Normally when I work on getting a set completely signed, I won't bother with most of the error cards or even the variations. The only ones I would mess with are any wrong photo errors. Everything else I'd let go.
But with the soccer sets, I decided I'd go for the whole thing. After all, which version of the 1987-88 Chicago Sting cards are correct, the white text or the black text?
So even with true errors, I'm getting them all signed. Cards with the wrong photo I'm going to get signed hopefully by both the listed player and the depicted player. Here's a full list of corrected errors, uncorrected wrong-photo errors, and variations. I'm not going to list things like wrong birthdates or incomplete stat lines; only errors that affect the front of the card. Fortunately Pacific got it together and the final two sets had no problems. But the first three were loaded with them.
Cards I have signed already have no note, cards I need either signed or unsigned are notated, as are ones I have but not signed.
1987-88
#2 ERR - Krys Sobiesk
#2 COR - Krys Sobieski
#4 ERR - Willie Molino
#4 COR - Willie Molano
#17 ERR - Rickey Davis
#17 COR - Ricky Davis
#43 ERR - Victor Nogueria
#43 COR - Victor Nogueira
#74 VAR - Cris Vacarro, black text
#74 VAR - Cris Vacarro, white text
#75 VAR - Heinz Wirtz, black text
#75 VAR - Heinz Wirtz, white text
#76 VAR - Ben Collins, black text
#76 VAR - Ben Collins, white text
#77 VAR - Frank Klopas, black text
#77 VAR - Frank Klopas, white text
#78 VAR - Paul Krumpe, black text
#78 VAR - Paul Krumpe, white text
#79 VAR - Chico Moreira, black text
#79 VAR - Chico Moreira, white text
#80 VAR - Batata, black text
#80 VAR - Batata, white text
#81 VAR - Teddy Kraft, black text
#81 VAR - Teddy Kraft, white text
#82 VAR - Mark Simanton, black text
#82 VAR - Mark Simanton, white text
#84 ERR - Tino Lettieri, green border
#84 COR - Tino Lettieri, red border
#85 ERR - Gary Ethernigton
#85 COR - Gary Etherington
#92 ERR - Ken Forgerty
#92 COR - Ken Fogarty
1988-89
#53 - David Doyle, photo actually Duncan MacEwan
#67 - Mike Sweeney, photo actually Dave MacKenzie
#84 - A.J. Lachowecki, photo actually Kris Peat
1989-90
#34 ERR - Scoop Stanisic, photo is Scott Manning
#34 COR - Scoop Stanisic, correct photo
#67 ERR - Kevin Hundelt, photo is Chris Hundelt (got it signed by Kevin; need it signed by Chris)
#67 COR - Chris Hundelt, same photo but correct name (need it signed!)
Wednesday, September 21, 2016
Tuesday, September 20, 2016
Mail Call, 9/19/2016
Got four in yesterday as well as a RTS.
SEPTEMBER 19
Tino Lettieri, c/o work, 3/2, 2 weeks - In addition to both the red and green versions of his 1987-88 Pacific card, Tino also signed my letter via his pizzeria in Minnesota.
Dave Clements, c/o work, 2/2, 2 weeks - Two cards from him, he even put in cardboard piexes to prevent bending and paid extra postage on it via his cotton candy vending business
Terry Brown, c/o home, 4/3, 2 weeks - Nice one here, signed three cards and even wrote a short note back thanking me for following his career.
Chico Borja, c/o work, 5/5, 1 week - Speedy response from a multi-time All-Star who now coaches soccer and golf while working as a high school assistant principal.
Unfortunately the failbox delivered Duncan MacEwan with the Yellow Sticker of Doom. I did find another potential address for him though, so I'll likely give it a shot tomorrow, along with writing out a few more.
SEPTEMBER 19
Tino Lettieri, c/o work, 3/2, 2 weeks - In addition to both the red and green versions of his 1987-88 Pacific card, Tino also signed my letter via his pizzeria in Minnesota.
Dave Clements, c/o work, 2/2, 2 weeks - Two cards from him, he even put in cardboard piexes to prevent bending and paid extra postage on it via his cotton candy vending business
Terry Brown, c/o home, 4/3, 2 weeks - Nice one here, signed three cards and even wrote a short note back thanking me for following his career.
Chico Borja, c/o work, 5/5, 1 week - Speedy response from a multi-time All-Star who now coaches soccer and golf while working as a high school assistant principal.
