Royals Fan Fest Haul - Even Though I Didn't Go

Zach from Autographed Cards reached out to me a couple weeks ago with an offer I couldn't refuse. He said he would be going to the Royals Fan Fest and wanted to know if I had any cards I needed signed for my autographed sets.  He supplied me with a list of players signing at the Fan Fest, all I had to do was send him the cards.  He didn't ask for anything in return and was just glad to help a fellow blogger out.

WOW!  was my first response to a guy I've never met offering to give up hours of his life to stand in lines to get autographs not for himself but for me. Wow.  So I sent Zach some cards with no expectations but hoping maybe he'd be able to get at least one of them signed for me.

More than at least one came back signed.

Mike MacFarlane for the 1989 Score Rising Stars set.

According to SCN MacFarlane is a spotty signer with a 42% success rate through the mail,

most of those coming by way of Mac-N-Seitz his baseball business with Kevin Seitzer.

I've never even tried him through the mail.

Bill Pecota for the 1992 Topps Stadium Club set.

Pecota has a 0% success rate, which explains the fact that only 18 requests have been logged on SCN.

No sense even trying.

So this is a good one to get, and the only way it could have been got is in person.

Brain McRae twice!

1991 Toys'R"Us and 1991 Upper Deck.

Brian McRae is another that does not sign much TTM, as indicated by a 36% success rate, 

the last success recorded coming in 2012.

Very pleased to get him on 2 sets I'm working.

Another for the 1991 set, Jeff Montgomery.

Ah, a reliable TTMer.  

Montgomery is a prolific TTM signer with a 94% rate, and 421 successes logged.

Jeff also has 1992 Stadium Club card so I may need to send that card to him TTM.

1983 Topps John Wathan.

Wathan has been good at signing through the mail as well.

I sent him an '84 Topps to sign in 2008.  I had traded to get his regular 1983 Topps signed but I still needed this Record Breaker card for the '83 set, a card I didn't have for a long time.  I recently got the card in a trade for a final push to complete the whole '83 (unsigned) set so Zach's timing was perfect in getting it autographed for me.

1983 Topps Ned Yost.

Another card for the '83 set, Yost is also a good TTM signer with a 96% success rate.

1984 Topps Willie Mays Aikens.

The last time I got Aikens, I had to send the card to the penitentiary where he was being held.

That was probably about 8-10 years ago.

I sent him a 1980 Topps, he's in an Angels uniform, and he signed the card in ballpoint, ON THE BACK!

I was shocked and couldn't figure out why he would do that.

Here's that card:

I dunno.  Maybe the facsimile autograph on the front threw him.

Anyhow, Willie is a good signer, but asks for $5 a card now.

Zach mentioned beforehand that a couple of these cards he had gotten signed in person in the past 

and were available to swap out.  Fine by me.

Although I still send TTM, I'm tired of losing cards that I need to complete a set, so I'm hesitant to send even to good TTMers, especially if I only have 1 card of the individual, cuz if it don't come back I no longer have a complete set.  That's why I'm so thankful to get these cards signed through Zach.

I genuinely appreciate the offer and the effort for these cards Zach, Thank you.