2004 Topps Retired Hank Aaron Refractor Autograph

Boom!

Extremely happy to check Hank Aaron off my list of needs for the 2004 Topps Retired Signature Edition autograph refractor set that I've considered my #1 highest priority collecting goal for the past several years. 

Going by purchase price, this Hammer is the third best card in my collection now. (And top Retired card.)

Yeah, I overpaid and the signature isn't even that clean-- it's a 2004 signature that looks more like his present-day signature-- and it's an awkward photo (what is going on??).. but I don't care. I welcomed this card into my house like a newborn baby being brought home from the hospital! Huge name I no longer need to worry about anymore (Seriously.. he has no vintage Kellogg's cards for some reason, so he won't be a factor in my latest setbuilding venture.)

A true legend. You gotta love Hank Aaron if you're a baseball fan.

More gratuitous glamor shots to help you fully soak in the majestic essence of the card...

Just 11 more cards to go and this dark shiny beast of a set will finally be finished. My rate of scoring new pickups for this project has slowed way down in recent years-- not that I'm not still searching as obsessively as ever!-- but maybe if I'm lucky I'll complete it within the decade.

I already had the base autograph from a while back. I'm torn on whether to throw it on eBay, put it on the trading block, or just hang onto it. (Once I "upgrade" to the refractor, I typically part with the base auto; I don't feel the need to have both.) I think the signature is better on the base (though neither are an A+), and it's cool having 2 Hammers, but we'll see.

The refractor is #/25 while the base isn't serial-numbered but has an announced print run of 50.

I used to have another base Hank auto like this one, and I "supertraded" it to Tony Burbs a few years back as the main card in a package to score an Axl Rose auto. Maybe I'll hang onto this base Hank as an "ace in the hole" for a possible future supertrade someday. If you happen to have something really cool/$$$ that'd be a great fit for my collection and seems like it'd be a fair swap, feel free to get in touch about feeling out a deal.

got a Mickey Mantle autograph!

Regular readers of the blog might know that the past few Christmases I've asked for high-end boxes of cards for Christmas from my mom and mother-in-law, who are both nice enough to throw some real money at my silly hobby despite their better judgement. Ripping results have been mixed over the years, with some duds but also some nice Trouts.

This year, I'm a little tired of Topps and the state of modern cards in general, so I decided to keep cards off my Christmas/Birthday wishlist. My mom gave me a fat check, and although I technically made the purchase before the check was deposited, in my mind I'm considering the card a gift from her, putting the majority of the check towards a "dream card" for me. A 1992 Score card, if you can believe it.

.... (ka-BOOM!).

Oh man, I love this card.

MICKEY MANTLE AUTOGRAPH!

In the past few months, I decided I wanted to try targeting a Mantle auto one of these days, and started keeping an eye out. As far as pack-certified, on-card autos from the time before The Mick passed, the two best options available are the 1994 Upper Deck painted card he shares with Ken Griffey Jr, or his insert in '92 Score. Seeing as I've never been a huge fan of mass-produced art cards (that Mantle/Griffey included, sorry), I gravitated towards '92 Score. And well, this one had its BIN price creeping down over the past few weeks. Add an eBay Bucks offer to take some more sting out of it, and I ended up pulling the trigger.

In watching such cards over the past few months, I noticed many of these '92 Score Mantles feature a signature that is very faded. Gotta assume it's due to the ink being susceptible to fading in sunlight and the fact that many owners of these cards proudly displayed them for all to see, which eventually caused the signature to fade over the years.

But this one still looks good! I'll have to resist the urge to display it, at least anywhere bright, so it'll maintain the bold, blue signature from Mickey, deftly placed in a lighter area of the photo to help it pop.

Numbered 1859 of 2000 personally autographed cards. I didn't have much luck attaching an "eBay 1/1" meaning to this particular number, but the best I can do is that the year 1859 saw the first intercollegiate baseball game ever played. Oh wait-- here's one: old-time baseball HOFer Mickey Welch was born in 1859. Mickey W. was a New Yorker.. so that's kind of fitting. (Of course Mantle was named after Mickey Cochrane, not Welch, which would have been cooler, but still.) Yes, it's the Mickey Welch Birthyear eBay 1/1! That's twice the Mickey!

