My TTM Autographs --Bubby Brister, Kurt Rambis, Larry Nance, Brandon Roy, John Wooden Added!
DrJ
Posts: 2,213
I am just getting back into TTM autographs after a 15 year lay-off. Right now I am focusing on Philadelphia Athletes and Basketball players/coaches, but as the title of the thread suggests, I am prone to randomness, so there should be some interesting posts as this thread progresses and requests are received.....
Starting things off is the great John Wooden on a custom print out:
Starting things off is the great John Wooden on a custom print out:
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Index Card
1956 Topps (was a little nervous about sending out such a nice raw card...it came back in good enough shape through the USPS, with only slight additional corner wear)
My Sandberg topps basic set
My Sandberg Topps Master set
<< <i>SportsCollectors.net is probably the pre-eminent website for finding out who signs through the mail and what addresses to use. >>
That is who I am using. 15 bucks a year for access to their address lists and message boards. They also have a nice tracking tool so you can keep count on all of your requests. You can pull up individual players and see the frequency of success.
J
I am trying to get the entire 1984 Cubs roster signed on 1985 Topps. Sounds like Larry Bowa is not easy to get ahold of. Most of the utility guys are a crap shoot.
My Sandberg topps basic set
My Sandberg Topps Master set
<< <i>Thanks Justin and orutulsa
I am trying to get the entire 1984 Cubs roster signed on 1985 Topps. Sounds like Larry Bowa is not easy to get ahold of. Most of the utility guys are a crap shoot. >>
Well Bowa just went to the west coast with Torre as third base coach, so you might have success getting his sig through the Dodgers. On SportsCollectors.net he is showing a 93% success rate with 375 requests which is very very good for that many requests.
J
One more nubie TTM question. Do you guys put these in top loaders with penny sleeves? Or is it too much of a pain for the signers to take the cards out of the sleeves and put them back in?
My Sandberg topps basic set
My Sandberg Topps Master set
<< <i>Wow . Yes I plann on sending Bowa's to the spring training headquarters in FL.
One more nubie TTM question. Do you guys put these in top loaders with penny sleeves? Or is it too much of a pain for the signers to take the cards out of the sleeves and put them back in? >>
I don't use top loaders or Penny sleeves.
I worry about top loaders pushing the outbound mail over the 41 cent stamp weight. Penny sleeves could work, but I have seen too many autographs where the signer has signed the sleeve, and if they get a lot of requests the extra time could set them off. Using a plastic holder also makes it seem more business like, which may turn off certain signers. I also do not typically send high dollar cards which I would be upset about losing (a made a slight exception with Bednarik, but he is a very very reliable signer).
On the whole, I have been very successful with cards being returned undamaged in a simple envelope. My typical outbound package is as follows:
1 Business Sized envelope (4 1/8x 9 1/2) with a First Class stamp
1 Hand written request letter, typically one page
1 SASE (3 5/8 x 6 1/2)
1 Sports Card and/or Blank Index Card
I have never had issues with postage with the above setup, and the envelopes run through the postal machines with no problems (where as a hard plastic holder may cause ripping on the envelope).
Hope this helps, and I am sure others have different methods.
J
Cory.
My Sandberg topps basic set
My Sandberg Topps Master set
Mike
Good Luck everyone with your TTM's this year, I for one plan on being very aggressive in my pursuit of a lot of auto's TTM and otherwise.
Fur, if you need any un-signed 85 Topps let me know, I've got about 10,000 raw ones that are fresh from rack and factory sets that are just waiting to be signed.
the rube
<< <i>I usually put my cards in between two index cards, The players usually end up signing the cards and index cards which is an added bonus.
Good Luck everyone with your TTM's this year, I for one plan on being very aggressive in my pursuit of a lot of auto's TTM and otherwise.
Fur, if you need any un-signed 85 Topps let me know, I've got about 10,000 raw ones that are fresh from rack and factory sets that are just waiting to be signed. >>
I plan to be aggressive this year as well. I have boxes and boxes of cards which have very little re-sale value. TTM gives these cards a second lease on life, before they are donated or sent off to the scrap heap. I also forgot how fun it used to be receiving mail signed by players. Gives you something to look forward to each day in the mail.
<< <i>Wow . Yes I plann on sending Bowa's to the spring training headquarters in FL.
One more nubie TTM question. Do you guys put these in top loaders with penny sleeves? Or is it too much of a pain for the signers to take the cards out of the sleeves and put them back in? >>
You should send the Bowa card NOW to his home address, instead of trying to track him down later. he is a most gracious signer!!
1955 Bowman Raw complete with 90% Ex-NR or better
Now seeking 1949 Eureka Sportstamps...NM condition
Working on '78 Autographed set now 99.9% complete -
Working on '89 Topps autoed set now complete
Coach Wilkens is a 100% class act. Even took the time to personalize one of the items as asked.
Mr. Joe Dumars:
Coach Sloan for my coaches collection (nice personalization)
Jack Sikma, one of my favorite and underrated big men of the 80s
Steve Kerr, #1 all time in 3 Point Shooting percentage, Bulls championship teams, and now running the Phoenix Suns
Joe Montana: Not an auto-pen but not sure if it is real either. His signature is so inconsistent even oncertified issues that this may be the real thing.
Mike Golic -- Addition to my Eagles collection and current ESPN announcer. I actually met him and his family in Disney World when I was 10 years old as I recognized him from the Eagles.
