Tuesday, October 11, 2022

Graphing Returns From Max

My good friend, Max, hooked me up with a ton of autographs recently, after I sent him a bunch of cards for this past season.  Max helps me move a bunch of stuff out of my boxes every year, and I get rewarded with adding a lot of them to my autograph album.  He and I have had this arrangement for a long time, and he is the person who really got me into switching from getting baseballs signed to cards.

The above 2022 Topps Diamondbacks team card is an orange shimmer parallel numbered 287/299 and Max got it signed by their manager, Torey Lovullo.
Max really came through by getting Bob Brenly on my 1987 Topps Giants leaders card and his base card.  Brenly has been a tough get for me, so crossing these two off of the list was very welcome.  Max told me that Brenly hadn't seen one of the Giants Leaders cards signed by Jim Barr in a long time, so that made me feel good about my project.
Most recently, Max hit me up for Diamondbacks cards, so I was able to fire off a package to him fairly quickly with guys he needed to refill in his autograph books.  He got some nice stuff back signed for me, like the above Geraldo Perdomo cards.  I don't see any Diamondbacks affiliates, so getting these kinds of cards signed can be tough.  This helped me move some stuff that has just been sitting for a while.
I had gotten Daulton Varsho TTM in the past, but I still had a ton of his cards.  I cleaned out most of them in the package to Max, but still got a lot back signed.  I love the 1989 Topps insert; I think those look awesome when signed.  I also love the gold foil 2022 Topps.
There was a good variety of stuff that Max sent back from his Diamondbacks graphing.  I was very happy to get the Jake McCarthy 1987 Topps Chrome mojo card back, as well as the Christian Walkers.  I liked Walker a lot when he was an Orioles prospect.  I am really glad he has stuck with a team in the majors, and has found some success.
Max also was able to get some Guardians cards signed for me, starting with a few Triston McKenzie cards that I had left in my box from when I saw him with Lynchburg.  I know I had a 2017 Bowman Ernie Clement in my autograph album already, so I am also keeping this one, since it was from Max.  I was also really happy that some of my Panini Mosaic cards that I picked up ended up being signed.  I lucked into some boxes of them from my distributor, and now I have some signed versions in my album.
As he always does, Max included some random cards that he either got for me or he has extras of.  I really enjoy these types of additions to any package.  I always try to include some signed cards for Max when I send him packages, and it seems like he enjoys the random stuff as much as I do.
I forgot how many of the shimmer cards I had sent out, but Max got a few of them taken care of for me.  The green Zach Plesac above is numbered 51/499.
I checked and it looks like Steve Lawson will keep me from finishing the above 1973 Topps, but I likely will go after Bob Reynolds.  Maybe I'll get lucky and Lawson will do a private signing sometime soon.  Max got the 2019 Topps Diamondbacks card signed by Luis Frias.  These team cards really come in handy when you see someone you don't have a card of.  Only problem is remembering who signed them.  Thankfully, Max remembered, and I was able to put a post it note on the back with the player's name.
I had gotten Johnny Barbato earlier this year when I went to High Point for a game.  Max came in and got Ben Gamel for me to finish the base and gold of these 201 Topps Update cards.  I was very happy that I had these at the ready to send out when he asked for Gamel.  I'm not usually that well prepared.
Max also got these three for me, by Chase DeJong (on a 2016 Bowman), Mitch Keller (on a 2017 Bowman Chrome mojo) and Ben Gamel (on a 2021 Topps Updare).  I am glad I don't have to run into the DeJong or Keller in my Bowman box anymore.  That is one of the fun parts of all of this.  It seems that Max has a knack of helping out with cards I see oftenin my boxes and think to myself "I need to get these signed and out of here..."
Finally, Max also whittled down the box of Frank Thomas cards I sent him when the former LCS around here closed.  I know I sent him a ton of Frank cards, and signings with him have tapered off a bit, from what Max has said.  I know Max has what would be a fortune's worth of Thomas cards, if he had to cough up the fees to get them all signed.  Still, he had a great assortment to choose from, now, and if Frank can be consistent in signing, Max will not need another Frank card for a while.
Max is and always will be one of my most trusted graphing partners.  He actually taught me about getting cards signed in the beginning, and I have always valued his friendship.  It amazes me that we have been able to keep this going for as long as we have.  It's a great arrangement, and it benefits the both of us.  As long as I have the ability, I am going to keep him loaded with the cards he needs.  He is going to keep helping me move stuff out of the boxes and the house.

Thank you, Max, for all that you do.  I cherish the stuff you help me with, and I look forward to next season, and many more seasons to come.  Happy graphing, buddy!

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