TTM returns, Lions Signing, Box Breaks, and Hobby Schtuff.

TTM returns are fun because as long as they are out there you never know when they might show back up at your door. Here are two examples of the extremes; CC was sent out YEARS ago and RoFlo returned within 5 days of me sending and both showed up on the same day.

CC caught up on his correspondence and sent back everybody's TTM requests from years past!

MLB Central is my favorite show! Its so perfect it makes me sick thinking it could be changed or dropped ever. Robert made the show way more laid back and fun. Plus...Lauren. 

Roar. My brother talked me into hitting a free Lions signing. It was originally supposed to be Ziggy Ansah but he is hurt so Pro Bowl-bound Darius Slay stepped in. The only problem was the store had Ansah stuff ready not Slay but still posted only in-house post cards would be signed. Ultimately, you did need to bring something yourself. We ended up running too late to find anything to take just in case anyway. I bought a Lions Calendar with this pic in it to get signed and my brother bought a ball.

In hobby news, Mark Jackson was all the rage on ebay. I saw this post on a facebook group. Topps sent this guy two of the Topps Living Set art prints that are serial numbered. BUT, he only ordered 1 and got two with the same numbering. Just another example of Topps not even close to having it's shit together.

More shitty Ebay shippers. This card came in a penny sleeve inside a shipping envelope used for adding paper work to a box in a PWE. Just when I think there is not another way I could receive a card shipped poorly. I guess you get what you pay for with a free shipping 25 cent auction win on this photo variation SP.

Card showed up okay and is available. 

I had $1.00 burning a hole in my paypal pocket so I entered a 1 box inception team break with the Orioles. I was hoping for one of their many rookies. Got this base Machado instead. I have quite a bit of Machado cards available. I hate the guy so hit me up on here or TCDB (pjdionne12) if you collect Manny.

Do You Trade PC cards for PC cards? & Luke Kennard In Person Autograph

What To Do, What To Do...

I was contacted on facebook by a fellow Tigers Collectible group member who remembered me winning a Razz containing a JaCoby Jones #1/3 memorabilia card asking if I was willing to trade it. He himself had just found #2/3 and we both missed out on #3/3 being sold on ebay last week for a mere $19! Damn it. Out of respect for the hobby, I let the guy make me offers for the card. It was worth much more than $19 to me even if market value of the last one sold was at a steal of a price. I did not want to part with it, BUT; I respect the guy trying to complete the set of 3 cards. He offered me something my collection has lacked: Jose Canseco scribbled ink. Out of the goodness of my heart and making him swear to do whatever it takes to complete the 3/3 set, I accepted the trade. I was sad to see that card go but overjoyed to finally have a Canseco auto. On the plus side when Jones tanks and all my PC of him is worthless I can look back on this trade happily. If he becomes the GOAT I only got rid of one card.

Out with the old,

In with the new!

Detroit Piston and Duke Alumnus Luke Kennard 

It is always a treat to hand a guy a card to have signed and have them comment on never having seen it before. It has happened a few times to me and though I know I will not be the only person on Earth to have a certain card signed, it feels cool to be the first. Dunham's Sports in Westland Michigan brought in Rookie Luke Kennard for a free public signing. Nolan and I waiting about 45 minutes in line to meet him and have him sign this rookie card I got from a break a few months ago. He was a super nice guy. I would compare his potential from what I have seen from his play as that of JJ Reddick. I hope his playing time increases soon.

After getting the signature I had to buy Nolan a Tigers hat like mine and I grabbed a 99 cent 4 card pack of Topps Archives from the impulse buy section. I got a sweet Buck Farmer RC I hadn't had:

THE JACK MORRIS - '78 Tiger RC Project

WARNING: This may be the longest blog post I've ever done. Things got crazy today in the ghetto. A few days ago while checking my Crave the Auto app on my phone I saw Jack Morris listed as doing a meet and greet at a Walmart kind of near me. I poked around on the internet like crazy to verify the posting but could find nothing. I needed my '78 Morris RC signed for my goal of completing my Whitaker/Trammell/Parrish/Morris '78 Tiger Rookie Card signatures set that I am hoping to finish this year. I now need Trammell and Parrish and I am done. I had been planning on heading to the West side of the state for a minor league game that he was supposed to be signing at in May. When this popped up I started freaking out over the excitement of getting the card signed and locally at that. I also had my reservations as the ad said nothing about what he was signing and I couldn't verify if it was just a April Fool's prank too. Long story kind of short, I got a bunch of Morris stuff together and decided to commit to going to this event no matter what. When I showed up at the Walmart there was about 40 people in front of me in line. The Walmart employees couldn't answer any questions about what he was signing or how many items or anything. The event was publicized poorly and the information given to the people involved was worse it seemed.
Jack showed up 30 minutes before he was even supposed to and started signing right away. I have heard many negative things about the man and his personality toward anybody, especially autograph seekers but I have to say today my experience was different. He was very pleasant, funny, and tried to entertain everyone. The line moved way too fast and I looped around a number of times and got countless items signed. He was amazing the whole time I cannot and will not listen to negative stories about the guy. He kicked butt today! I had a few short, humorous exchanges with him including some fishing pictures and an April Fool's story about his son that was great. This day totally made up for Tigerfest sucking. (Tigerfest UPDATE: Neither of the 2 guys I got signatures from are on the opening day roster and only one is barely on the 40 man now and the other, though a great guy, is unemployed.) While I was in line I met a guy who told me about a card show about a mile away that I headed to after getting too many signatures.

Now, I do feel bad making the guy sign a ton of cards for me BUT I do not sell TTM or in person autos and I have a great uncle, a nephew, a brother, and a son who would totally love to have some Morris ink and the dude got paid and there was no line or people who didn't get anything. So, I think I am alright this time. At the show I was looking for any unique Jack Morris stuff in case I could find something in time to have him sign it. I found another of the '78 rookie cards in better condition than mine for $3. I bought it and went back to Walmart just in time to be the last signature of the day for him. I returned to the card show and overheard a guy frustrated that he didn't know about the signing. I proceeded to trade him the card I had bought for $3 for a handful of Tigers cards. I spent the rest of my day wheeling and dealing and had a great time at the first card show I have been to in years. I will do a separate post on Trade Bait I picked up, the personal collection stuff I found, and what I pulled from a few packs I opened. Here (above) is the rest of my Morris pull minus the other Rookie I traded away. I also got one of the Donruss Jumbo 8X10 free pictures from the event signed.