Unfortunately the failbox delivered Duncan MacEwan with the Yellow Sticker of Doom. I did find another potential address for him though, so I'll likely give it a shot tomorrow, along with writing out a few more.
Monday, September 19, 2016
Back to the grind
I figured I would have a couple fast ones roll in from my most recent batch.
In two weeks, both A.J. Lachowecki and Kevin Crow came back to me, signing two and four cards, respectively. Lachowecki signed the back of the 1988-89 error card (Kris Peat is depicted; he signed the front).
I also mailed out to Steve Zungul, Daryl Doran, Wes Wade, Duncan MacEwan, Chico Borja, Theo Kulsdom, Ted Krafft, Steve Eise, Thomas Strunk, John O'Hara, Sean Phillips, Mike Fox, Branko Segota, and Chris Kenny. Fox is a second attempt: my try a week and a half ago resulted in a note back from a different Mike Fox (owner of M&M Paper) saying he was not the soccer player. I found a new address in Colorado I plan to try.
Kulsdom took some work: a former Cleveland favorite, I tried an address in the Netherlands earlier this year with no luck, getting a note back from the woman now living there that he wasn't there-- she suggested I try Facebook. So I was able to find him there and messaged him asking if he could sign my card. He answered a week later that he would love to, and included his address. Fortunately I have a couple of Dutch stamps left so I can cover postage just fine.
Speaking of foreign postage, my batch for October has been selected. I plan to buy international stamps around the first part of the month, writing, mailing, hoping, and waiting. I also have about 8 more domestics to write this week and am already planning my November group as well.
In two weeks, both A.J. Lachowecki and Kevin Crow came back to me, signing two and four cards, respectively. Lachowecki signed the back of the 1988-89 error card (Kris Peat is depicted; he signed the front).
I also mailed out to Steve Zungul, Daryl Doran, Wes Wade, Duncan MacEwan, Chico Borja, Theo Kulsdom, Ted Krafft, Steve Eise, Thomas Strunk, John O'Hara, Sean Phillips, Mike Fox, Branko Segota, and Chris Kenny. Fox is a second attempt: my try a week and a half ago resulted in a note back from a different Mike Fox (owner of M&M Paper) saying he was not the soccer player. I found a new address in Colorado I plan to try.
Kulsdom took some work: a former Cleveland favorite, I tried an address in the Netherlands earlier this year with no luck, getting a note back from the woman now living there that he wasn't there-- she suggested I try Facebook. So I was able to find him there and messaged him asking if he could sign my card. He answered a week later that he would love to, and included his address. Fortunately I have a couple of Dutch stamps left so I can cover postage just fine.
Speaking of foreign postage, my batch for October has been selected. I plan to buy international stamps around the first part of the month, writing, mailing, hoping, and waiting. I also have about 8 more domestics to write this week and am already planning my November group as well.
Tuesday, September 6, 2016
One year of the project: a look back
So much has happened in the last year that it's hard to believe that this project is only 365 days old.
It was on September 4, 2015 that I started this blog and mailed out my first batch of 27 requests. Some took as little as a week to return to me, others still are out a year later, but overall the project has been a big success. In the ensuing 365 days, I've had 88 successes, 21 returns for an incorrect address, and only 21 went unreturned. And I haven't given up hope on those: I've had successes in other sports that have taken over a year to come back (30 to be exact, with one taking 7 years from baseball player Marty Barrett). I also have made a few trades and purchases as well.
So to celebrate a year of work, I mailed out another 14 requests this morning. Two are going to players who already signed for me but have a ton of cards in the sets (George Fernandez and Kevin Crow). I typically try not to send more than 6 cards per request so with those two I mailed in two batches a year apart. In addition to those, I took a flyer on Victor Nogueira who I haven't seen many successes from, along with Desmond Armstrong, Tino Lettieri, Waad Hirmez (another longshot), Joe Papaleo, A.J. Lachowecki, Gregg Willin, Gary Etherington, Dave Clements, Tom Kain, Mike Fox, and Terry Brown.
Also, I just noticed I failed to mention that I did get one of those early stragglers back recently. Mark Mettrick returned his cards signed back in August after about 10 months out. Like I said, never give up, those old ones can come rolling in at any time.
Who am I still waiting on? Here's a breakdown, listed in order of when they were mailed out.
