MrMopar's New Dodgers Autograph Thread (and other interesting items on a slow mailday)

[mrmopar]

I could have saved that Dynasty Garvey /5 until his brother showed up, but I didn't. I have been frustrated by losing every single one of these that I was determined to win both that showed up within days of each other, even if I had to over pay.

Too bad one was not one of the other 2 versions, since I am not going to land all 6 copies (3x /5 and 3X /10). So in the end, I end up with 2 of the same version, one /5 and one /10. this one also happens to be the jersey version 6/10, so bonus! Some red patch would have been amazing for one of them too, but it was not to be.



From there, it went downhill, but not too steeply, with several other nice arrivals. Another "decade" card, this one Wills/10.

Muncy wrapped up the Dodger hits.

Then I got 2 items from my #2 (or #3 depending on the day) player collection, Rod Carew (With Al Oliver rounding out the last spot).

The Heritage auto from last year.

And this very cool print, a bit larger than a magazine, especially height-wise, but not quite large enough to call it a poster.

I've said it before and think it every time I buy another Carew auto. Get one NOW if you don't have one and want it. With all the 60s and newer era guys dying of late, the inevitable will come sooner than you hope if you are on the outside looking in! I wish Rodney Cline as long a life as he can manage, of course. He is only 76 after all, but that signature is showing us something.

 

[mrmopar]

And of course, after going on an unprecedented spending spree, at least for me, ebay bucks come in today!

 

[mrmopar]

Another big day. I seem to be hit or miss.

The big pick up is more for the novelty of it. it's technically a "certified" autograph of Jim Gilliam, but I am not sure how I really feel about counting buybacks ascertified autos in the true sense. None of them were signed for the purpose of being included as a card. Sometimes these buyers get it wrong too. These look good to me though.

1966 Dodgers historic Quad with Wes Parker, Jim Lefebvre, Maury Wills and Jim Gilliam.

Another Al Oliver, although it is a Dodger card. /25.

2 of the three are certified, the Zimmer is signed by his wife, I believe. Of the certified Zimmer cards I have seen, they ALL had the open D. His wife seems to have signed cards for him with the closed, looping D style from my research. Thazt would make damn near all of the non-certified Zimmers you see online for sale ghost signatures, as the looping D is far more common. . The other 2 Zimmer cards are for comparison and are just scans pulled from ebay.

Vogel, has not yet made the squad. Kind of liked the Pro Set FB ripoff design.

The final item is another trip back to my childhood and the MSA Wiffle Ball set. I owned exactly one of these when they were new, that I pulled from the box containing a brand new wiffle ball. I am not sure why I didn't buy more, other than buying a wiffle ball was more expensive than packs of cards. Maybe I wasn't quite into the cards then as I am now. I got Frank Tanana, a bummer compared to a lot of the names in the set (like Garvey) but always loved the unique round card, the type of which I had never seen before. I have tried to grab lots of these over the years with the intent of completing a set. I finally just bought a full set, so my set building efforts are for naught! I don't hate cool dupes though. The seller also tossed in a blank back, standard sized MSA disc set of 70. I didn't already have that set surprisingly, but they are so common I hardly cared. it's cool to finally have a full set though.

 

[dano7]

Another big day. I seem to be hit or miss.

The big pick up is more for the novelty of it. it's technically a "certified" autograph of Jim Gilliam, but I am not sure how I really feel about counting buybacks ascertified autos in the true sense. None of them were signed for the purpose of being included as a card. Sometimes these buyers get it wrong too. These look good to me though.

