<< <i>Just off announcing the Super Bowl, I received a Troy Aikman this morning. One of my best returns all time, and he added HOF 06 to the signature.
(Slight slip of the pen at the top which adds character.) >>
Any signs of it being an autopen?? If not you got very lucky!
<< <i> Any signs of it being an autopen?? If not you got very lucky! >>
No signs of autopen here. Very smooth signature, and he added the HOF inscription which you ususally don't see with an Autopen.
The sigs on the typical 5x7 promotional he sends out all look the same (probably auto'd), and have no HOF inscritpion. This is one of the first responses on sports collectors.net where Troy has signed an actual card.
Received Tim Hardaway in the mail today. Very quick turnaround in less than a week. This is one of my favorite cards as he is just getting ready to break his defender down with his patented "Killer Crossover"
<< <i>J!! Your just rubbing it in now lol. I have 12 out baseball/basketball and no returns yet. Keeping my fingers crossed. My father pointed something out to me the other day though. Back in the mid 80's I sent a 1984 Topps to Rick Suctliff (sp*) he did send it back atuoed in pen. Sure enough I wen through my set and it was there. Totally forgot about it! Honeslty I would have liked to seen my letter than the auto these days but I guess I can say im not an TTM virgin. Yes Rick popped my cherry around the age of 14. LOL Keep posting you are an inspiration!
Edit: sorry for the spelling and grammer happy hour took a toll on me! >>
Thanks for the kind words. Since I have gotten back into TTM, I have had some very nice runs of success, and when I look at my request history, I have had a few runs of failures (mainly on long shots, hall of famers).
If your requests are for current players, have patience as they are usually the longest return times. During the season the players rarely have a day off between road trips, travel days, and weekend games. Seems like a lot of guys will clear out their mail in one shot, and some even wait until the off-season. If you are looking to get current baseball players with pitchers and catchers reporting in the next couple of weeks, it is a good time to try requests to the spring training facilities. I am probably going to get 10 to 20 requests together over the next week for spring training.
Got a couple back from Dan Issel today. Between the NBA and ABA he scored over 26,000 points and is a HOFer. The scoring leaders card is going out to Charlie Scott. There is a chance he won't sign as there havent been many recent successes, but if he signs Rick Barry is almost a sure thing.
Also got Danny Ferry today, the current GM for the Cavs. Number 2 overall pick back in the day who never totally panned out. Did find his role off the bench for the first Spurs title. Very quick return (about 10 days).
My Sportscollectors subscription just expired, and I really wanted to add his sig to my set. Keep up the good work. You are getting some great responses
Reese
Collecting the following autographed sets: HOF RC Auto Set 1955 Topps Football AA 1950 Bowman Football 1951 Bowman Football 1952 Bowman Football
ebay user- Jolt333 Please be sure to check out my auctions!
My TTM have been slowing down a bit lately, but I did get this Terry Francona after about 2 months. Only problem is I sent him a 1989 Upper Deck and he replaced is with a 2004 UD Tem USA. What the ?!?!
He seems to have a knack for not returning the card that was sent in. Oh well.
Got another manager back in the mail today. From my earlier Sparky Anderson Success, I sent one of the cards he signed to Art Howe for a Dual autographed Manager card. Art also threw in one of his free promo cards signed.
Just got reigning NBA MVP Dirk Nowitzki in the mail today. I forgot to buff down the gloss on this card before sending it out so the signature is not as nice as it should be. Still it is nice to see a superstar who responds to his fans.
<< <i>And one of my best TTM's to date, Mr. Rick Barry. NBA 50 greatest player, HOFer and one of the best SG of all time. I was worried about this card with the dark background when I sent it out, but Mr. Barry came through with a silver sharpie and personalization to boot. Thanks Mr. Barry!
>>
Did you get Barry for free or did you have to pay?? He usually wants a donation. >>
Justin I know this post is from the beginning of the Month but I have been combing through my stuff in the Basement lately and have come across Magazines that I had mailed out years ago before I retired. I just thought it would fit into this thread.
This one too. I like the personalized Inscriptions on the TTM's and personally when you indicate that to the athlete in your request letter I think more often than not that they are more at ease that your not asking them to sign so you can slap it up on EBAY.
Very cool items Art. The NBAers from the 50s,60s, and 70s are some of the most gracious signers. They didn't make the mega bucks of today's players and they appreciate fans checking in with them and recalling their playing days.
