Christmas Gift From Gerard - 15 Signed 1987 Topps For The Set

Gerard's Christmas gift came in today.  I didn't mind, because it extends the Christmas feeling a bit longer, and he had already told me that there were a bunch of signed 1987 Topps cards headed my way.  I was blown away when I opened the package, though, because Gerard went above and beyond and expectation I may have had for his package.

Gerard is one of two people who have been very focused on helping me complete this set (Max being the other one).  I have had help from a lot of other people along the way, too, but these two guys have been very aggressive in helping me cross people off of my list.

It's really funny, actually, that so many folks have been wanting to work with me on trying to get as close to completion as I can be on this thing.  I think that has made it that much more special.

I now have 650 of the 792 cards in the set signed.  I haven't (and probably won't be able to) completed all of the team leaders cards, but surprisingly, I have completed a good many of them just over the last couple of months.  I intend to keep pushing for those, as well, but for all intents and purposes, I add to my tally once some ink is applied to any of the cards.  Some of the leaders cards have deceased players on them now, and those will be very hard to complete.  Those are some things I can focus on after I whittle the list down even further.

Thank you so much, Gerard, for this amazing gift.  I sincerely appreciate your friendship.  I also want to thank everyone who has so far helped me with this set.

TTM Success - Von Hayes

I sent to him before, but didn't get the cards back.  I saw that he has a fee, so I tried again, and got two cards back signed from Von Hayes.  The above 1987 Donruss Diamond Kings turned out really well.  I was going to send him one of these regardless of my 1987 Topps set pursuit.  I really like the Diamond Kings, and am happy to get this one signed.

I did get an 87 Topps signed.  This card turned out nicely, as well.  I forgot Hayes was on the Phillies Leaders card, so I will be sending that one out sometime soon.

Hayes (b. 1958) played in the majors from 1981 to 1992 for the Phillies and Angels.  He had 1,402 hits, 143 home runs and a .267 batting average.  He was an All Star in 1989.  His best finish in the NL MVP voting was 8th in 1986.

I mailed to Hayes on June 3 and got the cards back on June 16, for a 13-day TAT.  I paid his fee of $5.00/card.

National Free Signer - Von Hayes

One of the VIP signers at the National this year was former MLB player, Von Hayes.  His line was one of the easier ones for me to get in, and I actually was able to use a Wild Card on him.  I was really happy to get this 1992 Topps Stadium Club card signed by him in blue Sharpie.  I thought the card turned out really nice.

I was also able to get this 1992 Topps signed, which will look nice as part of my Topps Autograph Project.  I only have 4 cards out of the 1992 set signed, so there won't be a lot to choose from like other years.

Hayes (b. 1958) played in the Majors from 1981 to 1992 for the Indians, Phillies and Angels.  He had 1,402 hits, 143 home runs and a career average of .267.  He finished 8th in the NL MVP voting in 1986 when he led the league in runs scored (107) and doubles (46) with a .305 average.  He was also an All Star in 1989.