If you factor in all the faded autographs (seems like roughly a third of them have significantly faded), this becomes even more scarce as far as viable Mantle autographs go from 1992 Score.

This particular card was priced very competitively, no doubt thanks to being in less-than-mint condition, particularly the corners, including a crease. But honestly, the condition only made me want it more. Let's imagine a likely backstory of this card based on its condition...

December 25, 1992. Little Timmy Jones receives a few packs of 1992 Score in his stocking from Santa. But Timmy is more interested in the Super Nintendo Entertainment System that Santa left under the Christmas tree. By early January 1993, Timmy eventually beats Super Mario World and is looking for something else to spend his time on. Little Timmy pulls the '92 Score packs out of his closet and begins tearing them open. He's thrilled to pull cards of his favorites Ken Griffey Jr and Jeff Bagwell.. even a special card of some old dude he heard his dad talk about once or twice. Timmy wants to give it a closer look, but a new Darkwing Duck episode is about to start and so he throws the cards into a box with with other cards for the time being. Cut to a few weeks down the line. Timmy gets a copy of A Link to the Past (Zelda 3) and pretty much forgets about those baseball cards.  

Many years later, after Timmy has gone off to college, his mom wants to tidy up the house a bit and gathers up some old stuff Tim surely wouldn't have use for any longer. Among a Battleship game and a few TMNT figures is the shoebox with the baseball cards. She makes a Goodwill run, where an employee tosses the cards into a ziplock bag and slaps a price tag on it. A week later, local man Joe Smith is sorting thru the lackluster options at his local Goodwill when he finds the lot of junk wax for $5. While the price is a little steep for some near-worthless cards bouncing around the ziplock bag in rough shape, Joe notices a Griffey "Rated Rookie" visible through the bag and figures there might even be an early Jeter or something in there too, so he takes a chance and ponies up a Lincoln for the lot. Later that day, while quickly flipping through the cards-- taking out the likes of Nolan Ryan and Cal Ripken while tossing the rest-- Joe is frozen in his tracks when he comes to a card of Mickey Mantle that seems to be autographed. "Holy crap! This can't be real, can it?!" Joe talks to a buddy of his who is a little more knowledgeable about the hobby. Joe isn't sure what he's found.. is it even real?? His friend suggests he send it in to be graded by PSA, notable authority on card grading. Joe sends in the card, and a few weeks later, it comes back with an "authentic" grade. Wow!, Joe thinks. He puts the card away with his few other good cards and goes about his life.  

A few years later, Joe wants to raise a couple hundred bucks for a Nintendo Switch and decides to list some of his cards on eBay. While browsing newly-listed Mantles on eBay, a guy named Kevin Johnsen notices the card and snatches it up to flip. A few weeks go by and Kevin puts the card back up on eBay. It doesn't sell at his original asking price, so he eventually lowers the price a few bucks.. and then a couple weeks later, hoping to move the card by Christmas, he lowers it a little more.. then boom, some schmoe in Portland, Oregon pulls the trigger on the card, embiggened by a birthday check from his mother and a generous eBay Bucks promotion, achieving his dream of owning a Mickey Mantle autograph.

Ok, maybe it didn't go down exactly like that, but might not be too far off.

And so here we go. I've got a slabbed authentic pack-pulled Mickey Mantle autograph. Wow.
The beat corners only add to the appeal in my eyes, drastically lessening the likelihood that it's counterfeit or trimmed, and you can tell it's got a story to it. Just beautiful.

A dream card, no doubt! Thanks for reading.

Gwynning!

I must have slept funky a couple nights ago because I woke up with my neck and chest all tight and sore. Then a day later, I also started having some abdominal discomfort in addition to my sternum situation, and I was like, "oh shit: pancreatic cancer, here we go." But thankfully, it seems to be getting better. I think I just held in a pee too long and irritated my kidneys. But I'm no doctor. What I'm getting at is I took a day off work today to get myself right. It also happened to be the day a very special card was due to arrive in the mail, and while that wasn't the catalyst for the unplanned PTO.. ain't gonna lie, it was among the several factors.

My pup Annie joined me waiting for the mail carrier, our hearts filled with longing. When? When? When?!!

Finally at 4:45 PST, the sound of beeps from a tracking number being scanned graced my doorstep.

