More 2025 50-50s and 2026 Cubs Convention Autos From Max

My buddy Max took another box of cards from me and converted a lot of them into signed cards I could add to my autograph album. One highlight was the above Topps Archives signed by Fergie Jenkins. This is a great card. There aren't enough modern sets using the 1957 Topps design. I wish they had done a Heritage Minors set with this design.

Here are cards sigbed by Cody Acshe, Quentin Berry, Trevor Cahill, Travis Chapman, Garrett Cooper, Noah Davis, Ryan Dempster and Jim Deshaies. I thought I had these Topps cards signed by Cahill and Dempster, but I didn't, so that was nice.

These are signed by Kyle Freeland, Jason Hammel, Mike Harkey, Starling Heredia and Jaden Hill. I had sent my Hill cards to someone for a 50/50 a while back, and everything came back signed, except for a Chrome, so that puts it in the album. I was alsi happy to see a 2015 Topps Jason Hammel (middle) and it looks great.

Here are Alex Jacob, Reed Johnson, John Lannan, Ted Lilly, German Marquez, Jack Neely. Those Neelys add some 2025 Topps to the album. I thought I had gotten John Lannan before, but I suppose I was wrong because I was unable to find any.

Now we see Riley Martin, Colin Rea, Mike Remlinger, Ethan Roberts, Jackson Rutledge and Matt Szczur. I sent every Szczur card I ever owned to Max at various points in time. It was nice to get one back signed for the album. Szczur is one of Max's all-time favorite guys, so I know it was tough to part with. He knows it went to a good home.

Here are Anthony Senzatella, Ryan Sweeney, Ezequiel Tovar and James Triantos. A 2007 Upper Deck Artifacts Sweeney at the bottom left really pops. Also that blue 2007 Bowman right beside it looks awesome.

Here are Victor Vodnik, Randy Wells and Jaxon Wiggins. I saw that I had a few more Wiggins in my box, so I'll have to send a few more his way to refill his stock.

Reed Johnson, Shawon Dunston, Hoby Milner, Drew Romo and Jim Palmer are in this bunch. That 1992 Topps Gold Dunston is pretty great. It would have been cool to have been able to get Don Sutton on the card with Palmer, but it was not meant to be.

Finally here are Cubs team cards signed by Justin Grimm and Gavin Hollowell.  

Thank you so much, as always, Max. I'm sorry it took me so long to get these scanned. I have another smaller stack he sent afterward that need to be scanned. I hope to knock those out soon.

2024 Cubs Convention Autos From Max

Another Cubs Convention has come and gone, and my amazing friend, Max, took a bunch of cards and got them signed for me.  He always delivers, and this year he got me some good stuff taken care of.  He also helped me clear some room in my boxes.  The above 2020 Donruss orange foil of Adbert Alzolay turned out great.  I had a ton of Alzolay's cards, and Max got a good one done.

I'm pretty sure Max has gotten every single Dave Otto out of my boxes, and the above 1992 Topps is a nice Otto card.  Surely there's one or two left hidden in a box somewhere.  That just means a have way too many boxes.  I was also glad to see this 2011 Topps Ryan Dempster get done.  Thats another guy who I'm finallynrunning low on. 

I remember finding the two Ray Birris cards in the boxes I had on loan from Conrad.  He's got a great signature and the 1974 and 1975 Topps were great additions to the autograph album.

I just recently cleared out a bunch of Manny Trillo cards and sent them to Max so he would have more for the next time he sees Trillo.

I am also finally low on Geovany Soto.  Getting those two 2007 Bowmans signed was nice, since I've had a ton of 07s since that set came out. That was the first "modern" (as in post 2000) Bowman set that I had in bulk.  They've just been languishing in a box since then, so it was nice to get some moved. 

Some more recent stuff was thinned out as well.  It was unfortunate that the Cubs waited until the last minute to announce who was going to be at the Con.  I had to scramble to get a package together for Max, but I had a lot of 2022 and 2023 stuff at the ready.  We probably could have racked up a lot more autos had the Cubs put the list out a week earlier.  Still, adding the Javier Assad, Caleb Kilian and Mark Leiter, Jr. cards to the album was nice.