SEPTEMBER 5, 2015: Brian Quinn, Steve Zungul, Beto, David Hoggan, Erik Rasmussen
SEPTEMBER 7, 2015: Mark Frederickson, Steve Kinsey
OCTOBER 6, 2015: Dennis Mepham, Scoop Stanisic, Nenad Zigante, Gregg Blasingame, Andy Chapman
MARCH 7, 2016: Paul Wright, Preki, Kai Haaskivi
MARCH 10, 2016: Jim Gabarra, Kevin Hundelt
MARCH 14, 2016: Marty Templin/Herb Silva
MARCH 30, 2016: Pasquale DeLuca
MAY 25, 2016: Greg Ion
MAY 31, 2016: Iain Fraser
It was on September 4, 2015 that I started this blog and mailed out my first batch of 27 requests. Some took as little as a week to return to me, others still are out a year later, but overall the project has been a big success. In the ensuing 365 days, I've had 88 successes, 21 returns for an incorrect address, and only 21 went unreturned. And I haven't given up hope on those: I've had successes in other sports that have taken over a year to come back (30 to be exact, with one taking 7 years from baseball player Marty Barrett). I also have made a few trades and purchases as well.
So to celebrate a year of work, I mailed out another 14 requests this morning. Two are going to players who already signed for me but have a ton of cards in the sets (George Fernandez and Kevin Crow). I typically try not to send more than 6 cards per request so with those two I mailed in two batches a year apart. In addition to those, I took a flyer on Victor Nogueira who I haven't seen many successes from, along with Desmond Armstrong, Tino Lettieri, Waad Hirmez (another longshot), Joe Papaleo, A.J. Lachowecki, Gregg Willin, Gary Etherington, Dave Clements, Tom Kain, Mike Fox, and Terry Brown.
Also, I just noticed I failed to mention that I did get one of those early stragglers back recently. Mark Mettrick returned his cards signed back in August after about 10 months out. Like I said, never give up, those old ones can come rolling in at any time.
Who am I still waiting on? Here's a breakdown, listed in order of when they were mailed out.
SEPTEMBER 5, 2015: Brian Quinn, Steve Zungul, Beto, David Hoggan, Erik Rasmussen
SEPTEMBER 7, 2015: Mark Frederickson, Steve Kinsey
OCTOBER 6, 2015: Dennis Mepham, Scoop Stanisic, Nenad Zigante, Gregg Blasingame, Andy Chapman
MARCH 7, 2016: Paul Wright, Preki, Kai Haaskivi
MARCH 10, 2016: Jim Gabarra, Kevin Hundelt
MARCH 14, 2016: Marty Templin/Herb Silva
MARCH 30, 2016: Pasquale DeLuca
MAY 25, 2016: Greg Ion
MAY 31, 2016: Iain Fraser
Sunday, June 19, 2016
Slowing down
Typically when I send cards out to be signed, I like sending multiples. While I can't complain much about spending 94 cents per request (47 cents each way), if I can maximize my return on that money invested, I'm going to do what I can to ensure that.
And that's why the requests have slowed a bit. Most of the players I have left are guys who only had one card. I also hate mailing doubles if I can avoid it, so I haven't sent a whole lot lately. My concentration for the time being has gone to other sports.
However, I did get one back this past week as Dave Boncek signed three cards and wrote back a short letter. It was my second attempt on him, this time successful after a RTS through what I'm assuming is now an old work address.
Also, after giving it some thought, I'm going to start making my address list free starting in 2017. While I put in a lot of work and did at least get a little compensation for it from people who bought it, I also realize we're a small, niche group of collectors. I might as well provide as much info as I can. The work put into it at first was a bit daunting, but so much of it can stay the same over the years that it's kind of pointless for me to continue to charge. So the 2016 edition is still at a low $7, but the 2017 edition will be free. And it likely will remain so, provided my resources remain free.
And that's why the requests have slowed a bit. Most of the players I have left are guys who only had one card. I also hate mailing doubles if I can avoid it, so I haven't sent a whole lot lately. My concentration for the time being has gone to other sports.
However, I did get one back this past week as Dave Boncek signed three cards and wrote back a short letter. It was my second attempt on him, this time successful after a RTS through what I'm assuming is now an old work address.
