TTM autographs received: Steve Garvey

The longtime star first baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres signed my cards in about a couple of weeks for $10 - I've gotten him to sign 4 or 5 times in-person over the past 20 years, but I needed a 1984 Donruss and saw he signed TTM.

The 1984 Donruss was my priority regardless, but I also sent a 2021 Donruss to see what the card would look like autographed - I wish I had an old school Garvey from the 1970s handy to send as a second card, but the straggler might have been ideal to throw in because it was a recent 2021 pull.

Go figure one of the Garvey autographs I got in-person years ago was on the plastic slab of a graded 1984 Donruss - it was likely at the 2000 National where some wannabe non PSA and/or BGS grading company had samples at their booth for the taking and I ended up with the Garvey.

I didn't have anything better to do with the slab, so I must have taken it where Garvey was making an appearance - after 20 years, I think the card is loose somewhere collecting dust with the autograph probably not as bold due to the cirumstances of time passing.

2021 Donruss hanger box recap

  I find 'some' 2021 Topps Heritage blasters at a Target one day, the next day, I find the shelves wiped out in the card section - however a straggler hanger box got put back on the shelf by a Target employee.

I don’t like Donruss, but I’m desperate enough these days to pick up anything that is a baseball product - good thing I haven’t seen anything put out by Leaf or I may fold under pressure.  

Flippers are still going to take it all if product is sitting around, though I tend to feel like interest in hoarding retail stock is really in NBA, NFL or non-sport cards - despite my anecdotal evidence not playing out most of the time, I might be able to find baseball cards [maybe unopened blasters or loose packs] ‘once in a while’ where I would be shut out entirely if I primarily focused on the other stuff.  

For obvious reasons, recent Donruss cards are so basic and an eyesore [for obvious reasons] - maybe their ‘tributes’ to the brand’s sets [from the mid 1980s] are pretty hollow, where it’s hard to get nostalgic over ‘new takes’ that feel more like uninspired knock offs.

A redeeming factor that may not actually mean much, but give credit where credit is due are the parallels and inserts - they have a lot of shine to them and if nothing else, amuse me for a moment where I’d like to imagine actually caring enough about them to chase.   

#148 Eloy Jimenez

#106 Jose Abreu

#64 Marcell Ozuna

#122 Matt Olson

#80 Cavan Biggio

#137 Adam Wainwright

#160 Patrick Corbin

#118 Austin Meadows

#76 Carlos Correa

#133 Zac Gallen

#90 Lucas Giolito

#147 Marco Gonzalez

#105 Clayton Kershaw

#252 David Ortiz - Retro 1987; would have been nicer if the black borders on the originals were used; might be even more interesting if the surface wasn’t glossy and the card stock was more faithful to the originals. 

#210 Miguel Rojas

#231 Ozzie Smith - Retro 1987

#164 Jose Berrios

#255 Dale Murphy - Retro 1987

#188 Brandon Woodruff 

#234 Cal Ripken Jr. - Retro 1987

#167 Hyun-Jin Ryu

#258 Andre Dawson - Retro 1987

#191 Luke Voit

#227 Larry Walker - Retro 1987

#185 Brad Keller

#251 Steve Garvey - Retro 1987

#209 Anthony Santander

#52 Keibert Ruiz - Independence Day parallel

#135 Ramon Laureano - Holo Orange parallel

#92 Jeimer Candelario - Holo Orange parallel

#182 Aaron Judge - Holo Orange parallel

#248 Andy Pettitte - Retro 1987; Holo Orange parallel

#26 Cody Bellinger - Diamond Kings; Holo Orange parallel

#51 David Peterson - Holo Orange parallel

#ES9 Trevor Story - Elite Series insert; Diamond parallel

#UNL26 Frank Thomas - Unleashed insert; Diamond parallel

#54 Deivi Garcia

#50 Triston McKenzie

#253 Alex Rodriguez - Retro 1987; 14x All-Star variation

#3 Vladimir Guerrero - Diamond Kings 

#36 Joey Bart

#206 Max Scherzer

#17 Starling Marte - Diamond Kings

#52 Keibert Ruiz

#67 Mike Yastrzemski - Yaz nickname variation

#4 Anthony Santander - Diamond Kings

#37 Dylan Carlson

#200 Christian Yelich

#239 Sammy Sosa - Retro 1987; .534 Slugging Pct variation

#30 Ketel Marte - Diamond Kings