Currency Wants: Any note with serial number 00000731
<< <i>Guys, Montana throught the mail is not real, ghost signed! >>
This may be true, but I have not seen this definitively stated anywhere other than people on message boards (maybe they are jealous of all the money they spent on their autographs...lol).
<< <i>
<< <i>Guys, Montana throught the mail is not real, ghost signed! >>
This may be true, but I have not seen this definitively stated anywhere other than people on message boards (maybe they are jealous of all the money they spent on their autographs...lol). >>
Get it authenticated, I've got one of Montana TTM as well and I would like to know myself. I have heard people getting some TTM and they sent them to Psa and they came back genuine. I think it could be a case of Montana not signing in a consistent manner or changing a little over the years.
I thin Montana probably signs so many TTM that he rushes his sig, If he was sitting in a chair at a show getting $150 per sig it would probably be a little neater.
<< <i>Those stadium clubs came out nice. I thought they would smear easily. >>
I kind of thought the same thing, but I guess since they use Kodak Photo paper, it is similir to getting an 8x10 signed. As long as the signer lets it dry for a couple seconds before tuffing it back into an envelope they seem to do OK.
The original Stadium Club series had some of the nicest photography I have ever seen on cards. They came out when collecting was still more about the players and the cards instead of how many "limited" inserts you find per pack.
<< <i>I read something where Montana's father is the one who is signing his in the mail autos. Wish I could find where I read that... >>
I read that from one person on SportsCollector.net, but it was from a single person on an autograph request recap and had no source. Maybe it was in one of the Hobby Magazines, and maybe there is a possibility that Joe decides to sign a few once and awhile. It is an answer no one will ever know 100%. At the minimum it makes a good conversation piece.
Joe Montana does not open his fan mail...all handled by his representatives...he does not sign his own TTM autograph requests and as far as I know no one that I know has ever gotten a real TTM signature from him. I knew someone who lived five houses down from him in Menlo Park (didn't know him though) in the mid 1990s and sent him a request with an SASE to the friend's address (same street). Came back months later with a San Francisco postmark and was the commonly seen autopen signature. He used autopens for a long time but also uses secretarials or ghost signers. Not sure if his dad signs or not. Sure, you may get one or two past PSA or JSA but that doesn't make it real.
End of story.
He does sign at shows for exhorbitant $ at shows.
His life is pretty much run by his agents and his WIFE, not necessarily in that order.
If you happen to run into him in town, without wife or family in tow (rare) he'll sign just about anything.
<< <i>Re: Montana
Joe Montana does not open his fan mail...all handled by his representatives...he does not sign his own TTM autograph requests and as far as I know no one that I know has ever gotten a real TTM signature from him. I knew someone who lived five houses down from him in Menlo Park (didn't know him though) in the mid 1990s and sent him a request with an SASE to the friend's address (same street). Came back months later with a San Francisco postmark and was the commonly seen autopen signature. He used autopens for a long time but also uses secretarials or ghost signers. Not sure if his dad signs or not. Sure, you may get one or two past PSA or JSA but that doesn't make it real.
End of story.
He does sign at shows for exhorbitant $ at shows.
His life is pretty much run by his agents and his WIFE, not necessarily in that order.
If you happen to run into him in town, without wife or family in tow (rare) he'll sign just about anything. >>
The signature is real in my mind! I have heard the same anecdotes as you, and friend of a friend stories, but it has always been simply message board rumors, and never actually printed on anything I would call legit or verified by Montana, the most important source.
Even if it is ghost signed, at least he goes through the trouble to give his fans something for their time and letters and it makes a very nice conversation piece.
J
They are not auto-pen mine is different than the one posted earlier in this thread.
<< <i>One thing it appears there were 3 different Montanas recieved by 3 different people today. Maybe should post them all for comparison.
They are not auto-pen mine is different than the one posted earlier in this thread. >>
The "J" on both of our examples looks very similar. Mine was post marked from an Oakland Mailing Address. I agree it is not a ghost pen or stamp, but I guess a ghost signer is not out of the question.
The only reason I have a brief glimmer of hope for authenticity is my aignature looks very very similar to man of the "certified" issues put out by the card companies over the years. Of course Montana could have taken the stack of cards Topps or UD sent him and gave them to his ghost signer and had them return. Even on signatures through UD Authenticated, there is a great variability to his signature.
As usual the only way to know for sure that an auto is real is to get it in person, but this is a nice return for a very minimal investment of postage each way.
<< <i>The J is the same on both and Rubes as well. The J is also very consitant with many certified copies. Even the rest of it is very similar. A ghost-signer is not out of the question. I think mine had an Oakland Postmark as well. >>
That is the funny thing by the card companies regarding certified autos. They always put the line witnessed by XYZ Company Representative or Verified by the Athlete. They just send the athlete a stack of cards and pens and the hope is they actually sign the things.
This is so comparable to all of our sigs, he either has the best ghost signer in the world, or he actually is signing the cards!
Thinking about it, all a ghost signer can do if garner bad press for Montana (if the truth comes out) and increase the amount of mail he receives from Autograph seakers. If he just trashed or returned the mail, the flow would quickly die down and he wouldn't need to employ a ghost.
I am thinking about sending off the Rookie card and getting Doyle to sign it as well.
<< <i>you aren't kidding that Feller is fast!! >>
I sent my request out on the 9th and it was post marked on the 12th. Feller is known as an autograph machine, churning out more signatures then most in the business. I needed him for my collection so I took the plunge.
J
I mailed my stuff to him on a Weds. as the PO was closing. It was back in my PO Box on Monday!
J