Also, after giving it some thought, I'm going to start making my address list free starting in 2017. While I put in a lot of work and did at least get a little compensation for it from people who bought it, I also realize we're a small, niche group of collectors. I might as well provide as much info as I can. The work put into it at first was a bit daunting, but so much of it can stay the same over the years that it's kind of pointless for me to continue to charge. So the 2016 edition is still at a low $7, but the 2017 edition will be free. And it likely will remain so, provided my resources remain free.
Friday, May 20, 2016
Catching Up: The April and May Mailbag
I've fallen behind as usual, but with good reason. I haven't been mailing as much, I've been 'graphing baseball a bit, playing floorball, and doing music with my church (Oak Cliff Unitarian Universalist) every week. And I want to add more music to the schedule. Plus my Cavs and Penguins are alive in the NHL and NBA playoffs. So most of my focus has been elsewhere.
On the positive side, the older ones I sent out have been trickling their way back in...
APRIL 6
Freddie Thompson, 4 cards and a short note, 23 days
APRIL 7
Esse Baharmast, 2 cards and a note, 24 days
APRIL 11
Eddie Radwanski, 2 cards and a note, 32 days
Jean Willrich, 4 cards, 28 days
APRIL 14
Tony Glavin, 3 cards and a note, 31 days
APRIL 18
Paul Dougherty, 4 cards, 39 days
Tasso Koutsoukos, 1 card, 19 days (to Canada)
APRIL 22
Mark Simanton, 2 cards, 43 days
APRIL 27
Drew Ferguson, 1 card and a note, 28 days
MAY 6
Batata, 2 cards and a note, 57 days
MAY 14
Scott Manning, 6 cards and a note, 45 days
MAY 19
Jim Gorsek, 5 cards, 73 days
I'm really happy especially to get Gorsek back. He was mailed the same day as Preki, Paul Wright, and Kai Haaskivi. A friend of mine got Preki back quickly while I'm still waiting, so obviously I was getting a bit worried that maybe that whole batch got lost in the mail. My paranoia is unfounded though: in addition to Gorsek, I had already gotten Tatu and six out of the nine baseball players I had mailed to in that March 7 mailing.
I have a roll of stamps and a list of football (as in NFL) players I'll be sending to in the next few weeks. I likely will add some soccer to that list too.
On the positive side, the older ones I sent out have been trickling their way back in...
APRIL 6
Freddie Thompson, 4 cards and a short note, 23 days
APRIL 7
Esse Baharmast, 2 cards and a note, 24 days
APRIL 11
Eddie Radwanski, 2 cards and a note, 32 days
Jean Willrich, 4 cards, 28 days
APRIL 14
Tony Glavin, 3 cards and a note, 31 days
APRIL 18
Paul Dougherty, 4 cards, 39 days
Tasso Koutsoukos, 1 card, 19 days (to Canada)
APRIL 22
Mark Simanton, 2 cards, 43 days
APRIL 27
Drew Ferguson, 1 card and a note, 28 days
MAY 6
Batata, 2 cards and a note, 57 days
MAY 14
Scott Manning, 6 cards and a note, 45 days
MAY 19
Jim Gorsek, 5 cards, 73 days
I'm really happy especially to get Gorsek back. He was mailed the same day as Preki, Paul Wright, and Kai Haaskivi. A friend of mine got Preki back quickly while I'm still waiting, so obviously I was getting a bit worried that maybe that whole batch got lost in the mail. My paranoia is unfounded though: in addition to Gorsek, I had already gotten Tatu and six out of the nine baseball players I had mailed to in that March 7 mailing.
I have a roll of stamps and a list of football (as in NFL) players I'll be sending to in the next few weeks. I likely will add some soccer to that list too.
Tuesday, April 5, 2016
Mail Call: The Early April Inbox and Outbox
Most of my recent mailings have been for other sports-- lots of baseball and hockey (and even a non-sports-related request to the great singer Bill Withers), but there have been a few for this project that have gone out as well.
On March 30, I mailed out to Greg Ion (new address; got RTS'ed on my previous attempt) and Scott Manning. Also got my Canadian stamps out and sent off to Pasquale Deluca, Drew Ferguson, and Tasso Koutsoukas. I was going to mail to Frank Klopas as well, but he's back in the States, so that'll save me a buck or two. Note that I mailed to a different address for Koutsoukas than what was in my 2016 Address List. If I get a response from it, I'll let everyone know and also change it up on the List.
