The last three weeks have seen a mailbox mostly filled with baseball autographs, fortunately for my 1972 Topps project: 12 additions to it! Also pulled in one for a hockey set and my first music-related autograph success, getting the legendary Booker T. Jones back.
Fortunately, there have been a few soccer ones as well. Steve Zungul signed the last card I needed from him. Just a note, I mailed to an address in California and it came back postmarked from Washington (Wenatchee, in the middle of the state). It looks like he has a residence not far from there; not sure if it is seasonal or permanent.
I also got back Mark Karpun on the last card I needed him to sign as well, so that finishes off two players that I'd had previous successes with.
Unfortunately I also had an odd failure with Kia. I mailed to his home address; a friend of mine had success there before so I figured I'd try it too after he signed for me via the Cleveland Soccer Academy back in 2015. I had a couple of multi-player cards I needed him on. My SASE came back beaten up and improperly sealed to where I didn't even have to tear it open to easily remove the cards. The cards ended up alright, just some corner wear on one, but they could have easily ended up getting lost on some post office sorting room floor and sent me back to square one. I figure I'll try it again, this time via Force Sports.
Monday, September 23, 2019
Wednesday, September 4, 2019
State of the Project Address
Before we begin, I got Bill Crook back on Saturday-- five cards via his home address in about 2 months.
Wow, four years ago today was my first post here, kicking off the project in earnest. I had gotten several cards signed before this, but really didn't have a goal besides "1. Get stuff signed; 2. ?; 3. Profit." Four years ago today, it began with a goal and some sort of shape.
I didn't really know what to expect when I started this whole thing. I knew that with a few deceased players-- and especially with some on multi-player cards-- that completing this whole thing was unlikely, perhaps impossible. I wasn't even sure that I could ever get a single set totally done. I didn't know if I might get a response of "Who the hell are you?!" from a few players.
And now, here I am only nine cards from finishing the 1987-88 set, and eight cards from completing the 1989-90 set. The 1987-88 set will be the easier of the two: all nine remaining are alive at least, and as a number of collectors have said, it's still doable if they're all alive. The 1989-90 set is still lacking the late Dominic Mobilio and Pedro DeBrito.
I've managed to finish all the 1987-88 spelling errors and color variations, and am only one short on the various wrong-photo errors (and that one in the mail to Chris Hundelt). Even on multi-player cards, I've finished off a handful (one of the 1990-91 Sockers Champs cards, the Nogueira/Toth, the Sidekicks, Comets, and Crunch All-Stars, several 1990-91 ASG action cards, the 1991-92 Borja/Clavijo, and the Crunch, Storm, and Stars All-Stars).
Through this project, I've gotten to meet plenty of fans and a ton of players and coaches: Tatu, Doc Lawson, Kai Haaskivi, Willie Molano, Dev Reeves, Krys Sobieski, Billy Phillips, Marcio Leite, Dave MacKenzie, Mike Sweeney, David Doyle, Rod Scott, Mike Powers, Terry Woodberry, Rusty Troy, Gordon Jago, Victor Moreland, Perry Van der Beck, Alan Willey, Brad Smith, Alan Mayer, Godfrey Ingram, Juli Veee, Gerry Gray, Zoltan Toth, Gus Mokalis, Kenny Cooper, and Roy Turner.
And the number of "Don't ever bother me again" reactions has been... well, zero. A few haven't responded, but that's to be expected. I don't know that every address is correct, and some may have moved with the new occupants just dropping the letter in the trash. And some may just not want to be bothered.
But with the project sitting at over 80% completion, I'd say I've been largely successful.
Wow, four years ago today was my first post here, kicking off the project in earnest. I had gotten several cards signed before this, but really didn't have a goal besides "1. Get stuff signed; 2. ?; 3. Profit." Four years ago today, it began with a goal and some sort of shape.
I didn't really know what to expect when I started this whole thing. I knew that with a few deceased players-- and especially with some on multi-player cards-- that completing this whole thing was unlikely, perhaps impossible. I wasn't even sure that I could ever get a single set totally done. I didn't know if I might get a response of "Who the hell are you?!" from a few players.
And now, here I am only nine cards from finishing the 1987-88 set, and eight cards from completing the 1989-90 set. The 1987-88 set will be the easier of the two: all nine remaining are alive at least, and as a number of collectors have said, it's still doable if they're all alive. The 1989-90 set is still lacking the late Dominic Mobilio and Pedro DeBrito.
I've managed to finish all the 1987-88 spelling errors and color variations, and am only one short on the various wrong-photo errors (and that one in the mail to Chris Hundelt). Even on multi-player cards, I've finished off a handful (one of the 1990-91 Sockers Champs cards, the Nogueira/Toth, the Sidekicks, Comets, and Crunch All-Stars, several 1990-91 ASG action cards, the 1991-92 Borja/Clavijo, and the Crunch, Storm, and Stars All-Stars).
Through this project, I've gotten to meet plenty of fans and a ton of players and coaches: Tatu, Doc Lawson, Kai Haaskivi, Willie Molano, Dev Reeves, Krys Sobieski, Billy Phillips, Marcio Leite, Dave MacKenzie, Mike Sweeney, David Doyle, Rod Scott, Mike Powers, Terry Woodberry, Rusty Troy, Gordon Jago, Victor Moreland, Perry Van der Beck, Alan Willey, Brad Smith, Alan Mayer, Godfrey Ingram, Juli Veee, Gerry Gray, Zoltan Toth, Gus Mokalis, Kenny Cooper, and Roy Turner.
