TTM Success - Daryl Spencer

I got a few more of my 1950s pickups signed recently with this success from Daryl Spencer.  I knew that he signed TTM before I mailed to him since I helped my buddy, Dylan send to him.  When I saw his cards at the Columbia antique shop, I went ahead and got some of my own to try.  The above 1956 Topps is in amazing condition and turned out really nice.

The above 1959 and 1957 Topps look great as well.  I was glad to finally start getting a few 1959s in, considering I had built that set and have a fondness for it.

Spencer (b. 1928) played in the majors from 1952, 53 and 56-63 for the Giants (New YOrk and San Francisco), Cardinals, Dodgers and Reds.  He had 901 hits, 105 home runs and a .244 batting average.

I mailed to Spencer on April 20 and got the cards back on April 29 for a 9-day TAT.

TTM Success - Merv Rettenmund

I was able to add a TTM success from a former Oriole when I got a few signed cards back from Merv Rettenmund.  I had a couple 1972 Topps of him in my Orioles box, so I figured I would put them to some use. This one turned out really well with the blue sharpie against the blue border.

Rettenmund has a really nice signature.  The above 1977 and 1976 Topps cards look really nice.  I think the 1976 was a little better with the way he signed that one versus the 1977.  The 77 Padres uniform is all kinds of ugly, but in a cool way!

Rettenmund (b. 1943) played in the majors from 1968 to 1980 for the Orioles, Reds, Padres and Angels.  He had 693 hits, 66 home runs and a .271 batting average.  He finished 19th in the 1971 AL MVP award voting after collecting 156 hits, 11 home runs and a .318 batting average across 141 games.  Rettenmund was a member of 1970 and 1975 World Series Champions (Orioles and Reds, respectively).

I mailed to Rettenmund on April 21 and got the cards back on April 29 for an 8-day TAT.

TTM Success - Mike Krukow

A TTM success came in on April 28 from Giants commentator and former pitcher, Mike Krukow.  I remember Krukow for being the commentator on EA's MVP Baseball from 2003 to 2005.  The 2005 version of the game might be my favorite baseball video game of all time.  The pitching mini game was so addictive, I would sit on the bed and play it for hours while my wife would listen to the soundtrack and fall asleep.  I think it was all downhill from there (granted, I haven't really gotten into ANY video games since around 2006 or so, who has the time?).

The above 1977 Topps rookie card turned out pretty cool.  I need to look and see if the other guys sign.  I'm not sure if I will pursue getting them all signed or not.

This 1980 Topps card is a really sharp card, it's too bad Krukow used a dead pen on it, or it would look even better.  The signature looks ok in person, but it would have been nice to have it a little bolder.  Oh well.

Krukow (b. 1952) played in the majors from 1976 to 1989 for the Cubs, Phillies and Giants.  He had a record of 124-117 with an ERA of 3.90 and 1,478 strike outs.  He finished 3rd in the 1986 NL Cy Young voting when he went 20-9 with a 3.09 ERA, the only season where he won more than 13 games.  Krukow appeared on the 1995 Hall of Fame ballot where he received 0.2% of the vote.

I mailed to Krukow on April 11 and got the cards back on April 28 for a 17-day TAT.

TTM Success - Jim Rivera

I added another nice TTM success recently when I got a few signed cards back from former outfielder, Jim Rivera.  I mailed to him on April 18 and got the cards back on April 28 for a 10-day TAT.

The cards I sent were more from my trip to Columbia, the top 1953 Topps was probably the worst conditioned card that I picked up.  Most hardcore collectors probably would have left it there since it was in that condition, but I thought it was perfect to send TTM.  It did turn out nicely.

The background photo on this 1956 Topps is really cool, and even got a few comments on my Instagram post.  This is a pretty underrated set that I could probably put together rather quickly, as I have several stars already.

Finally, this 1957 Topps caps off the Rivera success.  This is another really nice set that loks great when signed.  I have added quite a few to my TTM/Auto project, and choosing which single card will represent the set will be tough.

Rivera (b. 1921) played in the majors from 1952 to 1961 for the Browns, White Sox and A's (KC).  He had 911 hits, 83 home runs and an average of .256.  He led the league in triples in 1953 (18) and stolen bases in 1955 (25). He had 11 at bats in the 1959 World Series with the White Sox, but did not collect a hit.