I've gotten nine arrivals since my last update on here, in chronological order...
March 22: Gino D'Ippolito signed 2/2 (both on the back of the card in blue pen), and Stan Cummins also did 2/2, personalizing both cards.
March 24: Alan Mayer signed a pair and wrote a short note back. Cool thing about Mayer's sig that reader and local 'graphing colleague Brian pointed out to me, he draws goalposts around his sig. I'll post a photo or two later if I remember to once I'm home.
March 26: Kelly Mock signed 2/2, while Tatu did 7/7. One of those seven was the 1990-91 set's Dallas All-Stars card, which was already signed by Doc Lawson, Mike Powers, and Krys Sobieski, so it's the second All-Stars card I've completed besides the 1991-92 Cleveland card with Zoran Karic, Hector Marinaro, and George Fernandez. Also that day I got a message from Stephanie Ferretti via Facebook. She wanted to let me know that Bruno received my cards and letter-- I had mailed them to a house that she owns and rents out, but she received them and he would sign them and send them back. She said he really liked my letter, and that he does get out to a few Sidekicks games every year, coaches youth teams, and owns a tile and granite business in Farmers Branch. I looked up the address for it and changed it on the Address List.
March 29: Doug McLagan signed 4 cards and sent a letter back to me, saying I should try to get out to the Sidekicks game when the Comets come through-- he does travel with them and always likes meeting fans. I actually had hoped to go when they came through this season, but it was a midweek game so I couldn't do the 45-minute drive each way and be up for work the next day. Hopefully it'll be a weekend this season.
March 31: As expected, Bruno Ferretti's cards came in, three signed in black and one in gold. I love the way gold Sharpie looks on cards. If you find a good one, go with it. The bronze ones are nice too. Silver is just so unpredictable, some are great, some are terrible.
April 1: No fooling, Doug Neely came in, my longest success time yet on this project. I mailed to his home on October 27 following a RTS from his business and got it back about five months later. I'm certainly not complaining, as it beats the alternative.
April 4: Brian Hall signed 2/2 in about 3 weeks. Since he's head of a refereeing organization I hoped he might have a lead on Majid Jay. He didn't: he said NO ONE knows where Jay is now. So needless to say, any help in tracking him down would be greatly appreciated.
As of right now, here are the requests I have outstanding and when I sent them.
SEPTEMBER 2015: Erik Rasmussen, Brian Quinn, Steve Zungul, Beto, David Hoggan, Mark Frederickson, Steve Kinsey
OCTOBER 2015: Andy Chapman, Dennis Mepham, Scoop Stanisic, Mark Mettrick, Nenad Zigante, Gregg Blasingame
MARCH 2016: Paul Wright, Preki, Kai Haaskivi, Jim Gorsek, Batata, Jim Gabarra, Paul Dougherty, Eddie Radwanski, Mark Simanton, Kevin Hundelt, David Boncek, Marty Templin/Herb Silva, Tony Glavin, Freddie Thompson, Jean Willrich, Greg Ion, Scott Manning, Pasquale Deluca, Drew Ferguson, Tasso Koutsoukas
I certainly haven't lost hope on the 2015 ones: with Neely coming in recently it's certainly not hopeless and in other sports I've had seven that have taken two years or more. I'm planning on doing another big mailing in May since I already blew my April stamp budget on doing some mailings to Canada; hopefully I'll be able to start on some of the guys I only have one or two cards of. I hate sending just one card per request but that's the way it goes. Either that or I'll get crazy on the international requests. Regarding my comments last post about it, Ray in Baltimore recommended I just put a couple bucks in to cover return postage. I've had success that way sometimes so it may be worth a shot on guys I can't get stamps on. Looks like I can buy British ones relatively easily at least.
On March 30, I mailed out to Greg Ion (new address; got RTS'ed on my previous attempt) and Scott Manning. Also got my Canadian stamps out and sent off to Pasquale Deluca, Drew Ferguson, and Tasso Koutsoukas. I was going to mail to Frank Klopas as well, but he's back in the States, so that'll save me a buck or two. Note that I mailed to a different address for Koutsoukas than what was in my 2016 Address List. If I get a response from it, I'll let everyone know and also change it up on the List.
I've gotten nine arrivals since my last update on here, in chronological order...
March 22: Gino D'Ippolito signed 2/2 (both on the back of the card in blue pen), and Stan Cummins also did 2/2, personalizing both cards.