And the number of "Don't ever bother me again" reactions has been... well, zero. A few haven't responded, but that's to be expected. I don't know that every address is correct, and some may have moved with the new occupants just dropping the letter in the trash. And some may just not want to be bothered.
But with the project sitting at over 80% completion, I'd say I've been largely successful.
Monday, August 26, 2019
Keep 'Em Rolling In
Saturday brought another project hit back, with Tim Wittman coming back to me after about three weeks. I had just gotten his 1992-93 NPSL gold card to go with the base set card, and I added in his 1991-92 Soccer Shots card as well.
Monday: looks like nothing coming today, just part of my order of baseball cards to mail off courtesy of a purchase from SportLots.
I likely will write something this weekend on the four-year anniversary of this blog and project as well. Hopefully I'll have a few successes to cover too...
TUESDAY EDIT: Well, I spoke too soon on the "nothing coming today" comment as one came in that didn't show up on Informed Delivery. Bobo Lucic signed all three I sent to his team in Slovenia. He also returned the $2 I sent to cover return postage.
Monday: looks like nothing coming today, just part of my order of baseball cards to mail off courtesy of a purchase from SportLots.
I likely will write something this weekend on the four-year anniversary of this blog and project as well. Hopefully I'll have a few successes to cover too...
TUESDAY EDIT: Well, I spoke too soon on the "nothing coming today" comment as one came in that didn't show up on Informed Delivery. Bobo Lucic signed all three I sent to his team in Slovenia. He also returned the $2 I sent to cover return postage.
Thursday, August 22, 2019
Signs of Life
The biggest thing I hate about an empty mailbox is the uncertainty. Did the player just throw my letter away? Did I have a wrong address and the new occupants threw it away? Are they just taking a while? Did the USPS manage to destroy it? Did a sticky-fingered employee see what it was and grab it? Are they just done signing?
That's why as frustrating as the Return To Sender sticker is, at least it's certainty. So when my attempt at Dennis Mepham by mailing via his wife's office came back with the address covered and RTS stamps all over it... well, at least I know where my cards are, even if it's back in my hand unsigned.
It's been a little over a month since I started mailing again and I've sent out 22 requests. So far, I have two successes, two RTS failures, and 18 somewhere out in the ether.
Well, soon to be 17. Dale Mitchell appears to be in my inbox today; I had emailed him about sending cards up to him and about a week ago he told me they were signed and on their way back. Informed Delivery shows an envelope with Canadian postage coming in. I hope this triggers a deluge of international returns. Typically mail takes three days within the US from dropping in the outbox to delivery day. International mailing has usually been a week for me. Looks like it may be 9 or 10 days now. Seven of those remaining 17 are international ones. And this time I didn't have the right stamps for each country, so I had to put cash in for the return postage. So that inconvenience may add a little time to the response.
Last Saturday I got to go to a card show where Tatu was signing. I had gotten most of what I needed signed over time with mailing and trading and a couple of in-person outings, but it's always good to upgrade to cards signed in blue and in-person. He was awesome, commenting on the photos on the cards, reminiscing about his days with the Sidekicks. I told him about the Vegas event, and he was glad to know Doc Lawson and Godfrey Ingram showed up to it, plus a lot of guys he used to play against like Kai Haaskivi and Alan Mayer. He had been contacted but was unable to go as he was doing a lot of work to get things together for the new Mesquite MASL team that he's coaching.
It's definitely a different Tatu from the first time I met him, and I found out why. The first time I met him was when I tracked him down at the 2002 MISL ASG Skills Competition. He didn't do the postgame signing, but I was able to find him on his way out to the parking lot (I knew the building quite well: it was my high school's home hockey arena so I knew all the exits from the place). I asked him to sign a card, which he did, and then my pennant. He seemed incredibly annoyed by the second request.
It turns out there was a reason for that: I told him I had seen him at the Skills Competition but I didn't mention our paths crossing besides seeing him play. He says he couldn't play as well as he would like since he was dealing with a foot sprain. He tried to get out of participating because of it, but they pushed him into it, and admittedly, he wasn't playing his best. So I'm sure being in pain had a LOT to do with his response that day, because every time I've seen him since, he's been incredibly nice and signs a ton via mail.
I also have some more stamps coming in today-- a bunch of 5 and 10 cent fillers so I can use the rest of the 20 and 25 cent ones I have. So I'll likely crank out a few more domestic mailings if I can. I also have some baseball and hockey ones I'd like to do.
That's why as frustrating as the Return To Sender sticker is, at least it's certainty. So when my attempt at Dennis Mepham by mailing via his wife's office came back with the address covered and RTS stamps all over it... well, at least I know where my cards are, even if it's back in my hand unsigned.
It's been a little over a month since I started mailing again and I've sent out 22 requests. So far, I have two successes, two RTS failures, and 18 somewhere out in the ether.
Well, soon to be 17. Dale Mitchell appears to be in my inbox today; I had emailed him about sending cards up to him and about a week ago he told me they were signed and on their way back. Informed Delivery shows an envelope with Canadian postage coming in. I hope this triggers a deluge of international returns. Typically mail takes three days within the US from dropping in the outbox to delivery day. International mailing has usually been a week for me. Looks like it may be 9 or 10 days now. Seven of those remaining 17 are international ones. And this time I didn't have the right stamps for each country, so I had to put cash in for the return postage. So that inconvenience may add a little time to the response.
