TTM Success - Lyle Mouton

Three attempts were made, but I finally got a TTM success back from Lyle Mouton.  The cards I sent turned out great, so I was really glad when they finally came in.  The above 1996 Finest looks a lot better in person.

I also had Mouton sign a 1996 Topps Gallery, 1998 Topps, 1997 Score and a 1997 Fleer Metal.

Mouton (b. 1969) played in the majors from 1995 to 2001 for the White Sox, Orioles, Brewers and Marlins.  He had 225 hits, 22 home runs and a .280 batting average.

I mailed to Mouton on January 21 and got the cards back on January 31, for a 10-day TAT.

TTM Success - Lance Johnson

I waited a long time for these to come in, but the long wait paid off when I got these nice cards in TTM from Lance Johnson.  I had gotten most of these cards from the former Greenville card shop a while back, and they all turned out really well.  I like the above 1997 Upper Deck SP.  I remember when I mailed these off, I was hoping this one would get signed, especially.  He signed everything I sent, which was nice.

I had also included a 1997 Topps Stars, 1997 Topps, 2997 Donruss Preferred, 1993 Flair and a 1996 Topps Finest.

Johnson (b. 1963) played in the majors from 1987 to 2000 for the Cardinals, White Sox, Mets, Cubs and Yankees.  He had 1,565 hits, 34 home runs and a .291 batting average.  He led the league in hits twice (1995 and 1996) and in triples 5 times (1991 to 1994 and 1996).  He was an All Star in 1996 and his best (and only) finish in the MVP voting was also that season, 18th (NL).

I mailed to Johnson on November 9, 2016, and got the cards back on January 16, 2021, for a 1,529-day TAT.  He also included someone named Ethan's letter and answered his questions.  Maybe one of these days, I'll find out who this Ethan guy is, and can get him his letter back.

TTM Success - Mike Stanley

A six-card return from Mike Stanley might be one of the more exciting TTM successes that I have had come in.  I used some really nice parallels and sets from the mid-90s for this success and was surprised at how nice they all turned out.

The above 1999 Flair Showcase might be one of the best-looking cards that I have sent out.  I had seen a few of these in a box at my LCS and was excited to see that Stanley signed TTM so I could try to get this one in my album.  The card looks so much better in person, but scanned pretty nicely as well.  This card had to be pre-treated with an eraser and it looks to have done the job.

Here are two other cards from the mid-90s that I was excited to add.  The card on the left is a 96 Finest.  This is another card that I used the eraser on.  Both the Finest and the Flair Showcase were actually some of the first cards I used an eraser with and they really turned out great.  I'm still learning about pre-treating the super slick cards like Chrome and Finest, but the returns have been pretty good so far.

The card on the right is a 1994 Pinnacle Museum Collection, my second such success from this parallel set.  These cards are really great when signed, and I have a couple more pending.

A 1997 Pinnacle on the right, I have a lot more of these cards than I had originally thought.  I think I got a lot of them from repack boxes and stuff, but they seem to have been pretty persistent in my random boxes and now TTM searches.  Also, I had to make sure I added a Topps card of Stanley, so I picked the 1988 shown on the right.  It also turned out really nice.

Finally, here is a 1999 Fleer Tradition to round out the success.  The card is a lot simpler than the others and was a good way to sum up the success.  I don't believe I had gotten any of these signed prior to this one, but I think I may include a few more in the future.  This is a sharp-looking card and autographs well.

Stanley (b. 1963) played in the majors from 1986 to 2000 for the Rangers, Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays and A's.  He had 1,138 hits, 187 home runs and a .270 batting average.  He was a Silver Slugger in 1993 where he also finished 13th in the AL MVP voting for the Yankees.  He was also an All Star in 1995.  Over 20 games played in the playoffs, Stanley hit .356, but appeared to be in the right place at the wrong time, leaving the Yankees following the 1995 season, returning in 1997, then moving back to the Red Sox.  He just missed the Yankees World Series teams of 1996 and 1998-2000.

I mailed to Stanley on November 8 and got the cards back on December 8, for a 30-day TAT.

TTM Success - Terry Adams

I have been picking up some cared here and there at my LCS to send TTM.  The shop has a bunch of nice late 90s cards that I never got to pick up when they were live, since I was out of the hobby at that time.  Picking up these cards has helped me find some nice gems to send TTM.  The above 1996 Finest Prodigies card is a fine example.  It also is an example of my learning more and more about getting cards signed.  I rubbed this card up with one of Chris's pencil top erasers in order to assist in making the auto "stick" without beading and smearing.  I must have done a good job, because the auto turned out really nice.  The scan really doesn't do well for this card, as it looks great in person.

I also was able to add a nice horizontal card to the auto collection.  This one looks really great.  I also didn't have very many 1997 Topps, yet, so this will bump that number up.

Here are two other cards that I was able to get.  I realized that I have a BUNCH of 1998 Topps.  I have been able to get several signed; the second-most out of the 1990s, so far (6 compared to 8 from 1990).

Finally, here is a nice 2002 Upper Deck.  This is a really sharp-looking set from the early 2000s that may be overlooked.  I'm not the biggest UD fan, but they did sport some nice sets from time to time.  It's just too bad they dug their own grave.

I mailed these cards to Terry Adams on November 9 and got the cards back on November 18, for a 9-day TAT.

Adams (b. 1973) played in the majors from 1995 to 2005 for the Cubs, Dodgers, Phillies, Blue Jays and Red Sox.  He had a record of 51-62 with 691 strike outs and an ERA of 4.17.  He was a part of the 2004 World Series Champion Red Sox, but did not appear in the playoffs.