TTMs: Never give up!

[30ranfordfan]

I don't often post my TTM successes in this forum.... I usually limit them to the TTM forum (I get that these are not everyone's cup of tea, that's okay!)

I've written plenty of my all-time Oilers project. I collect an autograph from everyone to have ever played for the Oilers. For modern players, it's pretty easy. Most end up with signed rookie cards. For guys that never signed for a card company.... but they had decent sized careers: They likely had NHL cards, and it's easy to find a signed copy.

For players who only had a cup of coffee in the NHL, in the 80s or early 90s, it can be really tough to track down a signature.

I got this one back yesterday. Tommy Lehmann:



Lehmann was a star in Sweden, drafted late in 1982, and came to the NHL during the 87-88 season with Boston. He played 35 games with the Bruins over two years, and then a single game with Edmonton in 89-90. He played a bit for their farm team in Cape Breton, and then returned home to Sweden.

I was able to secure a copy of his autograph a few years ago, made a trade with a collector in Sweden. All the years I've been collecting autographs - Lehmann's is probably in the top 10 rarest signatures, for ex-Oilers. I've seen very few copies.

What I wanted to share about this return, and to give any of my fellow TTM fans hope..... while I'm not sure exactly when I mailed this card out, I suspect it was either early 2015 or late 2014. At the time I was renting from a friend, and the card was just recently delivered to his address. Took somewhere between 5 & 6 years to get back to me, but I'm happy it did!

[sparty07]

That's crazy that he kept your card and address that long

[30ranfordfan]

That's crazy that he kept your card and address that long

What I send out is the card, with a letter, and a self-address / stamped envelope (in this case, I got some Swedish stamps before I mailed to him).

I'm going to assume that either my letter to him sat in a pile of unread mail / paperwork for years..... or he read it, signed the card, put it in the return envelope, and that got stuck in a pile of papers for years.

[sparty07]

What I send out is the card, with a letter, and a self-address / stamped envelope (in this case, I got some Swedish stamps before I mailed to him).

I'm going to assume that either my letter to him sat in a pile of unread mail / paperwork for years..... or he read it, signed the card, put it in the return envelope, and that got stuck in a pile of papers for years.

If it was in my household, at some point in 5 years my wife would have just swept it into the recycle bin.

I have a work buddy who is huge into TTM and the best story he had of this was Phil Collins. He will sign anything for a fan once. He sent one thing in the 90's and got it back fairly quickly. In 2010's he had a cool Rolling Stones cover (or something like that) and sent it in. A few months later he got a letter back from the secretary stating something along the lines of "he only signs things for fans once, here is a copy of your letter from 199X when he signed your Y. Thank you for being a fan"

[OrrtoBourque]

That's a great story I haven't attempted TTM's in years. This story makes me want to start again.

[30ranfordfan]

If it was in my household, at some point in 5 years my wife would have just swept it into the recycle bin.

I have a work buddy who is huge into TTM and the best story he had of this was Phil Collins. He will sign anything for a fan once. He sent one thing in the 90's and got it back fairly quickly. In 2010's he had a cool Rolling Stones cover (or something like that) and sent it in. A few months later he got a letter back from the secretary stating something along the lines of "he only signs things for fans once, here is a copy of your letter from 199X when he signed your Y. Thank you for being a fan"

Would be the same thing in my household to, lol. Fortunately - I sent it to his work! (I found the company in Sweden that he owns).

The Phil Collins story is amazing, and I guess that's a good way to sign for your fans... but make sure nobody is taking advantage of it. (Myself, I generally only send one card per request. The exception is with custom cards - and they're typically for players that never had real cards. I'll usually send two copies, and suggest they keep one. It's probably a 50/50 split - sometimes I get both back, sometimes just one).

That's a great story I haven't attempted TTM's in years. This story makes me want to start again.

It's a lot of fun, and I find I do it in waves. I'll send out a whack of them over the span of a month... and then nothing for a couple of months... and then another big wave of them, etc.

[creasecollector]

Man, now that is so awesome. It's crazy to think about the story behind this TTM and hold long it took to get back into your hands. Congrats on adding it to your collection after all this time!

[30ranfordfan]

Man, now that is so awesome. It's crazy to think about the story behind this TTM and hold long it took to get back into your hands. Congrats on adding it to your collection after all this time!

Thanks! It's certainly a record for me. I said before, I've had them come back after more than a year... but I think this is the first one that came back after more than 2 years (and certainly more than 5).

My general thought process: After 6 months, it's probably not coming back. After 18 months, it's certainly not coming back.

The 5+ years just confuses me. If he didn't like signing... and tossed it in the garbage... I'd totally get that. That it took this long means either my letter, or the return envelope, sat in a pile of "things to do" for years.

I did take a look at the postmark date on the envelope. This makes it even more interesting. I can't imagine I mailed this card out later than spring of 2015. The postmark date on the return (when it was stamped, at a post office in Sweden) is from August of 2019. It arrived at my friend's house in September of 2020.

So he replied 4+ years after I sent it (no telling how long it actually took to reach him). It took over a year to come back after he replied.

[Irbe3201]

That's awesome it showed up after that long ago. Looks like he used a blue ball point pen. I got a Johnny Bower where he signed with a ball point but then went over it with a sharpie on a 5x7 BeeHive card. The stories of TTM cards are always cool to hear. Congrats!

[camsue]

Wow that is amazing