Another TTM Success From Juan Gonzalez

When I pulled the above 2021 Topps Chrome Platinum Anniversary Edition parallel of Juan Gonzalez, I knew I had to get it signed and into my album.  I had it put aside on my desk and waited to send.  I forgot I had it, found it and got it in the mail.  It looks awesome.

I sent this 1990 Upper Deck along with the Platinum Chrome and it looks really awesome.  I haven't sent a lot of early Upper Decks off because they're a bit plain for me, but to be fair, this one looks amazingly clean.  I'm glad I sent it out.

I mailed to Gonzalez on August 14 and got the cards back on November 20, for a 98-day TAT.

Another TTM Success From Juan Gonzalez

This was a very colorful TTM success from Juan Gonzalez.  I found all of these cards in my boxes that I got from the LCS when it closed.  This 1992 Diamond Kings turned out well, and I really love this set.  I want to add some more to my collection.

I also enjoy the 2001 Fleer EX set, and have gotten a few of these signed.  This is a really nice hidden gem of a set and the cards look great when signed.

Finally, here are the other 4 cards that made the cut from what I sent.  I sent a 2000 Bowman Chrome Teen Idols (top left), 2000 Fleer Gamers (top right), 1994 Stadium Club chrome (bottom right) and a 1999 Upper Deck SP Authentic (bottom left).  

I mailed to Gonzalez on March 11 and got the cards back on April 3, for a 23-day TAT.

Another TTM Success From Juan Gonzalez

I sent to Juan Gonzalez a few times already, but I had compiled several cards that I really wanted to get signed, so I finally sent more to him recently.  The above 2019 Panini Prizm is what started me with picking up more Gonzo cards.  This one is numbered 348/399.  I wish he had used a better Sharpie, but it is signed, and I can't really complain.

I really love the 1997 Zenith set (top left).  I looked at picking up a box of it, and it turns out, it is a very small set.  I may pick some more up and try to get a few more signed for my album.  Top right is a 2001 Topps Heritage.  I like that 1952 design, and also a photo of Gonzalez as a Tiger.  The 2002 Stadium Club (bottom left) is the only one from that set that has made it into the album as of yet.  The photo is really nice and glossy.  I might have to look into a box of those, as well, depending on price.  Finally, the 1998 Topps Picture Perfect insert turned out well and finishes off the success.

I mailed to Gonzalez on January 6 and got the cards back on March 17, for a 71-day TAT.

TTM Success - Juan Gonzalez

I got a great TTM success in today from a baseball star that I paid a lot of attention to when I was growing up.  Being a baseball fan in the 90s, you knew who Juan Gonzalez was.  He was one of the biggest stars of the decade and when I saw that he was signing TTM, I jumped all over it.  I went through all of my card boxes and pulled out a huge stack of his cards.  I then culled them down to just 5 that I thought would look cool signed and/or ones I would have liked to have seen in my auto album.

This 1995 Studio Gold card was the #1 card that I wanted to get signed.  I didn't have any in my auto album yet, and this was one of my favorite sets from back then.  The concept was pretty cool, and still looks pretty good today.  The card turned out great signed; I couldn't have asked for it to have turned out better.

This 1996 Score Select turned out really nice, as well.  This was a premium product back then, and I actually had forgotten about it until I found this in one of my boxes.  The wood grain design always looks good on a card, so I think that is what pushed it to the front of the line of cards that I picked.

I had a bunch of the 1998 Topps Interleague Play cards, and I thought it looked pretty cool.  The 1994 Fleer Ultra is especially cool with the American FLag background, but if you look closer, it has the 1993 All Star Game logo when the game was played at Camden Yards.  I had to add that to the TTM request for that purpose alone!

Finally, while looking through the boxes, I found this 1990 Topps Gonzalez rookie.  I figured that would top everything off, so I added it to the pile.  I was tempted to add a sixth card, but in the end, I relented since I didn't want to push my luck.  I am really happy with how everything turned out.

Gonzalez (b. 1969) played in the majors from 1989 to 2005 for the Rangers, Tigers, Indians and Royals.  He had 1,936 hits, 434 home runs and a .295 career batting average.  He was a 3-time All Star and 6-time Silver Slugger Award winner.  He was the AL MVP twice (1996 and 1998).  He hit 40 or more home runs five times.  He batted .310 or better five times as well.  He appeared on two Hall of Fame ballots (2011 and 2012) but only received as much as 5.2% of the vote before receiving 4.0% that dropped him off of the ballot in 2012.

Gonzalez on paper looks like a sure-fire Hall of Famer, but being mentioned in the 2005 Mitchell Report and also Jose Canseco's book as a steroid user.  This is the reason why he barely got a sniff of any Hall of Fame votes.  I doubt he ever gets in, but if some of the other known users get in, maybe he will have a chance in the future.

I mailed to Gonzalez on September 26 and got the cards back today for an 11-day TAT.