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

[mrmopar]

Today, speaking of Oliver, brings yet another Archives Oliver. This is a newer card that reprints his rookie year card and is numbered /37. I really was not planning to buy any of the post retirement archives for him, but this one was a decent price, so I went for it.

The other item should be considered my first 2021 Dodgers autograph purchase to arrive, however I have been watching, following and offering on this one for a good 3+ months, maybe more. As the seller continued to drop his opening bid level, I made an offer on 1/1/21 and it was finally one the seller accepted. The shipping time from CA is good too, considering what we have all been seeing. Still have not decided how I want to proceed with new pick-ups into 21, but this one was too many and some nice one's not to share.

The item is a 1982 Dodgers team ball, singed by some good ones. The problem is that they used one of those cheap plastic balls. The ink bled and the signatures are not overly strong. I normally would have passed on this, but the line up is actually pretty awesome, so I finally nabbed it for $25 plus s/h. It looks a little better in person. I cringe a little about balls like this and also the what might have been. I share a tale of nearly meeting Garvey in 1980. This exact ball was what my aunt bought for my brother and me, but she also bought us a 1980 Yearbook. Assuming the signing doesn't cut short, leaving me a very disappointed kid, and two signatures were allowed, I would not have been too bothered by getting the cheap ball signed and having it turn to crap later, because I would have had the yearbook signature too. None of that happened, so it is pointless to discuss further.

Anyway, the line up on this ball is another who's who of obscure and short time Dodgers, several of which are not overly plentiful autographs. I'd say a very nice deal for $25.

Dave Stewart
Don Crow
Ken Landreaux
Steve Shirley
Steve Garvey
Bob Welch (below Garvey & barely visible in first image)


Mark Belanger
Bill Russell
Dusty Baker
Steve Sax


Tom Niedenfuer
Mike Marshall (Infielder, of course)
Burt Hooton


Jerry Reuss
Joe Beckwith
Jorge Orta
Jose Morales
Ricky Wright


A better view of the Welch. I guess Lasorda was not around to sign the sweet spot, as it is blank, but not a big deal.

 

[mrmopar]

Today brings a pretty good haul, considering how long mail is sitting in the system. The certified Dodger cards are all under 20 copies each.

Garvey /5. Cool card and it was not that long ago that a Garvey auto with a 3X GU selection would have been very exciting for me. Not so much anymore, but still a nice add.

James Loney. /20.
This one is cool, but already have a better Eddie Murray /10 with logos!

Jose Peraza

Last Dodger item is actually my 2nd 2021 buy. A very cheap, number padding auto that was under $4! Looks like one of those 5x7 photo pack items mounted to a stiffer backing. It is creased, but still ok.

From the Former/future DAodger camp today comes:

Garrett Anderson.

Jim Leyritz.

The last one is technically not what i would consider a Dodger for my collection. He is not pictured as a Dodger, but he also never played a game for the team either at the minor or major league level, yet he technically WAS a Dodger very briefly.

Homer Bailey joined the Dodgers via a trade with the Reds on Dec 21, 2019:

December 21, 2018: Traded by the Cincinnati Reds with Jeter Downs (minors) and Josiah Gray (minors) to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Kyle Farmer, Matt Kemp, Yasiel Puig, Alex Wood and cash.

The Dodgers then turned around and released him the following day! The royals would utilize Homer that following season, while the Dodgers payed the bulk of his $22M salary!!

The card was being sold by someone who I was already buying several cards from and was cheap, and it's not a bad card (that signature placement sucks and there are some weird holographic lines), so I bought it. Technically a Dodger for a day, so what the hell, why not?

 

[mrmopar]

8 days into 2021 and still have not received all of my 2020 purchases yet! Big mail day though, so the list is getting smaller...

Don Sutton /10 is the lone certified Dodger card today. From that new 70s set,

Next we have a lot of 4 8x10s.