1966 Dodgers historic Quad with Wes Parker, Jim Lefebvre, Maury Wills and Jim Gilliam. View attachment 332399

Another Al Oliver, although it is a Dodger card. /25. View attachment 332400

2 of the three are certified, the Zimmer is signed by his wife, I believe. Of the certified Zimmer cards I have seen, they ALL had the open D. His wife seems to have signed cards for him with the closed, looping D style from my research. Thazt would make damn near all of the non-certified Zimmers you see online for sale ghost signatures, as the looping D is far more common. View attachment 332401. The other 2 Zimmer cards are for comparison and are just scans pulled from ebay. View attachment 332402View attachment 332403

Vogel, has not yet made the squad. Kind of liked the Pro Set FB ripoff design. View attachment 332404

The final item is another trip back to my childhood and the MSA Wiffle Ball set. I owned exactly one of these when they were new, that I pulled from the box containing a brand new wiffle ball. I am not sure why I didn't buy more, other than buying a wiffle ball was more expensive than packs of cards. Maybe I wasn't quite into the cards then as I am now. I got Frank Tanana, a bummer compared to a lot of the names in the set (like Garvey) but always loved the unique round card, the type of which I had never seen before. I have tried to grab lots of these over the years with the intent of completing a set. I finally just bought a full set, so my set building efforts are for naught! I don't hate cool dupes though. The seller also tossed in a blank back, standard sized MSA disc set of 70. I didn't already have that set surprisingly, but they are so common I hardly cared. it's cool to finally have a full set though.

View attachment 332405

Nice haul!

 

[mrmopar]

I'll start today with one I somehow forgot yesterday. I just went back and found my stash of these and have over half the set, so I may give it a half-hearted try to complete it. I am missing a few big names, so unlikely I'll fight for any in the high $ range just to complete a set, but if I can score more lots, I will be happy. They are crude, but a fun oddball items.

1979 Penn Emblem lot.

Gene Hermanski photo. Thought it was a great image, but when I got it, I saw it was laminated. At least the signature is on top of the lamination, not under it! I also thought it was 8x10, but it's more like a weird 5-6" x10". Still cool.


Shawn Green newspaper poster, signed.

This last item is pretty cool. I don't get a lot of vintage Dodger stuff anymore, mainly because I was smart/lucky enough to pick up as much as I could in the infancy of ebay and because it's generally much more expensive now.

This panel is identified as being from 1940, Wheaties Champs of the USA, so technically predates his common 1941 Play Ball RC. As I was writing this up though, it occurred to me that why would a national cereal showcase him in 1940, during or shortly after his rookie season? I didn't think he was all that special right off the bat. He did not have an amazing rookie season, but it was decent. This predated the ROY award, so maybe he was the standout rookie that year. He entered the Navy/war a few years later after becoming an AS and that would have been more reason to feature him as a patriotic Navy vet during WWII, but it does say he's 21 years old on the panel, which he was from his birthday in 1939 until the following year. It seems this issue could be no older than mid season 1940 when it was issued, as he would have turned 22 in July of that year. Technically, one could consider this a pre-rookie issue.

Pee Wee Reese.

 

[mrmopar]

After waiting not so patiently for the market to correct itself on the 1986 Topps design Zach McKinstry cards, which I said all along was surreal, I finally landed the base auto at the end of last year. I think I maybe paid $12-15 delivered, possibly less. I can't recall now. I thought I would take a look at the other versions and see where they were sitting. So many cards sold in the middle of Covid for unreal prices, I figured most buyers couldn't stomach the loss or were in denial that they overpaid in a weird bidding frenzy that nobody has been able to reasonably explain to me.. Golds and Reds were selling for $200 or more. Even the black and base versions seemingly selling for $100 or more! It was insanity. There are still several cards listed now at BIN prices well above reality.

Well, a few weeks back, I spot one black version listed at $5, so I watch and wait. I ended up winning at the opening bid price of $5! I was happy, but had a gut feeling. After about 2 weeks, no card. No tracking. I finally reached out to the seller and asked for tracking. No reply. I waited a couple more days and asked again, no reply. The next day, I opened a claim. Magically, I finally got a reply. There was some snarkiness and the seller eventually told me I got a $100 card for $5. The truth behind the delay finally comes out.

