TTM Success - Dick Tomanek

A nice 1958 Topps that I picked up at a card show came back signed TTM recently with this success from Dick Tomanek.  These cards look awesome when signed. 

Tomanek (b. 1931) played in the majors from 1953 to 1954 and 1957 to 1959 for the Indians and A's (Kansas City).  He had a record of 10-10 with 166 strike outs and a 4.95 ERA.

I mailed to Tomanek on October 25 and got the card back signed on February 28, for a 126-day TAT.

TTM Success - Ray Crone

A couple nice 50s cards were added to my autograph album when I got this TTM success back from Ray Crone.  I had sent these out back when I had sent out a bunch of other 1950s Topps cards, but these took a little bit longer to come back.  Both of the cards (a 1957 and a 1958 Topps) look awesome.

I really like how sharp this 1958 Topps is.  I probably should have picked up Crone's 1955 Topps and added it to the album, as well, but that's ok.  I'm happy with what I got.

Crone (b. 1931) played in the majors from 1954 to 1958 for the Braves (Milwaukee) and Giants (New York and San Francisco).  He had a record of 30-30 with 260 strike outs and a 3.87 ERA.

I mailed to Crone on October 24 and got the cards back on December 16, for a 53-day TAT.

TTM Success - Pete Daley

A couple more vintage cards came in signed TTM recently with this success from Pete Daley.  I was glad to add another 1955 Topps to the autograph album.  This may be a sentimental favorite set of mine, since it was the first true vintage set that I put together.  I've got a lot of fond memories of building it, and adding a couple signed versions to the autograph collection helps.

I also sent off this 1958 Topps for Daley to sign, and it also turned out nicely.  I enjoy the 58 set, as well, since it has the bold colors.  I plan to build the 1958 set sometime in the future, but it probably will be a few years down the road.

Daley (b. 1930) played in the majors from 1955 to 1961 for the Red Sox, A's (Kansas City) and Senators.  He had 259 hits, 18 home runs and a .239 batting average.

I mailed to Daley on November 2 and got the cards back on November 26, for a 24-da TAT.

Another TTM Success From Bobby Richardson

Another TTM success has come in from former Yankee, Bobby Richardson.  This 1958 Topps is a card that I found at the Chantilly show and wanted to get signed.  At 87 years old, Richardson still signs, and has a great signature.

I mailed to Richardson on October 25 and got the card back on November 21, for a 27-day TAT.

Another TTM Success From Jerry Walker

Jerry Walker was another guy who was in the 1991 Crown Orioles set that I wanted to go ahead and get TTM again.  I had found the above 1958 Topps at the Chantilly show and wanted to add one of them to my autograph album. The card turned out great.

I also got the 1991 Crown signed and it turned out great.  I was glad tomove another of these into my album.

I mailed to Walker on October 25 and got the cards back on November 14, for a 20-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Taylor Phillips

My (somewhat new) scanner died last night, and I am going to try something new by just taking and cropping a picture from my phone and posting that.  I need to figure out the "straighten" function on my phone, but this crop job wasn't terrible.  I still am going to get another scanner, but in the meantime, this will do, I think,

This is a nice 1958 Topps that I got back, along with a small "God is Good" card from Taylor Phillips.  I really love the 1958 Topps design, and am happy that there are still a handful of players left who sign TTM and afford me the opportunity to add signed versions of these to the autograph album.

Phillips (b. 1933) played in the majors from 1956 to 1960 and 1963 for the (Milwaukee) Braves, Cubs, Phillies and White Sox.  He had a record of 16-22 with 233 strike outs and a 4.82 ERA.  He won the World Series in 1957 with the Braves.

I mailed to Phillips on October 24 and got the signed card, the God is Good card and a signed note back on November 1, for an 8-day TAT.