I was even able to get a couple Alexander Canario cards out of the Box Of Shame for the Con.  I had missed him when I saw the Twnnessee Smokies a couple years ago, so it was nice to finally get him. Max rounded out the package with a 2023 Topps Update Jose Cuas, a Panini Prizm Luke Little and a 2020 Bowman Luke Little.

Thanks for getting these done for me, Max.  I look forward to your next message with a list of guys you need this season.  Baseball is back and I'm excited to see who all each of us it able to see this year. 

Cubs Convention and Christmas From Max

Finding folks who "get me" as far as collecting goes can be tough at times.  One person who really does, is my good friend, Max.  Like me, he enjoys getting stuff signed, and our continued partnership has resulted in me passing off a ton of cards to him; with him returning several back to me signed, so I can add them to the autograph albums.  Max has been a tremendous help in getting my boxes condensed down every season.  I always enjoy his messages asking me for cards of lists of current and former players.  It keeps stuff cycling out of the boxes, and keeps me from being crushed under an avalanche of junk wax era stuff.  Recently, Max sent me the attendance list for this year's Cubs Convention.  I searched my boxes and came up with two large packages (and almost had a third, before we ran out of time) of cards for the event.  Additionally, Max took one of my ROMLBs that I have and got newly minted Hall of Famer, Pat Hughes, on a ball for my Hall of Fame collection.

Max took a lot of cards that I had tried to get signed via 50/50s this summer.  So, it was easy to go through the Box of Shame and try one more time to get a few of the guys that my 50/50 partners may have missed.  Owen Caissie was one of them.  I had held onto the above Panini Prizm for a while, hoping that I would see Caissie via Myrtle Beach.  I think I got this at a card show during COVID.

I pulled several Ray Burris cards (and found even more this week while going through my boxes I just got in from Conrad in Columbia).  I was glad to get some of these random Topps cards signed.

Max has gotten me Bob Dernier a few times before, so I wasn't sure which of these that I already had.  They'll all go into the album together, with the rest of this 2023 Cubs Convention stack.

I thought I would have had a lot more Carlos Marmol cards, but I didn't find nearly as many of them as I would have thought.  I did find a lot of Ryan Sweeney, so it was nice to move those out of the boxes.

Max hit some of the random Cubs team cards I sent; these two were signed by Jon Lieber.  Even though I will put these in the album with each other, they are labeled on the back with sticky notes, so I don't forget who signed them.

I had gotten Lieber TTM in the past, so I need to check and see what cards I already have.  I was glad to see the two older Bowmans in the stack; they are 2006 and 2007 Bowman.

I had tried Reed Johnson TTM, but never got my cards back.  It was nice to be able to pull these out of the TTM leftovers pile and get them out.  I wish the ones I had sent him would have come back, as well.  Still, these are nice.

I was really happy to get the 2005 Donruss Champions card back signed.  This product was one of the first I purchased when I got back into collecting back in 2005.  I don't have many of them left, and even fewer in my autograph album.

Mike Fontenot was another guy who I had gotten TTM in the past, but I had gotten a 2002 Topps Traded Chrome; so these should be new to the albums.  I believe Max had gotten me a Geovany Soto or two in years past, but I think these three are ones I don't already have.

Max sent me a Christmas gift back in December, as well.  Unfortunately, I had no way to coordinate my needs list with my friends who were helping me build the set, so I got doubles of Tim Flannery and Jeff Hamilton.  The Flannery is in blue, so I will upgrade the set with this one, and the other will go in the regular autograph album with the Hamilton that Max sent.

Thank you doesn't say enough for how much Max helps me with the collection.  We are pushing 10 years of knowing each other (next year, I think), and I am very happy that we have been able to keep this thing going.  He is an awesome guy, and it has been really cool watching him grow up.  He has always been one of the best friends that I made during collecting and graphing.  I can't wait til the National this summer in Chicago, when I can see him in person, again.  As always, thank you so much for the cards and the Christmas gift, Max.  Also, thanks for making it so easy to cut these deals, I know there is a mutual give and take with me providing cards and you providing signatures, and it is really appreciated on my end.  Thank you, buddy!