After a slight TTM drought and a couple of returned unsigned (Oscar Robertson.. returned my card and letter in my SASE but did not put down his signature), I had a very nice success today with HOFer Robert Parish. Card got slightly bent, but still a very nice signature. I need to remember to stop sending off cards with dark backgrounds to give better eye appeal to final product.
Reading this thread I'm actually surprised at how many guys still sign ttm. Personally, I've always felt awkward as a grown man asking another grown man for his autograph, but I guess it's no different than a grown man collecting cards of other grown men. I can't imagine that as many of today's NBA players would sign ttm, although what's the point if you can buy just about any player's inserted auto's (non-RCs) for under $20. It's just hard for me to invision Iverson, Kobe or Lebron sitting at home signing hundreds of autos per day if they're not getting paid for it.
<< <i>Reading this thread I'm actually surprised at how many guys still sign ttm. Personally, I've always felt awkward as a grown man asking another grown man for his autograph, but I guess it's no different than a grown man collecting cards of other grown men. I can't imagine that as many of today's NBA players would sign ttm, although what's the point if you can buy just about any player's inserted auto's (non-RCs) for under $20. It's just hard for me to invision Iverson, Kobe or Lebron sitting at home signing hundreds of autos per day if they're not getting paid for it. >>
For the most part today's players are tough to get TTM. You have to get them when they are Rookies or concentrate on the scrubs who get no playing time. Only a few of the big stars sign regularly. I think the players who played before the mega bucks contracts actually dig getting fan mail.
My wife has brought up the same point about men asking other men for autographs. This whole hobby is kind of strange when you think about it though, especially from the adult standpoint. My excuse is the autographs are for my newborn daughter and any other children we may have down the road.
<< <i>Reading this thread I'm actually surprised at how many guys still sign ttm. Personally, I've always felt awkward as a grown man asking another grown man for his autograph, but I guess it's no different than a grown man collecting cards of other grown men. I can't imagine that as many of today's NBA players would sign ttm, although what's the point if you can buy just about any player's inserted auto's (non-RCs) for under $20. It's just hard for me to invision Iverson, Kobe or Lebron sitting at home signing hundreds of autos per day if they're not getting paid for it. >>
For the most part today's players are tough to get TTM. You have to get them when they are Rookies or concentrate on the scrubs who get no playing time. Only a few of the big stars sign regularly. I think the players who played before the mega bucks contracts actually dig getting fan mail.
My wife has brought up the same point about men asking other men for autographs. This whole hobby is kind of strange when you think about it though, especially from the adult standpoint. My excuse is the autographs are for my newborn daughter and any other children we may have down the road.
J >>
I think it's just a fun, rather inexpensive hobby. I'm 26, and not at the point for I've got hundreds of extra dollars each month to spend on cards, especially vintage ones. TTM is grat because it connects with your childhood. It was really exciting for me to open some of my Braves TTMs this year that I never thought I'd get.
Atlanta Braves, Charlotte Hornets, Shawn Kemp, Dale Murphy, and Bobby Engram.
The hobby has evolved over the last 10 years or so when the Fleer Autographics and UD legends lines etc started to enter the market. The players nowdays sign for the card companies and get paid for it and than depending on their mood will sign in person. I originally started sending out cards to retired Basketball players from the 50's thru the 80's in 1988. I accquired a list from a ad in the Sports Collectors Digest for about $15 and this guy had researched about 300 old players with Home/Work addresses or other ways to contact them (Fan Clubs etc), Over a 2 year period I sent out literally 200+ Old Topps, Fleer, Bowman cards (Usually the worst copy I had) with a handwritten letter to the players on the list and had a decent return rate Id say about 60% or so. I think by and large that even though I was a grown adult asking them for a autograph the approach I used and that I still use today was that I appreciated the "Old School" brand of ball they played and basically thanks for the memories. I think it is a two way street because the older players IMO felt their efforts were appreciated and remembered . There are always exceptions but like most retired people they like to remembered for their Job Performance efforts when they were young.
Some nice love from Johnny Mac! Makes me proud to be an old school Bucks fan. My latest batch of has been retired NBA/ABA and the success rate has been great.
I've recently gotten back into TTM's after having been very active as a kid many, many, many years ago (they're long gone just like my card collection - THANKS MOM!).
One thing that I've done is that I use the self-stick envelopes for my SASEs. I even add a line about that fact in my letter and I've had a couple of signers mention that they appreciate it. I'd hate to have to lick every return and who knows what might be on them!