George Culver was 4-4 with a 3.00 era in 28 games with the 1973 Dodgers. The Dodgers purchased his contract from the Astros and then he was put on waivers and selected by the Phillies, whom which he finished the season with, going 3-1. He was 1-0 in 14 games the following year and that would be it.

Al Downing

Steve Garvey

Duke Sims, the reason why I bought the lot. Had never seen an 8x10 with him on the Dodgers. He played in LA in 1972 and part of the 73 season. The Dodger gave up Ray Lamb and Alan Foster to get Sims from Cleveland.

Cliff Dapper. His MLB career was 8 games in 1942 for the Dodgers.

Lee Lacy 5x7 photo pack

Rick Monday 8x10 Team Issue Photo.

Tom Paciorek PC.

Rip Repulski.

Elias Sosa 8x10 team issue.

Zoilo Versalles. 8x10

The former/future Dodgers continued in the next post

 

[mrmopar]

starting out with a Fan favorites card, but also a 2021 purchase (unless we close out 2020)

Rafael Furcal Silver /99.

Rick Monday 67T High number. (pretty happy about this one, as I don't have a lot of high numbers, signer or otherwise.

Jerry Royster. Can't ever get enough trophy cards!

Finally, Hoyt Wilhelm.

 

[mrmopar]

Dang, forgot to post one. This is a Dodgers Christmas card. it's mid 70s, maybe 76-79 range. I had recognized Jo Wetton's name from somewhere when I saw this pop up and sure enough, she was on the promotions staff in the 1977 Yearbook, so I have to try to identify the other 2 if I can. If they were featured in a yearbook, that is. Likely office staff, nothing essential to the team or anything, but still pretty darn cool stuff. Maybe one turns out to be a manager or director of a department???

 

[mrmopar]

Juan Pierre is the single autograph recipient today

 

[mrmopar]

Today officially ends 2020 with regard to autographs I purchased and received. The last 2 cards showed up. They were a 1972 Bobby Valentine and a 1977 Don Stanhouse. This concludes a photo diary of all Dodger related signatures I added to my collection in 2020. Mostly duplicate signatures, but a few newbies and some great new items even if I had the signature already on something else. it's time to change direction on this thread. more about that at the end.



Today also brought new TTM/IP cards of Len Gabrielson and Tim Harkness. Both from small lots of cards with flawed signatures or personalizations. They were super cheap lots

If I am seeing this correctly, this is my first Steve Garvey autographed card of 2021. This one is /15 and goes with the 6/10 I bought a couple weeks ago. I may have another from this set coming soon....sadly, not 6/15, but rather 8/15. The buyer of 6/15 paid $100. I paid $38 for mine.

The last item I got today may very well be my best item of the year. I keep speaking of a slowdown and after sharing with you all every single dodger and Dodger related autograph I received in 2020 within this thread, clearly I was not slowing by any means. I think I said something similiar with a Larry MacPhail, but also claiming a Walter O'Malley this past year made it a good year. I can't imagine I will come up with anything that will top those, as new signatures are almost impossible for me now. If/When I can land a Dodgers auto of Mookie Betts, I am going to be pretty excited about that. He, Victor Gonzalez and Zach McKinstry still elude me as the only LA Dodgers I still need. Enough of talk about what I don't have and back to what I do have. This last item really deserved a thread of it's own. I already have several signatures of this former player, a couple certified even, but this was kind of a whale for me. Have wanted this since the set came out in 1995!

1995 Topps Brooklyn Dodgers Archives Sandy Koufax. This card was randomly inserted into boxes of the all dodger set. They are not numbered, but I think I have read there were around 1000 copies. They are not easy to find, or cheap. I have always loved the 1956 Topps set and of course, any Koufax is a score, but this one is just special. No other certified autographs came from that set, which is criminally unfortunate. That was a huge missed opportunity for Topps and would have allowed for some pretty awesome cards.