Last Saturday I got to go to a card show where Tatu was signing. I had gotten most of what I needed signed over time with mailing and trading and a couple of in-person outings, but it's always good to upgrade to cards signed in blue and in-person. He was awesome, commenting on the photos on the cards, reminiscing about his days with the Sidekicks. I told him about the Vegas event, and he was glad to know Doc Lawson and Godfrey Ingram showed up to it, plus a lot of guys he used to play against like Kai Haaskivi and Alan Mayer. He had been contacted but was unable to go as he was doing a lot of work to get things together for the new Mesquite MASL team that he's coaching.
It's definitely a different Tatu from the first time I met him, and I found out why. The first time I met him was when I tracked him down at the 2002 MISL ASG Skills Competition. He didn't do the postgame signing, but I was able to find him on his way out to the parking lot (I knew the building quite well: it was my high school's home hockey arena so I knew all the exits from the place). I asked him to sign a card, which he did, and then my pennant. He seemed incredibly annoyed by the second request.
It turns out there was a reason for that: I told him I had seen him at the Skills Competition but I didn't mention our paths crossing besides seeing him play. He says he couldn't play as well as he would like since he was dealing with a foot sprain. He tried to get out of participating because of it, but they pushed him into it, and admittedly, he wasn't playing his best. So I'm sure being in pain had a LOT to do with his response that day, because every time I've seen him since, he's been incredibly nice and signs a ton via mail.
I also have some more stamps coming in today-- a bunch of 5 and 10 cent fillers so I can use the rest of the 20 and 25 cent ones I have. So I'll likely crank out a few more domestic mailings if I can. I also have some baseball and hockey ones I'd like to do.
Wednesday, August 7, 2019
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.
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.
Thursday, July 25, 2019
What's the deal with Majid Jay?
Bad news from the failbox: Waad Hirmez came back RTS, having moved from the address I had down for him. I have a good three others to try out though. Anyways, on to the main point of this post...
*Cue the music from Unsolved Mysteries*
As I've been delving back into this project, I know I'm going to have to do some searching. And so one major mystery to me has been former referee Majid Jay, card #166 in the 1990-91 Pacific set.
All the referees in that set have signed for me: Esse Baharmast, Brian Hall, Gino D'Ippolito, Marty Templin, Herb Silva, Kelly Mock... all but Majid Jay.
When I wrote to Hall, he told me that no one knows where Jay is now.
Searches for him mostly bring up this card, MISL boxscores, the fact he officiated the 1990 CONCACAF Champions Cup, the 1991-1993 Gold Cups, and at least one 1991 NCAA game (a Cal State Fullerton vs. UNLV game that ended in a brawl). He was even listed on the United States Soccer Federation's Referee Honor Roll from 1989-1993, representing California.
Searching out addresses brought up the name Majid Abotalebi, and at least one MISL boxscore confirms this as a likely alias.
Further searching on addresses brings up that he is 64 years old (which would be approximately correct) and what appears to be a wife, Brenda M. Ortega-Abotalebi, age 71.
Now here's where the oddities begin...
The last listed address that I could dig up on Majid Jay was in Riverside, CA. This address was tested by my friend Brian, and met with a note saying "Wrong address, Please Return" and the dreaded yellow Return To Sender sticker back in early 2016. Most addresses tied to his name have been in Riverside, Corona, and Los Alamitos CA, from 1995 to 2017.
The last listed address for Ortega-Abotalebi was in Capistrano Beach, CA. Her addresses have been in California from 1989 to 2010.
The last listed address for the Abotalebi name was at a Las Vegas extended stay hotel. In fact, the previous three addresses for him were all Vegas extended-stay hotels and a PO Box, dating 2011 and 2012. Prior to being in Vegas, his is associated with addresses in Houston (2010 and 1997), Virginia (2008 and 2009), Riverside CA (2007-2011), Los Alamitos CA (1996-2002), Waco TX (1998-2000), Kirkland WA (2001), Hewitt TX (1998), Irvine CA (1989-1996), and Cypress CA (1989-1993). That's a lot of movement, and the Vegas ones are an interesting touch.
And then we get this strange comment dating back to 2002: "Call the university to verify; I am no Majid Jay."
*record scratch*
Is this a fraud allegation of some sort? For no one to question the Jay comment makes it seems like there's something widely known about him that I'm missing. And I can't ask the person who said it: Robert Evans died in 2016.
Digging further, it appears he (or someone with his name) was arrested in Clark County, NV in February 2012: Burglary with intent to commit a felony, and possession or sale of false identification.
Alright, help me out here. I can find no record of Jay's involvement in soccer post-April 1993 or in anything at all post-2012. Most in this project I can find info on-- current jobs, addresses, places they're coaching. Even those who are deceased, I can typically find their date of death and place of burial. But aside from a string of seemingly unconnected addresses, some associated names, a fairly low-level arrest, and a previously unknown-to-me alias, Majid Jay has completely disappeared.
It's just... bizarre. I'm at a loss here. And I say that as one who was able to find Nenad Nikolic's death that it seemed no one knew about, and have been praised for my ability to find the whereabouts of a lot of players that no one else could track down.
I've reached out to the BigSoccer forum linked above, and was simply told there's "way too much to go into here." Egad man! Inquiring minds want to know!
If you have any information (or if any of the above is factually incorrect), leave a comment here. I'm intrigued, to say the least.
UPDATES
JULY 27, 2019, 10:30 PM: I was messaged by a member of a soccer forum with some information and the whole situation sounds almost Dolly Gray or Byron McLaughlin-esque; I just would prefer not to have to pull a Dave Cameron to get my cards signed (I tried to link to the Cameron story but it's in a Facebook group and the post is set to Members Only; I'll post it as a comment).
JUNE 18, 2020, 12:25 PM: He did indeed legally change his surname from Abotalebi to Jay. This name change, as the link shows, came up again in 2008 and 2013. I still am lacking information on him and my aforementioned forum source never responded with more. I plan to reach out to him again soon.