March 24: Alan Mayer signed a pair and wrote a short note back. Cool thing about Mayer's sig that reader and local 'graphing colleague Brian pointed out to me, he draws goalposts around his sig. I'll post a photo or two later if I remember to once I'm home.
March 26: Kelly Mock signed 2/2, while Tatu did 7/7. One of those seven was the 1990-91 set's Dallas All-Stars card, which was already signed by Doc Lawson, Mike Powers, and Krys Sobieski, so it's the second All-Stars card I've completed besides the 1991-92 Cleveland card with Zoran Karic, Hector Marinaro, and George Fernandez. Also that day I got a message from Stephanie Ferretti via Facebook. She wanted to let me know that Bruno received my cards and letter-- I had mailed them to a house that she owns and rents out, but she received them and he would sign them and send them back. She said he really liked my letter, and that he does get out to a few Sidekicks games every year, coaches youth teams, and owns a tile and granite business in Farmers Branch. I looked up the address for it and changed it on the Address List.
March 29: Doug McLagan signed 4 cards and sent a letter back to me, saying I should try to get out to the Sidekicks game when the Comets come through-- he does travel with them and always likes meeting fans. I actually had hoped to go when they came through this season, but it was a midweek game so I couldn't do the 45-minute drive each way and be up for work the next day. Hopefully it'll be a weekend this season.
March 31: As expected, Bruno Ferretti's cards came in, three signed in black and one in gold. I love the way gold Sharpie looks on cards. If you find a good one, go with it. The bronze ones are nice too. Silver is just so unpredictable, some are great, some are terrible.
April 1: No fooling, Doug Neely came in, my longest success time yet on this project. I mailed to his home on October 27 following a RTS from his business and got it back about five months later. I'm certainly not complaining, as it beats the alternative.
April 4: Brian Hall signed 2/2 in about 3 weeks. Since he's head of a refereeing organization I hoped he might have a lead on Majid Jay. He didn't: he said NO ONE knows where Jay is now. So needless to say, any help in tracking him down would be greatly appreciated.
As of right now, here are the requests I have outstanding and when I sent them.
SEPTEMBER 2015: Erik Rasmussen, Brian Quinn, Steve Zungul, Beto, David Hoggan, Mark Frederickson, Steve Kinsey
OCTOBER 2015: Andy Chapman, Dennis Mepham, Scoop Stanisic, Mark Mettrick, Nenad Zigante, Gregg Blasingame
MARCH 2016: Paul Wright, Preki, Kai Haaskivi, Jim Gorsek, Batata, Jim Gabarra, Paul Dougherty, Eddie Radwanski, Mark Simanton, Kevin Hundelt, David Boncek, Marty Templin/Herb Silva, Tony Glavin, Freddie Thompson, Jean Willrich, Greg Ion, Scott Manning, Pasquale Deluca, Drew Ferguson, Tasso Koutsoukas
I certainly haven't lost hope on the 2015 ones: with Neely coming in recently it's certainly not hopeless and in other sports I've had seven that have taken two years or more. I'm planning on doing another big mailing in May since I already blew my April stamp budget on doing some mailings to Canada; hopefully I'll be able to start on some of the guys I only have one or two cards of. I hate sending just one card per request but that's the way it goes. Either that or I'll get crazy on the international requests. Regarding my comments last post about it, Ray in Baltimore recommended I just put a couple bucks in to cover return postage. I've had success that way sometimes so it may be worth a shot on guys I can't get stamps on. Looks like I can buy British ones relatively easily at least.
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Mail Call: A series of quick successes, and a return to the failbox
In my last post I mentioned that I had mailed out a few, had more to come, and then tacked on even more on top of that. Since restarting this month, my mailouts have gone to...
MARCH 7: Paul Wright, Preki, Tatu, Kai Haaskivi (written in Finnish), Jim Gorsek, Bruce Savage
MARCH 10: Don Popovic, Doug McLagan, Batata, Jim Gabarra, Paul Dougherty, Greg Ion, Eddie Radwanski, Mark Simanton, Kevin Hundelt, Charley Greene, Chico Moreira
MARCH 14: Alan Mayer, Stan Cummins, David Boncek, Kelly Mock, Brian Hall, Gino D'Ippolito, Esse Baharmast, Marty Templin (with Herb Silva), Ricky Davis, Ted Eck, Tony Glavin, Freddie Thompson, Jean Willrich, Gerry Gray
The results have begun trickling in this past week, with a deluge of four yesterday.
