OCAAT: Mean Gene Autograph

As much as I can, I'd like to keep the OCAAT posts relevant with current happenings.  As many of you may know, "Mean" Gene Okerlund passed away on January 2.  As a guy that always loved GOOD announcers, and went to school for TV & Radio Broadcasting, Okerlund was one of the voices of my youth.  He was an icon to all who watched wrestling in the 1980s and 1990s.

Almost two years ago, I was fortunate enough to receive back a TTM request I had sent out to Okerlund.  I was much more active sending then and more than a handful of the men that I sent to during that time have passed away.  One of them, one of Okerlund's best friends, Bobby Heenan.  This is about Mean Gene, though.




Because of how the wrestling industry has changed, there will never be anyone that can hold a candle to Gene Okerlund.  There just won't be the opportunity.  Even if there was, Okerlund would be the best, ever. 

Okerlund was 76 years young.  Per Wikipedia (always there, sometimes accurate), his son has stated that he recieved three kidney transplants and suffered a fall that caused his health to deteriorate in his final weeks. 

He is survived by his wife, two children and three grandchildren. 

Thanks for the memories, Mean Gene. 

TTM Success #43 - Hometown Hero

A couple of weeks ago there was a PWE on the table that I knew was a TTM autograph return.  It has been awhile since I sent anything out, leaving me a little more excited than normal.  I looked at the postmark and couldn't think of who it would be from. 

It turns out that it was not being returned to me from where it was sent.  In the summer I sent a request to Jedd Gyorko, at the St. Louis Cardinals' address.  His offseason residence is still in Morgantown, WV.  I wasn't sure what to expect inside.  Was it one card, or three?

It was one card, a 2017 Topps Heritage card.  The reason I wasn't sure what to expect is that last summer, I sent three Heritage cards (from 2011, 2013 and 2014) to get signed.  My goal is to get the Heritage card from each season signed.  It looks like I will have to send the other years again.  Ah well, it happens with TTM requests. 

I really hope that Gyorko has Heritage cards in 2019 and 2020.  The 1970 and 1971 Topps sets are a couple of my favorties! 

If you shop online and haven't signed up and used ebates yet, you're missing out.  I also use it on eBay to get money back from purchases there.  Between referrals and cash back, I've gotten over $100 in less than a year.  FREE CARDS!  If you're on Twitter, please give me a follow.  Happy collecting!

If you shop online and haven't signed up and used ebates yet, you're missing out.  I also use it on eBay to get money back from purchases there.  Between referrals and cash back, I've gotten over $150 in a year (including $15 back on one Black Friday purchase last week).  FREE CARDS!  If you're on Twitter, please give me a follow.  Happy collecting!

TTM Success #42 - Super Tex

Despite some health concerns over the last few years and still being a team owner, A.J. Foyt still signs autographs through the mail.  I'm thankful for that, as this is the second time he's signed for me.

This one came back to me in two months.  My plan is to send these two cars on to Johnny Rutherford and have him sign as well.  He has signed for me in the past and the cards were back to me in less than a week.  I have confidence that I will get them back.  A.J. is always more of a crap shoot with his health concerns.

If you shop online and haven't signed up and used ebates yet, you're missing out.  I also use it on eBay to get money back from purchases there.  Between referrals and cash back, I've gotten over $100 in about seven months.  FREE CARDS!  If you're on Twitter, please give me a follow.  Happy collecting!

TTM Success #41 - What Happened When

My latest TTM return was sitting on the table waiting for me when I came home from work on Thursday.  This one isn't from a former player.  He's the man behind one of the podcasts that I depend on to get me through my work week.

I'm mentioned a podcast and shown you that it came from Atlanta.  I've mentioned that he's not a former player.  Any guesses?

Wrestling is one of the few things that my dad and I bonded over when I was young.  I was all sports, all the time and he wasn't much into them.  He did love pro wrestling and I took to it as well.  During those teenage years that many stopped collecting I never did.  However, I lost interest in pro wrestling.

In college I became interested again and all the names that I knew weren't in WWF.  They were in WCW and that's where my viewing interest leaned.  The voice of WCW television was Tony Schiavone.

After the WWE purchase of WCW, Schiavone left the wrestling scene but remained in the media.  He is play-by-play radio voice of the Gwinett Braves and that's where I sent these to.

Thankfully for us wrestling fans, he now records a weekly podcast called "What Happened When" where he discusses his time in pro wrestling.  You can also find it on iTunes.  It started in February and the next episode will be number 30.