*Cue the music from Unsolved Mysteries*
As I've been delving back into this project, I know I'm going to have to do some searching. And so one major mystery to me has been former referee Majid Jay, card #166 in the 1990-91 Pacific set.
All the referees in that set have signed for me: Esse Baharmast, Brian Hall, Gino D'Ippolito, Marty Templin, Herb Silva, Kelly Mock... all but Majid Jay.
When I wrote to Hall, he told me that no one knows where Jay is now.
Searches for him mostly bring up this card, MISL boxscores, the fact he officiated the 1990 CONCACAF Champions Cup, the 1991-1993 Gold Cups, and at least one 1991 NCAA game (a Cal State Fullerton vs. UNLV game that ended in a brawl). He was even listed on the United States Soccer Federation's Referee Honor Roll from 1989-1993, representing California.
Searching out addresses brought up the name Majid Abotalebi, and at least one MISL boxscore confirms this as a likely alias.
Further searching on addresses brings up that he is 64 years old (which would be approximately correct) and what appears to be a wife, Brenda M. Ortega-Abotalebi, age 71.
Now here's where the oddities begin...
The last listed address that I could dig up on Majid Jay was in Riverside, CA. This address was tested by my friend Brian, and met with a note saying "Wrong address, Please Return" and the dreaded yellow Return To Sender sticker back in early 2016. Most addresses tied to his name have been in Riverside, Corona, and Los Alamitos CA, from 1995 to 2017.
The last listed address for Ortega-Abotalebi was in Capistrano Beach, CA. Her addresses have been in California from 1989 to 2010.
The last listed address for the Abotalebi name was at a Las Vegas extended stay hotel. In fact, the previous three addresses for him were all Vegas extended-stay hotels and a PO Box, dating 2011 and 2012. Prior to being in Vegas, his is associated with addresses in Houston (2010 and 1997), Virginia (2008 and 2009), Riverside CA (2007-2011), Los Alamitos CA (1996-2002), Waco TX (1998-2000), Kirkland WA (2001), Hewitt TX (1998), Irvine CA (1989-1996), and Cypress CA (1989-1993). That's a lot of movement, and the Vegas ones are an interesting touch.
And then we get this strange comment dating back to 2002: "Call the university to verify; I am no Majid Jay."
*record scratch*
Is this a fraud allegation of some sort? For no one to question the Jay comment makes it seems like there's something widely known about him that I'm missing. And I can't ask the person who said it: Robert Evans died in 2016.
Digging further, it appears he (or someone with his name) was arrested in Clark County, NV in February 2012: Burglary with intent to commit a felony, and possession or sale of false identification.
Alright, help me out here. I can find no record of Jay's involvement in soccer post-April 1993 or in anything at all post-2012. Most in this project I can find info on-- current jobs, addresses, places they're coaching. Even those who are deceased, I can typically find their date of death and place of burial. But aside from a string of seemingly unconnected addresses, some associated names, a fairly low-level arrest, and a previously unknown-to-me alias, Majid Jay has completely disappeared.
It's just... bizarre. I'm at a loss here. And I say that as one who was able to find Nenad Nikolic's death that it seemed no one knew about, and have been praised for my ability to find the whereabouts of a lot of players that no one else could track down.
I've reached out to the BigSoccer forum linked above, and was simply told there's "way too much to go into here." Egad man! Inquiring minds want to know!
If you have any information (or if any of the above is factually incorrect), leave a comment here. I'm intrigued, to say the least.
UPDATES
JULY 27, 2019, 10:30 PM: I was messaged by a member of a soccer forum with some information and the whole situation sounds almost Dolly Gray or Byron McLaughlin-esque; I just would prefer not to have to pull a Dave Cameron to get my cards signed (I tried to link to the Cameron story but it's in a Facebook group and the post is set to Members Only; I'll post it as a comment).
JUNE 18, 2020, 12:25 PM: He did indeed legally change his surname from Abotalebi to Jay. This name change, as the link shows, came up again in 2008 and 2013. I still am lacking information on him and my aforementioned forum source never responded with more. I plan to reach out to him again soon.
JULY 28, 2020, 4:29 PM: I have been in contact with two former referees, one of whom seemed insistent on Jay being deceased, saying "he was killed years ago, virtually 100% sure." The other said that Jay is alive, living in California, and either he or an associate of his has spoken to him recently, but also that Jay himself said he can't sign my card (not sure of the reasoning-- whether physical ability or just something related to not wanting to be found). I have also been communicating again with the forum source, but we have agreed that anything that he tells me will remain silent and not posted here. Several pieces from the forum source were corroborated by the referee though, without me even having to ask-- he just dropped some of that info himself.
MAY 28, 2021, 7:55 PM: My forum source has gone radio silent for several months now. I've pretty well given up on getting the whole story here.
AUGUST 9, 2021, 3:22 PM: My attempt at mailing the last known address for his (possible) wife ended with my letter returned from Fiduciary Real Estate Services, and a note that he did not live there. I also found some info back in May that he (under the Jay surname) was a registered flight instructor in Las Vegas through 2015. I have seen Vegas addresses for him, but they appeared fairly temporary (a hotel and a mailbox rental) so I didn't try them. Ditto on most recent California addresses.
Finishing with a sure thing
An important lesson I've heard on multi-player cards: Get the hard ones done first.