I could end the year now with this one, but I am thinking that moving forward, only items I feel are worth a special mention will be shared. This could be a very cool oddball item, a low serial numbered card, an item featuring a player who is not normally associated with the Dodgers, but he is shown as such, etc. PLUS, they have to be in a Dodger uniform if it is a photo or card item. The selection will be at my discretion, but I will try to keep it interesting.

The one exception will be any signature that is new to my collection, regardless of how boring or common it may be. for example, if I got a Zach McKinstry 3x5, this would be shown, although I am the only person in the world who cares!

 

[mrmopar]

I may miss the self-monitoring of this thread, but I cut the cord officially. Several mail days have passed with nothing to share that was worthy. Today was a bumper crop though and worthy of a share, to me at least.

The first is a non-Dodger, but it is Garvey. It's also #6/20, his jersey number. I actually like the look of the card image too. I thought about sharing ALL Garvey pick-ups, but I doubt I will stick to that. Sometimes I just get stuff that is too boring, even for me.



I will also share this one because i like the design. I am a 70s guy all around, would have loved living in the era as a slightly older person, but at least i got to see it live, although I was a preteen. Also a non-Dodger. I won't make this a habit, but it is a cool looking card, even with sticker auto. Love that high kick!! Juan Marichal. That signature is getting a bit shakey. Not to sound insensitive, but grab your Marichal autos now if you don't have one and still need one. You may still have plenty of time yet, but you never know! He is 83 after all.

Lastly, this one has a story behind it. I have wanted one ever since i saw it in someone's photobucket. I was a few years too late though, but after landing the Kershaw/Harris combo recently for a solid price, this one popped up at a crqzy high price. I offered $80 and was declined. The seller then started lowering his price every couple of listings and eventually it hit $80. By that time, I was a little bitter and kind of wanted to see how low it might go. I thought i might lose out, but was willing to give it a shot. It got down to $60 and I passed a couple times. I was ready to buy at the next listing at hopefully a slightly lower price, but decided I was ready to pay $60 too if the price was held steadt once more. It didn't get relisted! Murphy's Law! After he sold a bunch of other stuff, it showed back up again, this time back around $120! WTF? I think I saw it relist a few times w/o the price changing and finally it went up for BO. I offered $60 and it was accepted.

I am not convinced this isn't more like a $30 card now, but I am OK with the price. Noren is deceased now, but was not a major player in the hobby and Ethier had a decent career, but nothing spectacular. Still, I was once willing to pay $80, so a 25% discount felt right.

 

[MrMet]

Do you have Travis Taijeron?

I still can’t post pics but it was an extra he sent me back from a TTM, it’s a 2018 choice OKC Dodgers card, OKCDodgers jersey that looks like a regular Dodgers jersey but different patches, okc batting helmet


Sent from my iPhone using Freedom Card Board mobile app

 

[mrmopar]

Do you have Travis Taijeron?

I still can’t post pics but it was an extra he sent me back from a TTM, it’s a 2018 choice OKC Dodgers card, OKCDodgers jersey that looks like a regular Dodgers jersey but different patches, okc batting helmet


Sent from my iPhone using Freedom Card Board mobile app

pretty sure he had a Chrome certified auto, so thinking I do have him.

 

[mrmopar]

Took a chance on this one. Didn't have the card itself, so figure even if it were to be fake, it still displays OK. It was surprisingly cheap, so that may be the telltale sign, but stranger things have happened! His signature is such a scribble that it makes it tough to really tell, for me at least. The Lykes card is smaller than I thought it would be too, which was a surprise. I assumed they were standard card size, but more like a 75 Mini. My first 1993 Lykes.

 

[mrmopar]

This one was worthy of mention. I actually can't remember if I won this card before. I know I have been outbid several times, so when one had a nice BIN price, I jumped.

 

[mrmopar]

Out of town for a week and had a nice pile of packages waiting for me. Glad I am no longer showing everything though, that got to be a bit time consuming and tedious at times...

This is the featured Dodger card. I had a couple Kevin Brown cards showing him in a Dodger uniform, but both were actually Yankee cards by name. This one is my first true certified Dodger card of Brown.