One thing that seems to be working with some of the tougher signers (and some that typically ask a fee) is a line about personalizing the item (I usually send custom index cards) and noting that they may have concern of resale and that I hope that personalizing the item will reduce their reluctance. A few fee signers have returned my items personalized and not requested the fee. I'm not trying to be cheap, but it will save a bunch in the long run.
I do like to add a few bucks for the aged signers that rarely do shows. Some add a personal note of thanks in return. Others have returned the money and thanked me for the gesture.
Some of the best and fastest no charge signers are Chuck Bednarik (NFL HOF), John Wooden (although he may slow down after the accident on Thursday), Charley Trippi (NFL HOF), Andy Robsutelli (NFL HOF), Sparky Anderson (MLB HOF), Fred Dean (NFL HOF), Charlie Joiner (NFL HOF), Bobby Doerr (MLB HOF), Al Kaline (MLB HOF), Ozzie Newsome (NFL HOF - signs cards but auto pen/stamp on index cards), and Joe Schmidt (NFL HOF).
Another cool return today from HOFer Nate "Tiny" Archibald. This was my second attempt with him since my first one came back unsealed (he is notorious for not sealing envelopes). I even sent a self adhesive envelope, but for some reason the top of my return envelope was opened and then re-sealed with a single staple. Strange....
Next up is Warren Moon. I had kind of given up on this request since I sent it C/O the Seahawks way back in the start of Football season. Was postmarked from CA, so I guess he finally got a minute to catch up on his fan mail.
Do you have a single list of all of the sigs in this EXCELLENT thread?
Thanks. >>
I use SportsCollectors.net for tracking my requests. Let me know if you would like a report of all my success, or something else. Should be easy enough to get.
<< <i>I was thinking that a list would serve as an index for exemplars on this and other auto threads.
It would allow folks to look at the list to determine if the exemplar they need is in the particular thread.
I was going to build my own; just thought if you already had one, there would be no point in duplicating your efforts.
Thanks. >>
Storm,
PM me your e-mail and I will get you the list in Word or Excel for easy pasting into a thread. It would be cool to create an autograph reference for our board members.
Justin that is as you probably know already part of the TTM game. I received a small number of cards back stamped from various athletes/coaches etc and to be honest wish they just filed the request in the trash file. With that said I still sent out request to them at a later date as you never know when you may in fact catch them on a good day and they will take the time to sign and return the item. I was a bit surprised that Chuck Daly came back stamped because he usually is a good signer. Hang in there. Art
<< <i>Justin that is as you probably know already part of the TTM game. I received a small number of cards back stamped from various athletes/coaches etc and to be honest wish they just filed the request in the trash file. With that said I still sent out request to them at a later date as you never know when you may in fact catch them on a good day and they will take the time to sign and return the item. I was a bit surprised that Chuck Daly came back stamped because he usually is a good signer. Hang in there. Art >>
I would be a little more perturbed if it was a high dollar card or item (though I probably wouldn't have sent these TTM anyway). A 1992 Skybox is about as common as you can get. I guess it is better to receive back a stamp than nothing at all.
<< <i>Justin, I got LT back today as well ! Sent it off back in December, had forgotten all about it. 82 Topps and 86 Topps. Sig looks just like yours. >>
Congrats on your return. It seems like he picks up his HOF mail once a quarter or so, and then clears it all out. I am confident the signature is real since it matches up nicely with the certified autographs out there.
Comments
<< <i>Just off announcing the Super Bowl, I received a Troy Aikman this morning. One of my best returns all time, and he added HOF 06 to the signature.
(Slight slip of the pen at the top which adds character.) >>
Any signs of it being an autopen?? If not you got very lucky!
<< <i> Any signs of it being an autopen?? If not you got very lucky! >>
No signs of autopen here. Very smooth signature, and he added the HOF inscription which you ususally don't see with an Autopen.
The sigs on the typical 5x7 promotional he sends out all look the same (probably auto'd), and have no HOF inscritpion. This is one of the first responses on sports collectors.net where Troy has signed an actual card.
<< <i>J!! Your just rubbing it in now lol. I have 12 out baseball/basketball and no returns yet. Keeping my fingers crossed. My father pointed something out to me the other day though. Back in the mid 80's I sent a 1984 Topps to Rick Suctliff (sp*) he did send it back atuoed in pen. Sure enough I wen through my set and it was there. Totally forgot about it! Honeslty I would have liked to seen my letter than the auto these days but I guess I can say im not an TTM virgin. Yes Rick popped my cherry around the age of 14. LOL Keep posting you are an inspiration!
