https://www.sportscardforum.com/blogs/24420-indyreds SportsCardForum is your source for everything related to sports cards for collectors and non-collectors alike! en Sun, 07 Jun 2026 01:51:13 GMT vBulletin 60 https://www.sportscardforum.com/images/misc/rss.jpg https://www.sportscardforum.com/blogs/24420-indyreds https://www.sportscardforum.com/entries/903-Collecting-autographs Mon, 24 May 2010 02:43:36 GMT Why TTM Autographs Are Perfect for Tough Times By indyreds AKA Mike Greene I know that the economy has been a little rough and many of us are cutting back or trying to make our... Why TTM Autographs Are Perfect for Tough Times
By indyreds AKA Mike Greene
I know that the economy has been a little rough and many of us are cutting back or trying to make our collection dollars stretch further than before. The county I work in is currently at over a 17% unemployment rate and the National unemployment rate is now over 9%! Many collectors have a much more limited budget for their hobby as we all tighten our belts. While I am one of the lucky ones who has not seen my employer laying off workers, I have started to look at my spending and cut back where I can. It is no secret that our hobby dollars is a place where many of us have cut back.
I know that opening up a box and pulling out an autograph of a player from your favorite team, a Hall of Famer, rookie or a current star always seems like a success. I just can no longer justify spending $100 on a box of sports cards and get a couple of hits. It is like playing the lottery as you just never know what you will get and you sometimes end up with a piece of cardboard that you just do not want. Thank God that SCF is here to try to trade those hits you did not want to someone who might. I wanted more control of the autographed items coming into my collection, but did not want to spend what autograph singles are bringing in the hobby.
Do you realize for around $10 you can add ten to twenty autographs to your collection? It can be done! You can pick up a box of envelopes at most Dollar stores for just that one dollar. Purchase a book of stamps for $8.80 cents at your local post office. Now look at that stack of cards you have that were not hits from the boxes you have purchased. I assume that most collectors have plenty of base cards that they do nothing with. Take a few moments and go into the Through the Mail Manager (TTMM) and look through the recent successes. Select some players that others have gotten back or take a shot at someone else. You can usually find players who you would love to add to your collection and then sort through those base cards you have sitting out and pull one or two cards out of those players.
Look up those players in the TTMM and address an envelope to them. Take a few minutes to write a short letter telling the player why you would like their autograph and ask them to sign the card or cards you are mailing to them. Fill out another envelope with your address in the send to area and place a stamp on it. In the hobby the call this envelope a self addressed stamped envelope and is often abbreviated to SASE. Place your cards, the request letter and your SASE into the player addressed envelope. Stamp the envelope and mail it off! You have enough supplies with that book of stamps and the envelope box you purchased to attempt ten requests. What would you have to pay for a hobby box with ten autograph hits in it? Here are ten names that have recent successes in the TTMM Andre Dawson, Duke Snider, Paul Molitor, Ozzie Newsome, Lawrence Taylor, Hershel Walker, Karl Malone, Lenny Wilkens, Danica Patrick and Anna Kournikova. I can definitely see where adding those ten autographs to your collection for $10 would make your hobby dollars stretch further. Give it a shot and please do report your successes in the TTMM for other members as well! I have to go check my mail! Best of luck with your autograph requests! ]]> indyreds https://www.sportscardforum.com/entries/903-Collecting-autographs https://www.sportscardforum.com/entries/902-Autographs-passing-away Mon, 24 May 2010 02:41:15 GMT Autographs Hot or Not? by Mike Greene, Jr. AKA indyreds It seems like there are always trends in the collectible world and I can not help but wonder about autographs in the long term. Will they... Autographs Hot or Not?
by Mike Greene, Jr. AKA indyreds
It seems like there are always trends in the collectible world and I can not help but wonder about autographs in the long term. Will they still hold the same place for sports fans or will they just fade away? We have seen what over production can do to sports cards. Will there continue to be enough demand to keep up with all the supply out there? Why do we find them so desirable in the first place? Will there even be autographs in the future?
I will be the first to say that I do enjoy the fact that there are so many more outlets to get autographs than there was Twenty years ago. It is easy to find cards and memorabilia on trade sites like sportscardforum, sports league sites, individual player sites, auctions and retailers who specialize in autographs. It is common to be able to pull autographed cards out of even the low end card sets. The number of places to obtain autographs seems to point to a strong market now, but the amount of product being signed to keep these places going must effect the long term value. The market is getting so saturated already that I have purchased autograph cards for only a dollar from some card dealers at shows and in their shops. I have seen many autographed cards go unsold for a dollar on the most popular online auction site. I collect most of my autographs via through the mail requests and have found that I can get some players I want cheaper at my local card shop in the bargain bin!
Autographs still do hold a special place for most sports card collectors out there. It is easy to see when you attempt to trade your cards. See how often that you can trade your regular issue rookie cards or even material cards for an autograph someone has put up for trade on one of the trade sites. Some traders will actually be offended with the suggestion of trading a Forty Dollar rookie card for a autograph they listed that books half of that amount. It shows that the demand for autographs are still stronger than the rookie card market that has driven our hobby for years.
