TTM Success - Steve Scarsone

Here are some mid-90s Junk Wax Era cards that I got signed TTM by Steve Scarsone.  Above is a 1994 Topps Stadium Club, which is always fun due to the old label maker font.  These have really grown on me over the years. 

I also got a 1993 Donruss, showing Scarsone with the Orioles, and a 1994 Score.

Scarsone (b. 1966) played in the majors from 1992 to 1997 and 1999 for the Phillies, Orioles, Giants, Cardinals and Royals.  He had 198 hits, 20 home runs and a .239 batting average. I mailed to Scarsone on February 1 and got the cards back on February 26, for a 25-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Rob Natal

Never give up hope. These cards had been sent out TTM to Rob Natal for over 6 years.  They finally came back the other day, and look great.  I was going for some old Marlins uniforms, and had picked out some good cards like the above 1993 Stadium Club. 

I also sent off a 1993 Donruss, 1993 Fleer and a 1995 Topps.

Natal (b. 1965) played in the majors from 1992 to 1997 for the Expos and Marlins.  He had 57 hits, 4 home runs and a .197 batting average.

I mailed to Natal on September 20, 2017, and got the cards back on December 9, 2023, for a 2,271-day TAT.

TTM Success - Jamie McAndrew

Some more early 90s Marlins teal was added to the autograph album when I received this TTM success from Jamie McAndrew.  When they were revealed as a team back then, I loved the colors that were chosen, since no other team had colors quite like the Marlins.  That's one of my favorite things to look for now when I go through early to mid 90s cards, those batting helmets.

Some of the other card companies only featured the logo and colors on the cards but must not have jad immediate access to uniform photos. This 1993 Donruss is an example.  Fleer was the same.

McAndrew (b. 1967) played in the majors in 1995 and 1997 for the Brewers.  He didn't even make it as a Marlin.  He had a record of 3-4, 27 strike outs and a 5.98 ERA.

I mailed to McAndrew on October 10 and got the cards back on October 30, for a 20-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Kevin Campbell

A 1993 Donruss was added to the album, with a clean signature and nice inscriptions from former pitcher, Kevin Campbell.  You don't see a lot of good penmanship with many of today's players.  I like to see a great signature on a card; it really makes them turn out so nicely.

Campbell (b. 1964) played in the majors from 1991 to 1995 for the A's and Twins.  He had a record of 4-3 with 83 strike outs and a 4.55 ERA.

I mailed to Campbell on November 7 and got the card back on December 13, for a 36-day TAT.  He did keep my three other cards, though.

TTM Success - Sam Militello

This TTM success from Sam Militello is highlighted by the awesome Carolina League all star card that I happened to find in one of the boxes from my former LCS. I was really happy to get this signed; I am also disappointed that there still is no Carolina League All Star game this season. I doubt they'll reinstate one; they haven't even put out a Carolina League top prospects set like other leagues have done. MLB taking over the minors still has me irritated.

Anyway, I had quite a few cards for Militello and I was able to send them off. They all turned out nicely.

Militello (b. 1969) played in the majors from 1992 to 1993 for the Yankees. He had a record of 4-4 with 47 strike outs and a 3.89 ERA. I mailed to Militello on March 28 and got the cards back on April 23, for a 26-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Paul Wagner

There were a bunch of Paul Wagner cards in my TTM box.  He signs a lot, so I went ahead and sent 7 cards, since I couldn't decide on ones to hold back.  I don't mind if a player decides to not sign something I send, so I didn't see much of an issue with sending 7 cards.  That is the max I would send, though, in case someone was wondering.

The cards I sent all turned out great. They'll look good in my autograph album, especially the 1991 Carolina League All Star card.

Wagner (b. 1967) played in the majors from 1992 to 1999 for the Pirates, Brewers and Indians.  He had a record of 29-45 with 452 strike outs and a 4.83 ERA.

I mailed to Wagner on May 10 and got the cards back on June 15, for a 36-day TAT.

TTM Success - Vince Horsman

Vince Horsman was in my "to-be-ttmed" box for quite a long time.  I kept putting off sending to him, then I finally wanted to get the cards out of there, so I mailed.  The cards turned out great, and are some that I don't have a lot of in my albums.  The above 1993 Fleer turned out really well.  I have a 5,000-count box of these, but it the the very bottom of the pile of boxes, and I rarely make time to look through it.  I should try to get into it more, but I just don't make the effort.  One of these days, I will.

I also sent Horsman cards from 1994 Fleer, 1993 Donruss and 1993 Topps.  These all had white borders, and looked really similar when you put the sets side-by-side.

I also got a coupld Stadium Club cards signed; 1992 and 1993.  Both turned out really well.

Horsman (b. 1967) played in the majors from 1991 to 1995 for the Blue Jays, A's and Twins.  He had a record of 4-2 with 61 strike outs and a 4.07 ERA.

I mailed to Horsman on March 8 and got the cards back on March 18, for a 10-day TAT.

TTM Success - Mike Trombley

I dug deep into the super junk wax era and got a few cards out of my boxes and into my autograph album.  I have so many cards from 1992-1994, it's sad.  A lot of them just sit around in boxes taking up space, and it can be really hard to get rid of them sometimes.  So, when I see someone like Mike Trombley signing, I take advantage of it.  The best part, Trombley signs a lot of cards, so I was able to get 5 of them out of my boxes (and a lot more that I sent out to other friends in TTM starter packs.