2005 Topps Retired Tony Gwynn refractor auto!

Oh man, I love this card!

Number 05/25. Check out all them batting titles!

Had to take it outside for a photoshoot in the fresh air on this pleasant late September day.

I'm obsessed with Topps Retired refractors, and Tony Gwynn is my alltimefavoriteplayer, so this card is a grand slam for me.

So pretty.

This might be one of my favorite photos ever! Tony in the foreground and Annie chasing a squirrel in the background. LOL. Beautiful.

Mr. Jones and Me. Custom TTM success with an awesome note!

Oh man, this was a sweeeet TTM return for me.

I can't really explain it, but I was nervous about this one. It was way back in January when Padrographs Rod hooked me up with the elusive mailing address.. and it took me until the middle of August to finally get around to making the request, though it was high on my to-do list that whole time.

Chris Jones has been an enigmatic figure in my collection for a while now, sort of my personal Moonlight Graham. He was only the second person from my high school to play in the major leagues. And the first (Mike Reinbach) passed away many years ago, so Mr. Jones is by default the reigning patriarch of the Guys From Granite fraternity. The fact that "Chris Jones" is a very common name only further clouds the enigmatic nature of the situation, as searching for his cards is not easy, and googling him is pretty much a waste of time as 99% of the results will be for the other baseball player named Chris Jones (who debuted with the Reds in 1991), or maybe the other few guys with that name who've played in the minors over the past few years (or the football or soccer players who also have that name).

I just wanted it to be perfect. You never know how a TTM request will be received.. especially when customs are involved. I've heard about some old-timers who are like, "This is a FAKE CARD! I wasn't paid for the use of my likeness with this! Grumble grumble!" Worst case scenario is upsetting the guy.

Another concern of mine was the weather. Yeah, seems funny, but my customs are susceptible to the ink running when they get a little damp. I figured mid August would be safe, but lol, the day before this return came in, it rained. Thankfully it was dry the day the mailman dropped the return envelope off for me.

But enough lead-in, let's get to it!

Boom, if I may say so myself. Chris never got a real MLB card, so I made my own using the only photo I've ever seen of him not in a minor league uniform. I colorized the b&w pic and put it in a 1987 Donruss design (which might look familiar if you read my post from last month about 87D customs).

I sent 4 copies of this custom, and in my note I asked for one signed in return and said he could keep the extras, which he did. (I also sent a fine-tip red Sharpie for him to sign with [and keep].. an advanced TTM move I've only done once before.. for when you really want it to turn out well and not risk a crappy ballpoint pen or dried-out Sharpie ruining your request). I also mentioned how we both went to Granite Hills High School, and then Grossmont CC and SDSU (I nearly asked him which elementary school he went to, curious if our scholastic paths mirror back that far, though I resisted, thinking it might be creepy to do so).. and mentioned how collecting cards of players who went to my high school is a way I connect with my hometown after moving away a decade ago.

I think the back turned out pretty good, too! I take pride in my custom backs, gotta admit. Helps me stand out from other custom card makers who don't bother with the backs. But really it's just my OCD on the matter, as a blank-backed card feels incomplete to me. This is not only a rated rookie (that never was) but also a sunset card with full career stats. Turns out Chris read it and gave me props in a great note he included in his return...

Transcribing for posterity, he says:

Hey Gavin
Thanks so much for the cards. You did your homework on the career highlights. I didn't even remember that Nolan R. was pitching the game of my debut. I do remember that being on the same team as he was my greatest memory in the ML. Such a great guy as well as HOF no brainer. Take care and thanks again.
Chris  --->
That picture was in spring training during an intersquad game on deck to face Vida Blue. Nice game face! I ended up punching out looking on a 3-2 slider. Nice!

Wow! I've received nice little notes with my custom TTM requests before (including from Vida Blue himself!) but this takes the cake. I couldn't have dreamt of a better reply. This epitomises the greatness of the hobby for me and what it's all about.

Chris even wrote "Go Eagles!" on the back on the return envelope, a reference to our shared Granite Hills heritage.

Oh man, I'm so very happy with this return! While I wouldn't expect it to have big value on the secondary market, this signed card is now easily in the inner circle of best cards in my collection, right up there with my Trout autos and vintage Mantles.

