I don't think so, Tim

I had an interesting success today from Diego Mandagaran.

As with my request a few years ago, Diego included several additional items, namely two signed photos. But as I looked at them, one was personalized to Tim.

Along with it, there was a hand-written letter, also to Tim.

And I then realized the card in there (1990-91 Pacific MISL) was not the one I sent (1992-93 Pacific NPSL).

So, I believe that Tim may have the card I sent and need for my project.

Tim, if you're out there and somehow happen to see this, please contact me so we can swap our items!

And if anyone reading this knows who Tim might be, let me know or let him know. I already messaged indoor soccer video guru Tim Nichols via Facebook to see if it might happen to be him. Other ideas are appreciated!

A seller's market in the card and autograph hobby

In my last post, I mentioned that Ray in Baltimore was putting up a bunch of signed soccer cards for sale on eBay. Those started going up the other day, so make sure you check the link in my previous post here and see if he has what you need. Good prices on them as well.

I have my eBay account set up so anytime someone puts up a new listing up for any signed Pacific soccer cards (and a few other projects), I get a notification email. Typically I get a new listing every few days on the soccer stuff, and it's often the same ones over and over that are overpriced getting relisted since they didn't sell the first time (sorry random seller, but no one is paying $30 for a signed Tatu card or $10 for Peter Ward). At least a few from Ray were listed on there, but imagine my surprise when I got a bunch of new listings that weren't his!

Even more surprising, one is from Ray's town, but wasn't Ray. I found that it's a guy I've dealt with before though. That person has a couple singles I need as part of a couple lots, plus a small Cleveland Crunch lot I may snag. I messaged him and he wants to see my want list.

And in a posting that had me excited, then dismayed, and finally enraged, another seller has a lot of 104 1987-88 Pacific cards, including the Hugo Perez card I need to finish that set. Excited since the signed card is out there so I don't have to hope for a longshot TTM. Dismayed because the lot is $250. Maybe I'll get lucky and someone I know will pick it up and I can acquire Perez. There are a few others in there that would be nice condition upgrades, but again, I just can't do $250 right now when I'd need maybe 20 of them at most.

I put in a lowball offer that was predictably rejected, and asked the seller if they would be willing to sell the Perez alone if the lot doesn't sell. Adding to the disappointment the answer was no, that it would just go to a big auction house if it doesn't sell (though if it doesn't sell on eBay, do you really think it will sell there?).

And after looking at them very closely with input from two other indoor collectors, that's where the rage sets in: I have some questions about the authenticity of several in the lot. Similar pens, similar slant, similar placement, and at least two in the exact same handwriting (the same capital B which does not match the sigs I have gotten from reliable sources). What's weird is the toughest sigs in the lot all looked good. It was guys who are easier to get who have the questionable sigs. Sure, it's possible that signatures change over time (mine certainly has over the previous 20 years), but that drastically? Whatever it is, it's enough for me to question the Perez. Hard pass: back to the mailbox.

For better or for worse, it's definitely a seller's market right now. The card hobby and industry rebound/bubble has been making news nationwide. My mom up in Oregon said she saw a package on their news about it. Buying supplies like pages, sleeves, and toploaders has been near-impossible online without paying a premium. Junk wax boxes and packs have been going for prices that were unheard of a year or two ago. Grading companies have been forced to raise their prices in an effort to stem the tide of people sending in bulk submissions (45-day gradings are now taking 8-10 months).

So, perhaps the time is right for sellers of even a niche product like indoor soccer cards and autographs to come out of the woodwork and hope to capitalize. But caveat emptor. Do your homework on making sure what you're buying is good. If you ever have questions and want to see some examples for comparisons, feel free to ask me.

Personally, I don't sell any autographs (or at least VERY rarely) but seeing these prices any sane person would have to be considering it. Even with all the doubles I have the most I'll do is trade. I put up a trade post in a Facebook group and have gotten a few bites (one from Germany, one from Hungary). Maybe I'll be able to swing a trade somewhere for Perez and others.

Anyways, Ray's stuff is good, so go and check out his auctions now that he's getting them listed. I think he said he'll be putting up 20 lots every two weeks in what will likely be a multi-year process. Currently it's 5 women, 5 indoor, 5 USA outdoor, and 5 international.

Check out some eBay action!

Texas is finally returning to normal now after a week.

