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

[mrmopar]

Oliver had signed with Past Pros at one point. Not sure if he is still with them, but I recall he was more than that. I have so many Oliver autos now, it would have to be something I really needed. His certified cards are pretty plentiful too, which helps.

 

[mrmopar]

Kind of had a busy last several days, so summarizing a few maildays with only the highlights, as usual.

My Garvey /25 2021 Topps arrived.



This Juston Turner /20 showed up over the weekend. I do like the n86D look and refractor black finish, but damn those airbrushed images!

These Heritage cards are always fun to win, especially older years and especially-especially the Reds. Roger Craig /59. One of a dwindling handful of Brooklyn Dodgers still with us today.

Lastly, not a Dodger or related, but had to share. COMC ebay purchase, arriving almost a month to the day after I won it. Pitiful!

Still no word on my port order, that was due several weeks ago and no answers from the bunch. I actually went and spent my credit and foolishly asked if there was any way to add these to my several late shipment and of course, no reply. I guess since it was free money, I can wait another Fing year to get 3 cards and pay another $5. COMC SUCKS!!!

Anyway, love the 61 Design a lot. Very clean, yet can be colorful. This is Cliff Lee in a Mariners Uni, a bonus for me, plus it's only numbered to 21 copies, so you see why I was willing to deal with the Devil one last time!

 

[mrmopar]

My saga continues with the mis-shipped card. After traveling to another buyer, it returned to the seller and he resent it. today it was marked received. Of course, I have been checking my mail as I get it each day for that Fla postmark. None today and no card. I just don't understand why my local PO is so F'd up! i would love to reveal this card tomorrow, in hopes that the dingleberry scanned it early and will deliver tomorrow as has happened numerous times before. It will be anticlimactic at this point, but still...

I did get a bunch today, but the only Dodger related item of consideration was yet another Juan Marichal, pictured of course in the rival Giants uniform (not that you'd know it by looking at it). Still, I do like a nice green foil. This one is 5/5. Almost makes up for the lack of logo.

 

[mrmopar]

Nice design, a few numbered parallels (as opposed to dozens and dozens) and a player who has not yet had his Dodger autographs overdone, David Price. I was able to land the Red /25 Price for a very nice "Price"! I decided to seek out the base (white) as well, since I had already obtained the Gold /50. Hopefully he ends up playing a few games for them!!

And my mis-sent saga finally comes to an end. 1 day short of a full month since I paid, when the card finally arrives. I really like this card and have only seen a few of them offered since I started buying Dodger autographs. The design, plus the fact that he does not have any other Dodger certified autographs that I am aware of, makes this extremely cool to me. It is my 2nd copy and would probably buy as many as I saw, if the price were right. I think the odds of pulling this set were very high to begin with. There are only 2 on ebay right now, and one of them is another copy of this card, although more than I'd pay for my third copy. The other is Aubrey Huff as an Astro (@Therion) if Astros Huff's are tough...and it's $20.

Presenting the nearly lost 2006 Topps Signature Moves Julio Lugo. All that excitement for a guy who hit .219 in 49 games for the 2006 Dodgers and then moved on.

 

[mrmopar]

I ended up winning another Topps Price, like the red one above, but gold /50 and that came today, but have already shown it at least once, if not twice. I believe it is my 3rd copy now!

Another Marichal..I just can't stop winning his cards. He has some good looking cards and his prices are still usually quite appealing. This one is /10.

So, besides the Price, I got one other Dodger auto of note. I may have even shown this last year, as I have a couple copies, but this is a certified Moose Skowron auto with the Dodgers. He didn't spend much time in LA, and is much more well known as a Yankee, so I loved discovering this card and grabbing a few copies. It is /100 so I am not cornering the market or anything like that. This copy was under $5 before shipping. Pretty darn good for a deceased 50s star.

 

[mrmopar]

Today nearly cleans out my stash of cool Dodger autos to share. Hopefully it stays slow, which means i am spending much less!

