TTM Success - Kyle Skipworth

There weren't nearly as many TTM requests sent off this year as I had done last year during COVID.  Still, I sent off a decent amount of stuff when I had the chance between Wood Ducks games.  I didn't go through boxes as much as usual, either, which contributed to my not sending out as much, also.  Still, I found some cards of guys who signed, and was able to thin out a few boxes, as was the case with this return from Kyle Skipworth.  I had the above 2008 Razor card for a long time in one of the boxes, and used the ones I got from the former LCS to add two more to the package.  The Razor card turned out great; I always liked this design.

I also sent the above 2010 Topps Pro Debut and the 2011 Topps Heritage Minors.  Both look great.

Skipworth (b. 1990) played in the majors in 2013 for the Marlins.  He appeared in 4 games and had no hits.  He was a first round pick (6th overall) in the 2008 June Amateur Draft by the Marlins out of Patriot High School in Glen Avon, California.

I mailed to Skipworth on January 11 and got the cards back on June 5, for a 145-day TAT.

TTM Success - Dusty Coleman

I got a few more cards out of my older Bowman box recently when I got these cards signed by Dusty Coleman.  The above 2008 Bowman gold turned out really well.  I don't have many 08 Bowmans in my album, so it was nice to add this one.

He also signed a 2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition (above left) and a 2008 Razor (above right).  I remember when Razor was a thing, and they had Matt Wieters signed to an exclusive contract.  That's why I have so many 08 Razor cards in the box.  I'm glad I got one signed, and it turned out really well.

Finally, I got this dual 2015 Topps Update signed that I had previously had signed by Rey Navarro.  I think Chris and I saw Navarro at an Independent League game last season.  I may have another of these signed by Navarro, so I probably should see about getting Coleman on it as well.

Coleman (b. 1987) played in the majors in 2015 and 2017 for the Royals and Padres.  He had 15 hits, 4 home runs and a .211 batting average.

I mailed to Coleman on June 8 and got the cards back on June 20, for a 12-day TAT.

Destin Hood Auto From John

My friend, John, from instagram hooked me up by taking this 2008 Razor Destin Hood and getting it signed for me at Frisco.  I had realized when I was in Frisco that I forgot this card, so John said I could send it to him to be signed.

The card is  numbered 43/200 and has been sitting in my boxes for 10 years now.  I'm glad to get it signed and into my binder.  Thanks John!

Welcome Back, Matt

Well,  I really thought he was going to sign with the Braves this offseason, but since they re-signed AJ Pierzynski, they didn't have much of a need for Matt Wieters.  The market for him was shrinking, so he decided to accept the Orioles' qualifying offer.  Not a bad decision, Wieters will be making 15.8 million dollars next year.

Having him back is a good thing for the Orioles, especially since Dan Duquette said today that Wieters accepting the offer won't affect their attempts to re-sign Chris Davis.  According to Roch Kubatko, Wieters said that he now plans to call the other remaining Oriole free agents and do what he can to convince them to stay (come on, Chris Davis and Darren O'Day!!).

I'm glad that Wieters will be back and I am also glad that Duquette has said that the Orioles intend to continue to talk extension with him.

Autos From Blaine

Finally, I have reached the end of the package I got from my friend, Blaine.  Like I said in the previous posts, he sent me a ton of stuff; pretty much his entire Orioles collection.  He sent me a bunch of autos that I needed for my collection, starting with the above 2008 Razor auto of Matt Wieters.  Wieters signed an exclusive deal with Razor back then, and shortly thereafter, Razor disappeared.  I haven't seen Wieters on any Topps products, so I think his exclusive deal still stands, but he has been on some UD products since then.  I'm not sure what the deal is, but it kind of sucks that he has no Topps products at all.

Here is another Jonathan Schoop auto for my collection.  Schoop is a really good player, and his autos are still very affordable.  I grabbed a bunch for real cheap at The National, so my Schoop PC looks pretty good so far.

This 2015 Topps Career High auto of Adam Jones is another card that I didn't have in the collection.  Jones's stuff is a bit higher than Schoop, so I tend to shy away from his autos.  So, when I was able to add these to my collection via this deal, I was really happy.

Finally, here is another Jones auto, this time from 2011 Topps 60.  You can see some subtle changes in the Jones signature between this card and the 2015 mentioned above.

Jones is one of the few Orioles that I haven't met, yet.  I hope to take care of that at this year's Fan Fest.  Maybe I will get him on an All Star ball, or something.  We'll see.

So, that about wraps up my huge deal with Blaine.  I feel bad to take his PC from him, but he made me a great offer that I couldn't refuse.  I hope he gets back into collecting, though.  He had a bunch of great vintage that I would hate to see him part with.

Awesome Package From Wes

 

I got an email recently from a guy named Wes who reads my blog.  The email was quick and to the point, asking me for my address because he had some Orioles cards for my collection.  As you can see from the photo above, what he sent me was far more than I could have imagined.  It got better, too, when I flipped through the cards and saw a ton of Orioles that I needed and came upon some awesome relics and autographs.  I was amazed at the things I found in the pile.  Here are some of the highlights:

This Brian Matusz Razor Lettermen auto was so cool.  I had another of his, a Z, I believe, but this one was a different color and looks really awesome!

I don't believe former Oriole reliever Rocky Cherry has made it onto the blog before, but this Upper Deck Exquisite auto looks so cool.  It is also numbered 1/10.  Cherry didn't last long for the O's but this card is still really cool and I'm glad Wes included it.

Finally, I was really happy to get this Mike Wright Bowman Platinum auto, red parallel, which is numbered to 25.  I already had the base and now I have the red.  I like Wright because he went to nearby ECU and was really cool when Chris and I met him a few years ago.  I hope he makes it to the bigs and pitches as well as he is capable.

It is going to take me some time to go through all of these cards that Wes hooked me up with.  If you're reading this, Wes, thanks so much!  I really appreciate the package!