My wife and I were some of the luckier ones in all of this. Our electric bill won't hit $5000. We only were without power for 36 hours (got down to 35 degrees inside). And had our outage lasted longer, we had a plan in place to pack up the cats and live out of her office that had power, heat, internet, and TV still operating.

We still have no water right now but we'll survive that just fine. I try not to get overly political on my autograph-related places and try to maintain a fairly centrist approach, but Greg Abbott's unpreparedness and Ted Cruz's cowardice are bullshit. I can't say the last few years have made me a Democrat, but they have certainly guaranteed that I'm not a Republican.

Anyways, last time I was here I mentioned that I bought a lot from Ray who is liquidating his collection. He just emailed a group of us to let us know that he's going to start putting items up on eBay soon.

So go and check out his sales. His eBay is 02cruiser and the listings will likely start next weekend.

A huge bit of assistance!

Oh, the benefits of networking!

I've mentioned Ray in Baltimore a number of times on this blog. Nine days after I started this blog, he contacted me through Big Soccer about autographs. I've bought a few needs from him, he's given me a few items as well, we've assisted each other on addresses, and I try to help him get stuff signed anytime I can whenever I'd go to Dallas and Mesquite MASL games. He's one of the premier collectors (if not THE premier collector) of indoor soccer autographs over the years.

So when he emailed me to let me know he was selling off a significant chunk of his signed cards, I jumped at the chance to add some major needs to this project and upgrade the quality of a few sigs as well. The timing couldn't have been better: I hadn't used my January postage budget and I had a gift card left from Christmas, and those covered most of it.

Today they arrived: eight in the 1987-88 set, five in the 1988-89 set, three from 1989-90, thirteen on ten cards from 1990-91, seventeen on six cards in 1991-92, and fourteen in 1992-93. I also grabbed twenty Cleveland Crunch cards from the 1999-00 Roox set.

Also check out the stats on the right side: I am now only ONE card away from having the 1987-88 set kicked: Hugo Perez. I may start putting a list together of ones I'd like to upgrade as well-- anything smeared, signed on the back, personalized to Not Drew, or signed with a bad pen. I don't mind them as placeholders but I'm sure I can do better on some.

All Quiet on the Grapher Front

I opened my mailbox yesterday and a tumbleweed came out of it.

Hey, this is Texas, it could happen. Though it took me close to seven years of living here to see my first one (on a random night in early December 2012 on a bus back to Wichita Falls from Amarillo).

Okay, it's not too bad: I did get David Hoggan back on August 1, and he signed all five cards I sent. Nice score, and major thanks are due to Dave MacKenzie for helping me find him. And I just mailed out Tim Wittman and Kia today.

As of right now, I have eleven cards sent out that have at least one signature from another player already on them (nine of those are part of this project, while two are just extras I had and wanted to complete). This is where I try not to get concerned, but it still slips in. It's only been 27 days since my first mailings post-MISL40, and my average on this project so far is 45 days. So I'm probably jumping the gun massively.

My fingers remain crossed. There's nothing worse in this hobby than losing a multi-signed card, but when you have no other option to get it signed sometimes you just have to take that chance. I do have something coming in the mail today that doesn't have a photo on Informed Delivery. I'm hoping maybe someone decided to put in something extra and sent it in a large envelope. I just don't want a postal body bag with some destroyed cards (which has happened only once this whole time, thankfully). More than likely though, it's a catalog or magazine that's unrelated to this project.

MISL40 Confirmations

Names are slowly trickling out as to who will be in Las Vegas next week! Approximately 50-75 guests are expected to be in attendance according to Doug Verb's interview on Soccer Sam's radio show "Kick This!" in Rochester this past weekend. This is the first time I've heard an actual number attached to it. I don't know if this is just former players, or also includes execs or even fans. But whichever way, it sounds like a pretty nifty turnout.

Confirmed so far?

From Doug Verb: Doug himself, Ed Tepper, Juli Veee, Zoltan Toth, Kai Haaskivi, Guy Newman, Roy Turner, Billy McNicol, David D'Errico, Doc Lawson, and Gerry Gray.

Added by Greg Suttie: Paul Wright, Gus Mokalis, Chico Borja, Alan Mayer.