TTM Success - Hank Foiles

This 1958 Topps of Hank Foiles may be beat up, but it has finally been signed TTM and now resides in my autograph album.  I had the card in my collection for a long time, and had even sent it TTM to Foiles in the past; only to be foiled.  Oof.  So, when a private signing came up, I went for it, and added some more frequent flyer miles to the card.

I also went ahead and paid the huge fee to have Foiles sign my 1991 Crown Orioles card.  Apparently, he had refused to sign this card in the past, since he was never paid for it.  I think I had seen that the vendor got 18 of these signed, so I felt like this would be a kind of rare thing to have in the autograph album.  The price was super high, but in the end, I'm glad I did it.

Foiles (b. 1929) played in the majors in 1953 and from 1955 to 1964 for the Reds, Indians, Pirates, A's (Kansas City), Tigers, Orioles and Angels.  He had 353 hits, 46 home runs and a .243 batting average.  He was an All Star in 1957.

I mailed to the signing on February 16 and got the cards back on March 30, for a 42-day TAT.

TTM Success - Jim Marshall

Jim Marshall was another player that I found by taking a look at my 1991 Crown Orioles set.  I like using those cards as a jumping off point for folks to mail to, and they have helped me with some TTM subjects.  I pulled from a list that I made of about 10 players, and then hit COMC and Sportlots for a couple nice vintage cards for my album.  The above 1958 Topps really looks nice with Marshall's signature on it.

Marshall (b. 1931) played in the majors from 1958 to 1962 for the Orioles, Cubs, Giants, Mets and Pirates.  He had 206 hits, 29 home runs and a .242 batting average.

He managed the Cubs from 1974 to 1976 and the A's in 1979.  He had a 229-326 record (.413 win %) and finished no higher than 4th place in the standings.

I mailed to Marshall on May 12 and got the cards back on May 22, for a 10-day TAT.

TTM Success - Bob Henrich

While I was in Las Vegas in December, my son, Chris was responsible for getting my mail for me and putting it on my desk.  He called me the first day I was on my trip to tell me that I had gotten some TTMs, but one of the envelopes was soaked.  He knows how much I enjoy opening my TTMs myself, but he opened this one (and the other one that came that day, because he knew I wouldn't want the cards to get wet.  He called me and said "Dad. you got some TTMs in, but the mail got wet.  The cards are ok.  Do you want me to tell you who you got?"  Normally, I would want to be surprised, but I told him to go ahead and tell be, because I was expecting a big paid signing, and was praying that wasn't the card that got wet.

The cards turned out ok, but when I got home, I could tell this return from Bob Henrich had gotten wet.  You can see it in the autograph itself.  Still, it came back signed, and I am grateful it wasn't badly damaged.

Henrich (b. 1938) played in the majors from 1957 to 1959 for the Redlegs/Reds.  Gotta love that the political times of that era are reflected in the Reds name on the card.  He had 2 hits, no home runs and a .125 batting average.  His stats aren't much to look at, but he played at the ages of 18 to 20.

I mailed to Henrich on October 28, 2017 and got the card back on December 3, 2018, for a 401-day TAT.

TTM Success - Charlie Maxwell

Another of my 1958 Topps that I sent out came back signed TTM, and it turned out to be a really nice one.  Charley Maxwell signed this in thin blue marker, and his signature looks really nice.

Maxwell (b. 1927) played in the majors from 1950 to 1952 and 1954 to 1964 for the Red Sox, Orioles, Tigers and White Sox.  He had 856 hits, 148 home runs and a .264 batting average.  He was a two-time All Star (1956 and 1957) and finished a career-best 18th in the 1957 AL MVP voting.

I mailed to Maxwell on June 4 and got the card back on June 14, for a 10-day TAT.

TTM Success - Bob Speake

I added another nice vintage card to my album with this TTM success from Bob Speake.  The old 1950s cards really scan well, especially the red ones.  I do enjoy the solid red backgrounds sometimes.

