A pair of redundant repack hanger boxes

A place I sometimes get my food from has a Walgreens in the same strip mall, so while the restaurant was closing and I had to a neighboring joint to get my grub for the night - I walked over to Walgreens to see if there were any 2021 Topps with whatever store exclusive parallels they come with.

Just as I figured, there were no Topps on the shelves and I ended up grabbing these repacks - with all the cards out in the world, these are the last things I want to be opening, but there are no unopened products on the shelves.

Ironically, I'd spent the same afternoon updating my A-Z archive of commons, slaving away at some tedious sorting - I wonder how I get to the point where there are these loose pockets of cards I’ve got to sort out in ABC order and funnel in boxes that maybe impacted. 

Even though I’m in the middle of being overwhelmed in the here and now - I still knowingly add more junk to the mix. 

Going through the second pack, what was peculiar was similar sequence that repeated from the first - I assumed the cards are sorted into the hanger boxes by machine, but can Fairfield really add just about the same brand / year for different random players, multiple times over.   

 

I thought I’d get a different mix of cards but between the boxes I bought but ended up with 28 pairs of dupes - that fascinates me, but makes me think twice about ever picking up another Fairfield repack hanger.

Pack one

80 cards plus 1 1991 Score Series 2 pack with 16 cards

1991 Score Series 2

#538 Andy Benes

#542 Dave Clark

#447 Mike Aldrete

#453 Mike Bielecki

#780 Terry Steinbach

#875 Rickey Henderson - MVP subset

#870 Benito Santiago - The Franchise subset

#855 Kirby Puckett - The Franchise subset

#737 USA flag 

#743 Ray Stephens

#757 Ed Vosberg

#763 Rodney McCray

#4 Roberto [Clemente] Romps - Magic Motion World Series trivia card

#598 Bill Krueger

#595 Kelly Gruber

#600 Kevin Maas

#592 Wes Gardner

1989 Score Rick Cerone #396

1989 Score Manny Lee #326

1992 Score Pat Kelly #185

1992 Score Scott Terry #219

1992 Score Kevin Elster #103

1992 Score Jeff Brantley #157

Featured autograph - Harold Baines

Maybe purchases are answers to my droughts TTM - to give me something to look at when there isn't always going to be an incoming return from autographs requests I've sent out.

It's different beast however, especially when it comes to expecting a SASE or two to come back on a random day - it’s not as big of a thrill when results in the mail end up being someone else’s envelope.

My request to Baines last year was returned in my SASE with my money [$10] back and card unsigned - I ended up picking up this uncertified autograph card off a Facebook listing.

I assume the seller got the autograph TTM when Baines was generally less picky about taking people’s money to sign - the autograph is on a copy of the 2019 Topps Allen and Ginter I sent out, so with Baines hit or miss, I figured to grab it to knock off a card for my ongoing, perpetual set projects.

What am I supposed to do from here [?]

Things may end up a little fuzzy as far as spelling out what I maybe doing with my cards at the moment - if nothing else, this is basically a post where I change up the purpose [and change the title] as far as an ongoing collection of cards that goes on and on.

1. I've seen myself as an in-person autograph collector over the past decade - now that fan interaction is officially done, I have to do something with my blocks of cards I've made for big league teams.

2. I think my setup came about from trying to build a semi-comprehensive 'team set' of cards through each year - seeing how some acquaintances have these stashes of cards to try and get inked up.

3. It may be a force of habit to go through loose cards, pulls and finds and separate them like I've done - to make like there is still a mission to jump into as far as seeing big league teams [or at least the closest affiliates] with hopes I get cards off my own stashes signed.

4. Regardless of the COVID-19 pandemic, it hasn't really been the case for the past 5 or 6 years where I've been able to go autograph hunting on a regular basis - while I don't want to admit it, I probably aged out of the chasing aspect real hard and my blocks of cards have been sitting in mothballs.

5. To nerd out a bit and play with my cards in the 'here and now,' I'm going through a 'trip' through my cards for the 30 big league organizations to see what can be weeded out and added into in the here and now - I feel stupid referring to my block of cards as something 'for autographs' or as 'ammo' for an in-person outings.

6. Going forward, I will refer to my collection as a 'active team boxes' that sort of mirrors my collection of 'team boxes' I funnel random cards into for fun and games - the difference is I might be more invested in what goes in and out of my 'active team boxes,' as an old-school way of keeping up with MLB team transactions as a fan and the players pictured on the cardboard as a collector.

TTM autographs received: Rick Manning

I had an oddball 1980 Topps Supers photo card of Manning, purchased from a card shop to see if I could ever get it signed in-person - the opportunity never came to fruition, but I decided to dig it out to send through the mail in 2020.

However, my request was sent back to me 'return to sender' and wondered what happened, when it seems like he's been a reliable signer - to piece things together after the fact, I sent to an Arizona mailing address when Manning was probably back in Ohio, working as a color commentator for Cleveland games during the MLB season.

In the offseason, I tried the Arizona mailing address I had for him again - after 2 or 3 weeks, I finally got my items back signed.

TTM autographs received: Linda Ruth-Tosetti

I mailed out some cards to the granddaughter of Babe Ruth and was one of those TTM requests I had to put together to see what would come back - my cards ended up being signed and Miss Ruth-Tosetti also sent back my letter, responding to what I'd written, saying that one thing that amazes her is how her grandfather's legacy continues to live on through this day.

TTM autographs received: Mudcat Grant

Grant signed a pair of cards in about a week - I was digging around in my A-Z archive of cards and found a pair [a 1971 Topps beater and a retro 2004 Upper Deck Timeless Teams] featuring the former big league pitcher from the late 1950s through the early 1970s.

I thought I'd gotten his autographs in-person 20 years ago - but it might be interesting to see if I can get these miscellaneous cards inked up through the mail.

It looks like the 85-year old Grant is still alive and has signed TTM for $5 each - I wrote out a letter, put together a request and these are my results.

I think requested for him to sign Jim 'Mudcat' Grant since I only saw him scribble out 'Jim Grant' on the successes I've seen - though he actually only wrote out his nickname and last name.