TTM Success - Bobby Chouinard

A random 1997 Fleer Ultra that had been hanging around my boxes for a while was finally added to the autograph album. I got this card back signed TTM from Bobby Chouinard.

Chouinard (b. 1972) played in the majors in 1996 and from 1998 to 2001 for the A's, Brewers, Diamondbacks and Rockies.  He had a record of 11-8 with 110 strike outs and a 4.57 ERA.

I mailed to Chouinard on October 15 and got the card back on October 30 for a 15-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Jose Rosado

When I sent these cards TTM to Jose Rosado, Betty White was sill alive (so was Chris Cornell), the card shop was still open in Greenville, the Wood Ducks had finished their first month of ball and I had no idea what social distancing was.  My point is, these cards were out there for a very long time.  Still, the cards finally came back, even though it looks like Rosado used a marker that may have been older than Betty White.

I had mailed the cards to the Trenton Thunder, back when they were still a team (thanks, Rob Manfred).  I was excited to see the super old stamp that I had used, and was happy to finally cross Rosado off of my TTM list.

Rosado (b. 1974) played in the majors from 1996 to 2000 for the Royals.  He had a record of 37-45 with 484 strike outs and a 4.27 ERA.  He was an All Star in 1997 and 1999.

I mailed to Rosado on May 3, 2017, and got the cards back on January 14, 2022, for a 1,717-day TAT.

Max Hits it Big

To say that 2020 has been a terrible year for graphing would be an understatement.  I have had almost zero opportunities to graph and get cards signed via 50/50s.  When my friend, Max, messaged me asking me for every Frank Thomas card that I could find, that awoke the 50/50 fire in me that had been dormant for the year.

I went through all of my boxes of cards and pulled every Thomas that I could get my hands on.  I came away with 75 cards, and Max was really happy with the results.  The cards were expedited to him, and he took them to a signing that he was attending.  Max ended up hooking me up with some of the cards I searched for, so I could add them to my album.

The best part is that a few of them actually came from my mom's collection that she had given me in an old tin cigar box.  The cigar box had a bunch of 90s cards, and Thomas was in there quite a bit.  The above 1995 Collectors Choice What's The Call card was my favorite one out of the whole bunch.  If I only had one card to choose from to take back, it would have been this one.  I was really glad to get it signed.

Max was very gracious in the cards he let me pick from.  There were a bunch of great ones, but I was allowed to get some of the best ones in the bunch.  The 1997 Topps (above, top) was the lone Topps base card that I chose.  I definitely loved the 1997 Upper Deck Define The Game (above, middle) and the 1997 Upper Deck Home Run Heroes (above, bottom).

I don't remember where the 97 Ultra Big Shots (left) came from, but it was a really awesome card.  The 1995 Stadium Club Statistical Extreme card came out of Mom's box, and just looks really great signed.  Finally, the 2017 Topps 87 insert had to come back to me, because it is the 87 design.

I'm really happy with how all of the cards came out, but I'm even happier that Max thought of me when he needed to get some Thomas cards fast.  He went above and beyond in hooking me up, and I always appreciate how we have our deals set up.  Thank you so much for thinking of me, Max!

TTM Success - Jeff Reed

This TTM success came in recently, but because I have a couple guys in my boxes with similar names, I almost sent to him again.  I think I counted four different Reeds in my TTM box, so I almost send an 87 Topps out to Jeff Reed, when I already had one to be blogged.  Oh well, I doubt it would be the worst thing to happen.

The above 1997 Fleer Ultra turned out really nicely, even though the Sharpie Reed used wasn't all that great.  I like the shot on the card.  I do enjoy cards showing catcher's gear for some reason, and this one is pretty good.

I don't know where the 1987 Topps Traded (middle) came from, but I had it in my box.  I ended up getting it and his 1987 done, so that was good.

Reed (b. 1962) played in the majors from 1984 to 2000 for the Twins, Expos, Reds, Giants, Rockies and Cubs.  He had 774 hits, 61 home runs and a .250 batting average.

I mailed to Reed on February 1 and got the cards back on February 15, for a 14-day TAT.

As I was about to post this entry, I realized that I HAD already gotten Reed TTM before.  Back in September 2017.  Oops.  I didn't get him on an 87 then so I got it right this time.

TTM Success - Mark Thompson

I continue to whittle my "to be blogged" stack of TTM successes down.  I have actually slowed down on sending out requests since the season has started.  Still, I have a lot more to post, and a lot more still out in the world, waiting to be sent back.

I got a few nice cards signed by Mark Thompson recently.  The above 1997 Pacific was a card that I had floating around in my random card box for a long time.  I finally was able to take it and transfer it to the autograph album with this success.

The 1997 Fleer Ultra came from one of the boxes that Mom found for me, and the 1995 Topps came out of the hobby box that I bought to push my set along.

Thompson (b. 1971) played in the majors from 1994 to 2000 for the Rockies and Cardinals.  He had a record of 18-24 with an ERA of 5.74 and 198 strike outs.

I mailed to Thompson on November 15 and got the cards back on April 3, for a 139-day TAT.

TTM Success - Melvin Nieves

Here is another player from the 90s that I was able to have sign several cards, Melvin Nieves.  This 1995 Fleer turned out really nice.  This set might be one of the freakiest sets there was.  I think there was a gas leak in the Fleer building, and that is how the design for this set came about.  Still, it lends itself well to being signed.