Edit: sorry for the spelling and grammer happy hour took a toll on me! >>
Thanks for the kind words. Since I have gotten back into TTM, I have had some very nice runs of success, and when I look at my request history, I have had a few runs of failures (mainly on long shots, hall of famers).
If your requests are for current players, have patience as they are usually the longest return times. During the season the players rarely have a day off between road trips, travel days, and weekend games. Seems like a lot of guys will clear out their mail in one shot, and some even wait until the off-season. If you are looking to get current baseball players with pitchers and catchers reporting in the next couple of weeks, it is a good time to try requests to the spring training facilities. I am probably going to get 10 to 20 requests together over the next week for spring training.
J
Great looking cards! If you have a chance, would you mind sending my Issel's addy? I still need him for my HOF Auto set.
Thanks,
Reese
HOF RC Auto Set
1955 Topps Football AA
1950 Bowman Football
1951 Bowman Football
1952 Bowman Football
ebay user- Jolt333
Please be sure to check out my auctions!
<< <i>Justin,
Great looking cards! If you have a chance, would you mind sending my Issel's addy? I still need him for my HOF Auto set.
Thanks,
Reese >>
You got PM. Issel is a very reliable signer, returning usually in a month or less.
My Sportscollectors subscription just expired, and I really wanted to add his sig to my set. Keep up the good work. You are getting some great responses
Reese
HOF RC Auto Set
1955 Topps Football AA
1950 Bowman Football
1951 Bowman Football
1952 Bowman Football
ebay user- Jolt333
Please be sure to check out my auctions!
All kinds of great stuff on this thread. Nice job... and thanks for sharing!
Completed my Clemente Basic Registry (2007 - 2014)!
Positive transactions with oakesy25,jasoneggert,swartz1,MBMiller25,gregm13,kid4hof03,HoopGuru33,Reese3333,BPorter26,Davemri,CuseSteve,Geoff76
<< <i>Those Feller autographs are really nice - would someone be so kind as to post his address where I can send a TTM autograph request? >>
Check your PM. He charges 10 bucks a sig for cards and flats. If you want to send him a ball I think it jumps up to 15 or 20 bucks.
He seems to have a knack for not returning the card that was sent in. Oh well.
Nice TTM's and thank for the advice. Irony i pulled the Sparky/Howe out and put in my TTM pile a few weeks ago. Great minds think alike.
Cory
My Sandberg topps basic set
My Sandberg Topps Master set
<< <i>
<< <i>And one of my best TTM's to date, Mr. Rick Barry. NBA 50 greatest player, HOFer and one of the best SG of all time. I was worried about this card with the dark background when I sent it out, but Mr. Barry came through with a silver sharpie and personalization to boot. Thanks Mr. Barry!
Did you get Barry for free or did you have to pay?? He usually wants a donation. >>
Justin I know this post is from the beginning of the Month but I have been combing through my stuff in the Basement lately and have come across Magazines that I had mailed out years ago before I retired. I just thought it would fit into this thread.
1957 Topps PSA
1961 Fleer SGC
1957 Topps PSA
1961 Fleer SGC
1957 Topps PSA
1961 Fleer SGC
1957 Topps PSA
1961 Fleer SGC
1957 Topps PSA
1961 Fleer SGC
<< <i>Reading this thread I'm actually surprised at how many guys still sign ttm. Personally, I've always felt awkward as a grown man asking another grown man for his autograph, but I guess it's no different than a grown man collecting cards of other grown men. I can't imagine that as many of today's NBA players would sign ttm, although what's the point if you can buy just about any player's inserted auto's (non-RCs) for under $20. It's just hard for me to invision Iverson, Kobe or Lebron sitting at home signing hundreds of autos per day if they're not getting paid for it. >>
For the most part today's players are tough to get TTM. You have to get them when they are Rookies or concentrate on the scrubs who get no playing time. Only a few of the big stars sign regularly. I think the players who played before the mega bucks contracts actually dig getting fan mail.
My wife has brought up the same point about men asking other men for autographs. This whole hobby is kind of strange when you think about it though, especially from the adult standpoint. My excuse is the autographs are for my newborn daughter and any other children we may have down the road.