Speake (b. 1930) played in the majors in 1955 and 1957 to 1959 for the Cubs and Giants.  He had 170 hits, 31 home runs and a .223 batting average.  He was actually acquired by the Giants from the Cubs in exchange for Giants legend, Bobby Thomson.

I mailed to Speake on June 4 and got the card back on June 14, for a 10-day TAT.

TTM Success - Chuck Essegian

I grabbed a handful of 50s cards from somewhere (it's really bad that I can't remember where I got them) and sent them off TTM.  A few of them came back around the same time, the first of which was this 1958 Topps Chuck Essegian.

The card looks really nice, and was signed with a thin black pen.

Essegian (b. 1931) played in the majors from 1958 to 1963 for the Phillies, Cardinals, Dodgers, Orioles, A's (KC) and Indians.  He had 260 hits, 47 home runs and a .255 batting average.  He was a member of the 1959 World Series Champion Dodgers.

His time with the Orioles consisted of one game, in 1961.  He would then be traded to the KC A's for Dick Hall and Dick Williams.

I mailed to Essegian on June 4 and got the card back signed on June 11, for a 7-day TAT.  I guess I raided my vintage box for this, but I definitely can't remember.

TTM Success - Eddie Bressoud

Here is one of the vintage guys I picked up while at the Greenville card show, Eddie Bressoud.  I really liked the above 1958 Topps, so I was really happy that he signed it.  I sent him 5 cards, and he signed 4.  The card he chose not to sign was a 1963 Topps.

Check out the airbrushed SF logo on Bressoud's hat.  The Giants had just moved to SF, and it looks like the Topps artist had some issues getting the logo right.

I had this 1960 Topps in my vintae box at the house, so I sent it along, too.  I like that he signed this one, as well.

Also, here are Topps cards from 1961 and 1964, both of which turned out really nicely.

Bressoud (b. 1932) played in the majors from 1956 to 1967 for the Giants (New York and San Francisco), Red Sox, Mets and Cardinals.  He had 925 hits, 94 home runs and a .252 batting average.  He was an All Star in 1964 and won the World Series with the Cardinals in 1967.

I mailed to Bressoud on October 28 and got the cards back on November 24, for a 27-day TAT.

TTM Success - Frank Lary

One of the last guys I sent to following the February card show finally came through TTM for me with his success from Frank Lary.  I had bought a number of vintage cards at that show to send out, with the focus on 1955 Bowman.  The Bowman came back looking really nice, as can be seen above.

The pink 1958 Topps aren't the best version from that set, but they still turn out nice.  I also love the old Tigers logo.

Here are two cards that I added from my vintage box.  I'm surprised that I can still put my vintage cards in a box, since I have robbed from it so much for TTMs.  The 1964 Topps is especially nice.  The 1963 is a bit beat up, but most of my 63s are for some reason.

Lary (b. 1930) played in the majors from 1954 to 1965 for the Tigers, Mets, Braves and and White Sox.  He had a career record of 128-116 with 1,099 strike outs and an ERA of 3.49.  He won 20 or more games twice in his career, with 1963 being his best season.  He won 23 games that year, finished 3rd in the AL Cy Young Award voting and 7th in the AL MVP voting.  He was also named to his second All Star team that year (his other prior nod was the year before).

I mailed to Lary on February 13 and got the cards back on May 11, for an 87-day TAT.

TTM Success - Jerry Kindall

Here is another card that I picked up at the Raleigh card show in February that ended up being mailed out for a signature.  This is a 1958 Topps card of former Cub, Jerry Kindall.  I actually had bought two of them in order to have an even amount of cards to buy from the vendor at the show.  Kindall signed the second one as well, and it was sent along to my good friend, Max.

Kindall (b. 1935) played in the majors from 1956 to 1958 and 1960 to 1965 for the Cubs, Indians and Twins.  He had 439 hits, 44 home runs and a .213 batting average.

I mailed to Kindall on February 13 and got the cards back on February 27, for a 14-day TAT.