I also wanted to show off a couple other key card additions, both brief Dodgers as you have seen in the past, although not pictured as Dodgers. This does break my new rule somewhat, but I don't want this thread to die off completely, so I will sprinkle in some neat former/future Dodger cards now and again.

Jim Bunning /25



And then there is this card. Probably one of the top 10 card images of all-time in my mind. I love this card.

Juan Marichal

 

[dano7]

Nice adds! Always loved Marichal's high leg kick!!!!

 

[mrmopar]

I have to admit, not hating this less frequent sharing. if I could click and drag all the photos at once, that would make it simpler, or maybe just line them all up and take one photo. anyway, here are two noteworthy adds for me in the last week or so. nothing epic, but worth mention.

Duke Snider - Always nice to add a HOFer and these were a nice series of early autographs I have always enjoyed. I thought about building the prior year, but gave up. Have a bunch, but nowhere near the set.



This guy never made the team, but did have this Bowmna card. Braydon Fisher. Looks like 2018 was his only recorded experience. Maybe he is still around, but chanves are he is not.

 

[mrmopar]

It's been a bit since I got something I felt was worthy of mention, now that I am off the daily report.

Two items came today that I feel warrant mention.

The first is a Hoyt Wilhelm PC. He has so few Dodger items and this is is one of the better images.

The other is a new auto, although not officially a Dodger yet, as he has yet to play in the majors. Odd name, Clayton Beeter.

Nothing super exciting this time.

I hope to see something come in soon that I am very excited to share though, so hopefully Monday or Tuesday. I've been talking about it a few times this past year...

 

[mrmopar]

Not the one I was excited for, but this one took a while and cost me more than I think it should have. These Baller Dodger set autos have been selling for stupid prices, all of them Even the scrubs, which is most of the set! Maybe it is the "new" money flooding the hobby and destroying prices, but I used to have much less competition for basic Dodger autographs in general. Was hoping to buy a ******* too, but those seem to top out at $35+. Not biting on that one. I don't think it is the baller set in itself, but I could be wrong. I suppose it is a relatively small set to build, although you have to nab a Koufax if you want it complete. I would love to know how limited the base autographs are though, because Blake Treinen is not a $20 autograph in any reasonable scenario I can think of!

I am sure I am starting to sound like a broken record, but this crap is just making it harder and harder to keep going. Maybe it is just a combination of a bunch of factors that is slowly sucking every last bit of enjoyment out of a once great hobby. Sigh....

 

[mrmopar]

It was a Pee Wee mail day...and I just happened to watch "Porky's" last night too!

 

[mrmopar]

My exciting card still has not arrived. Why USPS do you have to torture me on the items i really really want and can't replace easily? On to things I care much less about.

Ah, the dilemma between missing out and buying too soon. We all know it well, I'm sure. I will announce this card, simply because I am not getting as many mail days these days and it does kind of fall into my collecting realm. However, if i collected every minor league player who had a card, I would go crazy. I did OK with the earlier stuff, because there just weren't as many, but after a while, everyone was spitting out prospect cards and so many just never make it. Lots of money wasted on guys who never even break the MLB level, let alone play for the Dodgers main club.

This guy is 22. I guess we'll see, but he is in Rookie ball now, 3 seasons under his belt. Not a likely break out player., but here is to hoping he is a true Hidden Gem

 

[mrmopar]

A pretty good day, but the continued mail delays are starting to piss me off. Once again, I have a very special item that can not be replaced that is sitting in whodafukknowsland with no updates! I have a good half dozen packages that are over 2 weeks old not delivered.

I did get a nice lot of Dodger/Dukes autographs. 2 team images and a yearbook.



This one has 20 signatures on it! Love stuff like this:

Lone card for the day is a Timeless Teams Sutton. Some of these were short printed, but I only ever paid attention to Garvey print runs, so not sure if any Suttons are tougher.