Chris Potter was kind enough to take a Bo Jackson card to the National for me.  He didn't ask for any kind of payment for the help, so I definitely appreciate the gesture.

Unfortunately, in what is beginning to look like a pattern, the card was signed with a Staedtler.  I did not request Sharpie, so I can't really complain.  The autograph isn't nearly as thin as the Thomas autographs in my last post, but it isn't quite as bold as I would have liked.

On top of that, Bo gave a very small autograph.  I guess I should be happy that Bo put his #8 on the card.

All in all, I'm happy to cross this off of my wantlist.  I still need Bo for the 1991 and 1992 Upper Deck sets, as well as a rookie card.  I just couldn't bring myself to pay $316 for 4 signed cards.  I think I might have an opportunity to get the other cards signed early next year for $40 a pop, which is a lot easier to stomach. 

In the meantime, I am one step closer to completing my favorite Upper Deck set of all time.  All I need now is Joey Cora, George Bell, Ellis Burks, Dave Stieb, and the Robin Ventura team checklist. 

tommyjackley from SCN took part in a private signing with Frank Thomas a couple of weeks ago.  I need Frank on TONS of items, so I've been getting 3-4 done every time he does a reasonably priced signing.

I got my cards back a couple of days ago.  I'm slightly disappointed with three of the cards, and completely unhappy with the fourth.

All four cards were signed in a very thin pen, most likely a Staedtler.  Are Sharpies no longer the "default" pen for signing cards?  I know some collectors prefer the thin Staedtler look, but I was under the impression that Sharpie was still the standard.  I guess I will have to specifically request Sharpie for all future signings, as I definitely prefer a bolder autograph.

As you can see, the 1993 Upper Deck checklist was signed on the back.  This is obviously no good.  For $75 a card, I expect the card to be signed on the front.

I have contacted Tommy, and told him I either want a replacement signed card or a refund.  Tommy has good feedback, so I'm confident he will take care of the situation one way or another.  I will post here when this happens.

In the meantime, here are the four cards I received:

I just wanted to give everybody a heads up that my online autographed card database was recently wiped out due to a "write error" while I was in the process of updating it.  Of course, I have been slacking when it comes to performing backups, so I have a LOT of work to do to restore it.  That page, usually found at www.chisoxcollector.com/pages/cards.htm, will be down for approximately 1 week.  I fully expect to have it online by the end of next weekend. 

Thank you for your understanding!

Billy Pierce was kind enough to sign 6 cards for me.  Mr. Pierce is my pick for best mail signer on the planet.  I was a bit hesitant to send 6 at one time, but if there is one person that wouldn't have a problem with it, it would be Billy.  The return took 9 days.  I'm especially excited about the 1952-54 Red Man cards!

Today I received some signed cards from Chris, a collector friend that graphs the Newark Bears.  He still has more stuff that he is working on for me, but he was nice enough to send me what he has gotten done so far.  Here is the tally:

Carl Everett - 6 cards
Ron Karkovice - 17 cards
Dave LaPoint - 6 cards
Pablo Ozuna - 1 card
Tim Raines - 4 cards
Bill Simas - 3 cards

Today's mail brought a nice success: a 1953 Topps Jim Rivera.  "Jungle Jim" is a fantastic mail signer, and he signed this rookie beautifully. 

I received a very nice TTM success today.  John Romano signed my 1959 Topps card for a very reasonable fee of $5.  I have been wanting to add this card to my collection for quite some time, so I was very pleased when I found out he had started signing his mail for a fee.