J
<< <i>
<< <i>Reading this thread I'm actually surprised at how many guys still sign ttm. Personally, I've always felt awkward as a grown man asking another grown man for his autograph, but I guess it's no different than a grown man collecting cards of other grown men. I can't imagine that as many of today's NBA players would sign ttm, although what's the point if you can buy just about any player's inserted auto's (non-RCs) for under $20. It's just hard for me to invision Iverson, Kobe or Lebron sitting at home signing hundreds of autos per day if they're not getting paid for it. >>
For the most part today's players are tough to get TTM. You have to get them when they are Rookies or concentrate on the scrubs who get no playing time. Only a few of the big stars sign regularly. I think the players who played before the mega bucks contracts actually dig getting fan mail.
My wife has brought up the same point about men asking other men for autographs. This whole hobby is kind of strange when you think about it though, especially from the adult standpoint. My excuse is the autographs are for my newborn daughter and any other children we may have down the road.
J >>
I think it's just a fun, rather inexpensive hobby. I'm 26, and not at the point for I've got hundreds of extra dollars each month to spend on cards, especially vintage ones. TTM is grat because it connects with your childhood. It was really exciting for me to open some of my Braves TTMs this year that I never thought I'd get.
1957 Topps PSA
1961 Fleer SGC
My latest batch of has been retired NBA/ABA and the success rate has been great.
One thing that I've done is that I use the self-stick envelopes for my SASEs. I even add a line about that fact in my letter and I've had a couple of signers mention that they appreciate it. I'd hate to have to lick every return and who knows what might be on them!
One thing that seems to be working with some of the tougher signers (and some that typically ask a fee) is a line about personalizing the item (I usually send custom index cards) and noting that they may have concern of resale and that I hope that personalizing the item will reduce their reluctance. A few fee signers have returned my items personalized and not requested the fee. I'm not trying to be cheap, but it will save a bunch in the long run.
I do like to add a few bucks for the aged signers that rarely do shows. Some add a personal note of thanks in return. Others have returned the money and thanked me for the gesture.
Some of the best and fastest no charge signers are Chuck Bednarik (NFL HOF), John Wooden (although he may slow down after the accident on Thursday), Charley Trippi (NFL HOF), Andy Robsutelli (NFL HOF), Sparky Anderson (MLB HOF), Fred Dean (NFL HOF), Charlie Joiner (NFL HOF), Bobby Doerr (MLB HOF), Al Kaline (MLB HOF), Ozzie Newsome (NFL HOF - signs cards but auto pen/stamp on index cards), and Joe Schmidt (NFL HOF).
Do you have a single list of all of the sigs in this EXCELLENT thread?
Thanks.
<< <i>DrJ:
Do you have a single list of all of the sigs in this EXCELLENT thread?
Thanks. >>
I use SportsCollectors.net for tracking my requests. Let me know if you would like a report of all my success, or something else. Should be easy enough to get.
exemplars on this and other auto threads.
It would allow folks to look at the list to determine if
the exemplar they need is in the particular thread.
I was going to build my own; just thought if you already
had one, there would be no point in duplicating your efforts.
Thanks.
<< <i>I was thinking that a list would serve as an index for
exemplars on this and other auto threads.
It would allow folks to look at the list to determine if
the exemplar they need is in the particular thread.
I was going to build my own; just thought if you already
had one, there would be no point in duplicating your efforts.
Thanks. >>
Storm,
PM me your e-mail and I will get you the list in Word or Excel for easy pasting into a thread. It would be cool to create an autograph reference for our board members.
Justin
Art
1957 Topps PSA
1961 Fleer SGC
<< <i>Justin that is as you probably know already part of the TTM game. I received a small number of cards back stamped from various athletes/coaches etc and to be honest wish they just filed the request in the trash file. With that said I still sent out request to them at a later date as you never know when you may in fact catch them on a good day and they will take the time to sign and return the item. I was a bit surprised that Chuck Daly came back stamped because he usually is a good signer. Hang in there.
Art >>
I would be a little more perturbed if it was a high dollar card or item (though I probably wouldn't have sent these TTM anyway). A 1992 Skybox is about as common as you can get. I guess it is better to receive back a stamp than nothing at all.
J
Also got a failure back yesterday from Yao Ming. He returned my letter and card in my SASE unsigned. Oh well, it was worth a try.
<< <i>Justin, I got LT back today as well ! Sent it off back in December, had forgotten all about it. 82 Topps and 86 Topps. Sig looks just like yours. >>
Congrats on your return. It seems like he picks up his HOF mail once a quarter or so, and then clears it all out. I am confident the signature is real since it matches up nicely with the certified autographs out there.
J