Again, huge thanks to Mr. Jones for making my day by taking the time to sign and return my card and write that wonderful return note. And big thanks also to Rod as well as Brian at ABC Unlimited, the autograph dealer who kindly supplied the address. Much appreciated!

dream card achieved

I recently got my yearly bonus from work. We're doing fine financially at the moment, so I wanted to go nuts and use a good chunk of the windfall to treat myself to a very, very nice card. Something BIG. Something I never would have even dreamt of owning as a kid. I thought it over for a while and it didn't take me long to find just the special item to put in my crosshairs.

I ended up winning the auction for about triple the cost of my most expensive hobby purchase up to that point. I won't pussyfoot around it too much and admit it was just north of a grand. Some of you reading right now might think I'm insane. Fair enough. (I'm sure there will be a snarky comment or two in the comments.) Helping mitigate things were the fact I happened to get an eBay offer for 10% bonus eBay Bucks, and it seems most other folks didn't get the offer (but I hadn't gotten the previous similar offer I heard people talking about on Twitter a couple weeks prior), which means I was able to max that out to a $100 rebate to spend on eBay in the not too distant future. Plus just days before, I was approached by a buyer for my vast Rilo Kiley live/rare CDR/DVD collection (I had been meaning to find a home for them after backing it all up on external drives over the summer), so I had an extra $150 in my PayPal account, meaning when all's said and done, my 4-figure purchase will actually be more of an $800 hit.

Also worth noting is that the same exact 1/1 card sold for nearly $200 more just a few weeks earlier. I think perhaps someone was trying to flip it, having bought it from a less prominent seller, then reselling it through Probstien123, which is probably the biggest sportscard consignment account on eBay. They're known for generally having max expected final bids (some folks even whisper rumors of shill bidding), but at least in this instance, it doesn't seem to have been the case, and the seller who consigned it looks to have taken a hit. And from other somewhat similar completed auctions, I feel good about the deal I got. I think the fact I was apparently one of the few who had the active Bonus Bucks offer at the time the auction ended helped give me an edge in bidding. Really feels like the stars aligned a bit for me this time!

That was earlier last week. My big purchase was scheduled to arrive Friday, which added to the stress I mentioned in my last post, in addition to lots of work activity and the annual big work party Friday night. I had narrowly missed the mailman and would have to pick it up Saturday from the post office since a signature was required for delivery. So I put it out of mind and had a fun time at the party. I may have had too good for a time, though, and ended up getting violently ill that night after the Lyft home. That was rough! (I should have stuck to beer; it was the couple mixed drinks and especially a Maker's Mark "neat" at the end that really did me in.) Ended up sleeping on the bathroom floor much of the night.

Then Saturday was pretty brutal. It ended up snowing decently overnight, so even if I had been feeling ok, I probably wouldn't have ventured out to the monthly card show. As it was, I was in a world of hurt with an epic hangover. My window for picking up the package was until 2 pm, and with work, I probably wouldn't have another shot until the following weekend (an eternity), so a little after 1 o'clock, I bundled up and took my dog for an arctic trek through the neighborhood to the post office. Lots of wind and snow in our faces, and remember I'm still feeling half-dead at this point. I figured it'd make memorable part of the story of how I got the crown jewel of my collection, at least!

I successfully got the package and we returned home. Around 2:30, the sun came out and the snow started melting. It felt a little like, "oh great, now the weather improves." Or looking at it more optimistically, it was like the world signaling a victorious end to the journey. I held off opening the package until I wasn't feeling so crappy. Got plenty of sleep Saturday night and woke up feeling much better Sunday.

Finally, it was time!

That's an authentic Roberto Clemente autograph. I'm still blown away that it's mine! I almost feel like I can retire from card collecting now. With the exception of like maybe a mint '52 Mantle or one of those mega-scarce Honus Wagner cards, I can't really think of a more impactful card for me.. nothing I'd personally put above a Roberto Clemente autograph. Obviously it's not perfect.. but then again, a perfect Roberto Clemente autograph would be much more expensive (and probably have a greater likelihood of being fake). I'm happy making due with an "ugly" one.

Not to say there's zero chance this is fake, since I wasn't there when it was originally signed, but it has a lot going for it toward indicating it's legit, including how ugly it is.