Garvey is represented 3 times today. One is a card, that despite the lack of logos, I really wanted. It's /10 and has a nice blue patch piece displayed. I kept losing those listed and with only 10 copies, you only have so much time before you never get another crack ever, possibly and it was pissing me off. People I don't know are paying stronger for Garvey right now, I don't know why and it's irritating. I guess that goes across the board for a lot of stuff, which makes slowing down that much easier too. One card is a 1/1 and the final is an archives /15. All nice additions that set me back a nice chunk 'o change!



Next is what might be the final version of the 2020 Topps Price card variations. I've seen black borders, but not sure if price has one. maybe there is a 1/1 too. Now chasing that though. Red, Gold and now White. Done with Price now, especially since the guy sat out all last year and has not yet played a game for the Dodgers.



The last item is something I debated for a long time and worried that if I didn't find something else, I might miss my chance. The item was cheap enough, but I just could not pull the trigger. I really don't like to collect baseballs. I prefer flats. Much easier to store them vs balls. No flats came up and I have not forced myself to try to solicit TTM autos very often, so I finally pulled the trigger.

Charlie Steiner is one of those peripheral type adds that I love to get, but will never be a must have. Too many people not directly involved with the game itself to try, but fun when I can.

As a side note, and another complaint, because I certainly feel like a cranky old man these days. In the same pattern as Zach McKinstry, it appears I'll have to wait for my other new debut need. Victor Gonzalez Opening day autos are selling for STUPID money. WTF people, seriously...WTF??? I am so tired of these zero experience guys selling for too much money. STOP PAYING THESE PRICES FOR NOBODIES! I'm guessing both will be forgotten commons in the not too distant future. I'll laugh at those paying these prices now when they see their "investments" collapse. If I am wrong, I'm OK with that. I'll spend $50 or more on stuff I really want and enjoy and not on lottery tickets.

 

[mrmopar]

This may do it for a little bit, unless something pops up soon.

Chuck Dressen/Pee Wee Reese cut

 

[mrmopar]

Was not going to share this, but I got nothing else exciting and nothing on the immediate horizon. I do love these photos, signed or not. Dodgers Team-Issued Souvenir 8x10 color photos on thin cardboard stock. Wish more would come out of the woodwork. Bob Welch.

 

[mrmopar]

Not much in the way of Dodger autos coming in that are worth mention. New & old stuff alike is getting bid up. I guess when the Dodgers finally win a WS after 30+ years, everyone jumps on the bandwagon and starts paying out the nose! Nice.

I did manage to sneak in a Kaz Ishii card today, numbered to 5 copies. I am just one of those people who is willing to chase (and sometimes) pay a premium for lower serial numbered autographs. The value should be in the signature, of course, but the low serial number is a fun bonus. Thankfully the market for Ishii is nothing like Nomo, a fellow countryman and Dodger. They were teammates for Ishii's entire LA run from 2002-04, and that also happened to be Nomo's entire 2nd run with the team after debuting in 1995 as NL ROY and leaving in 1998. Nomo was a trailblazer for Japanese players hoping to the MLB side plus a much better and longer lasting pitcher, so the values should not compare. Just glad I can steal Ishii cards #'d to 5 for less than $15 shipped every now and again.


This Garvey came in over the weekend. Nothing special, numbered to 19. I already had one (or more), but the price was attractive. I am sick, I know this!

 

[mrmopar]

New additions are slowing way down, mainly because I can't seem to win anything anymore. This is just plain weird! New Steve Garvey autos numbered to 99 are being posted at $50-100 and don't get me started on the warped pricing of those Heritage cards featuring Garvey AND people I have never seen before are buying. Common sense has gone out the window completely on just about everything. Whoever is buying up this stuff at inflated prices only fools would pay...we'll, I hope they feel the sting later.