March 18, Don Popovic came rolling in, as he signed three cards and even wrote a short note on my envelope, saying the league needs more fans like me. Awesome! Popovic gives a small, vertical sig on the cards but it looks pretty cool.
The next day I got Charley Greene, as he signed three cards and wrote a short note back as well. Always glad to see the former Cleveland Crunch guys returning. I actually met Greene at the 2002 All-Star Game in Cleveland where he played in the Alumni Game.
Yesterday came Bruce Savage on five cards, Ricky Davis on two cards plus a note back, Ted Eck on three cards, and Gerry Gray on two cards plus a note back.
I'm planning on buying international stamps in April. I have a few hockey mailings to go to Canada and Slovakia, and I might see if I can send off a few soccer ones to Canada as well-- Carl Valentine, Drew Ferguson, Pasquale Deluca, Frank Klopas, Tasso Koutsoukos, Dale Mitchell, and Mark Karpun are all up there. No Slovakian players that I've found just yet.
I also need to look into getting postage for returns from the UK (£2.25, it appears? Looks like I have ten to mail out, so at least it's a nice round number), Bosnia-Herzegovina, Argentina, Croatia, Slovenia, and South Africa too. If anyone knows the prices or where I can buy stamps for the return envelope, I'd greatly appreciate it.
I also got RTS'ed by Chico Moreira. That's my third attempt and third failure on him so I may be done trying him unless someone else reports a success somewhere.
MARCH 7: Paul Wright, Preki, Tatu, Kai Haaskivi (written in Finnish), Jim Gorsek, Bruce Savage
MARCH 10: Don Popovic, Doug McLagan, Batata, Jim Gabarra, Paul Dougherty, Greg Ion, Eddie Radwanski, Mark Simanton, Kevin Hundelt, Charley Greene, Chico Moreira
MARCH 14: Alan Mayer, Stan Cummins, David Boncek, Kelly Mock, Brian Hall, Gino D'Ippolito, Esse Baharmast, Marty Templin (with Herb Silva), Ricky Davis, Ted Eck, Tony Glavin, Freddie Thompson, Jean Willrich, Gerry Gray
The results have begun trickling in this past week, with a deluge of four yesterday.
March 18, Don Popovic came rolling in, as he signed three cards and even wrote a short note on my envelope, saying the league needs more fans like me. Awesome! Popovic gives a small, vertical sig on the cards but it looks pretty cool.
The next day I got Charley Greene, as he signed three cards and wrote a short note back as well. Always glad to see the former Cleveland Crunch guys returning. I actually met Greene at the 2002 All-Star Game in Cleveland where he played in the Alumni Game.
Yesterday came Bruce Savage on five cards, Ricky Davis on two cards plus a note back, Ted Eck on three cards, and Gerry Gray on two cards plus a note back.
I'm planning on buying international stamps in April. I have a few hockey mailings to go to Canada and Slovakia, and I might see if I can send off a few soccer ones to Canada as well-- Carl Valentine, Drew Ferguson, Pasquale Deluca, Frank Klopas, Tasso Koutsoukos, Dale Mitchell, and Mark Karpun are all up there. No Slovakian players that I've found just yet.
I also need to look into getting postage for returns from the UK (£2.25, it appears? Looks like I have ten to mail out, so at least it's a nice round number), Bosnia-Herzegovina, Argentina, Croatia, Slovenia, and South Africa too. If anyone knows the prices or where I can buy stamps for the return envelope, I'd greatly appreciate it.
I also got RTS'ed by Chico Moreira. That's my third attempt and third failure on him so I may be done trying him unless someone else reports a success somewhere.
Tuesday, March 8, 2016
Mailing out!
Bought a roll of stamps, and it's time to get back to mailing.
Most of my requests will be soccer-related ones with a few baseball and hockey ones that will go on my main autograph blog. A quick rundown, here's what I've sent so far and what's coming next...
MAILED MARCH 7
Paul Wright, Preki, Tatu, Chico Moreira, Kai Haaskivi, Jim Gorsek, Bruce Savage
UPCOMING
Don Popovic, Doug McLagan, Alan Mayer, Batata, Jim Gabarra, Paul Dougherty, Greg Ion, Eddie Radwanski, Mark Simanton, Stan Cummins, Kevin Hundelt, and David Boncek
I also have others who will be going out soon too, including most of the referees in the 1990-91 set. Brian is hooking me up with an extra card on each, so those will get written and sent as soon as they arrive.
