TTM Successes - Tom Bruno and George Frazier

I have to report one TTM success to lead into the one I got today.  I received the above card signed by Terry Kennedy on April 4, then sent it out to Tom Bruno in order to try to get his signature, and got his signature back on May 5.  Since I mailed it off on April 21, I got the card back in 14 days.

Bruno also included this nice note, thanking me for being a baseball fan.  Bruno (b. 1953) played in the majors from 1976 to 1979 for the Royals, Blue Jays and Cardinals.  He had a record of 7-7 with an ERA of 4.22 and 80 strike outs.

The success from Bruno led me to send the 1979 RC off to George Frazier on May 21 to see if I could complete the card.  I got the card (and the others shown) back today (6/30) for a 40-day TAT.  Frazier also signed the above 1982 and 1985 Topps and the 1987 shown below.

Frazier sent back one of my cards unsigned, a 1983 Topps, but I am really happy with the results of the TTM success.

Frazier (b. 1954) played in the majors from 1978 to 1987 for the Cardinals, Yankees, Indians, Cubs and Twins.  He had a record of 35-43 with an ERA of 4.20 and 449 strike outs.  He won the World Series in 1987 with the Twins.

Chrome Care Package From Nick C.

I got a nice care package in recently from my friend, Nick C. that had a few nice Chris Davis Bowman Chrome parallels, as well as a few other cards.  I have helped Nick's Maikel Franco PC quite a bit, and he finally got around to hooking me up with these cards.

The 2013 Bowman Chrome blue refractor at the top of the page is numbered 209/250.  The above purple parallel is numbered 147/199.  After consulting my Davis spreadsheet, I learned that I didn't have the blue parallel yet.  I do have another purple parallel, but extra numbered cards are always welcome.

I also have another of these 2014 Finest refractors somewhere in my box, but I failed to log the numbering on my spreadsheet.  I'll have to remember to figure that out sometime.  In the meantime, I will have this one logged and put in my box.

Chris Davis wasn't the only player in the package from Nick.  He also included this 2009 Bowman blue parallel numbered 372/500.

There was also this 2006 Bowman Chrome Nolan Reimold form the Futures Game.  I had one of these in my collection.  You would think that I would have had more of them, but I guess I never picked any other up.  This one will get logged in a few minutes as well.

Thank you so much for the package, Nick!  I enjoyed all of the cards.  I'll have to keep an eye out for some nice Phillies stuff for you.

50-50s From Dilan

Now that I am officially caught up on my TTM successes (for now), I now have the opportunity to try to catch up on some other packages that have come in over the last few months.  I got two batches of cards from my friend, Dilan, after he and I worked together to get some IP autos. Dilan messaged me a few times to tell me what teams he was planning on seeing, and I did my best to accommodate him.

One of the cards that he got signed for me that I liked the most was the above 2013 Bowman Sterling Henry Urrutia.  The card is numbered 9/25 and turned out great when signed.  Dilan really did a good job getting that one for me.

Other than the numbered Urrutia, I tried to let Dilan have the better versions of the cards that he got signed, such as parallels and inserts.  I was more than happy to take base cards, especially Topps.  He helped me knock out 2015 and 2016 from my Topps Autograph Project.

I know Dilan's main objective in getting the IP autos is to get up and coming prospects.  I was able to, however, help Dilan get some older cards of some of the coaches.  You figure that those guys are there signing, too, so why not try to get one of their cards signed?  I used my older Topps boxes from Mom to help with that part of the project.

Dilan got a few more recent players as well.  The above 2012 Steve Delabar is a nice horizontal card that turned out great.

These JP Arencibia cards also turned out nice.  I was more than happy to send along several of his cards, since I had so many.  The Heritage cards really turn out great when signed.

The biggest surprise of all, though was that Dilan was able to get Byron Buxton on a 2016 Bowman for me.  He had texted me saying that Buxton was only signing one per, so I told him that he was doing all of the work getting signatures, so he should keep Buxton.  Dilan texted me a few hours later saying he waiting after the game and got another Buxton signature, this one for me.  It was a really nice thing that Dilan did.  He went out of his way to try to get me the marquee guy, and came through.

