TTM autographs received: Reggie Smith

After putting together a paid request with $30 to Smith’s promoter, who has handful of former LA Dodgers players signing for TTM for a fee - I got my pair of cards signed in about a month.

Though he is an old-school / vintage era guy, Smith has a couple of coaching cards in sets [2004 Upper Deck USA 25th Anniversary and 2013 Panini USA Baseball Champions] - I'm still trying to get as many signed to this day.

While I wasn't familiar with Smith's MLB playing career, he was a fantastic player from the mid 1960s through the early 1980s - finishing with over 2,000 hits, slugging 314 home runs with a lifetime OPS+ of 137.

Featured autograph - Jesse Winker

Winker led the Arizona Fall League in hitting and was ranked No. 6 among the Top 25 AFL prospects according to Jim Callis at MLB.com - Winker's emergence may make Jay Bruce trade bait if the Cincinnati Reds are offered the right players in return.

Scratching an itch and busting retail packs on impulse

2013 Panini Pinnacle [$2.99 each]

#147 Joey Votto
#122 Adam Dunn
#193 Yasiel Puig - this random non-MLB licensed card of the next Joe Charboneau a 'hot rookie' doesn't really pay for anything and the right edges are rough cut anyway; still an OK, cheap pull in my book.
#167 Bryan Morris
#AC 2 Greg Maddux - Awaiting the Call insert; I'm not a fan of inserts that don't 'pop' like this one; almost feels more like a subset than an insert.
#77 Wei-Yin Chen
#34 Matt Moore
#91 Alex Gordon

2013 Panini USA Champions [$2.99 each] - I doubt many are collecting this, but I wish I could get more of the 2012 National Team Certified 62-card common set because I've seen a few of them and like how they 'pop,' even though they seem to be a subset of the basic set.

#115 David Dahl

#183 Kyle Robeniol - 2012 National Team Certified subset
#4 Joe Carter
#62 Austin Maddox
#96 Zach Green
#54 A.J. Cole
#12 Barry Larkin

2013 Topps Chipz [$2.00 each] - I've tried to stick with actual, non-oddball sized baseball cards, but curiousity sometimes gets the best out of me.

There are minor scratches and imperfections but these things are supposed to be tossed around like gaming chips - so wear and tear is natural I guess.

Giancarlo Stanton - I assume this is the silver [1:4] parallel since it's has a shiny, silver refractor finish on the back.
Brian McCann 
Mike Napoli
Alex Rodriguez - covered by the New York Yankees team sticker, which resembles of the Fleer logo stickers from the late 1980's.