Of course, flying blind on a project like this as I have been, it's hard to know who the hard ones are going to be. You may send to a guy early and find out he's easy to get and then discover someone else is tough. Or sometimes an easy signer might turn tough out of nowhere. There's nothing worse than getting a few and then never seeing it again: a 1991-92 Kansas City All-Stars card that disappeared on its way to Iain Fraser with Gorsek, Goossens, and Roentved sigs is my biggest tale of woe. I reacquired it with Roentved's sig, and it's currently off to Goossens to try it all again; then Valentine, then Gorsek, and then maybe someone, somewhere, can get me Fraser in-person.
And so with the 1990-91 Cleveland Crunch All-Stars card, how was I to know Kai Haaskivi would be the toughest one to get? Not that it mattered: I've gotten him a couple times in-person and he was the third one I got on the card out of four. And I actually did it right: I mailed the completely unsigned card off to him first... and never got it back.
I reacquired the card already signed by Michael King via a trade (I thought it was part of my mailed success from him, but as my entry on it proves, it was not; I likely got it from either Ray in Baltimore or Brian in Kansas City). Mike Sweeney, a solid TTM signer, signed it in-person at the NASL50 event in Dallas back in October. Kai Haaskivi signed it as well there (and signed a few singularly at the MISL40 event in Las Vegas too; good in-person, he's just not accessible TTM as my two mailings including one written in Finnish have shown).
I did it right on the last one at least. I knew Bernie James was a good signer since he had signed his individual cards for me in 18 days back in 2015, not long after King. This time, it took him only 13 days to return it, finishing off the quad.
This is the first team where I've completed both their 1990-91 AND 1991-92 All-Stars multiplayer cards. The Sidekicks didn't have one for 1991-92 for unknown reasons (Tatu, Wes McLeod, and Kevin Smith were their All-Stars, and I would have completed this card easily), and Baltimore didn't get one in 1990-91 (Savage, Manning, and Valentine would be gettable now; sadly, Dominic Mobilio would not).
I'm glad this one came back and I hope it starts the ball rolling on more. Considering the number I've gotten back in under two weeks (75 out of 180), I was starting to get a little concerned since I hadn't received anything from my most recent batch yet. Clearly patience is not always my strong suit.
Of course, flying blind on a project like this as I have been, it's hard to know who the hard ones are going to be. You may send to a guy early and find out he's easy to get and then discover someone else is tough. Or sometimes an easy signer might turn tough out of nowhere. There's nothing worse than getting a few and then never seeing it again: a 1991-92 Kansas City All-Stars card that disappeared on its way to Iain Fraser with Gorsek, Goossens, and Roentved sigs is my biggest tale of woe. I reacquired it with Roentved's sig, and it's currently off to Goossens to try it all again; then Valentine, then Gorsek, and then maybe someone, somewhere, can get me Fraser in-person.
And so with the 1990-91 Cleveland Crunch All-Stars card, how was I to know Kai Haaskivi would be the toughest one to get? Not that it mattered: I've gotten him a couple times in-person and he was the third one I got on the card out of four. And I actually did it right: I mailed the completely unsigned card off to him first... and never got it back.
I reacquired the card already signed by Michael King via a trade (I thought it was part of my mailed success from him, but as my entry on it proves, it was not; I likely got it from either Ray in Baltimore or Brian in Kansas City). Mike Sweeney, a solid TTM signer, signed it in-person at the NASL50 event in Dallas back in October. Kai Haaskivi signed it as well there (and signed a few singularly at the MISL40 event in Las Vegas too; good in-person, he's just not accessible TTM as my two mailings including one written in Finnish have shown).
I did it right on the last one at least. I knew Bernie James was a good signer since he had signed his individual cards for me in 18 days back in 2015, not long after King. This time, it took him only 13 days to return it, finishing off the quad.
This is the first team where I've completed both their 1990-91 AND 1991-92 All-Stars multiplayer cards. The Sidekicks didn't have one for 1991-92 for unknown reasons (Tatu, Wes McLeod, and Kevin Smith were their All-Stars, and I would have completed this card easily), and Baltimore didn't get one in 1990-91 (Savage, Manning, and Valentine would be gettable now; sadly, Dominic Mobilio would not).
I'm glad this one came back and I hope it starts the ball rolling on more. Considering the number I've gotten back in under two weeks (75 out of 180), I was starting to get a little concerned since I hadn't received anything from my most recent batch yet. Clearly patience is not always my strong suit.
Tuesday, July 16, 2019
Cashing in?
I tried something different on this batch of international mailings.
It's tough sometimes to get international postage. Paying face value for the appropriate stamps is almost impossible since someone somewhere along the line has to eat the shipping costs to get the stamps from their original country. If I buy direct from Canada Post, South African Post Office, Correo Argentina, Royal Mail in the UK, Post NL in the Netherlands, BH Pošta in Bosnia, Pošta PBS in Slovenia, Croatia's Hrvatska Pošta, or ЈП Пошта Србије in Serbia, I'm not only paying face value for the stamp, but also the cost to ship that stamp over here, essentially paying double. Even if I buy from a stamp dealer who buys in bulk, it'll still be slightly higher to disperse shipping costs and likely have a premium added on so that they get their profit.
So, why not cut out the middle man?
This time when I sent to Dale Mitchell in Canada, Dali in Bosnia, and Bobo Lucic in Slovenia, I just slipped in some cash to cover the postage. Around $2 in USD should cover a stamp from any of these. Slovenia's postage costs €1.17, about $1.31. A few years ago, Bosnia's was 2.15 BAM, about $1.23. Canada's is currently C$1.33, approximately US$1.02.