By the way, Hughes is Hall of Famer #168 in my collection.  I haven't added a broadcaster in a while (and I have one that I still haven't posted, or counted.  I need to get on that...).

A Bunch of Autos From Max

My good friend, Max, hooked me up yet again with some great autos that I got from Cubs Convention.  I had sent him several recently, and some were ones that I had been perpetually sending him over time.

I really like the above 2003 Topps Gary Matthews.  I had gotten him TTM a while back, but at that time, only had a handful of 2003s.  I finally got the bulk cards from my LCS, and this one was in that batch.

The above 2007 Topps Matthews is beat all to hell, and if I had to guess, it was in a lot of cards that someone sent me a while back as a care package.  I can't remember who, but the card is one that most people would have just thrown out.  I kept it, and upgraded it with a signature.  Now, the beat up card will take residence in my autograph album and will remain there.

I felt like I had gotten some Larry Biittner cards signed before, but I couldn't find where that had happened.  I was able to get all of these out of some boxes, which is always nice.

I'm pretty sure that the Classic Jon Lieber was from a box of cards that Mal got me maybe 10 years ago, and still insists that I didn't like.  That's far from the truth, as I love looking through it here and there, and pulling cards out to get signed.  It's the gift that keeps on giving all year round, Clark.

Finally, if Max had a dollar for every Ron Coomer card that I have sent him over the years, he would have a lot of dollars.  He got three more back to me, and they look great.

The sad part of all of this is that over the last 6 years or so, I've watched Max grow up.  He is about to graduate high school and go off to college.  His graphing days are going to be coming to an end for a while, as he embarks on the next journey in his life.  Thankfully, as things have gotten busier and busier for him, he still thinks of me, and messages me when he can.  I'm hoping we can get together and do some graphing at a Wood Ducks game in the future.  In the meantime, I'll keep an eye on him from afar, and know that he's going to do some great things.  Thanks, as always, for everything you do, Max.

Cubs Convention Autos From Max

My good friend, Max, has been instrumental in helping me add autographs to my album, ever since I started it last year.  He and I have an arrangement when it comes to cards, sort of a 50/50 deal.  He gives me lists of players he plans on meeting, and I hook him up with cards.  He always sends me some back, so I don't charge him for the cards or shipping.  It is a kind of perpetual deal we have going, and I love it.  He always gets me some nice stuff, and this year from Cubs Convention, Max really hit a home run!

This year was a lot easier when Max sent his list.  I had already sorted all of my Topps cards by year, so I was able to figure out which boxes to look through pretty quickly, and what used to take me a few days only took me a few hours this time.  I was also able to get Max some guys for Sox Fest (White Sox) just as easily.

I had just gotten a box of my old cards from Mom, so I had a bunch of these Pro Cards minor league cards of Dave Otto available for Max.  I was really happy to get one of them back, since it had resided in my parents' attic for so long.

Chris Bosio is on a perpetual list of guys I send to Max whenever I find him, since he is a Cubs coach.  I can't count how many I have sent him, but I was really glad he sent me the 1994 Score No Hitter card, and a 1987 Topps.  The Todd Walkers were really nice as well, since I didn't have very many 1999 Topps in my collection.  I specifically asked Max to send me the 1999 Upper Deck, since I distinctly remember passing it over in my boxes for a long time, and now have finally been able to send it off and put it to use.

I was able to get another 2014 Topps and a few 1998s from Max. The 1998s are hard to read when scanned, to the top one is Jim Bullinger and the bottom two are Glendon Rusch and Brian McRae.

Finally, here are the last two autos, a 1992 and a 1979.  I sent Max a nice Cardenal, but he was in a Cubs jersey and part of our agreement is that Max gets to keep his choosing of guys in Cubs uniforms.  The same goes for me if the guy is in an O's uniform.

I really wish more people would be as easy to deal with as Max is.  I would be a lot more receptive to digging through my boxes if that were the case.  It helps me to make room for stuff, and gets me a few autos on the side.  I guess I can't expect everyone to be as awesome as Max is, though, because he truly is one in a million, as far as friends goes.

Thank you so much for picking these up for me at Cubs Convention, Max!