Another TTM Success From Bert Blyleven

This 1980 Topps of Bert Blyleven was found in my partial set that I use for TTMs.  I thought the card was pretty sharp, and put it aside for a potential submission to the Hall of Famer. I finally pulled the money for his fee and sent the card off.  It looks pretty nice.  It kind of looks like Blyleven's signature is getting a little shaky.

I mailed to Blyleven on October 13 and got the card back on October 27 for a 14-day TAT. I paid his fee of $20.00.

TTM Success - Leo Daigle

This 2007 Bowman gold of Leo Daigle was sent out twice for me to be able to add his autograph to the collection.  The first try was obviously a failure, so I did some digging, found a different address and sent the card out again.  It came back signed not too long after, and is now in the album.

Daigle (b. 1979) was an 11th round pick by the Tigers in the 1997 June Amateur Draft out of Monte Vista High School in California. He played in the minors from 1998 to 2006 in the Tigers, White Sox and Orioles systems, reaching AAA.  He had 932 hits, 124 home runs and a .267 batting average. 

I mailed to Daigle on October 13 and got the card back on October 27 for a 14-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Brian Henderson

Here is a 2007 Bowman Chrome that I got signed TTM by Brian Henderson.  He signed the card in purple Sharpie, which was cool.  It'll probably fade over time, but looks cool today 

Henderson (b. 1982) was a 7th round pick by the Rays in the 2003 June Amateur Draft out of the University of Houston. He played in the minors from 2003 to 2008 in the Rays system.  He reached AAA.

He had a record of 18-14 with 237 strike outs and a 3.21 ERA.  I mailed to Henderson on October 11 and got the card back on October 27 for a 16-day TAT. 

Wrestlecade 2025 Graphing Recap

Last weekend, Wrestlecade was back in Winston-Salem; an annual wrestling convention that Chris and I had attended once before (last year).  We looked forward to it all year, and this iteration didn't disappoint.   I went to the convention with a plan to get Ron Simmons to sign an 8 x 10 photo from last year.  I also bought some cards of a few other wrestlers to get signed at the show.

I got Simmons quickly after we arrived (after getting Tito Santana and Big Show on a couple cards below).  I was only going to get Simmons and move along, but he kept calling me by my name and talked me into paying for another photo op (this time with Bradshaw) and getting a dual auto on another 8 x 10.  Let's face it, he could have talked me into buying a car while I was there. 

The photo op turned out great, and both guys were awesome.  Ron Simmins is such a cool guy.

Backing up a bit, my big planned meeting and greet was with Big Show.  I always enjoyed watching Show wrestle, so when I saw he was going to be there, I sprung for a card that I thought looked cool for him to sign.  The card turned out great (below).

He was really nice, as well.

Here are the cards I got signed.  I didn't get a photo of Santana, but he was very friendly.  He was the first person we met, and his line had only one person ahead of us.

Matt Cardona was really cool.  He greeted us as we walked by his table.  I went back a few minutes later and paid the money for him to sign his card he had on display.  

We were really glad to see Diego Hill again.  He's a local wrestler, who seems to have a very bright future.  He is always cool to us, so I gave him some money for another autograph, to throw him some support.  Once he masters cutting a promo, he likely will make it to the higher level wrestling companies. 

Nikita Koloff is a guy I watched as a kid.  I saw he was going to be at the show, so I bought an old wrestling card of him and got it signed.  He was awesome.  I told him he scared the hell out of me when I was little.  He told me he considered that the best honor he could receive from a fan.

Teddy Long was super cool.  Chris wanted to meet him, so I made the payment for the auto/photo op combo.  He got an 8.5 x 11 photo signed, and Long threw in a card for free.  I got to keep the card.  He asked Chris about his grades and said he needs to keep them up or he "...will go one on one with the Undertaker".  Chris was excited that Long dropped one of his catch phrases on him. 

Finally, we got a photo with Nic Nemeth, otherwise known as Dolph Ziggler.  We told Ziggler the story of three-year old Chris singing along with Ziggler's theme song, except he got the lyrics wrong, singing "I'm here to smell the world, I'm here to smell the world" (instead of "I'm here to show the world...).  Oh, little Chris.  He had a couple of those that he botched as a kid.  Ziggler thought it was hilarious. We had just mentioned it right before the photo.

Chris and I had a blast at the show.  In all, I got the following autographs: Big Show x 1, Matt Cardona x 1, Diego Hill x 1, Nikita Koloff x 1, Teddy Long x 1, Tito Santana x 1, Ron Simmons x 2, JBL x 1 and Butterbean x 1 (10 total autographs).

TTM Success - Mark Farris

A random 1995 Topps was added to the autograph album when this card came back signed TTM by Mark Farris.  His marker looks to be fading a bit, but the card is out of my box and in the album now.

Farris (b. 1975) was a first round (11th overall) pick by the Pirates in the 1994 June Amateur Draft out of Angleton High School in Texas.  He played in the Pirates system in 1994 and from 1996 to 1998, reaching AA Carolina (back when the Mudcats were a Pirates affiliate).  

He had 305 hits, 14 home runs and a .244 batting average. 

I mailed to Farris on October 10 and got the card back on October 27 for a 17-day TAT. 

Another TTM Success From Larry Christenson

Six years ago (in 2019) I got a TTM success from Larry Christenson on three cards.  I felt that enough tome had passed, so I sent two more cards that hadn't yet been signed, a 1984 Topps (above) and the 1983 Topps below.

Both cards turned out nicely. I now have five different Christenson cards in the autograph album. 

I mailed to Christenson on October 14 and got the cards back on October 25 for an 11-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Larry Wolfe

1980 Topps is a sharp-looking set.  It is also my birth year set, which one would think would be a main focus for me to get signed.  I haven't really focused on the set, but I do have a ton signed.  There's probably zero chance for me to ever complete the set, but you never know.  I added one more 1980 Topps to the autograph album when I got this one back signed from Larry Wolfe.

Wolfe (b. 1953) played in the majors from 1977 to 1980 for the Twins and Red Sox.  He had 83 hits, 7 home runs and a .230 batting average. 

I mailed to Wolfe on October 17 and got the card back on October 25 for an 8-day TAT.