I have heard a disturbing new trend in our education system that could change the autograph community forever. Some school systems are now only spending a year teaching cursive writing and do not require students to use it afterwards. It seems that with the widespread use of computers that printing matches up better for students needs. The printed letters correspond better to the real world use of email and word processing skills. Handwritten letters seem to be becoming a thing of the past. Check your mailbox and look at how many items you have that are computer generated now. It is scary to think that in another Twenty years that young players may be printing autographs instead of the cursive signatures we have now. Will the next group of collectors coming up have an interest in autographed items? I hope that they do.
Why do we collect autographs in the first place? Why does a person scribbling something on an item make it worth more? That answer is a varied as the number of us out there who collect autographs in the first place. I think part of it is having an item that was once in the hands of that player. It can be the value for some of us. In person autographs is an memory of the actual meeting with that star. It also can be the thrill of the chase. I love theme autograph collectors. It is great to see an entire autographed card set, a large collection of your team, winners of certain awards or a collection of players who have hit a milestone. I personally have started working on getting a signed card from each member of the 1986 Mets team. Many people would assign no value to a Mookie Wilson autographed card, but it would be key to that collection to me. The reason we collect autographs is that we find enjoyment of some sort out of it.
I started asking basically if autographs will eventually die out as a collectible. I can not say that the value will remain high for any particular player, but the current demand seems to point that autographs are going no where too soon. Honestly many of us would be happy if supply drove down the prices even further as it would allow us to collect more of them for less. The hobby will be around as long as we enjoy collecting them. I just hope that when the time comes that I pass my autographs to my children that they find enjoyment in them as well. ]]> indyreds https://www.sportscardforum.com/entries/902-Autographs-passing-away https://www.sportscardforum.com/entries/901-TTMM-going-well Mon, 24 May 2010 02:37:15 GMT I was just looking aroung the TTMM database here at SCF and found out that we have over 1600 new addresses added this year. It is nice to see that we may still hit 5,000 new addresses added in 2010.... I was just looking aroung the TTMM database here at SCF and found out that we have over 1600 new addresses added this year. It is nice to see that we may still hit 5,000 new addresses added in 2010. I will admit that I was a little nervous when we first rolled it out last year. We had a few members who really did not seem to warm to the idea of the database set up at first. It looks like a whole that the SCF autograph community has warmed to the idea alot since then. Thanks to all of you who have worked so hard to make it a success. I know that it has helped my collection. ]]> indyreds https://www.sportscardforum.com/entries/901-TTMM-going-well https://www.sportscardforum.com/entries/419-TTM-Database Wed, 10 Jun 2009 18:39:55 GMT The TTM database has been installed and is doing very well at this point. For the most part it was recieved positively. I was a little nervous about the release and a little shocked that we are still... The TTM database has been installed and is doing very well at this point. For the most part it was recieved positively. I was a little nervous about the release and a little shocked that we are still having so many successes posted in autograph central that are not going into the TTM Manager! Hopefully as more members give it a shot they will realize all the new tools at their disposal. I personally have enjoyed the tracking feature of the database. It is cool to see who I had sent to and when the request came back. I also find it helpful to see who and when the last record on an address was reported. Thank you to all the hard work everyone put into making that database possible and for all the members who are active in the database as you are the folks who are making it better for all of us! ]]> indyreds https://www.sportscardforum.com/entries/419-TTM-Database https://www.sportscardforum.com/entries/279-TTMs-warming-up! Sun, 05 Apr 2009 16:26:36 GMT It has been awhile since my last blog entry. It is nice to see the returns picking up not just for me, but for others on the site as well. My best few autos since my last blog entry actually were... It has been awhile since my last blog entry. It is nice to see the returns picking up not just for me, but for others on the site as well. My best few autos since my last blog entry actually were email requests from Mary Tyler Moore, Anne Murray and Shirley McClaine. My sports autos have been coming along fine as well. The one I liked the most was since my last post was an 8x10 of Sparky Anderson. We have lost some great TTM guys rescently as George Kell has passed and John Wooden no longer signs due to health issues. Best of wishes to you all on your collections and may you mailbox be full! ]]> indyreds https://www.sportscardforum.com/entries/279-TTMs-warming-up! https://www.sportscardforum.com/entries/220-More-Spring-Training-results-came-in! Sun, 22 Feb 2009 17:50:37 GMT I have gotten two more Spring Training requests back. Brandon Wood signed 2/2 and Hank Conger has signed 1/1. Keep your eyes open as many others have started to report their ST results in the SCF... I have gotten two more Spring Training requests back. Brandon Wood signed 2/2 and Hank Conger has signed 1/1. Keep your eyes open as many others have started to report their ST results in the SCF baseball success threads. ]]> indyreds https://www.sportscardforum.com/entries/220-More-Spring-Training-results-came-in! https://www.sportscardforum.com/entries/215-TTM-Spring-Training Fri, 20 Feb 2009 05:57:52 GMT Today was another nice autograph day. I had just recieved my first three autos from 2009 Spring Training. All three of the guys sent back both of the cards I sent autographed. Here they are: Steve... Today was another nice autograph day. I had just recieved my first three autos from 2009 Spring Training. All three of the guys sent back both of the cards I sent autographed. Here they are:
Steve Holm
Chase Headley
Kevin Pucetas
I also was able to add two more autographs from the 2009 football team from The Ohio State University. I was gifted signed photos of QB Prior and DB Hines. Those look great with last weeks additions to my collection of RB Beanie Wells and DB Jenkins. I hope that your collection continues to grow! ]]> indyreds https://www.sportscardforum.com/entries/215-TTM-Spring-Training