I have no plans to crack it out of its case, but of course I was going to make a custom overlay to spruce it up!

I whipped this up this (Monday) morning in about 20 minutes before work. The custom isn't my best work, but the beauty of an overlay is I can make a new one anytime I want and just swap it out. I really wanted to bring it into work ASAP to display it where I can see it as often as possible. I work in a very secure room, with limited access and security cameras, so I'm confident it'll be safe there. And there's no direct sunlight, so keeping it in a shady spot (and maybe covering it up when I'm not around) should prevent fading. I know the signature already isn't very dark.. seems to be pencil, though, not faded pen. But I'm no expert. Maybe someday I'll move it to the family safe deposit box, but for the foreseeable future, it's gonna be the centerpiece of my work space. (well, besides like my computer n' stuff.)

Oh yeah, there's even a Willie Stargell cut auto on the back. I love Pops, so that's a pretty cool, but I've already got 3 or 4 auto cards of his, as they're much more plentiful than Clemente, so it's a nice bonus, but definitely not the headliner here.

You may have noticed under Clemente's signature is another, lighter marking. Digging into it, turns out that's about 51% of Don Hoak's autograph, a very "tough" signature in its own right. He was the Pirates' starting third baseman for their 1960 World Championship team. He also got a ring with the '55 Brooklyn Dodgers. Sadly, he died in 1969 at the age of 41.

The original document seems to be from 1962, some sort of marketing material to get Pirates fans excited to support their team. Perhaps it's from from a program or maybe an offseason event. Maybe it was from mid-season, alluding to a stretch run (They had a strong team that year, going 93–68, but that was only good for 4th place in the NL.) Further dating it to 1962 is that Don Hoak was traded from Pittsburgh to the Phillies in November of '62. If any Pirates fan could possibly track down a copy of this "Let's Boost our [...] Team Home!" document, I'd love to check it out in its uncut glory.

Wrapping things up.. what else can I say? Never thought I'd one day own a Roberto Clemente autograph. Such an iconic figure, on and off the field. A great player and an even better human being. True hero. Legend! Hopefully this tiny remnant from his time on earth helps me in my life to be the best person I can.

Ok, I'm laying it on pretty thick here and this has been a long rambling post, but you know what I mean. Bottom line is I'm incredibly blown away to have this in my collection.

Thanks for reading!

''Any time you have an opportunity to make a difference in this world and you don't, then you are 
wasting your time on Earth.''

♥♥♥ ANGELA LANSBURY ♥♥♥

I do not own these, I just wanted to take a moment to appreciate Angela Lansbury.

A lawless street couldn't scare me away from the lovely Mz. Lansbury.

Call the cops! My heart has been stolen for the last time!

The 80s called. They want Angela Lansbury back. They'll have to fight every other decade for her because they all want her! She's a treasure!

She could stop a moose in its tracks. And probably has!

This photograph was illegal to look at until the late 60s. The US Government strictly enforced this law, with each copy of the photo known in existence being assigned military personnel.

I'll see her in my dreams.

Someone's going out for a night on the town!

I'm jealous of Fred here getting a personalized photo from her. I'd like to think they both were into The Doors in the 70s. If I could interview Mz. Lansbury, my first question would be if she liked The Doors, and my follow-up would be which of their songs are her favorite.

This concludes today's Angela Lansbury appreciation post. Angela Lansbury rules!

Custom TTM Success!: Art LaFleur as Babe Ruth in The Sandlot

Here's a fun through-the-mail success story.

The origins of this one go back to January 2016. Among the flurry of TTM requests I sent out at the time were 3 regarding the beloved 90s film The Sandlot. Sadly for me, I didn't have much luck with them. As I documented in a post a few months later, Mike Vitar (Benny) and Marley Shelton (Wendy) came back as undeliverable, while Art LaFleur (The Babe) just never came back, but I held out hope it might surprise me in my mailbox someday down the line.

It didn't. But fast forward to earlier this month, I got an email from Art LaFleur's wife. She told me they stumbled upon that old blog post of mine, and that my request was never received. I guess the address I used wasn't reliable. But she told me they both got a kick out of the cards.

