TTM autograph received: J.C. Martin

I sent the 1960 Topps Gary Peters uncorrected error to the player [Martin] pictured on the main image and my card was signed and returned in about three weeks - I don't know if I really like how the card turned out, but it becomes one of those novelties in my collection where a 63-year old card ends up being dual signed because of a mistake.

TTM autograph received: Gary Peters

I sent a 1960 Topps card to Peters and he signed my card in about three weeks - only after I'd sent the card did I realize there might not be an ideal place for an autograph with the dark area on the main player image and the design elements i.e. name plate cluttering things up.

When I got the card back, the autograph was signed on the inset photo, which really clinched how trying to get this card signed wasn't such a great idea - I looked at similar cards online to see if there were others signed like mine and go figure, I wouldn't have realized the dominant image on the card features another player [J.C. Martin] and what I had in hand was an uncorrected error.

Some random vintage cards

I was at one of the local card shows and just to look around, finally stumbled back to the seller I've bought cards from before - I ended up picking these random 1960 Topps cards impulsively and also a 1955 Topps card.

I grabbed a Ray Boone card because I may have only one card [a Topps Archives reprint of his 1954 card] that was autographed through the mail [before he passed away in 2004] - he was the father of former big league catcher [Bob] and his grandsons [Bret and Aaron] who also former big leaguers, so it's fun having a bloodlines collection of the Boone baseball family.

I grabbed a Gary Peters because he was the American League Rookie of the Year in 1963 - his card fills a hole in my award winners collection.

I grabbed a Ed Sadowski card because it has him in his catcher's gear - if nothing else, I'm looking for some sort of reason to make loose cards keepers and an off-grade vintage card for my tools of ignorance collection is just the thing that hits the spot, when I'm not sure what I may find.

I grabbed a Don Mossi because he's a baseball card cult favorite - I realized I may have gotten another off-condition copy of this card and got it signed through the mail [before Mossi passed away in 2019], so I guess I have one autographed copy and a copy that is au naturel.

Maybe my biggest splurge was picking up the Camilo Pascual card, which actually is his rookie - he had a star run for the Washington Senators / Minnesota Twins through his late 20s and was a 7-time All-Star.

TTM autographs received: Bill Mazeroski

The Hall of Fame second baseman and Fall Classic hero signed my cards for his fees in about 3 weeks - there was a dead period through the summer where I hadn't sent or received anything in the mail, but I'm looking to see if I can catch up a little on some TTM requests, so I have something to occasionally look forward to.

1960 Topps Willie McCovey RC #316

With 10% eBay Bucks promo looming over my head, I added this McCovey card to beef up my personal collection - I remember pulling McCovey's autograph out of a 2001 Upper Deck Minor League Centennial pack and thought it would be nice to have a rookie to pair up with the relatively new [has it really been 17 years?] certified autograph card.

It maybe difficult to go back and forth, between modern and vintage, especially I’m can't throw serious money towards either genre - as a card collector, there is something about changing things up about any particular finds.

At times, the ‘latest and greatest’ takes precedence, but when I’m mindful enough or get inspired - there maybe an attempt to pick up a vintage card, as a nod to something old-school, a relic from an era that maybe foreign to what I've known, but something intriguing.

The picture of the picture isn't mine at all, but it's pretty neat - shows how the shift was on for McCovey during a game back in the late 1960s.

2017 Topps Archives blaster recap 2 of 2

Box two
Bonus pack of Baseball Coins 
#C-22 Clayton Kershaw
#C-24 Max Scherzer

Pack one

#65 Stephen Strasburg
#28 Evan Longoria
#14 Marcell Ozuna
#280 Robin Roberts

#219 Jim Bunning

#183 Anthony Rendon
#130 Robinson Cano
#200 Kris Bryant

Pack two
#87 Dellin Betances
#77 Nomar Mazara

#21 Jose Ramirez

#272 Jose Canseco - I took a look at this card and thought the card pictured Ozzie instead of Jose and go figure, this confirmed my suspicion
#249 Tom Glavine

#RS-7 Yulieski Gurriel - Rookie Stars insert

#116 Curt Schilling
#192 Ryne Sandberg

Pack three
#53 Freddie Freeman

#78 Nolan Arenado
#81 Tyler Glasnow
#277 Yoan Moncada
#210 Mookie Betts

#266 Daniel Murphy
#159 Pedro Martinez
#139 Phil Rizzuto

Pack four
#82 Mike Piazza
#32 Juan Gonzalez
#244 Trevor Story
#253 Jean Segura

#283 Adam Eaton

#DJ-11 Derek Jeter - DJ Retrospective insert / 2003 Topps
#191 Sparky Anderson
#147 Jose Bautista

Pack five
#35 Brooks Robinson

#24 Willie McCovey
#56 Eric Hosmer

#217 Kole Calhoun
#235 Chris Sale
#144 Ken Giles
#145 Hisashi Iwakuma
#120 Dexter Fowler

Pack six
#9 Mark Trumbo

#57 Albert Pujols

#250 Bryce Harper

#221 JaCoby Jones
#218 Aaron Boone
#111 Danny Salazar
#121 Marcus Stroman
#150 Jose Quintana

Pack seven
#3 Earl Weaver 
#84 Carson Fulmer
#227 Manny Machado
#237 Joe Musgrove
#255 Reggie Jackson

59B-17 Sandy Koufax - 1959 Bazooka insert
#169 Starlin Castro
#128 Yasiel Puig

2017 Topps Archives blaster recap 1 of 2

I jumped at a chance to pick up two of these when I saw these on the shelves at a Target - this isn't a product I anticipate coming out each year, but something I take a look at through a blaster box purchase or maybe through some loose packs at the LCS [if available].

