TTM Success - Kevin Bacon

Sending an egg card to Kevin Bacon shouldn't take a whole lot of explanation, I hope.  If you're wondering, sit here for a second and think about it. Anyway, I saw that Kevin Bacon was (maybe) signing, so I picked up this egg card from 2019 Allen amd Ginter and sent it out with a 1987 Topps checklist. Why the checklist? Come on, keep up. Because I have a ton of them still and no clue what to do with them, so I'm adding odd signatures to my album because it's my album and I can.

So, I sent the cards off AND BACON SIGNED THE BACK OF THE EGG CARD!!!! Cue the sad trombone. Oh well, they're signed.  I said maybe earlier because I saw that there may be some question about whether or not these signatures are secretarial. Well, I'm taking them as signed.

Bacon (b. 1958) is known for such movies as Friday the 13th, Animal House, She's Having a Baby, Footloose, Tremors and A Few Good Men.  Obviously, he's been in a ton more. So much so, there's a fun game to play, Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.  I used to love playing that.

I mailed to Bacon on March 6 and got the cards back on March 14, for an 8-day TAT. 

Great Time Graphing The Tides At Bulls

With the Wood Ducks out of town this week and the countdown to Wander Day fast approaching (we all know Wander Franco will be called up soon), I decided to make a trip to Durham and try to graph the Bulls this weekend.  I also used it as an opportunity to break my friend, Tyler, in to IP graphing.  He had never done it before, but has shown interest, so I helped him pick out an autograph book and got him started on his way.  What better way to get him started, than to try to pursue the #1 prospect in baseball, Wander Franco.

Tyler, Chris and I were met in Durham by my awesome friends, Jackson and Dugan.  Dugan had this Franco Midwest League all star card that he got signed for me last week, so I figured, even if we didn't get Franco, I could leave there with a Franco auto.

Obviously, we ended up getting Franco.  I was able to get him inside the stadium as he was about to warm up; he had bypassed us outside upon arrival saying he had a meeting.  Jackson convinced me to get my card signed with the copper Sharpie that I brought, and it really looks great on the gold card.  It is numbered to 50, so that was pretty cool, too.

Chris had the above triple card in his book, and got Kevin Padlo and Vidal Brujan on arrival.  We were afraid we would leave without Wander on that card, but a guy we had helped outside (he was new to graphing and didn't even have a pen with him to get his ball signed; so I let him borrow mine) was from the Dominican and took my card (and book) and ran Wander down to get his signed after Wander bypassed Chris again.  The guy saw me with the card and asked why Wander didn't sign, I said "I got him inside, it's cool." and he said no, took my book and ran after him talking to him in Spanish.  Turns out, they had talked about being from the Dominican, and Wander stopped and chatted with the guy again.  He turned out to be a super nice guy, and told us stories about baseball in his country as we waited for other players to come out.  I ended up letting him keep my pen.  It was the least I could do.

We got Vidal Brujan on quite a few cards.  I think he is going to be a really good player as well.  He's super fast and probably won't take long to get called up.

We didn't miss too many of the Durham players, which was great.  I was up til 2AM Saturday searching and prepping cards and graphing books.  I was able to get a bunch of cards out and prepped, so I was really glad with the results.

I even got a Wool E Bull card signed while at the game, which was pretty cool.  Apparently, folks go wild over some of these mascot cards, but this one will stay in my album.  I got a couple Drew Strotman cards from Jackson, which helped me out.  I wasn't able to find any of him for some reason.  Brent Honeywell was one per, but the cards he signed turned out great.  Jackson and Dugan hadn't been able to get Luis Patino all week, but luckily, we got him on Saturday; he has an awesome signature.

The Joe Odom card came from Dugan, which was nice.  I wouldn't have had anything of him.  Ryan Boldt was one of the tougher guys for me to get (aside from Wander) because no one could recognize him.  We got my one card done, though.

I got David Hess inside after the game, and spoke to him a bit.  He was super nice, and the cards turned out great.  Deivy Grullon was the first guy to stop for us outside, and I was so happy to get the 2020 Panini Score Select signed, since I had to search boxes while watching Cobra Kai Friday night.  Those cards turned out great.

We were able to get a few Norfolk guys on arrival after we got the Bulls that we needed.  Several of the Tides players signed for us, even after a trainer came out of the clubhouse and told us the players couldn't sign due to COVID.  Thomas Eschelman was the only player who refused us due to these restrictions.

I was really excited to get Yusniel Diaz at the game, because I hadn't seen him before.  I recognized him, which was a surprise, and he signed one card for each of us.

Jackson and Dugan had dipped into my stash of extras when we learned that it was, in fact, Diaz, and they helped me out with the extras.