She offered to give me a better address to use, though asked me not to share it. She also said they'd like to buy a few copies of each card I made so Art could share them with his fans. (Sometimes fans ask Art to sign real Babe Ruth cards, which he is understandably against for moral reasons, as that's not him pictured.. but cards featuring him in character as the Babe wouldn't have that problem.)

As you can imagine, this email totally made my day! I told her I'd be happy to send a bunch of extras free of charge, just hoping to get one each signed and returned. In addition to the two designs had whipped up back in early 2016 (one Babe, and one of Art's character in Field of Dreams), I also set out to make a 3rd card for the occasion. I went with a Goudey design reminiscent of cards from Ruth's playing days. It just came back signed yesterday and I couldn't be happier with it!..

Super cool, right?!

He also kindly signed the older cards I made.

I've had some great returns in my limited TTM activity over the years, but this one might be hard to top.

I love The Sandlot and am excited for 2018 Topps Archives due out in mid August, featuring Sandlot inserts and autos. I'll likely go hard adding those to my small collection of cards from the movie.

Big thanks to the generous Mr. LaFleur and his very kind wife for turning what was a TTM failure into an incredible success!

a TTM success damn near given up for dead

While it's great when a through-the-mail autograph request promptly returns in a week or two, there's a unique joy in the rare request that you had given up on that eventually finds its way to you. I've only been in the TTM game for about a year and a half, but I finally got caught such a hail mary.

January 19, 2016 was a watershed day in my young TTM career, sending out a baker's dozen requests, all custom cards I had whipped up special. I remember pushing myself to prepare all those envelopes, for some reason really wanting to get a big batch out on the same day. It's the most I've ever sent out at once, by a large margin. Many came back quickly: Ron Cey, Ron Gant, Vida Blue (with note!), Al Hrabosky, Dave Kingman, Goose Gossage, Randy Jones, and Betty White.

I eventually even featured a few of the failures from that 1/19/16 TTM blast on the blog, as I really liked how the customs turned out and so I wanted to show them off, signed or not. Marley Shelton and Mike Vitar returned as undeliverable by the USPS. And I posted that I had written off my requests to Art Lafleur and Pee-Wee Herman, though technically I suppose there's still a chance that they could come back one day.

But there was one last request I sent out on 1/19/16 that I've never mentioned on the blog up to this point: Karen Allen, the super-cute, kick-ass actress I know best from Raiders of the Lost Ark, Animal House, and Scrooged. Oh, and I even forgot she was the mom in The Sandlot. Ha, that means I sent four TTMs related to that movie in one day... and this is the only one that I successfully got back...

So awesome! Finding an envelope addressed in your writing in the mail is something TTM folks live for, and it's a special thrill when you haven't been expecting anything back. Suddenly, Santa and the Easter Bunny are real again! That's what this hobby is all about!

While creating the custom card, I ended up with 3 different photos that I really liked, so I sent an "uncut sheet" of the three, hoping to at least get one of them signed, and she generously signed all of them, even personalizing one unsolicited. ♥ ❤ ♥ ❤ ♥ ❤ ♥

At a whopping 380 days, this is by far my longest-awaited successful TTM return, breaking the recently established record of 66 days... though I still hold a tiny spark of hope that Pee-Wee and/or the Great Bambino (Lafleur) will eventually come through and take the top [bottom?] spot.

A very warm thanks to Ms. Allen for brightening my day with this gracious autograph return! Worth the wait! 

I just watched Scrooged yet again with the family this past Christmas, and everytime I do, I fall for her wonderfully sweet Claire character. I think I'm about due to watch through the Indiana Jones saga again, as it's definitely a favorite of mine and it's been a few years since I watched them. Between you and me, I haven't seen Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, avoiding it after hearing some negative reviews back when it originally came out (aliens and sci-fi stuff ruining the vibe of the original trilogy). But I think I'm ready to finally give it a chance, especially after learning that Karen reprises her role of Marion Ravenwood in it.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Custom TTM Success: Kelsie Whitmore and Stacy Piagno

Earlier this summer, Kelsie Whitmore and Stacy Piagno made history by becoming the first female teammates on an otherwise all-male professional baseball team. I thought that was cool, and made a couple customs for them as my own little tribute.