TTM Success - Johnny Groth

Another batch of cards came back on April 28 that had some more cards that were picked up during my trip to Columbia.  A few of the guys I picked up charge for TTM, so I had to space out a few of them so I could afford to get all of the guys I picked up.  One of the first guys who charged that was in the first batch I sent out on April 18 was former Brown, Johnny Groth.  I wanted to make sure I had a few former Browns players in this Topps Autograph Project in case I decide later to do an Orioles card from every year of Topps.  This 1953 Topps of Groth turned out really nice, even though he is in a Tigers hat.  The Browns logo will suffice for now.

When I was buying the cards at the antique shop, I had a list of guys that signed TTM as close to 100% of the time as possible.  I pulled a few cards of each player on my list, and tried to make sure different years were represented.  I didn't pay attention, at the time, to who charged, and who was free.  So, I ended up with quite a few Groth cards, but couldn't decide which ones I wanted to send and which I wanted to hold back.

In the end, I decided to go ahead and spend the $5 per each card and send them all to him.  I'm glad I did, because each card turned out great.  It was well worth my "investment" in picking up all of these cards,

Groth (b. 1926) played in the majors from 1946 to 1960 for the Tigers, Browns, White Sox, Senators and A's.  He had 1,064 hits, 60 home runs and a .279 batting average.  Groth has a connection with a dear friend of the blog, as well.  Not only was he a teammate of one Virgil Trucks, he was also traded with Mr. Trucks from the Tigers (along with Hal White) in 1952 to the Browns for Owen Friend, Bob Nieman and Jay Porter.

I mailed to Groth on April 18 and got the cards back on April 28, for a 10-day TAT.  Groth charges $5 per autograph, and I believe it is well worth it!

TTM Success - Shaq

I received a TTM success on April 25 that I was really excited about.  I don't follow basketball at all, but when Max told me that Shaquille O'Neal was signing TTM via his business, Mine-O-Mine, Inc., I figured I would give him a shot.

Max got him TTM, and got a nice hand written note in return.  I thought that was really cool, so I picked up a few cards from Score More Sports in Winston-Salem on one of my trips to see my parents.  I sent the cards out on March 2 and got the cards back on the 25th of April for a 54-day TAT.

I really liked how the cards turned out.  I even got a silver sharpie on the Orlando Magic card, which is what I really remember Shaq from.

I have only one problem with this TTM success.  Once I posted the success on my instagram, I got a message from another TTM collector who said that these cards aren't passing PSA authenticaiton.  That really sucks.  I feel like they are legit.  Of course, there could be a secretary who answers his mail and signs stuff; I've heard of ghost signers before, Mike Schmidt apparently had one for a while.

I'm going to keep believing these are real.  I'm also going to believe the nice letter and signed cards that Max got are real.  I think getting Shaq is a big deal, he is one of those sports figured who transcended his sport and entered the mainstream.  Let's hope they are real.

TTM Success - Jim Essian

Some of the TTM success I have sent off have a little more meaning than others.  Not taking away from any success, really, but there are a few where I will send off a card because it looks cool or it has a little more meaning than some others.  Today's TTM success post is one of those cases.  You see, I don't know Jim Essian at all.  I have never met the guy, but he has been a fixture in my collection for a long time.  The reason why is that a card similar to the above 1977 Topps, at one point at the very beginning of my collecting days was the oldest card that I owned.  I used to keep all of my baseball cards in a Nike shoe box, and this card was always out, lying on the top of the cards inside the box.  I was always fixated on getting "old" cards, so the 1977 Essian was really cool in my mind.  Soon after, I picked up a 1975 Topps Dave Winfield, which also still is in my collection.  Now, the oldest cards I have in my collection are three 1909-1912 T-206 cards.

The 1977 Essian of which I speak is still a part of my collection, it was assumed into my 1977 set when I was building it, and it now resides in that box, probably not to be disturbed until some rainy day where I decide to open the set and look at the cards inside.

When I saw that Essian signed TTM, I picked up this card off of Sportlots so that I could have it represented in my autograph album.  Thankfully, he signed it and I got it back.

Essian also signed the above 1981, 1979, 1985 and 1983 Topps cards.  All of them turned out really nice, but none hold the story that the '77 did.

Essian (b. 1951) played in the majors from 1973 to 1984 for the Phillies, White Sox, A's, Mariners and Indians.  He had 453 hits, 33 home runs and an average of .244.  I mailed to Essian on March 28 and got the cards back on April 25, for a 28-day TAT.