I had a lot to choose from for Nieves, and narrowed it down to six cards.  They all look pretty good, I think.  I believe the 1997 Fleer Ultra set looks really good when signed.  The 1995 Topps Cyberstats don't turn out as well as I had hoped, but they don't look bad.

Finally, here is a 1995 Pinnacle that at first glance looked like it came back unsigned.  As I was putting it back in my box, I noticed the signature on the back of the card.  Ok, cool!  I'll take it!

Nieves (b. 1971) played in the majors from 1992 to 1998 for the Braves, Padres, Tigers and Reds.  He had 284 hits, 63 home runs and a .231 batting average.

I mailed to Nieves on October 25 ad got the cards back on January 23, for a 90-day TAT.

TTM Success - Scott Kamieniecki

Here's a really nice success from a former Oriole and Yankee, Scott Kamieniecki.  He was an Oriole during their run in the mid 90s.  I vaguely remember when he was on the team, but that was a long time ago.  I was really happy to get this 1994 Collector's Choice Silver Signature signed, though.  It came out of an album of cards that my mom gave me a while back.  She had started the Silver Signature set and kept some duplicates in the album as well.  I saw that Kamieniecki was signing, so I figured this would be a cool card to add to my binder.

I only had one Topps card of Kamieniecki for some reason, so I went ahead and sent this along as well.  I didn't have too many 1992 Topps cards represented in my binder, so this one helps out.

Kamieniecki has a pretty nice signature.  I think guys with long last names tend to have good sigs, but it definitely is a pain typing it out so much!  I only had one Orioles card of him, the 1997 Fleer Ultra.  Those always turn out nicely.  The 1996 Fleer above it is always a great set to get signed.  I really like that set, and plan on sending out more of them.

Kamieniecki (b. 1964) played in the majors from 1991 to 2000 for the Yankees, Orioles, Indians and Braves.  He had a career record of 53-59 with an ERA of 4.52 and 542 strike outs.  He on the Yankees when they won the World Series in 1996, but did not make an appearance in the playoffs that year.

I mailed to Kamieniecki on November 8 and got the cards back on December 5, for a 27-day TAT.

TTM Success - Jermaine Allensworth

I have been making frequent stops at my LCS to ick up some really cool cards from the mid-90s to try for some TTMs.  The shop owner has a box of cards like Bowman's Best, Fleer Metal, Fleer Ultra Gold Medallion, etc that I have really wanted to see come back signed.  The above 1997 Fleer Metal Jermaine Allensworth is a prime example of the kinds of stuff I have been really excited to see come back.

Of the four Allensworth cards that I sent, this one was the only one that I had found in my own collection.  The others were ones I pulled from the box at my LCS.  I was content in just sending this one card to him, but when I found the others at the shop, that added to my excitement about going ahead and sending these out.

The scans of the top two cards don't really do them justice.  They look great in person.  The scans of these two cards, though, really turned out nice.  These are two different years of Fleer Ultra Gold Medallion.  The card on the left is a 1998 Gold Medallion and the card on the right is a 1997.  The 98 looks more like a Flair product (man I miss that set) and the 97 looks more like a tipical Fleer Ultra offering.

Allensworth (b. 1972) was a first round draft pick (1993, 34th pick) by the Pittsburgh Pirates.  He played in the majors from 1996 to 1999 for the Pirates, Royals and Mets.  He had 268 hits, 15 home runs and a .260 career average.

I mailed to Allensworth on November 1 and got the cards back on November 12, for an 11-day TAT.

TTM Success - Greg Gagne

I got a huge TTM success back on Monday (March 7) when I got 5 cards signed by Greg Gagne.  I finally was able to put one of these 1989 Bowmans to use.  These cards are nice, since they are bigger than normal cards and were always hard to store.  I guess they were trying to bring back the essence of the pre-57 cards, but I'm glad they went and shrunk the cards for the 1990 set.  The card that I got signed, though, looks really cool.

Here is a nice blue 1990 Topps that looks really good with the blue sharpie that Gagne used for his signature.  I always liked the 1990 set.  When 2015 came out, it reminded me of the 1990 set, which also reminds me a little of the 1975 set.

This 1993 Upper Deck looks really cool, too.  The blue sharpie again matches well with the colors of Gagne's uniform and also the color scheme of the card.  I doubt that was intentional on his part, but bravo to him anyway, it makes the card look really sharp.

Ah, 1996 Collector's Choice.  These came out right when I got out of collecting cards for a while.  Still, it was cool to get one of them signed.

This 1997 Fleer Ultra tuned out really nice.  Borderless cards like this or Stadium Club really turn out great.  I don't feel like any of the cards I have sent turned out bad.  I just get excited when I get an autograph.  I think I would be excited if a player sent me a signed napkin.

Gagne (b. 1961) played in the majors from 1983 to 1997 for the Twins, Royals and Dodgers.  He had 1,440 hits, 111 home runs and a lifetime .254 batting average.  He finished 22nd in the 1993 AL MVP voting and won the World Series with the Twins in 1987 and 1991.

I went 5/5 with the cards that I sent and got them in a 14-day TAT.