I plan to do the same tomorrow with Damir Haramina, Jan Goossens, Omar Gomez, and Pasquale Deluca; then Mark Karpun once I get a couple more singles (pro tip: don't send coins), and once Goossens returns Carl Valentine. I know another collector had success just including cash for postage from Goossens.
We'll see how it goes. Trial and error is about all you can really do in this hobby sometimes.
It's tough sometimes to get international postage. Paying face value for the appropriate stamps is almost impossible since someone somewhere along the line has to eat the shipping costs to get the stamps from their original country. If I buy direct from Canada Post, South African Post Office, Correo Argentina, Royal Mail in the UK, Post NL in the Netherlands, BH Pošta in Bosnia, Pošta PBS in Slovenia, Croatia's Hrvatska Pošta, or ЈП Пошта Србије in Serbia, I'm not only paying face value for the stamp, but also the cost to ship that stamp over here, essentially paying double. Even if I buy from a stamp dealer who buys in bulk, it'll still be slightly higher to disperse shipping costs and likely have a premium added on so that they get their profit.
So, why not cut out the middle man?
This time when I sent to Dale Mitchell in Canada, Dali in Bosnia, and Bobo Lucic in Slovenia, I just slipped in some cash to cover the postage. Around $2 in USD should cover a stamp from any of these. Slovenia's postage costs €1.17, about $1.31. A few years ago, Bosnia's was 2.15 BAM, about $1.23. Canada's is currently C$1.33, approximately US$1.02.
I plan to do the same tomorrow with Damir Haramina, Jan Goossens, Omar Gomez, and Pasquale Deluca; then Mark Karpun once I get a couple more singles (pro tip: don't send coins), and once Goossens returns Carl Valentine. I know another collector had success just including cash for postage from Goossens.
We'll see how it goes. Trial and error is about all you can really do in this hobby sometimes.
Thursday, July 11, 2019
Let's Go!
The first batch has hit the mailbox. I held off on Kia-- I got the card I was missing for $1 including shipping; same deal on Tim Wittman's card. They should be here next week. I also have held off on Steve Kinsey (only because I forgot to stamp the envelope; it'll go out tomorrow) and Greg Ion. Turns out Ion was hired by Temecula United in California, so I'm hoping to hear from them about an email address or mailing address to reach him directly. The addresses I had found for him were all in Washington, Oregon, and Arizona-- I doubt those are correct now.
Also, I found David Byrne on Facebook. I tried messaging him about how I can mail him. We'll see if I get an answer. That would be a huge one if I hear back. Looks like he's still in South Africa, but no longer coaching Glendene United. I also emailed Hellenic FC, where he once played and his brother is currently Technical Director. They gave me his phone number, but I've never tried to make an international call before. I'm way better with writing anyway. I may try texting him.
A little more digging has found me Bobo Lucic's whereabouts, so I plan to try him soon, along with a second attempt at Dalibor Cvitanovic. Related: I need Slovenian and Bosnian stamps. Canadian ones too so I can get my last Mark Karpun card signed, and hopefully try Pasquale Deluca again, along with Dale Mitchell and Carl Valentine. Maybe an Argentinian one to send to Omar Gomez. Probably some Italian ones too, since I'd like to try Roberto Baggio. And a Swiss one so I can send to Roger Federer. Okay, I'm getting off-topic now.
I also need to contact Stuart Lee about finishing my Sidekicks game program.
As of right now, the project is down to needing at least one signed by each of these guys.
TRIED WITH NO LUCK - 18
Arturo Velazco (2017), B.J. Esposito (2017), Chris Simon (2017), Desmond Armstrong (2016), Ed Anibal (2017), Erik Rasmussen (2015), Gregg Willin (2016), Hugo Perez (2017), Iain Fraser (2016), Joe Papaleo (2016), Keder (2017), Marcelo Carrera (2017), Paul Peschisolido (2016 RTS), Poli Garcia (2016), Teddy Krafft (2016), Terry Rowe (2016 RTS), Victor Nogueira (2016), Wes Wade (2016)
HAVEN'T TRIED - 20
Alan Hinton, Alex Tarnoczi, Brian Enge, Chris Haywood, Chris Szanto, Claudio De Oliveira, Dan O'Keefe, Eric Dade, Fahmi El-Shami, Frank Rasmussen, Jason Putthoff, Jimmy Daka, Joe Kirk, Joe Mallia, Majid Jay, Rick Snyder, Russ Prince, Saeed Bakhtiari, Shane Schwab, Tony Csiszar
DECEASED - 11
Barry Wallace (d. 2006), Billy Ronson (d. 2015), Domenic Mobilio (d. 2004), Earl Foreman (d. 2017), Keith Weller (d. 2004), Mike Reynolds (d. 1991), Nenad Nikolic (d. 1999), Pedro DeBrito (d. 2014), Slobo Ilijevski (d. 2008), Stan Stamenkovic (d. 1996), Stan Terlecki (d. 2017)
TRIED WITH SUCCESS - 10
Daryl Doran, Diego Mandagaran, Doug Neely, Jim Gabarra, Kim Roentved, Kris Peat, Pato Margetic, Rene Ortiz, Terry Brown, Tim Schulz
MAILED/PLANNING - 24
Bernie James (mailed today)
Bill Crook (mailed today)
Bobo Lucic (mailing once I get a Slovenian stamp)
Chico Borja (mailed today)
Chris Hundelt (mailed today)
Dale Ervine (mailed today)
Dale Mitchell (mailing this weekend)
Dali (mailing once I get a Bosnian stamp)
Damir Haramina (mailing once I get a Croatian stamp)
David Byrne (hoping to get an address and South African stamp soon)
David Hoggan (mailed today)
Dennis Mepham (mailed today)
George Fernandez (mailed today)
Greg Ion (mailing soon)
Jan Goossens (mailing once I get a Dutch stamp)
Kia (mailing next week)
Also, I found David Byrne on Facebook. I tried messaging him about how I can mail him. We'll see if I get an answer. That would be a huge one if I hear back. Looks like he's still in South Africa, but no longer coaching Glendene United. I also emailed Hellenic FC, where he once played and his brother is currently Technical Director. They gave me his phone number, but I've never tried to make an international call before. I'm way better with writing anyway. I may try texting him.