Thank you so much for the work that you put in, Dilan!  I really appreciate all of the autos.

Set Complete - 2016 Topps

It's that time of year, again!  I have completed the 2016 Topps flagship set.  This year's set was a really nice one, with great photography.  I got my requisite three jumbo boxes and was able to collate the set this past week.  I had a case hit in one of my boxes that I will post soon, a Topps laser booklet with a patch and auto of Miguel Sano.

Completing this set was pretty easy.  Now I need to focus on tying up some loose ends with a few other sets.

TTM Succes - Charlie Silvera

I am officially caught up with my TTM posts!  I still have a bunch of cards that have been sent out into the world that have yet to return, but my TTM stack "to be blogged" is now caught up.  What better way to catch up than to have a success from a 1950s-era player!  Here is a nice 1952 Topps signed by Charlie Silvera.  I was really excited about this TTM because he actually played in the World Series that my grandmother attended (1949). I hoped that Silvera would put the 1949 WS Champs inscription, but he didn't.  That's ok, though, the signature still looks nice!

Here is the 1954 Topps card that I was able to get signed.  It turned out great, as well.  I got all three of these cards from the Columbia antique shop.  I still have a couple cards that I am waiting on that I got from there, but overall, my buying trip back in April was a huge success.

I spent a good bit on all of these 1950s cards, but have had great success in getting them signed.  I'm really glad I took the plunge and tried some of these out.

Silvera (b. 1924) played in the majors from 1948 to 1957 for the Yankees and Cubs.  He had 136 hits, 1 home run and an average of .282.  He appeared in one game of the 1949 World Series, which the Yankees won.  He did not appear in the game that my grandma went to (we pretty much narrowed it down to Game 3).

I mailed to Silvera on April 18 and got the cards back on June 18, for a 61-day TAT.

TTM Success - Bob Owchinko

The stack of TTM successes is winding down.  There is a light at the end of the tunnel.  I have had a great time talking about all of these players from the past and pursuing their autographs, but now that the baseball season is in full swing and new products continually are hitting the shelves, I have had a tough time sending new ones out.  I have this success, and one more sitting here that need to be posted, then I will be caught up on TTMs.

I was able to get five signed cards back from Bob Owchinko recently.  I did pretty well, getting a five-year run of cards signed: 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982 and 1983.  His signature turned out pretty nice on all of them.

Owchinko (b. 1955) played in the majors from 1976 to 1984 and 1986 for the Padres, Indians, A's, Pirates, Reds and Expos.  He had a career record of 37-60 with an ERA of 4.28 and 490 strike outs.

I mailed to Owchinko on April 20 and got the cards back on June 16 for a 57-day TAT.

TTM Success - Mo Vaughn

Here is a pretty huge TTM success that I got not too long ago.  I really wasn't expecting much, but was pleasantly surprised when these two cards finally came in.  First is this 1996 Fleer E-XL.  The card got somewhat damaged in transit, with the blue matting separating from the card a bit, but when it is placed in my album, you won't be able to tell.

Also, here is the 2002 Topps that I got signed.  I actually sent this card off before I decided to do my Topps Autograph Project, but it will fit in nicely with the plan.  Additionally, I had completely forgotten that Vaughn wore uniform number 42 long before it was retired all across baseball.

Vaughn (b.1967) played in the majors from 1991 to 2000, 2002 and 2003 for the Red Sox, Angels and Mets.  He had 1,620 hits, 328 home runs and a .293 batting average.  He was the 1995 AL MVP.  He was also an All Star three times.  Vaughn appeared on the 2009 Hall of Fame ballot and received 1.1% of the vote.  Vaughn might have had a good shot at the Hall, had he played more seasons.  Otherwise, he will likely still be remembered as a force, albeit a brief one.

I mailed to Vaughn on March 4 and got the cards back on June 10, for a 98-day TAT.