Added by Sydney Nusinov: Gordon Jago

Brad Smith has also said he will be attending, and there have been comments talking about a meet and greet with Eric Wynalda-- not an indoor player, but still well-known in American outdoor soccer.  Wynalda coaches the USL's Las Vegas Lights, and I believe we're attending the Lights vs. LA Galaxy II game at Cashman Field. So even if there's no M&G, I might be able to get him there, and I'll get to see a legendary minor league stadium that also hosted a few Oakland A's regular season games in 1996. Or I may venture down to the strip that night because come on, July 4 in Las Vegas? THAT is the way to do it.

So that's 16 names. I know the schedule talks about a Hall Of Fame get together, and some comments have been made about trying to get all the living Indoor Soccer HOF members as well (in addition to a few already confirmed, that would be Victor Nogueira, Kim Roentved, Tatu, Steve Zungul, Brian Quinn, Mike Stankovic, Dale Mitchell, Erik Rasmussen, Bruce Savage, Daryl Doran, Zoran Karic, Pato Margetic, Hector Marinaro, Shep Messing, Kenny Cooper, Timo Liekoski, and Keith Tozer; Kevin Crow, Branko Segota, and Don Popovic have already said they unfortunately can't make it, and Preki probably can't due to coaching duties with the Seattle Sounders). Hopefully some of these guys will be there.

Who am I hoping to see most? I might do a celebratory dance if I see Waad Hirmez, Dennis Mepham, Steve Kinsey, David Byrne, Kia, George Fernandez, Bernie James, Dale Mitchell, Dale Ervine, Victor Nogueira, Dave Hoggan, Gregg Willin, Bobo Lucic, Claudio De Oliveira, or Chris Hundelt. I either need multiple cards signed by them, or need them on a multi-player card to complete it. Stuart Lee too: I'd like to finish off my 1987-88 Sidekicks game program.

I'll add more names as they're announced...

June 27: Nick Megaloudis has confirmed he will be in attendance.

June 30: Doug added Jim Sinclair, David MacWilliams, David MacKenzie, Godfrey Ingram, and Len Bilous. Said 8 Hall of Famers will be there. By my count, we're at 23 names.

Vegas Prep

Sounds like some fancy-ass private high school, right?

Nah, just getting ready for the trip to MISL40.

It'll be tough limiting my baggage-- I'm flying with Sun Country, so I can carry a personal item for free (17x13x9), or a slightly larger (24x16x11, 35 lbs.) carry-on for a fee. I can get away without checking anything, but I may have to bite the bullet on the carry-on. I have three card boxes and two binders, plus clothes, some photos, a few other autograph-related items (envelopes and stamps in case someone says "Oh, I can get those signed for you," Sharpies, index cards) and basic living stuff so it might not be doable in something the size of a laptop computer case or small backpack.

Positive note, at least the photos aren't 11x14 the way they are when I go to the National Sports Collectors Convention. Of course, if I could find photos that size on a few players, I probably would print them.

I just got a couple new shirts as well-- OldSchoolShirts.com had Cleveland Force and Crunch shirts so I grabbed one of each. For you fans of the other MISL teams out there, they also have Baltimore Blast, NY Arrows, Philly Fever, Pittsburgh Spirit, Chicago Horizons and Sting, St. Louis Storm, Wichita Wings, Hartford Hellions, Phoenix Inferno, L.A. Lazers, Buffalo Stallions, Las Vegas and Memphis Americans, and a MISL logo shirt. And that's not even including the outdoor and non-MISL indoor teams they have, plus several defunct teams and leagues in other sports.

I didn't find it really odd that the active teams don't have shirts (probably some major trademark protection on them), but moreso that the Baltimore Blast DO have one-- the only still-used MISL name to have one. So no Sidekicks, Stars, Sockers, or Comets. But also no St. Louis Steamers or Minnesota Strikers?!

I also grabbed some extra cards on SportLots and eBay to fill in some gaps-- including a 1980s Kansas City Comets team set. I saw a few L.A. Lazers and Memphis Americans sets, but they were more than I was looking to spend. And as alluded to above, I'll put together some 4x6 photos on a few players, done in the style of the 1989-90 Pacific set. Plus an 8x10 of me with Kai Haaskivi from back in October.

I haven't heard any more news on potential players for it. Over on Turf and Boards, Sydney Nusinov makes mentions of a few players that I hope will be there, along with the schedule of events. And Greg Suttie has mentioned a few players in Facebook groups that have he has near-100% confirmation from.