TTM Success - Tim Thompson

Here is a nice card that I picked up at last month's Raleigh card show that I ended up sending TTM.  On it is former Tiger catcher, Tim Thompson.  I love the red cards from 1954, 1958 and 1959 Topps.  They all scan really nicely.  This one is a 1958 and it quite a bit worn, but it still looks great, and the way Thompson signed it pops as well.

Thompson (b. 1924) played in the majors in 1954 and 1956 through 1958 for the Dodgers, Kansas City A's and Tigers.  He had 123 hits, 8 home runs and a .238 batting average.

I mailed to Thompson on February 13 and got the card back on February 21, for an 8-day TAT.

TTM Success - Bennie Daniels

Here is another player who I was able to get an autograph TTM because of cards I picked up at the Columbia Antique Shop.  The 1958 Bennie Daniels actually came from a stack of cards that I got from my good friend, Jet, in a deal from a few months ago.  I really like this card, especially with how yellow it is.  I'm all for cards with bold colors on them.  I think they really pop when they are scanned to my laptop.

Here is the card I got from the antique shop, another 1961 Topps.  A bunch of them came in all at once, pushing my total of signed 61s above some other years.  The card turned out really nice, as well.  I'm sure it is difficult for some players to sign the headshot cards.  I wouldn't want to write across my face, either.  Daniels did a really good job of squeezing his signature in the card, though.

Daniels (b. 1932) played in the majors from 1957 to 1965 for the Pirates and Senators.  He had a career record of 45-76 with an ERA of 4.44 with 471 strike outs.

I mailed to Daniels on January 17 and got the card back on February 4, for an 18-day TAT.

Vintage Instagram Deal With Jet

My buddy, Jet, was strapped for cash recently, so he made me a proposal for a deal involving some nice vintage cards and a sweet 8x10 signed photo.  One of the vintage cards was on my Top 10 Wishlist, so after hearing the price he was looking for, I jumped on the deal.

The above Orlando Cepeda RC is in decent shape, but by no means mint.  That's ok, though, because this card will be well taken care of, and Jet knew it was going to a good home.  This is the first item I have been able to knock off of my Top Ten Wishlist, so that was nice.

Jet also had this Bob Feller signed 8x10.  Although I tend to shy away from 8x10s, I love Feller, and figured at the price in which Jet was selling at, I went ahead and added it to the deal.  I wish this was a "high leg kick" auto, but this photo is still really nice.  I like the old Indians uniform, and also love the sepia photo.

Thanks so much for the deal, Jet!  I really appreciate it.

TTM Success - Hector Lopez

I think my venture into getting cards signed TTM has helped me appreciate cards that I normally would have glossed over in the past.  I never really cared all that much for TCMA or SSPC cards, but now that I have been getting some signed, they really have become some that I really enjoy seeing.  This one of Hector Lopez turned out great when I got my TTM success back from him.  It just looks really sharp.

Of course, both of these Topps cards look nice, as well.  I didn't have very many of 1958 Topps in my autograph project, nor did I have many of 1963, so this success helped out in several areas.

Lopez (b. 1929) played in the majors from 1955 to 1966 for the A's and Yankees.  He had 1,251 hits, 136 home runs and a batting average of .269.  He won the World Series with the Yankees in 1961 and 1962, and appeared in five straight World Series with them (1960 to 1964).

I mailed to Lopez on November 21 and got the cards back on December 2, for an 11-day TAT.

TTM Success - Art Ditmar

I got back one of the first vintage cards I sent out with this 1958 Topps card of Art Ditmar.  It really turned out great, and I don't mind replacing it when I decide to go after the 1958 set.

Ditmar (b. 1929) played in the majors from 1954 to 1962 for the Philadelphia and Kansas City A's, and the Yankees.  He had a career record of 72-77 with an ERA of 3.98 and 552 strike outs.  He won the World Series in 1958 with the Yankees.

I mailed to Ditmar on March 11 and got the card back on May 12 for a 62-day TAT.