A little more digging has found me Bobo Lucic's whereabouts, so I plan to try him soon, along with a second attempt at Dalibor Cvitanovic. Related: I need Slovenian and Bosnian stamps. Canadian ones too so I can get my last Mark Karpun card signed, and hopefully try Pasquale Deluca again, along with Dale Mitchell and Carl Valentine. Maybe an Argentinian one to send to Omar Gomez. Probably some Italian ones too, since I'd like to try Roberto Baggio. And a Swiss one so I can send to Roger Federer. Okay, I'm getting off-topic now.
I also need to contact Stuart Lee about finishing my Sidekicks game program.
As of right now, the project is down to needing at least one signed by each of these guys.
TRIED WITH NO LUCK - 18
Arturo Velazco (2017), B.J. Esposito (2017), Chris Simon (2017), Desmond Armstrong (2016), Ed Anibal (2017), Erik Rasmussen (2015), Gregg Willin (2016), Hugo Perez (2017), Iain Fraser (2016), Joe Papaleo (2016), Keder (2017), Marcelo Carrera (2017), Paul Peschisolido (2016 RTS), Poli Garcia (2016), Teddy Krafft (2016), Terry Rowe (2016 RTS), Victor Nogueira (2016), Wes Wade (2016)
HAVEN'T TRIED - 20
Alan Hinton, Alex Tarnoczi, Brian Enge, Chris Haywood, Chris Szanto, Claudio De Oliveira, Dan O'Keefe, Eric Dade, Fahmi El-Shami, Frank Rasmussen, Jason Putthoff, Jimmy Daka, Joe Kirk, Joe Mallia, Majid Jay, Rick Snyder, Russ Prince, Saeed Bakhtiari, Shane Schwab, Tony Csiszar
DECEASED - 11
Barry Wallace (d. 2006), Billy Ronson (d. 2015), Domenic Mobilio (d. 2004), Earl Foreman (d. 2017), Keith Weller (d. 2004), Mike Reynolds (d. 1991), Nenad Nikolic (d. 1999), Pedro DeBrito (d. 2014), Slobo Ilijevski (d. 2008), Stan Stamenkovic (d. 1996), Stan Terlecki (d. 2017)
TRIED WITH SUCCESS - 10
Daryl Doran, Diego Mandagaran, Doug Neely, Jim Gabarra, Kim Roentved, Kris Peat, Pato Margetic, Rene Ortiz, Terry Brown, Tim Schulz
MAILED/PLANNING - 24
Bernie James (mailed today)
Bill Crook (mailed today)
Bobo Lucic (mailing once I get a Slovenian stamp)
Chico Borja (mailed today)
Chris Hundelt (mailed today)
Dale Ervine (mailed today)
Dale Mitchell (mailing this weekend)
Dali (mailing once I get a Bosnian stamp)
Damir Haramina (mailing once I get a Croatian stamp)
David Byrne (hoping to get an address and South African stamp soon)
David Hoggan (mailed today)
Dennis Mepham (mailed today)
George Fernandez (mailed today)
Greg Ion (mailing soon)
Jan Goossens (mailing once I get a Dutch stamp)
Kia (mailing next week)
Mark Karpun (mailing once I get Canadian stamps)
Mark Kerlin (mailed today)
Omar Gomez (mailing once I get an Argentinian stamp)
Pasquale Deluca (mailing once I get Canadian stamps)
Steve Kinsey (mailing this weekend)
Steve Zungul (mailed today)
Tim Wittman (mailing next week)
Waad Hirmez (mailed today)
CONDITIONALS/SPECULATIVES - 12
Zoran Karic (mailing once Fernandez returns)
Paul Wright (mailing once Hirmez returns)
Mark Kerlin (mailed today)
Omar Gomez (mailing once I get an Argentinian stamp)
Pasquale Deluca (mailing once I get Canadian stamps)
Steve Kinsey (mailing this weekend)
Steve Zungul (mailed today)
Tim Wittman (mailing next week)
Waad Hirmez (mailed today)
CONDITIONALS/SPECULATIVES - 12
Zoran Karic (mailing once Fernandez returns)
Paul Wright (mailing once Hirmez returns)
Kevin Smith (mailing once Wright returns)
Brian Quinn (mailing once Fernandez, Karic, Hirmez, and Wright return)
Kevin Crow (mailing once Fernandez, Karic, Hirmez, Wright, and Quinn return)
Brian Quinn (mailing once Fernandez, Karic, Hirmez, and Wright return)
Kevin Crow (mailing once Fernandez, Karic, Hirmez, Wright, and Quinn return)
Donald Cogsville (mailing once Hirmez and Wright return)
Jacques Ladouceur (mailing once Hirmez, Wright, and Cogsville return)
Rod Castro (mailing once Hirmez, Wright, Cogsville, and Ladouceur return)
Ralph Black (mailing once Hirmez, Wright, Cogsville, Ladouceur, and Castro return)
Bruce Savage (mailing once Dale Mitchell returns)
Carl Valentine (mailing once I get Canadian stamps and Goossens returns)
Jim Gorsek (mailing once Goossens and Valentine return)
I'm always looking for trades as well if it will help lighten my writing and postage expenditures.
