TTM Success - Alex Dickerson

I've enjoyed adding fairly recent cards to my autograph album, and this success from Alex Dickerson put a few nice ones in there.  I like the 1990 Donruss design, and when the 2017 design came out, I enjoyed the throwback to that set.  I was glad to get this 2017 Donruss signed; I just wish Dickerson had a better signature.

He also signed a black border 2011 Bowman and a 2016 Allen & Ginter.  Both cards are nice, and I'm glad to add them to my album.  Speaking of, I have slots for 5 more cards in this album, then it is on to fill another.

Dickerson (b. 1990) has played in the majors in 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2020 for the Padres and Giants.  He has 134 hits, 20 home runs and a .257 batting average.

I mailed to Dickerson on May 30 and got the cards back on June 15, for a 16-day TAT.

I Won A Topps Giveaway, Again!

A couple months ago, I won a giveaway posted on Topps's Instagram page.  The giveaway was for a box of Topps Strata.  Little did I know, I would win again the last day of the National.  I was nominated this time by my little buddy, Nick C., who I have done some trades with and also met at the National.  He messaged me that Sunday night to let me know that I had won and had I seen that Topps tagged me.  I never got the notification... because they misspelled my name in the tag!  They were supposed to tag my Instagram account (wregenthal) but accidentally tagged (wregental).  So, I never got the notification.

The plot thickened, though, when Nick showed me that someone had created an Instagram account with the name, and had pulled a couple of my posts from the National and posted them on their page.  I was confused, so I messaged the person to let them know that I didn't appreciate them creating an account that was so close to my name.  My fear was that they were planning on scamming a few people based on the reputation that I had built these last few years.  I was up til 1AM messaging this kid back and forth.  I also was getting notifications from members of the card community who were tagging me in posts on Topps's page explaining that they had misspelled my name, and the person created a fake account so they could claim the prize.

Frustrated that the person wasn't budging on closing the account, I went to sleep.  I woke up the next morning to a huge apology message from the kid asking for my forgiveness for trying to deceive Topps.  It seems that they messaged him themselves and told him the he would not be winning the prize.  Worst of all, this is a 14-year old kid.  I accepted his apology and gave him a few words about how he should work to conduct himself better in the community.  We chatted for a while, and he seemed to be a decent enough person.  So, I gave him some collecting tips, checked out the card videos he posted on his card page and actually completed a trade.

It wasn't long after the trade that he disappeared from the community, but not before pretty much messaging me out of the blue and telling me he didn't want to talk or do any more trades.  I decided that I would move on, because I felt like I had done plenty to help the kid, and didn't need to extend a hand in helping him any further.  My hope is that one day, he will grow up and realize that he was really lucky that I showed him some compassion and forgiveness for his mistake.  I definitely didn't have to!

So, I did get the prize from the giveaway.  This realy cool 2016 Allen & Ginter Clayton Kershaw National Exclusive 1/1.  I have had a few people ask if it was available, but I think that I am going to hold onto it.  One, because Kershaw is a badass, and two, it will serve as a reminder that the community backed me up 100%.  I am really appreciative that so many people (and quite a few of them I had never even talked to) messaged Topps to try to fix the problem.

Birthday Package From Drew - Something off of the Top Ten Wishlist

I got a couple birthday packages in the mail today, which helps extend my birthday for a few more days (not complaining about that!).  One of the packages was from my good friend, Drew.  Drew has been easing himself back into the blog world since he returned from an awesome study abroad program earlier this year.  Unfortunately, the trip exhausted Drew and his funds, so he wasn't able to attend this year's National.  Drew was sorely missed, especially since the National was relatively in his back yard.

Drew surprised me by crossing a card off of my Top Ten Wishlist.  This 1948-49 Leaf "John" Wagner is a card that I have kept an eye on for a while.  I almost picked one up at the National, but the guy wanted way too much for it.  This one has awesome edges and corners, but some paper loss on the corners; likely due to someone having it taped into an album.

The back of the card looks flawless, and is a nice read.  I especially like the ad for the All Star Baseball Gum Big Pictures "for hanging in your room or club".  How many kids these days build club houses?  This is an awesome card.

Drew also included this really cool Frank Robinson relic from 2005 Donruss Champions.  This was a nice set that came out back when I had just gotten back into the hobby.  I always liked these cards, but didn't pull any hits.  This Frank will look nice with my other Robinson cards (of which there are few, since Frank eludes me most of the time).

Finally, we have this Adam Jones framed relic from 2016 Ginter.  The framed relics seem to be tougher to find, since they now have the full card relics.  I made a trade with Drew to pick this one up.

Other than Mom or Andrew, Drew may be someone I have talked about the most on this blog.  He and I have been trading since he first broke into the hobby.  He was just about 12 at the time, I believe, and now he is almost done with college.  We have been close friends for well over 7 years now, and have even taken a trip to the Hall of Fame (Chris still says he didn't break your dad's car door).

Thank you so much for the awesome cards, and most of all, your friendship, Drew!  I greatly appreciate it, and can't wait to see you at next year's National!