TTM autograph received: Jim Palmer

It might have been sometime in February when my buddy decided to make a card show run and took me along to make a day of it - the first stop was at a card shop I go to with a card show that runs twice a week.

I browsed through the old-school and vintage showcase when I saw a 1966 Topps Jim Palmer rookie card #126 - I figured for $25, the card was an impulse buy that might end up as TTM fuel.

I sent off the card with $10 in a TTM request to the Hall of Fame pitcher a week or so before I left for some overseas travel - but unlike the other requests I'd sent off, I anticipated getting a response from Palmer back quickly.

Things might not have worked out as far as the timing goes, where I would have to wait a couple of months more to see whether I had a good or bad result - but did get my rookie card back signed the last day I could go to the mail box before leaving the country.

TTM autographs received: Bill Mazeroski

In early March, I sent out some TTM requests in anticipation they would be returned when I finally came home from some overseas travel - I was able to get the Hall of Fame second baseman to sign my cards for $20.

I picked this 2023 Panini Prizm Hot Box Purple Prizm for a dollar - I tried to prep the glossy surface as best as I could, so that the card would be easier to sign without any mess ups.

I fished out a 1963 Fleer from an assorted card show seller stack - it's probably easier said than done, but it's fun taking a well loved vintage card and turning into TTM fuel, where the result ends up being pretty good.

TTM autograph received: Ruben Sierra

In early March, I sent out some TTM requests in anticipation they would be returned when I finally came home from some overseas travel - the former big league slugger was on my scratch the itch list since I saw a random success posted on Twitter / X.

I sent Sierra a 2004 Topps Cracker Jack 'set card' and $10, which is his apparent fee to sign things TTM - maybe it's been a thing where I've sent out less TTM requests over the past couple of years and might need to add $5 or $10 to more requests in order to get something signed.

On the other hand I do not really mind when subjects charge outright, rather than through a middleman or promoter - where it might be fun to see what results I get from a guy like Sierra, who I've never had TTM history with.

I would have also liked to also get a 1990 Leaf signed, but did not have the card in-hand - so I might end up looking for one that is already inked up.

TTM autograph received: Camilo Pascual

In early March, I sent out some TTM requests in anticipation they would be returned when I finally came home from some overseas travel - one of the requests I sent was to the 90-year old former big league pitcher, with $10 and a vintage 1959 Topps card I fished out of a dollar box last year, like the Whitey Herzog card from the previous post.

Maybe the odd thing was the card I sent Pascual pictures him - but is an uncorrected error card, picturing teammate Ralph Lumenti.

TTM autograph received: Whitey Herzog

In early March, I sent out some TTM requests in anticipation they would be returned when I finally came home from some overseas travel - one of the requests I sent was to the Hall of Fame manager, with $5 and a vintage Topps card I fished out of a dollar box last year.

While on the other side of the world, I'd read that Herzog had passed and for that matter, another TTM signing great in Carl Erskine - for a moment I was wondering what I would get back, but it looks like I was able to get my request within the window where my card was inked up.

My all-time Top 100 cheap azz keepers collection - 9-1

My Top 10 is where I show off my iconic Top 100 gems - it might be cliche to have these cards in such a collection, but it's all fun and games where I have ownership of some of quirky and odd classics.

There is a sense of accomplishment where I wrapped up something, but now I'm thinking about the next Top 100 - where I'm eager to consider the cards I have in-hand to see how each might fit in a Top 100, as well as keeping my eyes peeled for Top 100 fuel I might have not seen and/or considered before.

FWIW, maybe I'm missing a 1989 Billy Ripken FF error #616, where the copy I ended up picking up was entombed in a BGS slab - I would have added it if I had a raw copy, even if it's valued more than the $20 cap I had for any single card in this collection.

9. 1976 SSPC Oscar Gamble #526 - I did not anticipate having two Gamble cards in my Top 10 and could have added a third [2016 Topps Archives Snapshots #AS-OG] that I'll save for the 'next episode.'

8. 1982 Donruss Cal Ripken Jr. #405 - I remember coming into possession of this card under dubious means as a child once upon a time, oh so long ago.

I was bored waiting on my parents to negotiate a deal to buy carpeting for new house - I grab some tape from the dispenser handy and the first thing I do apply tape to one of the corners and cause permanent damage to one of the corners.

I probably ended up trading the card somewhere, foisting it upon someone else because I messed the card up - but I've always wanted my own copy of the card, even decades later.

7. 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle REPRINT #N/A - I grabbed this card for novelty, thinking it was cool looking and certainly no one would mistake it for the real thing or even a knockoff, since it's a regular sized card.

I think the card has a glossy surface, but there any obvious identifiers as to where this card came from - I like it because it features an iconic baseball card.

6. 1976 Topps Oscar Gamble #74T - the OG big hair, afro card of the 1970s.

5. 1996 Pinnacle Bob Hamelin #289 - infamous mug shot card

4. 1988 Fleer Tim Flannery #582 - the surfboard card

3. 2022 Topps Stadium Club Chrome Babe Ruth #3 - for my Top 100, I wanted cards with historicity behind it, but it's a no brainer to fit a newer card featuring Babe Ruth irritating teammate Lou Gehrig, presumably at some of kind of party.

2. 1984 Fleer Glenn Hubbard #182 - this ends up being my second copy of this card where Hubbard has a boa constrictor around his neck and the Philly Phanatic is lurking in the background.

1. 1989 ProCards Minor League Keith Comstock #14 - like the Billy Ripken FF error, this card has gained some notoriety, where it may now be valued more than the $20 cap I had for any single card in this collection.

However, it was languishing loose in my collection where I did not have a place for it - finally putting together a Top 100 allowed me to formally make the notorious card a centerpiece in what might be my island of misfit toys.

My all-time Top 100 cheap azz keepers collection - 18-10

18. 1939 Play Ball Al Schacht #113 - my oldest card in my collections.

17. 2023 Topps Now Shohei Ohtani #OS-19 - this could have been a centerpiece card for an all-time Angels Top 100 cheap azz keepers collection, but feel it has too much appeal not to be in my main all-time Top 100 cheap azz keepers collection.

16. 1995 Pinnacle Ken Griffey Jr. #128 - I may have this card in my collection, but where it was 'easy,' I saw a copy during a card show rummage and pounced on it.

15. 2021 Topps Stadium Club Babe Ruth #32 - a goofy card with Ruth posing with a big bat.

14. 1989 ProCards Cedar Rapids Chris Lombardozzi #935 - having lunch in the dugout.

13. 1998 Upper Deck Larry Walker #355 - I've passively wanted this card for the past two or three years, without doing anything about it.

I finally spotted one in a Twitter sale and couldn't pull the trigger fast enough to claim - I think I have a soft spot where dogs end up being objects of affection, even if I have not owned one for the past 15 years.

12. 2001 Multi-Ad Myrtle Beach Pelicans Dinger The Home Run Dog Dinger The Home Run Dog #26 - it looks like a main theme to this page are doggos.

11. 1984 Fleer Jay Johnstone #495 - one ot the classic, yet random common cards of the 1980s.

10. 1987 ProCards Lenny Randle #27/1064 - an all-time classic junk wax era minor league card.