I wrote Kai Haaskivi's letter in Finnish, so I'm hoping that might help things. I'm half Finnish myself and with a little (lot) of help from Google Translate, I got a letter cranked out. Here's to hoping it works, as I haven't seen many successes from him.
Most of my requests will be soccer-related ones with a few baseball and hockey ones that will go on my main autograph blog. A quick rundown, here's what I've sent so far and what's coming next...
MAILED MARCH 7
Paul Wright, Preki, Tatu, Chico Moreira, Kai Haaskivi, Jim Gorsek, Bruce Savage
UPCOMING
Don Popovic, Doug McLagan, Alan Mayer, Batata, Jim Gabarra, Paul Dougherty, Greg Ion, Eddie Radwanski, Mark Simanton, Stan Cummins, Kevin Hundelt, and David Boncek
I also have others who will be going out soon too, including most of the referees in the 1990-91 set. Brian is hooking me up with an extra card on each, so those will get written and sent as soon as they arrive.
I wrote Kai Haaskivi's letter in Finnish, so I'm hoping that might help things. I'm half Finnish myself and with a little (lot) of help from Google Translate, I got a letter cranked out. Here's to hoping it works, as I haven't seen many successes from him.
Friday, February 26, 2016
A Visit To Allen
I made another trip out for the Sidekicks last night since it was their final regular season home game and thus the last chance to get my (and Ray's) team set cards signed. I ran into Brian as well-- as expected-- and we finally saw Gordon Jago up in the press box so he signed for us and chatted for a bit-- five cards for me. He did confirm that the Sidekicks will be back again next year. Apparently they didn't know for certain if they would have a team until about three weeks before the start of the season this year. Brian also gave me a bunch of extra cards of the local guys-- those came in handy later.
During the game, Brian messaged me that he was pretty sure he saw David Doyle talking to Jago but wasn't certain. We took a walk at halftime hoping to find him, but no luck. We did however run into Terry Woodberry who signed the four cards I had from Brian's stash.
After the game, Mike Jones signed a card I had for Ray and Brian told me he did indeed see Doyle, who signed the four I had. His signature was different tonight. I'll post a comparison later. On the field Dejan Milosevic and Patrick Shamu each signed two cards-- one for me, one for Ray. Unfortunately I missed out on David Kamali, didn't see Rubencho signing at all, and never saw the other four I needed (Fernando Garza, Michael Grba, Paul Hason, and Franck Mbemba). To finish off the night, Brian gave me one of the team logo cards from the 1991-92 Soccer Shots set, which Nick Stavrou and Doyle both signed. It looks pretty sharp signed in gold.
This week, I'm planning on getting a roll of stamps and sending out a good 50 requests. Most will be soccer with a few baseball and hockey sprinkled in. I'll post a list of who I send off to. Also Ray said he'll send me a few as compensation for getting most of the Sidekicks team set signed for him, so I'll certainly post what I get from him as well.
During the game, Brian messaged me that he was pretty sure he saw David Doyle talking to Jago but wasn't certain. We took a walk at halftime hoping to find him, but no luck. We did however run into Terry Woodberry who signed the four cards I had from Brian's stash.
After the game, Mike Jones signed a card I had for Ray and Brian told me he did indeed see Doyle, who signed the four I had. His signature was different tonight. I'll post a comparison later. On the field Dejan Milosevic and Patrick Shamu each signed two cards-- one for me, one for Ray. Unfortunately I missed out on David Kamali, didn't see Rubencho signing at all, and never saw the other four I needed (Fernando Garza, Michael Grba, Paul Hason, and Franck Mbemba). To finish off the night, Brian gave me one of the team logo cards from the 1991-92 Soccer Shots set, which Nick Stavrou and Doyle both signed. It looks pretty sharp signed in gold.
This week, I'm planning on getting a roll of stamps and sending out a good 50 requests. Most will be soccer with a few baseball and hockey sprinkled in. I'll post a list of who I send off to. Also Ray said he'll send me a few as compensation for getting most of the Sidekicks team set signed for him, so I'll certainly post what I get from him as well.
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