Signed, Sealed, Delivered

Since moving, my ttm sending has come to a halting stop.  There's just too much going on right now to have the time and space to send out a batch of letters.

But there's always time for more direct routes.  I found a few minor league autos of ex-Bucs I was interested in, and while checking out the seller's other items found some nice non-Pirate autographs.

I got outbid on an auto of prolific journeyman catcher Dusty Brown, yet I managed to score this sweet Josh Johnson rookie auto for just $.99 with free shipping.  Sure, his stock has dropped quite a bit after a terrible season north of the border, but I can't pass up a chance to add an All-Star autograph for less than the price of a cheeseburger.

Oh, this silly thing

Talk about taking some time off.  We're well past due for an update here.  And while a lack of card shows in the Pittsburgh area may mean there won't be any additions to my miscellaneous collections for some time, I certainly have quite the backlog of fun cards that deserve some love.

I don't know if there was ever a team that was as cool as the mid 90's Mariners.  Young phenom Alex Rodriguez, flamethrower Randy Johnson, total badass Jay Buhner, and of course The Kid.  There was somebody on that team that every little league player wanted to emulate (my batting stance was Griffey-esque, even if my swing wasn't).

These two cards were dime box finds a few months back.  The Griffey is classic, while I love the Kingdome photo in the background on the Big Unit card.

And before leaving Ohio, I managed one last trip to Dayton.  The show was disappointing in terms of Steelers and Pirates cards, but yielded some other cool finds.  Wells is a notoriously tough auto, and I was stunned to find it in a dollar box.  I'll always remember him as a Yankee, but since he will only sign Jays items (perhaps they fed him well in Canada?), this will probably be as good as it gets for me.  Lopes was a great TTM signer for years.  And of course I never sent to him before he abruptly stopped signing autographs.  Again, this isn't the card I would have chosen, but I'm not thaaaat picky when it comes to autograph collecting.  And for a little more than the cost of two stamps, I'm glad he's a player I can finally add to my collection.