On a whim, I added this 2019 Allen & Ginter gold of Vincent Stio to my snap case and brought it with me.  I knew he lived in NC and went to a lot of games in the area, but was primarily as fixture at Mudcats games.  He's an aspiring umpire, and will dress as one and attend minor league games across the state.  He mimics the umpires movements and has been brought onto the field several times.  I found this card in one of my card shop boxes and knew I'd run into him somewhere.  This was an awesome example of being super prepared.  Chris and I were getting into the line for the all you can eat buffet, and Chris noticed Vincent.  So, I was able to graph a kid younger than my son as a minor league game.  At least he and his dad were cool about it.

My good eye also spotted Ryan Ripken as he was entering the Tides clubhouse, and I had a short conversation with him.  It was regarding a card that I had brought with me that has become a small project of mine.  I plan to finish the card off with a couple of Ryan's relatives, but he signed it for me and enjoyed seeing it.  He is such a great guy, and I was glad to see him again.

So, we had an awesome time at the game and enjoyed the company of my son and friends.  In all we got 65 autographs:

Wander Franco x 2, Vidal Brujan x 13, Kevin Padlo x 3, Ryan Boldt x 1, Adam Conley x 3, Chris Ellis x 5, Deivy Grullon x 6, David Hess x 4, Joseph Odom x 1, Wool E Bull x 1, Josh Lowe x 3, Brent Honeywell x 3, Wyatt Mathisen x 2, Luis Patino x 4, Drew Strotman x 2, Vincent Stio x 1, Brett Cumberland x 1, Yusniel DIaz x 5, Zac Lowher x 2, Ryan Ripken x 1 and Willy Yahn x 2.

TTM Success - Ed Asner

One of the cooler non-sports autographs that I've gotten back recently was from Ed Asner.  I had the above 2019 Allen & Ginter Incredible Equipment card of Santa's Sleigh, and thought it would be cool to get it signed.  I sent it to Asner because he played Santa in the movie, Elf.  The card looks really cool, and will be an interesting addition to my album.

I also had Asner sign this 2011 Topps American Pie Debut of the Emmys card.  He signed the back of it and explained that he won subsequent Emmys, which was really cool.

Asner (b. 1929) is the most honored male performer in Primetime Emmy history, having won 7 Emmys.  He appeared on the Mary Tyler Moore Show, and countless other TV shows in the past.  He is also known for appearing in the movies, El Dorado, Elf, Up and TV mini-series, Roots and Rich Man Poor Man.

I mailed to Asner on November 30 and got the cards back on December 14, for a 14-day TAT.

TTM Success - Mike Mullane

I was able to get another of these really cool 2019 Allen & Ginter History of Flight cards signed.  This one was signed by former astronaut, Mike Mullane.  I picked Mullane, since the space shuttle Discovery is depicted on the card.

Mullane (b. 1945) became an astronaut in 1979 and flew on three space shuttle missions.  His first mission, on August 30, 1984, was the first voyage of space shuttle Discovery.  During that mission, Discovery orbited the Earth 96 times over 145 hours before landing in California on September 5, 1985.  Mullane flew on two missions aboard space shuttle Atlantis, in December 1988 and February 1990.

Space shuttle Discovery flew its first mission in 1984, and its last mission in February 2011.  It was the third space shuttle, following Columbia and Challenger.  It flew 39 missions, more space flights than any other spacecraft to date.  It was the first space shuttle to be retired, followed by Endeavour and then Atlantis.  Discovery is now on display at the Smithsonian.

I mailed to Mullane on November 16 and got the card back signed on November 24, for a 12-day TAT.

TTM Success - Hershel Williams

When I first got the discounted boxes of cards from my LCS, I found this 2019 Topps Allen & Ginter History of Flight card and thought about how awesome it looked.  I couldn't figure out who I would get to sign it, and then I decided to try to get a Medal of Honor winner to sign it.  So, I sent it to Hershel Williams, and it came back very quickly.  The card looks amazing, and I am so glad I sent it out to be signed.

Williams (b. 1923), also known as Woody, received the US Military's highest decoration for valor, the Medal of Honor, for heroism during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II.  He and Charles H. Coolidge are the last two surviving Medal of Honor recipients from World War II.  He was awarded the medal by President Truman.  He is also a recipient of the Purple Heart.

I mailed to Williams on November 16 and got the card back on November 23, for a 7-day TAT.

TTM Success - Marc Summers

If you grew up in the 80s, then you saw Marc Summers on Double Dare on Nickelodeon all the time. That was such a fun game show to watch, and I always enjoyed it. When I pulled this card, and saw Summers signed ttm, I jumped at the chance to send to him.

Of course, I added Summers to my 1987 Checklist signature roster, just because.

Summers (b. 1951) has been a game show host since the early 80s. He hosted Double Dare from 1986 to 1993, which is what I most knew him from.

Since the show's cancellation, Summers has hosted various shows on Lifetime, The History Channel and back to Nickelodeon. He has seen several reiterations of Double Dare pop up, including a touring show that began last year.

I mailed to Summers on August 31 and got the cards back on September 14, for a 14-day TAT.