Jacques Ladouceur (mailing once Hirmez, Wright, and Cogsville return)
Rod Castro (mailing once Hirmez, Wright, Cogsville, and Ladouceur return)
Ralph Black (mailing once Hirmez, Wright, Cogsville, Ladouceur, and Castro return)
Bruce Savage (mailing once Dale Mitchell returns)
Carl Valentine (mailing once I get Canadian stamps and Goossens returns)
Jim Gorsek (mailing once Goossens and Valentine return)
I'm always looking for trades as well if it will help lighten my writing and postage expenditures.
Tuesday, July 9, 2019
Inspired for a restart
Returning from MISL40 has re-energized me a bit to get going one more time on mailing and researching addresses to try to finish off as much of this project as I can. Overall, I'm down to needing only 168 signatures to complete the project. Of those, 142 are still alive as far as I know.
There are a lot of these guys that I haven't tried at all, or tried at a failed address but I've been able to update them. And some I had success with once already and just need to get on a few cards I was lacking at the time. So, let's see what I can do.
Headed for the mailbox this weekend:
David Hoggan
Steve Kinsey
Dale Ervine
Kia
George Fernandez
Bill Crook
Greg Ion
Dennis Mepham
Steve Zungul
Mark Kerlin
Waad Hirmez
Chico Borja
Bernie James
Chris Hundelt
If I manage to go a perfect 14/14 on these, I'll finish off three multi-signed cards, and it will leave me only three away from the 1987-88 set (I'd need Pasquale Deluca, Poli Garcia, and Hugo Perez, each of whom I have failed with by mail) and four away from the 1989-90 set (I'd need Joe Papaleo, Bobo Lucic, and the late Domenic Mobilio and Pedro DeBrito) being completed.
I'm not betting on it though. I'm 100% on Ervine, Kia, Borja, and James at least. Had mixed results with Zungul and Fernandez. I have a giant 0-fer on Hoggan, Kinsey, Mepham, Hirmez, and Ion. And I have yet to try sending to Kerlin, Hundelt, and Crook.
I also have a Paul Wright envelope ready to go, but I'm hoping to get Hirmez back first. Both Waad and Paul are on the 1991-92 San Diego All-Stars card and the 1990-91 champions celebration card. If I can go 2-for-2 on them with those, then the ASG card will go to Brian Quinn next, then Kevin Crow, and the celly shot will go to Ladouceur, Black, Castro, and Cogsville in some order.
I also need Nogueira (ASG) and Wade (Champs) on them, but I've heard of little to no luck with them TTM, so I'll be holding off on those until maybe someone can get them for me in-person. I may even try directly emailing some of the guys that are toughies to see if I can find a good address.
I also am in need of a few unsigned cards (or signed, I won't reject those!) as well. From the 1992-93 NPSL set, I'm missing card #87 of Joe Kirk, as well as several gold "Pacific Picks the Pros" inserts-- #3 Fahmi El-Shami, #4 Zoran Karic, #6 Joe Mallia, #9 Kia, and #10 Tim Wittman. If I can find someone with a Kia for trade, I'll hold off on sending to him until I get it. I'd buy copies of them, but not at the $3 each I've seen on eBay.
There are a lot of these guys that I haven't tried at all, or tried at a failed address but I've been able to update them. And some I had success with once already and just need to get on a few cards I was lacking at the time. So, let's see what I can do.
Headed for the mailbox this weekend:
David Hoggan
Steve Kinsey
Dale Ervine
Kia
George Fernandez
Bill Crook
Greg Ion
Dennis Mepham
Steve Zungul
Mark Kerlin
Waad Hirmez
Chico Borja
Bernie James
Chris Hundelt
If I manage to go a perfect 14/14 on these, I'll finish off three multi-signed cards, and it will leave me only three away from the 1987-88 set (I'd need Pasquale Deluca, Poli Garcia, and Hugo Perez, each of whom I have failed with by mail) and four away from the 1989-90 set (I'd need Joe Papaleo, Bobo Lucic, and the late Domenic Mobilio and Pedro DeBrito) being completed.
I'm not betting on it though. I'm 100% on Ervine, Kia, Borja, and James at least. Had mixed results with Zungul and Fernandez. I have a giant 0-fer on Hoggan, Kinsey, Mepham, Hirmez, and Ion. And I have yet to try sending to Kerlin, Hundelt, and Crook.
I also have a Paul Wright envelope ready to go, but I'm hoping to get Hirmez back first. Both Waad and Paul are on the 1991-92 San Diego All-Stars card and the 1990-91 champions celebration card. If I can go 2-for-2 on them with those, then the ASG card will go to Brian Quinn next, then Kevin Crow, and the celly shot will go to Ladouceur, Black, Castro, and Cogsville in some order.
I also need Nogueira (ASG) and Wade (Champs) on them, but I've heard of little to no luck with them TTM, so I'll be holding off on those until maybe someone can get them for me in-person. I may even try directly emailing some of the guys that are toughies to see if I can find a good address.
I also am in need of a few unsigned cards (or signed, I won't reject those!) as well. From the 1992-93 NPSL set, I'm missing card #87 of Joe Kirk, as well as several gold "Pacific Picks the Pros" inserts-- #3 Fahmi El-Shami, #4 Zoran Karic, #6 Joe Mallia, #9 Kia, and #10 Tim Wittman. If I can find someone with a Kia for trade, I'll hold off on sending to him until I get it. I'd buy copies of them, but not at the $3 each I've seen on eBay.
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