I sent separate through-the-mail requests to them via their team the Sonoma Stompers. Ms. Whitmore kindly sent back my request with just 8 days turnaround, tying the record for quickest TTM return I've gotten.

Looks great!

The back includes a nice little bio that was mostly copy & pasted from the Stompers' site. Cool that Kelsie is from the San Diego area, like myself.

I sent 3 copies of this custom along with a short fan note. I asked her to please sign and return one for me, and accept the extra 2 as my gift if she'd like (which she did).

Kelsie even took the time to write me a little thank you note. So awesome! Not that I ever expect it, but it's very appreciated those rare instances that the person I'm asking for an autograph goes the extra mile by taking a moment to write back.

So yeah, that one arrived Saturday, then Stacy Piagno's return showed up Monday...

Nice! As you can see, I've again paid tribute to the classic 1983 Topps design. And again, I made 3 copies, and Stacy accepted the other 2 offered her.

Bio on the back.

Another sweet thank-you note! Getting this return was the highlight of my Monday by far.

There's a relevant article at USA Today about women in baseball gaining acceptance that you might want to give a read.

I would love to see a woman baseball player make the major leagues one day. Women in independent ball is definitely a step in the right direction and I hope the sport continues to expand, welcoming anyone who can play, regardless of society's perceived limitations. That's one thing that makes baseball so great: anybody can potentially excel at it. All races and backgrounds, fat/skinny, young/old, tall/short, men/women, straight/gay (You might remember last year, my first-ever custom TTM success was Sean Conroy, the first openly gay player in pro ball, also with the Stompers). Heck, you could have been born with only one hand and still throw a no-hitter if you work hard enough. Don't tell me what I can't do. Ok, I'm rambling now.

Again, huge thanks to Kelsie Whitmore and Stacy Piagno for the autographs and thoughtful notes! They'll be cherished parts of my collection for always. Best of luck with your baseball careers!

WOOOOOO!!!

Got my annual Topps Archives box(es) today, and while history has taught me to keep my expectations low, I just pulled my best hit ever...

It's a dang redemption, but still! Not only is it a KEN FRICKIN GRIFFEY JR auto, but I believe the black border parallels are 1/1. A Griffey auto would be sweet enough as is.. but make it a one-of-one and baby, I'm floating over here. Great day! Before you Griffey collectors ask, I'm planning on hanging onto this one, sorry. Can't wait to get it in-hand!

♥♥♥ Jumbo Trade Roundup ♥♥♥

I've been preoccupied with other stuff lately and so some of the posts I've wanted to write got held up. But I've received many incredible cards in the mail via trades over the past couple weeks that've been patiently waiting for their moment in the sun, so let's take a look.

The first of many trades to cover today comes from Sport Card Collectors. He's a good dude, and I'm envious of him because not only does he win contests left and right, but he also often gets complementary boxes from card companies in exchange for reviewing them on his blog. Where do I sign up for this?! Haha.

Well, he recently bust a box of 2016 Bowman and a low numbered Michael Conforto parallel caught my eye and I inquired if it was available.

It took some hammering out, but it wasn't too hard for us to agree to a deal both parties were happy with. Check his post to see the goodies I sent his way. I gave some backstory to my Conforto collection last month after I scored a sweet Bowman refractor auto from madding. A hot young player on a big-market team, Conforto is a guy who might be out of my price range as far as buying much cards of his, though I'll try to build a nice little PC through trades and occasionally adding a card through pack rips or the discount bins at the card show.

And how's about that above photo, huh? Getting the front and back of the same exact card in an undoctored picture is kinda cool, if I say so myself! Give me a Bip Award for that!

Anyways, a sweet auto and now this low-numbered orange parallel, my small Conforto collection is off to a great start. Big thanks, SCC!
But he didn't stop there.. He surprised me with a few more nice cards..

A couple Goldschmidts I needed!

Some Padres needs.

An unopened pack of Elvis cards! Expect to see this in a fun Pack Skirmish one of these days.

Thanks again for the trade, SCC!

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Next up is Nachos Grande. He has a neat "trade stack" thing on this blog where he adds cards until someone claims the stack in exchange for any one card on his wantlist. This was my first time grabbing a stack.