I have a whole 5,000-count box of 1993 Fleer.  They're not bad cards, they just sit at the bottom of my closet, and I can't get into the box often enough.  The cards look nice when signed, so I think I need to make an extra effort to get more out into the mail.

I also got a 1993 Donruss, 1994 Donruss, 1996 Ultra, and a 1994 Score signed by Trombley.  1994 Score is another set that I have a ton of.  I wish it was a box of 95 Score, but I guess I'll have to deal with what I've got.

Trombley (b. 1967) played in the majors from 1992 to 2002 for the Twins, Orioles and Dodgers.  He had a career record of 37-47 with 672 strike outs and a 4.48 ERA.

I mailed to Trombley on October 13 and got the cards back on October 22 for a 9-day TAT.

TTM Success - Steve Reed

This TTM success from Steve Reed was really cool because of something I will point out in a bit.  I had a bunch of his cards, and I was happy to see that he signed everything that I sent.  He has a really nice signature, as well.

What I found funny was that when I put all of the cards beside each other, I was able to create a pitching sequence showing Reed's delivery.  This was actually really cool.  Add in the 1993 Donruss above, and it enhances it even more.  I just thought that was something kind of cool that I was able to do using some 90s junk wax.

Finally, here is a 1994 Score.  This set was really nice when it came out, and still looks good.  Like all mid-90s cards, the over-gloss kills it now.  The gloss gets hot and will stick to the other cards and will sometimes create a brick of useless cardboard.  I have had to throw out a bunch of mid-90s stuff because of this.

Reed (b. 1965) played in the majors from 1992 to 2005 for the Giants, Rockies, Indians, Braves, Padres, Mets and Orioles.  He had a career record of 49-44 with 630 strike outs and a 3.63 ERA.

I mailed to Reed on March 26 and got the cards back on April 10, for a 15-day TAT.

TTM Success - Archi Cianfrocco

I added a few 90s cards to my autograph album with this success from Archi Cianfrocco.  The above 1993 Upper Deck SP turned out really nicely, with Cianfrocco's autograph.  I don't recall that I have any of these SPs in my album, and I really don't know where this one came from, but it looks good.

Here are the other cards that I had signed, all from 1993.  I have his 1993 Stadium Club, 1993 Topps and a 1993 Donruss.  It is always nice to see the old Montreal Expos jerseys and logos on cards, so I was glad to get these signed.

Cianfrocco (b. 1966) played in the majors from 1992 to 1998 for the Expos and Padres.  He had 308 hits, 34 home runs and a .241 batting average.

I mailed to him on January 8 and got the cards back on February 14, for a 37-day TAT.

TTM Success - Matt Stairs

I waited a long time to send to Matt Stairs.  His cards were in my TTM box for a long time until I finally was able to send to Phillies Spring Training.  I'm glad I finally was able to, though, because the cards I sent turned out great.  This 1993 Donruss was a really cool card to send, I think.  I don't have very many 1993 Donruss as it is, so adding this one to the album will be nice.

I got some nice Topps cards back, and a 2008 Upper Deck First Edition.  The 2006 Topps looks really cool.  The 2008 is also nice, and one of only four that I have signed.

Finally, here is a nice 1998 Score.  I had to send this along, since it is a horizontal card.  You can never go wrong with a TTM signature on a horizontal card.

Stairs (b. 1968) played in the majors from 1992, 1993 and 1995 to 2011 for the Expos, Red Sox, A's, Cubs, Brewers, Pirates, Royals, Rangers, Tigers, Blue Jays, Phillies, Padres and Nationals.  It may have been quicker to just type the teams he DIDN'T play for.  He had 1,366 hits, 265 home runs and a .262 batting average.

Stairs finished 17th in the 1999 AL MVP voting, his only time receiving votes.  He won the World Series in 2008 with the Phillies and now is on their coaching staff.  He appeared on the 2017 Hall of Fame ballot, but did not receive any votes.

I mailed to Stairs on February 9 and got the cards back on February 24, for a 15-day TAT.

Trade With James

I just recently completed a trade with James from the blog "Chipp n Dale" (A Braves Blog) which he asked for several 1987 Topps so he could complete his set.  I think I was able to match all but 4 cards from his want list.  As you may know, I'm swimming in 1987 Topps cards and am always happy to get rid of some (I have my 5,000 count box for sale, please inquire).  I got several Orioles cards in return, highlighted by the two below:

Why did I not already own this card?  I LOVE the Diamond Kings cards of the early 1990s and for some reason never had this Brady Anderson.  These are just beautiful cards and I think I might try to go after some more of then, maybe even start chasing different Diamond Kings cards.  That might be what I do after I wrap up my Brooks Robinson patch set.  Who knows.  Anyway, this is just an awesome card from the era of Junk Wax.

I seriously believe that I did not previously own this Cal Ripken also.  However, it is extremely difficult to tell if I do or do not have a Cal in my collection (a fact I often lament on this blog).

These Topps All Stars from the late 80s are always nice cards.  The card is more than simple, barely even showing the player's name on the card.  Nice, simple border surrounding a clear, bold picture.  It is just a sharp card.  I really like it.

So, thanks so much for the trade James.  I was really happy to part with some 87s and I hope you are able to complete your set.