I also grabbed a few cards of Eric Wynalda, as he's head coach of the USL's Las Vegas Lights. They'll be playing against the LA Galaxy II. I'll grab some Pete Rose cards too-- after all, it's Las Vegas AND he was co-owner of the Cincinnati Kids. I also am considering an Aviators-Aces AAA ballgame, but it's looking unlikely.

Hope I'll see some of you out there!

See you in Vegas!

It's official, I'll be at the MISL 40th Anniversary Reunion celebration in July!

I reserved my hotel spot, along with my ticket for the invite-only events and plane ticket so I'm all set to be there for everything.

I haven't heard any official list of former players who will be there yet, aside from Greg Suttie mentioning that he's gotten Juli Veee, Zoltan Toth, George Katakalidis, and Cha Cha Namdar likely to be there. Alan Mayer has also said he will be there along with Norman Piper, league co-founders Doug Verb and Ed Tepper and the family of legendary coach Ron Newman.

Several historians of the game will be there as well-- I'm seeing the likes of the aforementioned Greg Suttie of the Suttie on Soccer podcast and Sydney Nusinov of the Indoor Soccer Hall of Fame.

A few have said they won't be able to attend, including Otto Orf, Branko Segota, Marco Rizi, Paul Dougherty, and Marty Templin.

And it looks like there's at least interest in attending from players Chico Borja, Doc Lawson, Kia Zolgharnain, Dave MacKenzie, Keith Tozer, Hayden Knight, Freddy Garcia, Dave MacWilliams, and Gerry Gray; coaches Joe Machnik, Len Bilous, and Roy Turner; exec Paul Garofolo; and broadcaster Randy Hahn. Hopefully we'll see more added to that list!

Either way, I plan to carry every unsigned card I have with me, especially those I need for my sets. And I may even take the signed collection with me to show off and possibly doubles to trade if there are other collectors in attendance. I know a few have expressed interest.

Doing a little housekeeping on here, I added the 1992-93 NPSL set officially to the project and took down the Soccer Shots set-- a little bit of a tradeoff, making one available as deal bait while adding the other officially to the canon.

An edit to the earlier...

Bad news, the Las Vegas reunion had to change its date.

Good news though, they believe it will be able to attract more former players!

Per an email from Doug Verb, the Reunion will now be held in Vegas on July 2-4.

Further details will be posted as they are made public.

NASL 50th and a TTM success

Man... What a weekend!  I came away with a good 40-some cards and photos signed over two days. And I probably could have gotten even more.

A couple weeks ahead, Ray sent me some cards from Baltimore to get signed for him, along with a ticket stub and program from the 2002 MISL All-Star Game, which I attended in Cleveland. He said the program and stub are mine for getting stuff signed for him, and if I get a lot sone, there would be more headed my way.

So on Saturday, I made the drive across to Frisco for the players' practice, scheduled for 9:30.  I had no idea where to go, and every parking lot had a ridiculous $20 price tag, so I drove out to the practice fields and found a lot that was free, open, and already had a car parked in it. Perfect.

I got out and was getting ready to walk toward the stadium when the guy in the car called out to me, asking if I was there for the NASL practice. He said he was too and we got to talking for a while, said his name was Leroy, and he was playing in it.  We just chatted for a good 30 minutes or so about soccer as other cars began to arrive.  I realized quickly this was Leroy Spann, former San Jose Earthquakes forward.  Charlie Kadupski, a former Cleveland Cobra, came over and joined in our conversation, followed soon after by three others-- Freddie Garcia (former Cleveland Force), Zequinha (former Detroit Lightning), and Rudy Pena (former Milwaukee Wave), joined by their wives who came to watch.  All signed their cards for me while we chatted and I got to listen in on their recollections of playing in the NASL, MISL, AISA, and NCAA.

As I stood outside the fences watching once practice started, a guy walked by and told me to come on in-- Steve Parker a longtime trainer who was around for the weekend's festivities.  So I got to watch the practice from pretty much right on the sidelines.

I also ran into Brian from Kansas City, another collector that I've known a while and had dinner with on my summer baseball roadtrip. Of course several other local collectors were around in Brian, Dave, and Mark. Soccer fortunately doesn't draw out too many crazies the way the big four sports do.