The 2011 parallel was a bonus thrown in, which is appreciated as I work toward that parallel frankenset. The cards from the stack here aren't really ones I had interest in, though I do have a passive Jim Edmonds PC, so there's a card I can use. But no, the draw that made me claim the stack...

Munnatawket custom minis! These things are cool.

Thanks for the trade, Chris!

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Next up is a quick 2-card PWE from Ripken collector Bill B. who bought some customs from me a while back. He wanted an extra copy of one of them, and facilitated this by sending me a SASE, a little $, and a couple cards as a bonus..

Kinda random pair of cards that don't exactly fit into my collection, but I appreciate the gesture nonetheless! The John Lujack is #'d 99/100 on the back.

Thanks, Bill!

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Next is a great PWE from TX Marcus. Fellow suffering Padres fan, he was the first blogger I ever traded with when I first poked my head onto the cardsphere. After his blog went quiet for a while as he bought a house, it's been nice to see him get some new posts up recently.

Chris Sale is locking up the 2016 AL Cy Young already, and we've still got several months to go. Nice addition to that PC.
Carlos Correa is having a good sophomore season.
Andrew McCutchen has been off to a bit of a slow start with the exception of his monster 3 HR game, but he typically starts slow and finishes strong, so he should hopefully rebound as the season goes on. I love this pair of sweet Heritage cards.

Big thanks, Marcus! I'll be shooting you out a return ASAP.

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Next is possibly my first-ever transatlantic card trade. Kevin Papoy was among the traders I sent a holiday PWE to last December. He apologized for taking so long to return the favor, but it was definitely worth the wait!

That's my first 1976 Topps basketball card. Didn't realize they were so big! Always love checking out non-baseball vintage designs I'm not very familiar with. And gotta love Jordan before he became best known as the crying meme guy.

Heck of an Adam Jones relic #'d 14/99! It might not be visible in the photo, but the grey swatch appears to be a little dirty, which is awesome in a jersey relic.
Chris Sale makes his second appearance in this post, this time xfracting, as does Paul Goldschmidt #'d /99. Plus a cool Bobby Doerr parallel.

Check out this lot of Carlos Delgado cards! As a Blue Jays collector, Kevin must've had some dupes to spare for me. I'll always love Delgado ever since buying a minor league team set with him back in 1991, one of the few "prospecting" instances in my collecting career where the guy actually became a star eventually. Carlos was a beast and definitely deserved more HOF attention than he got.

A couple ultra-premium Paul Molitor cards keeps the Toronto love flowing.

Awesome cards.. thanks, Kevin!

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Now we come to a hell of a vintage package from Stubby. He doesn't have his own card blog, but I know him best for the insightful, in-depth comments he often leaves on Night Owl posts. He read my recent 65 Topps update and graciously offered some cards to help me out.

He had warned me that most of them were in bad shape and I'd likely want to upgrade nearly all of them eventually. But I was pleasantly surprised by the condition when they showed up, with only a small number of cards, such as the dirty Bud Daley there, being below my preferred standards with this set.

More 65s! As I type this, I haven't updated my needs spreadsheet yet, but this is a definite big stride of progress with the set for me.

More needs and upgrades.

Some HOF action with Red Schoendienst and a Catfish Hunter rookie. (Shoutout to Blue Moon Odom as well.) A bit creased, but I'm not complaining at all!

Even an unmarked high-number checklist for my 1971 Topps set.

Great stuff.. thanks so much, Stubby! I'm putting together a return package for you and will get it mailed out soon.

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We close with... MORE 1965 TOPPS!

These are from the esteemed Mr. Hoyle, who came across them at a recent card show and was kind enough to think of me.

Curt Flood is the last card Stubby needs for his set. Sorry, Stubby, this one's mine! :) Also here is Mr. Perfect Don Larsen in the final card from his playing days. And that's a nice upgraded Blair/Johnson RC for me.

Looks like Mark ripped a few packs of 1989 Fleer recently. Some PC additions for me here.

Big thanks, Mark! Let me know what you think about a Yaz custom to whip up for us and I'll get working on it to include with your return batch of cards.

So yep, definitely some good stuff making its way to Baseball Card Breakdown headquarters over these past couple weeks. Thanks again to everybody who sent me cards and thanks to you, the reader, for checking them out! Have a great week, everybody.