I cleared the air and advised them that no, it was not a $100 card. It was a year ago, but no longer the case. You'd think that with me getting it for $5, it would be considered a $5 card, right? Then he posts tracking. Yesterday I get my mail and am checking ebay and I see my McKinstry had been delivered. I had already opened mail and there was no McKinstry, so my mind started firing on all cylinders. The tracking shows delivery to FL. Was the guy pulling some crap, mailing to a friend? I checked his messages and found there were actually 2 different tracking numbers he had given me in 2 separate messages, but one was linked to the auction and was the one showing a FL delivery. The other I didn't have a chance to check, before he replied that he had sent the wrong tracking number. This was starting to look like a textbook case of seller remorse, pulling all the tricks to avoid sending. I accepted the reason of wrong tracking as he shared a label with my name on it and the 2nd tracking number. I was still not 100% confident that the card would ever arrive though. Do you blame me, hearing this so far? i'd believe it when I saw it.

Today, the card did finally show up. I had to push a little, exchange some messages and perhaps let it bug me a bit, but now it is home. Now I just need to patiently wait out the Gold and Red versions, hoping that someone is willing to let the open market decide. Most sellers are still asking $100s. There is a gold (/50) right now on ebay for BIN/BO $200! Sorry bud, you missed that boat.

 

[mrmopar]

Only one Dodger auto today, but a couple non-baseball things I was happy to add.

Another Zach to start.

I have some of the baseball set, but didn't have the FB set, or at least i don't remember getting it. Sometimes I find stuff aI forgot I have. Solid debut group for 1994.


Finally, I got this Bill Walton AP auto. As I have been watching Winning Time, I realized that I focused on basketball at a good time, but didn't finish what I should have, and that was getting all of the good players autographs. Basketball is white hot, so finding bargains now days is pretty hard to do. I have a couple cards coming soon that I will share here that were pretty big misses on my part. Thankfully I have MOST of the top 50 NBA players, a few I just won't pony up for, like Maravich.

 

[Dilferules]

After waiting not so patiently for the market to correct itself on the 1986 Topps design Zach McKinstry cards, which I said all along was surreal, I finally landed the base auto at the end of last year. I think I maybe paid $12-15 delivered, possibly less. I can't recall now. I thought I would take a look at the other versions and see where they were sitting. So many cards sold in the middle of Covid for unreal prices, I figured most buyers couldn't stomach the loss or were in denial that they overpaid in a weird bidding frenzy that nobody has been able to reasonably explain to me.. Golds and Reds were selling for $200 or more. Even the black and base versions seemingly selling for $100 or more! It was insanity. There are still several cards listed now at BIN prices well above reality.

Well, a few weeks back, I spot one black version listed at $5, so I watch and wait. I ended up winning at the opening bid price of $5! I was happy, but had a gut feeling. After about 2 weeks, no card. No tracking. I finally reached out to the seller and asked for tracking. No reply. I waited a couple more days and asked again, no reply. The next day, I opened a claim. Magically, I finally got a reply. There was some snarkiness and the seller eventually told me I got a $100 card for $5. The truth behind the delay finally comes out.

I cleared the air and advised them that no, it was not a $100 card. It was a year ago, but no longer the case. You'd think that with me getting it for $5, it would be considered a $5 card, right? Then he posts tracking. Yesterday I get my mail and am checking ebay and I see my McKinstry had been delivered. I had already opened mail and there was no McKinstry, so my mind started firing on all cylinders. The tracking shows delivery to FL. Was the guy pulling some crap, mailing to a friend? I checked his messages and found there were actually 2 different tracking numbers he had given me in 2 separate messages, but one was linked to the auction and was the one showing a FL delivery. The other I didn't have a chance to check, before he replied that he had sent the wrong tracking number. This was starting to look like a textbook case of seller remorse, pulling all the tricks to avoid sending. I accepted the reason of wrong tracking as he shared a label with my name on it and the 2nd tracking number. I was still not 100% confident that the card would ever arrive though. Do you blame me, hearing this so far? i'd believe it when I saw it.

Today, the card did finally show up. I had to push a little, exchange some messages and perhaps let it bug me a bit, but now it is home. Now I just need to patiently wait out the Gold and Red versions, hoping that someone is willing to let the open market decide. Most sellers are still asking $100s. There is a gold (/50) right now on ebay for BIN/BO $200! Sorry bud, you missed that boat.

