Another TTM Success From Matt Williams

Another TTM success came back from Matt Williams after I waited a long time for him to get on with another team here stateside.  I had this 1995 Leaf Slideshow insert that I really wanted to get signed, and my patience paid off.  The card looks really cool, and has a nice place in my album.

I still have very few 1994 Topps in the album, so I kept this one with the Slideshow card so I could send it along.  It turned out great, as well.

Finally, here ae two other nice cards that I sent along.  A 1991 Upper Deck checklist and a 1997 Upper Deck SP.

I mailed to Williams on March 11, via Padres camp and got the cards back on March 24, for a 13-day TAT.

TTM Success - Matt Williams

This was a TTM request that I had high hopes for, and I ended up with a nice success.  The autographs from Matt Williams didn't turn out like I had hoped, but the cards are still signed, and they have moved from being buried in my TTM box to my autograph album.  I can't complain a whole lot about that.  This 1996 Pinnacle Essence of the Game is an acetate card, and it looks a lot better in person.  I had prepped the card, but I think Williams used an old Sharpie on it.

This 1994 Fleer Ultra Homerun King card also looks a lot better in person.  I had this card floating around several piles of cards in my office/card room.  It seemed to be jumping out at me every time that I looked through cards, so I finally put it aside in my TTM box and ended up including it with my TTM request.  I am actually really happy to see this one make its way into my autograph album.

Williams (b. 1965) played in the majors from 1987 to 2003 for the Giants, Indians and Diamondbacks.  He had 1,878 hits, 378 home runs and a .268 batting average.  He was an All Star five times (1990, 1994, 1995, 1996 and 1999).  He led the NL in home runs in the strike-shortened 1994 season with 43 homers.  He was a four-time gold glover and a four-time silver slugger.  His best MVP finish was 2nd (NL), in 1994 (to Jeff Bagwell).  He won the World Series in 2001 with the Diamondbacks.  Williams appeared on the 2009 Hall of Fame ballot, but only received 1.3% of the vote.

I mailed to Williams on February 15 via A's Spring Training and got the cards back on February 25, for a 10-day TAT.

On a personal note, Williams was a huge name in our house back in the 90s.  My older brother, Philip, was a huge Giants fan.  He loved Will Clark and Matt Williams.  Maybe Philip will send some cards off on his own and get back a few autos.  Maybe?

March 30, 2012 Bargain Bin Pack Pickups

No mail again, so I went to the Kinston card shop to pick up this week's Prime 9 card (Ernie Banks) and bought a bunch of loose cards and bargain bin packs.  Lots of junk wax in the bargain bin, but they are always fun to open.

I bought two packs of 1989 Donruss for 50 cents and the highlight of both packs was this Randy Johnson RC.  The good thing about 1989 Donruss is that it is a decent looking set and has a bunch of future HOF rookie cards in it.  Not bad at all.  The Big Unit looks a little annoyed that someone was taking his picture.  Oh well, 300+ wins and 4,000+ strikeouts later, he is bound for Cooperstown.

I got a pack of 1992 Topps Stadium Club for 75 cents and pulled this Matt Williams.  A very good player in his day, Williams was always a big pull for us when we were growing up.  He now coaches on the DIamondbacks.

 Finally, I got a pack of 2004 Topps Total for $1.  I didn't pull anything of note, really, except for this Jason Johnson.  My wife and I met Johnson back in 2001 and he was a really nice guy.  He was my first in person MLB auto.  Not too bad.  I still have mine, my wife's ball has faded.

So, I didn't do all that bad considering I spent less than 3 bucks on the packs.  I'm going to go through the other cards from the packs and sort them out to my regular trade partners.  I hope I get to the loose cards I bought in the next few days, but we'll see.  I hope they get preempted by some good mail tomorrow.  That would be nice.