This is my only win to come in this week. Not my first Clem Labine certified auto, but I do like the crispness of the 57 Topps design and Heritage/Fan Favorites/Archives are some of the best auto sets made.

 

[mrmopar]

These cards were oddly hard to get. people were overpaying profusely for them. I finally landed one for a reasonable price. I was able to score the /5 way easier than the /99. Nothing else to report today except my COMC shipment is supposed to ship tomorrow. Wrote another lengthy email to CS asking that they send the 3 cards sitting in my port (due top their shipping refund to me + the Black Friday credit). I really want COMC as an option for cheaper autographs, but am 100% willing to walk away for good over this. If more ebay sellers would discover the standard trading card option and use it, ebay could be competitive for cheap cards, which would be huge for both buyers and sellers!

I am very sour on cards right now though, with COMC holding my shipment for 4+ months, Panini lining up to be the 3rd major company to screw me for Garvey redemptions (they don't answer or return calls, not even sure anyone is working) and EVERYTHING being overly expensive that I can't even land a common Zach McKinstry auto for under $20 (and that is a crappy Panini base auto that they probably made in the 1000s) or a Victor Gonzalez for under $50! HARD PASS!!!

 

[mrmopar]

A large mail day for current times. Another Steve Garvey, finally able to land one from this set at a reasonable rate. I really do wonder where all these overpriced Garvey cards are ending up. I suspect I will see a bunch in the coming years at blowout prices (unless he dies first). This one is /25.



Next up is a nice Duke Snider, also /25. I really like this set design. Wish I had paid attention when it was new.

Finally, just an oddball guy who has only a couple cards. Seems that his autograph has become much easier to find, but still got bid up to $10 on this one, which shocked the hell out of me. I like the Debut cards though, especially the obscure Dodgers. Terry Wells.

 

[mrmopar]

I am beginning to wonder if I'll win anything again on ebay. I just have to laugh at some of the things I am seeing. Dozens of watchers on common auto cards, prices into 3 digits for scrubs autos, many more examples...not enough time.

I managed to win this, after losing out on 1, then having a guy pull the one he was selling after listing it for a buck, thinking he was going to get somewhere near retail pack price for the cards he pulled from this product! Not exciting by any means, but the more obscure Dodgers who don't have other signed cards tend to bring some action. I have not seen another ******* in a while, but not sure I'd win in these crazy times anyway!

Howie Kendrick /71. It is a pretty decent looking card to boot.

 

[mrmopar]

By the way, since I have been whining about it here, my COMC ordeal came to an end today. The package I requested 12/3/20 finally arrived on 4/19/21.

 

[dano7]

Time to figure out what you want 4 months from now!

 

[Dilferules]

Well maybe I'm about to get my shipment I requested a week after you did. Or I'll have to wait another 4 months because I added precious rare toploaders to several of the cards. Maybe they will run out of cardboard boxes and drop off my order in a shopping bag.

 

[mrmopar]

THIS WAS FOR YESTERDAY, BUT I GUESS I FORGOT TO POST!

Another one I somehow snuck past the new money crazies out there buying up everything at bloated prices. Someone on ebay auto-offered me a Panini Garvey insert /100 for $60, a 20% discount off their asking price! This was not an autographed card or even a relic, just a parallel of the mains et, numbered to 100! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!

I declined with a comment that we need to be reasonable, even in a weird market nd that this card is maybe a $5 card at best 99.9% of the time.

Back to my score, a Heritage Red Real One Maury Wills 1964 design.

 

[mrmopar]

Today brings a very exciting pick-up. This is less about the signature and more about the item itself. After about 6 tries, I have finally purchased and received this item w/o damage.

Prosports Creations did collectible statues in the 1990s. I don't have a lot of information about them, other than it was owned by a David Z. Grossman out of St. Louis, MO, who is now apparently 84 and living in Florida. I am tempted to call him with the number I found online, but not quite ready to have that possible conversation.

