I recently recovered a box of my old cards, and I was
thrilled to find my first two TTM successes ever in there. These happened back
in 1995, while I was in 5th grade.
I’m sure I read about through the mail autograph (TTM) collecting
in one of the monthly card magazines, either Beckett or Tuff Stuff. I read them a lot as a kid. Once in a
while there would be a quick feature on guys who sign or how to obtain
autographs by writing to a player. I was intrigued, so I sent a few cards away.
I had no clue what I was doing. I know for a fact that I did
not send a SASE. I’m sure I just wrote my name and address at the bottom of a letter, thinking the player
would have no issue with writing out an envelope and sending my card back to me.
Yet, somehow these two did return to me. I’m sure that wouldn’t fly in today’s
world.
The first success was from Vinny Del Negro, then of the
Spurs. I have no clue why I sent to him. He signed my 1994-95 Fleer card in
pen. This set was pretty cool though. I like the foil pain splash behind the name.
The second success was from LaPhonso Ellis of the Nuggets.
I’m also positive I received some Nuggets stickers with the card, which was
cool. It must’ve been obvious I was a kid. '93-'94 Upper Deck was pretty sweet too. Just basic, but nice.
I feel lucky to still have these. I’ve gotten
hundreds of successes on and off and since then, and this started it all. You know what they say: you never forget your
first…
It's great that you were able to recover such significant cards in your collecting history. Who knew you'd still be doing TTMs all these years later?
ReplyDeleteCongrats on rediscovering your first returns.
ReplyDelete