.  We'll see how that goes.

Slow Mail Day - 2014 Topps Update Pickup

Yeah, you know you don't have any good mail coming in when all you can post is a Topps Update card of the Tigers' backup catcher.  Yet, here I am.  Not a lot of mail coming in because I had several trades fall through, either by cards not being delivered or people not sending payment like they said they would.  What a shame.

Anyway, to try to combat this problem, I went on Sportlots and tried to nail down some set needs in order to kind of pump up my mail days.  My goal was to complete my 2013 Topps Chrome and 2014 Topps Update sets and also chip away at some other sets.

For some reason, this Bryan Holaday was not among the cards I could pick up off of Sportlots, so I had to get it off of Ebay instead (at $1.00, supply and demand, my friends).  I wonder why there was a shortage on this card?  Anyway, I have it and I will now await the other cards from my purchase to come in, hopefully tomorrow.

Thoughts on 2014 Topps Update

I picked up a jumbo box of 2014 Topps Update the other day from my local card shop.  I felt like I did really well with what I got.  The above Joe Mauer jumbo patch card was in place of the manufactured patch card (I was really happy about that).  This card is numbered 25/25.  Like I said in a few earlier posts, I really like patch cards, so I think I'll hold onto this one.

The All Star Stitches card was a PC item for me, this Adam Jones.  That makes two recent boxes that I've gotten where my relic hit was Jones.  Not bad!

I also pulled a black parallel Jose Abreu All Star card and a Rougned Odor auto.  I was able to collate most of the set, I lack only 5 cards.  I will post them on my wishlist page shortly.

I took out all of the rookie cards that I want to keep, all Orioles, and then other teams for friends of mine.  I was left with a small stack of random base that I intend to sell.

In all, I was very happy with my jumbo box of Update.  I wasn't going to get a box this year, but decided that I would.  I'm glad I did, because really, I do enjoy the Update set every year.