Box one

Bonus pack of Baseball Coins - comes in a nice, cutesy, 'micro mini' plastic wrapper that is worthless the moment I tear into it.

#C-10 Justin Verlander
#C-3 Gary Sanchez

Pack one

#92 Masahiro Tanaka - with the horizontal design and how colors kind of pop, the 1960 style is probably my favorite.
#36 Yu Darvish
#245 Johnny Cueto
#270 Mark Melancon
#247 Matt Harvey

#DJ-18 Derek Jeter - DJ Retrospective insert / 2010 Topps

#200 Kris Bryant - I kind of liked the original year 1982 cards with the ‘hockey stick’ design and while the facsimile autograph sort of clutters up the front of the cards, it’s an attractive card design [I guess for 1982 in particular as opposed to 2017].
#116 Curt Schilling

Pack two
#64 Noah Syndergaard
#17 Melky Cabrera
#88 Salvador Perez

#205 Trea Turner - 1992 was the year of Topps cards I had most exposure to and I kind of felt the set was a little generic, especially with 792 cards.
#223 Jose Abreu

#192 Ryne Sandberg - it's probably been done before, but I like seeing a 'what if' Sandberg with a 1982 Topps design.
#159 Pedro Martinez
#139 Phil Rizzuto

Pack three
#73 Bobby Doerr

#75 Ty Cobb
#201 Roberto Clemente
#248 Andre Dawson

#49 Brian Dozier - Light Blue parallel serial #'d 37/75
#191 Sparky Anderson

#147 Jose Bautista
#144 Ken Giles

Pack four
#42 David Cone
#39 Rob Segedin
#275 Alex Bregman

#293 Jose Altuve - I feel like all the vertical images used in the original 1992 issue cards made that set feel a little redundant, but the occasional, original cards with horizontal player images stood out with seemingly a little more personality.
#246 Wil Myers

#59B-14 Corey Seager - Bazooka insert
#145 Hisashi Iwakuma
#120 Dexter Fowler

Pack five

#66 Adrian Beltre
#67 Edwin Diaz
#16 Jay Bruce
#256 Ian Desmond

#290 Kevin Gausman - I find myself playing the game of whether or not I’d find the similar type of image used in the original year cards.

I’d say at the ‘meh’ images [only counting active players] found on at least a handful of this year’s 1992 style Archives cards - would probably be faithful to their junk wax era counterparts.

#98 Jake Lamb - Peach parallel serial #'d 105/199
#111 Danny Salazar
#121 Marcus Stroman

Pack six
#19 Russell Martin
#26 Yoenis Cespedes
#100 Corey Seager
#252 Evan Gattis
#206 John Lackey

#Topps RO-3 Yoenis Cespedes - 2016 Retro Originals; I guess this was a retro inspired design thought up for last year; like how there is actually a card back built up as opposed to a ‘run of the mill’ insert.

#150 Jose Quintana
#103 Alex Reyes

Pack seven
#29 Josh Donaldson
#51 Robert Gsellman
#72 Edgar Martinez

#236 Braden Shipley
#269 Reynaldo Lopez
#153 Frank Thomas
#115 Andy Pettitte
#186 Monte Irvin

TTM autograph received: Don Mossi

I sent a 1960 Topps card to Mossi to be autographed - it came back in about a month signed in blue ink around his neck and really through the darkest part of the card.

I think the scan ended up a little lighter than what the card actually looks like in-hand - but I wasn't planning on sending the card to the 87-year old former big leaguer until I realized I'd rather have it signed sooner than never.

Autograph request through the mail received: Gene Conley

I sent a request to Conley with $5 and got my SASE back in about a couple of weeks with my card my signed in blue ink and responded to my letter with a note - like my Albie Pearson success, it's nice to get something back quickly; it's even better when I get a personal response to something I wrote.

Autograph request through the mail received: Julian Javier

Very intermittent and inconsistent WiFi and access to Internet cafes during a three week vacation to the Philippines had sort of allowed me be updated on baseball card stuff like 2012 Topps having come out - though without the ability to go to a store to see what the cards look like themselves.

During some down time abroad, I started to list my personal collection cards - I worked on initial lists of Top 30 PC cards, Top 30 Alternate PC cards and a Top 50 'Fun' PC, to sort of see how many I can name without having the cards in-hand.

After signing up and adding $65 to my account, I was also 'playing' with Check Out My Cards - I purchased about 15 cards through the last three weeks and through the folly of their s/h handling charges, had all but one shipped to me under their bulk shipping option.

While I was hoping, I wasn't really counting on getting the cards when I got back to California Wednesday afternoon - the only thing of note I found in the stacks of mail at home was a success from former Major Leaguer Julian Javier.

I mailed this request with two $0.64 stamps, hoping it reached Javier - the man is 75 years old and living in the Dominican Republic, where mail delivery has a supposedly sketchy reputation.

I sent $3 with my request about a month ago, hoping it would be enough - my card was actually returned signed in blue ink and I was pretty happy with how it came out.

I think I sent the equivalent of 116 Dominican pesos - so I assume it was much more than enough to buy postage [which according to Google was only about $0.52] to send my card back.

Diamond Giveaway trade - 1967 Topps Don Drysdale #55

I thought trading a 1960 Topps Frank Malzone for a 1967 Topps Don Drysdale was a coup for my little, itty bitty Topps Diamond Giveaway card collection - even though looking at eBay's completed auctions, the value of the Drysdale maybe $2 or $3 at the most.

Considering the condition of the delivered cards from the Topps Million / Topps Diamond giveaway contests - if I have it delivered in-hand, the actual value of the Drysdale card will be around a buck or less.