Four More TTM Returns Today - Buford, Closter, Johnson and Stone

I'm a little disappointed in a couple of my returns today.

Mostly, my Don Buford return, who charges $5 per, so $20 for my four cards, which he signed in dying black marker.  All of my previous requests to him were signed in blue sharpie so this surprised me.

I sent my first Venezuelan card to Alan Closter, and it came back signed in black.  Not horrible, but a little disappointing.

Tom Johnson, who I recently got back, because I forgot to log his request on SCN so I sent another, and Ron Stone, signed their cards nicely in blue.

Floethe, Garman, Shantz and Swoboda TTM Returns

I received four ttm returns today.

Chris Floethe completed the 1972 Topps A's Rookie Stars card after I bought it from Mill Creek already signed by Anderson, who is deceased.

Mike Garman signed a couple of his 1972 Topps cards and his 1978 Topps.  I plan on completing both of these 72's.

99-year-old Bobby Shantz signed a 1959 Yankees card already signed by Bobby Richardson and Johnny James.  I included $5 with my request despite him not having a set fee.  Tony Kubek is the only other reliable signer, but he charges $35 so I'm not sure I'll have him sign this card.  Zach Monroe appears to still be with us but hasn't signed in several years.

Finally, Ron Swoboda signed his 1971 through 1973 Topps cards and the 72 Mets team card with the Staedtler pen I sent via PirateShip.  He sent the pen back even though I told him to keep it.  I included $20 with my request.

I'm not sure I like the Staedtler, it seems too fine.  I may try a larger diameter version.  It seems pretty light on the Swoboda cards, despite it being a brand-new pen.  June 5, 2025 Edit:  I just realized that the pen Mr. Swoboda returned to me was a fine point Staedtler, not the Medium point I sent to him.  So, he probably used the fine point on these cards which is why they seem light.  I'll keep using the Medium point ad see how it goes.

Bill Mazeroski Bat Back From Mail-In Signing

Just one autograph in the mailbox today.  I sent in a Rawlings bat to a Bill Mazeroski signing and he signed it pretty nicely in blue sharpie, as requested.  It's hard to take a decent picture since the bat is so glossy.  You can click on the image to view a larger version of it.

I thought the $60 fee was pretty reasonable as I would never attempt to send him a bat ttm directly due to the size and him having to package it back up.  I think his grandson helps him out now, so if I were to attempt it, I'd probably try to get in touch with him and get his okay first.

I used PirateShip to send it and to provide the return label to be taped right over the label used to get it to the promoter.  I chose UPS on the way there, but had to use USPS on the way back because UPS doesn't allow return labels, at least through PirateShip.

I was a little bummed when I got hit with a surprise $8 fee on the way back for the package being over 30" long.  I don't recall seeing that when I created the return label, but I probably saw it in my choices for the outgoing label.  I probably chose UPS because of it and should have realized I'd get hit with it on the way back.  It pretty much doubled the price of the return shipping, so I spent about $25 total in shipping both ways.

Today I spent quite a bit of time scanning and cataloging the 77 1982 Topps autographed cards I bought on eBay.  They ranged in price from about $1.25 to $3.50.  About 98% are living players that are good ttm signers.  A couple charge $5 fees, and another couple haven't signed for 18 months or more.  So, these just saved me some time on making some progress on this set.  So far, I've focused on the stars and Hall of Famers for some reason.  And at $1.46 for postage for a round trip ttm request these days, a handful of these were even cheaper than sending myself, and the most expensive ones cost an additional $1.50 or so over the postage cost.

I'm not going to post all 77 cards, but here ae a few to give you an idea of the type of players included in the lot.

A Couple Purchases Arrived Today - Don Zimmer and a 1972 Topps Multi-Signed Card

I received two purchases today, but no ttm returns.

I bought a 1955 Topps Don Zimmer signed and authenticated by PSA, from an SCN contact.  Mrs. Zimmer used to sign his ttm requests, and unfortunately, they often get authenticated.  But this version of his signature is his.  It's much messier than Mrs. Zimmer's signature.

Here are a couple I got back ttm that were signed by Mrs. Zimmer.  I sent these before I knew they would be ghost-signed by his wife.

I also received a 1972 Topps A.L. Strikeout Leaders card signed by all three and slabbed by PSA.  Another Joe Coleman card.  This would have been a pretty easy and inexpensive card to get signed ttm, but I didn't get to it while Blue was still with us, and Joe was actually signing his own mail.  Another ghost-signer situation.  Uggh.  I paid too much for this one, but it's a pretty nice-looking one signed in blue by all three.

I have a few other leaders' cards signed from the 1972 Topps set that I completed via ttm requests and one mail-in signing (Torre).

Catching Up After the Long Weekend

I was gone over the Holiday weekend and came home to a lot of returns and purchases.  Too many to comment on them all, but they include 9 cards (yes, 9!) that I sent to Bob Skinner.  I don't normally send nearly this many cards, but I included cash when he normally doesn't charge as well as a pen for him to use and keep.

I received three cards back from a Ted Simmons signing.  He didn't sign where I requested on the 1976 leaders card, and the Beckett sticker I paid for on the 71 Topps is very crooked and nearly overhanging the edge of the back of the card.

I bought a few Joe Coleman signed cards as well, after finding some on eBay that were reasonably priced and of which I am pretty sure are authentic.

I also bought several dozen signed 1982 Topps of more common players from a seller on eBay for between $1.25 and $3.50 each, to jumpstart that set.

I bought a few cards from Tom Orr on eBay, including two Ryan Howard cards, a 1982 Tim Raines Highlights card and a Dave Lopes 1974 Topps.

Here's a dump of all the scans.  I'll post again today if I get more in today's mail, but I'm not seeing anything in my Informed Delivery email.