View attachment 332490

I hate these sellers. Don't put something up with a minimum bid that's so low you'd try to weasel your way out of it if it sold for that amount. If he was going to be POed it didn't sell for $100 then he should have set his minimum bid at $99.99. I mean, he said it's a $100 card so it surely would have sold, right?

 

[mrmopar]

I agree. Lots of wanna-be dealers, since ebay made it so easy to sell to a national audience. it all worked out, so that is all that matters now.

Today was a massive haul, in terms of individual scans. Going to have to split the post to show it all.

Starting off with one I didn't expect to win, but nobody else bid after the opening and I won it. Not a bargain, but a reasonable price in the current market. A Garvey /10. . Of course as soon as I say I don't need anymore non-Dodger autos of this guy, I win another. THIS will be it, until he gets a Dodger auto. I don't like him that much and he is not a cheap auto either. Freeman mini /25.

Jaren Kendall Black Heritage. Seems this guy won't do anything, but it goes with the base I already had and it was cheap.

This is a new Dodger auto off the list, but since he is a front office guy (new GM), it's not helping my numbers. Brandon Gomes.

i might as well wrap up with the other non-Dodger and non-baseball stuff, before coming back with part 2 on a stack of TTM/IPs that are on the more obscure side.

Cepeda silver Archives. Great action shot, HOFer, what's not to love? I have this card, but I thought it was one of the other versions. It would not surprise me to learn that I won a silver last time though. I do like that border better than purple and the regular base goldish color from the original year set. I know it was not the blue.

Jerry West! Wanted a certified, but they are spendy. Winning Time is getting me thinking about BKB stars and autos, but thankfully I got most of who I wanted already. I believe this is West's last card and a pretty good one too. It's got a JSA cert to go with it as well.

The final pair are something that appeals to only a select minority of collectors, but those who know about them, know these are very scarce. They hardly ever pop up. I was surprised to win both at the opening bid. They were not steals, but fair prices. I have a small collection of these FBI discs, but not a ton. They just don't come up often and when they do, you will sometimes see them sell for big $! Al Oliver and Tim Raines graded singles.

 

[mrmopar]

Part II, The TTM/IPs.

Angel Berroa, Lorenzo Bundy, Chris Capuno, O'Kea Dickson, Carlos Frias, Mark Hendrickson, JP Howell, Orlando Hudson, Waybe Kirby, Brian Myrow...

 

[mrmopar]

Marcus Thames, Brett Tomko.

 

[mrmopar]

I got nothing today worth mentioning, actually only one package at all. Some Dodger PCs. However, this scan got "lost" on my desktop and didn't get posted with yesterdays haul.

Justin Sellers.

 

[mrmopar]

I am guilty of this as much as the next guy, scanning listings for a keyword, specific image or something else meant to catch my attention and not seeing or reading the full description. This usually ends poorly in some manner for me, but this time I think it helped me. When Andre Jackson had his first auto card, I needed it to check him off the list. I guess with some guys, it's an all or nothing approach. Jackson, Gonzalez, Verdugo, Lux, May and others have been blasted with autograph issues, but other players get nothing! Anyway, I liked Jacksons first auto, so I bought it. Soon, decided that a gold, black and red parallel would be fun and I had won everything but the red/25. Well, someone recently posted one that came up in my Jackson search, but the main image was the back of the card. That red eye catching card image didn't show up on the thumbnail searches and unless you opened up the listing fully, probably did not catch your eye. I ended up winning this one for opening price with no other bids, at half or more of the others I tried to win. Happy about that. Lesson to be learned to all sellers, take time and pay attention to detail or it may bite you. I believe Jackson has already moved on from the team though...not surprising. He has his place in history as a roster player and someone with a certified Dodger autograph card though, so he is in my collection.

Not a new focus, but I am trying to fill some holes or add some cool certified autos of NBA players. I never nailed down a Jabbar! Thank Winning Time for refueling my desire. I remedied this and although it is not a visually appealing autograph card, I do like the earlier certified autographs. Many were just a dream to me when they first appeared, but I have been able to add many of them over time. He is NOT cheap, so happy to get this one for what felt like a steal comparatively. Just wish I would have nabbed one much sooner.