From there, it was all a blur. I know that at points during that first day between the practice and going over to the team hotel, I got autographs from Jan Book, Buzz Demling, Dave D'Errico, Peter Chandler, Doc Lawson, Art and Asher Welch, Roger Verdi, Jorge Siega, Charlie Mitchell, Alan Merrick, Freddie Lewis, Billy Phillips, Victor Moreland, Perry Van der Beck, and Kai Haaskivi.

As Ray said when I sent him this picture, "That's one fine pic of Kai.
Too bad he had to stand with some collector dude to get his pic taken."
Also, its rare to get two Finns smiling at the same time.

I also got to chat a while with Greg Suttie, who runs the MASL Off The Wall group on Facebook, and also has become kind of THE national media maven for the sport with a podcast and website on all things indoor soccer.  One random journalist took a picture of me holding my Kai Haaskivi cards while at practice, and took note of my project and my name as we talked about the sport, this event, and even the sports collectibles hobby in general.  I don't know what agency he was writing for, but I'll keep an eye out for it.

Sunday, I did practice again in the morning, followed by the game later in the day. Arron joined me as well for it. At practice, Kyle Rote and I ended up chatting for a bit beforehand and he signed a card I had from Ray. I also got Mike Sweeney on some set needs, plus Bobby Moffatt, Lincoln Phillips, and Arnie Mausser for Ray.

Postgame, I was able to get right down on the field for a bit, where Kevin Eagan and Tom King signed. Up on the concourse, I got Tatu, Ossie Vasquez, Jim Leeker, Mark Demling, and Alan Willey.

Talking to a few guys, Dave D'Errico told me he's archiving as much as he can on American soccer-- programs, photos, articles, anything. I have his number to contact him about it. Also, Billy Phillips told me to email him about some old Sidekicks items he has-- many leftover programs and such.

Overall, this was a great event. There were a few hiccups in planning here and there-- for example stadium security didn't know about the autograph signing, but they were more than happy to let us stay extra, leaving a gate open for us to exit.  The players and their families were great to the fans and really enjoyed getting out on the field again and seeing their former teammates and competitors. Spann was telling me he still plays for a traveling senior tournament team and it showed-- he had himself a hat trick in the game.

Here's to hoping the MISL 40th anniversary event can happen as well as this one did!

Several players wives wanted to see the cards I had (including Zequinha's wife who had never seen the photos on the cards I had before, and took a picture of them) and some took pictures of them signing for me.

Oh yeah, the TTM-- I got Preki back in about a month, signing all five cards I sent, including finishing off the 1991-92 St. Louis All-Stars card.

Good news!

The MASL announced today the return of the Dallas Sidekicks for the 2018-19 season!

I'll be hitting at least a few games this season and my wife even floated the idea-- on her own, no prompting from me-- that we might look into season tickets.

Here's to hoping we'll see a return of the annual alumni game, plus of course a team card set at some point during the season!

Lost and Found: The value of networking

A month back, I lamented missing out on a much-needed eBay auction. After a frustrated Facebook post about missing out on it and cursing the universe for its timing in my being unable to buy it due to the upcoming trip to the National Sports Collectors Convention, I put out a call to find out who bought it.

It wasn't Rob, or Ray, or Doc; but Ray and I did email the seller asking him to pass our information on to the buyer if possible.

So then local collector and friend Brian messaged me on Facebook, asking me about the lot that I was interested in. And a day later as we were both getting prepared for 'graphing the NHL Draft (quite a fruitful weekend, I must say; if you're a hockey fan I recapped it on my other blog) I get a call from him.

He said after seeing my post and frustration that he was hesitating to tell me, but he was the buyer of it! Which actually was the best possible result I could have gotten from it. More than anything I just wanted to know where they were because of some set rarities, like the aforementioned Scoop Stanisic corrected version.

It was an amazing coincidence. I have an eBay saved search for any signed Pacific MISL cards, so any time some come up for auction I get an email notification. I didn't get one on this. Brian and I both happened to search on the same day for soccer autographs on a total whim, came across it, both put in offers a few hours apart, and his got picked.

Brian offered me even better-- there were some he wanted for his own collection, mostly any MISL guys that he didn't have anything from and the Dominic Mobilio sigs, but after that he was willing to give me a good deal on any that I might need that he didn't-- including most of the 1992-93 NPSL ones.

I'm still considering the 1992-93 Pacific NPSL set to be non-canon and a side project, but I have 2/3 of it finished it off thanks to his offer.

The moral of the story: get in good with your fellow collectors. You never know when they can help you out (and you them).