My understanding, and I don't remember where I got this info, is that the company stopped producing the statues at some point. This wasn't just stopping after a run, it was mid-run! If you have ever tried to find one, you might have experienced the lack of inventory out there on these, at least I have for Garvey. They just hardly ever come up for sale. Unlike the more common Sports Impressions statues, these are much tougher to locate and I believe, better quality.

Anyway, as I mentioned I have tried buying these at least a half dozen times and every single time it would show up with an ankle or foot crack. I think that these are very delicate to begin with, but poor packaging doesn't do anyone any favors either. I just bought one about 2 months ago and it was coming from Rhode Island. The box was huge and filled with peanuts and rolls of paper towels??, but alas, the ankle and foot were cracked! Then I saw another show up about a month later and this one was undamaged. Once again, the seller was about as far away from me as humanly possible, Florida!

I reached out and explained that I would buy the statue, but that it MUST be packaged securely and that this item is EXTREMELY delicate. The seller agreed and I ended up paying extra postage to have this arrive undamaged. The waiting felt like forever and finally today, it arrived. Packaged extremely well, it also appeared to have a decent trip via UPS and when I opened the box, the statue was in tact and undamaged. Victory, finally!

Now I mentioned shutting down production. I'd like to find some info on this and that is where a phone conversation with Mr. Grossman might help quite a bit. The story I recall is that they shut it down for whatever reason. The Garvey statue was supposed to be limited to 2187 copies, his retirement year of 1987 + 200 proofs, according to the COA sticker found on the bottom of the statues. If you look at the price guide i have from 1996, it indicates that the figures were direct from Prosports and that only 232 exist and that apparently included proofs.

This lines up with the fact that I rarely see them and the numbers when they are spotted, are relatively low. The one I bought a couple months back may be the highest number yet at 268. The one that arrived today was #78. the COAs are not different between the 2 copies. If there is an actual Artist Proof that is somehow different, I have yet to see or notice it. These are handpainted pieces, so not something to roll off an assembly line.

Very happy to finally have one that is not damaged. Someday I will dig them all back out and record the various serial numbers. Of those supposed 232, I have about 6 and all but one are damaged.

Here are some details taken from the last broken one I received, so I didn't have to handle the new one any more than necessary. You can see in the third image where the typical breakage occurs.

I also have a file that apparently was once maintained by Prosports Creations that I won from ebay years ago. It has information/correspondence that was used in the negotiating and signing of the contract with Garvey to produce the statues. That is something for a blog entry at a future date once I unbury the file.

 

[mrmopar]

Got a little sidetracked lately. Trying to sell my mom's house and just needing to relax over the weekend. Add this to the fact that my buying may be at an all time low, I am not getting much in the mail these days. That isn't a bad thing though...at least that is what I am telling myself. I do have something i am fairly excited about that is a blast from the past. Never expected to own one, so I can't wait to share. It is not Dodger related, but still very cool (at least I think so). It should be here tomorrow!

What I did get and can share now....One true Dodger of mention and 2 former/future Dodgers to share. Nothing real exciting, but when you are down to the dregs, you share what is worth talking about (which ain't much!)

Duke Snider /100.

The other two are Heritage Real One autos. I do love these, although always wish each player was shown in a Dodger uni. This is my first certified card for both, so that is cool.

Dick Tracewski.

Phil Regan.

 

[mrmopar]

One in today, another Marichal. not as neat as those high leg kick shots.

This was my exciting prize I mentioned before. I had one of these as a kid and when I first thought about checking ebay, I didn't find any. i forgot about it for a while, a very long time actually, then something made me check recently and one came up at a decent price. There isn't much to them. Not buying it to use it and it's a little beat up, but still solid. It just invokes some fun memories of a very good time in my life and the birth of my collecting interest.

Johnny Bench Batter up (Ad not mine, images of the item stolen as well). Was too lazy to photograph my own item.