Bill Sharman is another guy who gets air time on the HBO show and the 3rd guy I have picked up since I began watching (Jerry West was the other). Lakers GM when Magic was drafted, but a Celtic great and HOFer on his own.

The rest of todays mail day is a cornucopia off oddball goodness that feeds my passion for this hobby, when so much else of what it has become tries to push me away!

This is the 3rd card of 4 in this set I have been able to track down and get at a decent price. Most offered are at bloating asking prices, although they are fairly hard to locate. Scarcity doesn't always equate to demand. It could be that most have no idea what they are, so aside from searching for a very popular player by name, the seller has to know what they have or at least include something like "1971 Charger", which gets you a whole different kind of search result on it's own!. It was a set made for Allstate Insurance, apparently drawn/designed by an artist who worked there and reprised in the 80s with a new new subjects on a different design. I have no idea what they were used for, but assume some sort of promotion/give away. I had Ruth and Musial, now adding an off center, but otherwise nice Cobb. Ted Williams still eludes me.

Lastly, always looking to add vintage local team stuff to my collection. Sadly, I didn't have a passion for this stuff until much later, despite living in the area and having better access to a lot of it when I was younger. Sonics, Seahawks and Mariners from their inceptions until the mid-late 80s is my sweet spot. I don't care for most newer items unless something specifically catches my eye.

These team photo postcards and larger, close to or 8x10 in size. All have flaws, but I have never seen any of them before. My dad used to have a Sonics poster up in our rec room when I was a kid and it was the exact photo from the lower left postcard.

The last items are from Nalley's brand foods. I don't specifically remember seeing these as a kid, but maybe my mom never bought Nalleys or the boxes. Imagine potato chips coming in a box! Each box contained 2 sealed bags inside the cardboard box, but still cool. Great marketing piece that still gets used to this day. The Seahawks were featured in the late 70s-early 80s and again later in the mid 80s with a few more subjects, but these early boxes/posters are harder to find than the 84-85 range boxes. The Mariners also had 4 or 6 subjects in the 83-84 time frame, including Gaylord perry that I had him sign at a local minor league game a few years back. I absolutely love stuff like this, probably more so because you hardly ever see it offered and the memories they dredge up. If they were like some of the other really easy to find oddball items that everyone has, the draw might be less. Slowly picking up as many different players as I can from this set. prefer full boxes, but beggars can't be choosin'!

 

[Pinbreaker]

I just found a card that made me think of you for some odd reason. Do you have a Mike Scioscia auto?

Sent from my iPhone using Freedom Card Board mobile app

 

[mrmopar]

I may have a few Scioscia autographs, certified and otherwise. I don't think I have that one though. Would love to have the means to get any and all Dodger auto cards, but for now, I just have to stick with what I like and can afford.

 

[mrmopar]

Another good mail day. I am a little surprised I have won as much as I have lately. I am still losing a majority of the items I bid on, big and small time items. Good time to be selling I believe.

I probably overpaid for this one, but have yet to see another. Years pact, I would win the first Garvey item to hit the market and almost every single time, that would be some super early item and many more would follow, often dropping the prices well below what i paid. I hate that quite a bit, because you never know when an unnumbered item that looks basic, turns out to be very hard. One such example was the Topps Ring of Honor autos. I jumped on the rather boring looking Garvey, the first I saw. I "overpaid" for that, but then never saw another one show up. I think since I bought mine, I have seen 1 other. Guessing it was short printed, but I don't know this for sure. Anyway, this one is from the 2021? Big League issue. I'm fairly certain this will not be one of those rare cases, but I can still hope...

This next one was a bit of a surprise. After having backed off a lot of Garvey stuff in the past year +, something I still like to win are any cards with the old jersey number on it. I started collecting these as a challenge beyond just getting the regular cards. In better times, I didn't always have to fight so hard for new issues, so nabbing a 6 was extra special. I am not the only one who likes these and in fact, a long time rival seems to like them a LOT more than I do, often topping me when I toss out bids I even think are too high! I did this here and was surprise to find out that I won it. Too bad I already had one /10. These days, I still don't mind dupes, but I don't like overpaying for them anymore. There was a day that i might have tried to get all 10. Not anymore.

A couple guys that may or may not make the roster. Already had a Leonard, but went for it because I kind of like the old FB design and I still had not won a Maddux Bruns, until now. Hoping both at least get a game or two with the big club someday.

I have enough Neuse, but I do like this card set, so I added him.

Continuing my quest for NBA players on the cheap (and it ain't easy!), another in today. AP Rick Barry, Mr. Granny shot at the line. I like the older school AP cards, a great way to find HOF legends at a reasonable price, at least some of them. I like the idea of the set, not so much the thicker AP design. This set was where you could have landed the first and highly coveted Bill Russell auto! I think they were all redemptions, but not sure. I was extremely happy, but also sad (not that I had a chance) to pull one of the Russell redemption cards. How could I be sad about that? The only possible way, by pulling the card 10-15 years after they EXPIRED! Still a super cool card to have.

 

[mrmopar]

Going to need 2 posts for 2 reasons. First, lots of stuff. Second, I didn't have a chance to post yesterdays mailday, so todays includes yesterdays as well.

I have several of these and really need to figure out which versions. It was an issue of 10K, but I believe the first 1207 were signed on front. Within that, I THINK but am not sure, there may be some sort of AP type count as well. This is one of the 1st 1207 so its signed.

Dixie Howell PC. Doh! His real name is Homer.

Jorbit Vivas. Getting a cheap card, rather than a Bowman, because I just want the auto and WTF people...why is this a $3-4 card and the Bowman is a $40+ for most prospects. People are crazy nowdays...

This is one off the actual list, Hanser Alberto. Back down to needing 3 Dodgers.

This is a pretty nice find for me. Andy Messersmith autographs are easy to find, but they tend to be pricy, because he won't sign anymore. There seems to be plenty out there for anyone who wants once, but if you need something specific, you may be out of luck. I have long picked up signed 78 Topps cards, my first set and introduction to cards. I thought it would be exceptionally cool if I could somehow put a set together, signed. I am not foolish enough to think it was easy or really even possible. Munson is my killer. I have many of the other stars and tougher deceased players, but not all. Some I just can't pony up the $. Would love the Reggie the most now that Messersmith is home.

Andre Ethier.

A cool Dodger GU book that features Alston, Furillo & Stanky. It's /99. I don't hold a lot of regard for the GU cards anymore, but I like the uniqueness of this.

This is a card I loved when I saw and always wanted one, but they remained fairly high priced. None of them turned out to be anything spectacular, but still a very cool card. I finally remembered and grabbed a fairly cheap one.

The next post will have non-baseball.

 

[mrmopar]

Can't get enough of these Slim Jims. Same seller that I bought the others from recently listed more. Guy must have had a heck of a collection of them. A dozen + of the individual boxes and 3 "case" boxes.

Rounding me off are 2 more autos, old school sets just the way I like them. The first continues the basketball phase I have been in lately, with a Signature rookies Tetrad Titans Isiah Thomas.

Final item is a 1992 Pacific Steve Largent. I think this may have been leftover replacement stock, because the seller was Mill Creek Sports (a local shop and autograph promoter, and I think exclusive agents for Ichiro) and they are not numbered. They have more if anyone wants one. They are $12 OBO, but $11 is the lowest they seem to go. The other option is blank backdoor cards that were signed later or forged. I think it looks good, so I am assuming the best.

 

[mrmopar]

Today brings a Machado auto /25. and a new Banty Garvey. This one cost me again. These have gotten a little TOO popular for my taste. I loved them at the beginning for $15-20, a great alternative to the glut of crappy "custom" cards that were just stolen internet images and printed up on the old home printer. I am still a big fan, but can't keep up with it at these prices!

 

[mrmopar]

Grandal /6. Manufactured scarcity at it's best, but still a cool card and there won't be a ton of them to water it down later.

Quad GU with 3 classic Brooklyn HOFers and some modern LA scrub. Campy on that card, or Duke, would have been better honestly, coming from a Garvey collector. Still a great card. /10