The upcoming episode is probably the one I've most looked forward to so far.  I have loved Tony's stories about "The Enforcer" Arn Anderson so far throughout the series.  On Monday we will get more than two hours of Enforcer talk and I can't wait!

Thank you for signing, Mr. Schiavone!  It didn't go unnoticed to me that you used different color sharpies that allow the signatures to better show up!

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going over to Pro Wrestling Tees to pick up my "Damn I Am Good" WHW tee.  Can't wait to get my phone call from Schiavone for ordering!

If you shop online and haven't signed up and used ebates yet, you're missing out.  I also use it on eBay to get money back from purchases there.  Between referrals and cash back, I've gotten over $100 in about seven months.  FREE CARDS!  If you're on Twitter, please give me a follow.  Happy collecting!

TTM Success #40 - The Brain

My latest TTM autograph success is from a WWE Hall of Famer and in my opinion, the top heel manager of all time.  After his wrestling and managing days were over, he became a broadcaster and is one of my favorite announcers ever as well.

As I was writing this post, I googled Bobby Heenan.  I admittedly didn't realize that he's had as many health issues and may not be in the best of health.  I feel badly for having sent this now, but I'm thrilled to get it back.

I love the Allen & Ginter's card because of the image.  I wanted to have both he and Harley Race sign the card on the right.  Unfortunately, he signed the cards on the back, so I won't send on to Race.  Nonetheless, I am happy to add these to my collection.

If you shop online and haven't signed up and used ebates yet, you're missing out.  I also use it on eBay to get money back.  Between referrals and cash back, I've gotten over $100 in about seven months.  FREE CARDS!  If you're on Twitter, please give me a follow.  Happy collecting!

TTM Success #39 - It's Been Awhile

It's been awhile since I've posted about and TTM autograph successes.  I sent out five requests last week though and the first returned today.

This is my second TTM success from Bob Cousy.  I have no plans to send him more.  I picked up two cards over a year ago, not realizing that he will only sign one per request.  So, I waited a year and was successful.  It came back in nine days, the same number of days as my first request.

If you've never tried requesting autographs through the mail, I recommend Mr. Cousy as one to start with.  He is very dependable and success will give you confidence and motivate you.

If you shop online and haven't signed up and used ebates yet, you're missing out.  I also use it on eBay to get money back.  Between referrals and cash back, I've gotten over $100 in about seven months.  FREE CARDS!  If you're on Twitter, please give me a follow.  Happy collecting!

TTM Success #38 - Just When I'd Given Up Hope

When I got home today, there was an envelope on the table that I knew was an autograph return.  It had the yellow address label on it, meaning it was forwarded.  We moved to our home in August, so I knew there were only a handful of possibilities of who it could be from.

Then, I saw the postmark.

It was back!  I knew that his turnaround time was historically slow, but I had pretty much given up hope of this card coming back to me.  I've been very strategic when requesting and mostly sent to gentlemen who have great track record of signing.  I knew this one was more of a chance.  This has to be one of my favorite returns yet.

1958 Topps #86 Y.A.Tittle

Y.A. Tittle is now 90 years old.  I would say that he has a nice signature for someone that age, but that would be incorrect.  He has a beautiful signature for someone of any age.  Thank you, Mr. Tittle.  I will cherish this autograph forever.

TTM Success #37 - Half a Demolition

A few months ago, Jason asked me if I knew who Bill Eadie is.  It didn't ring a bell and he told me that it Ax from the WWF tag team Demolition.  He played football at my alma mater, West Virginia University, his sophomore year.  I loved Demolition as a kid and even has a poster in my room.  I had no idea that he'd played football five or so mile from where I grew up.

If you are interested in sending to him, the address is in the Sports Card Forum TTM Manager.  This one came back to me in just ten days.

TTM Success #35 - Capital District

It's been quite awhile since I've received a TTM request returned.  That happens when you haven't been sending out.  Oh, if you're wondering where the first 34 are, you can find them on my other blog.

Rick Klein is the Political Director at ABC News and was in the 2016 Allen & Ginter set.  I could give you a bunch of information here, but my suggestion is to listen to the "That SportsCard Show" podcast episode where he discusses himself and the hobby.   You can follow the podcast on Twitter at @TSCSPodcast.

I picked up four copies of Mr. Klein's Allen & Ginter card from Sportlots and he was kind enough to sign and return them to me.  It might be a minor thing to some, but I also appreciate the kind, hand-written letter.

Mr. Klein is a delight to interact with on Twitter and the request came back to me in one week.  Neither of these surprise me.  Anyone that is a Dale Murphy fan is bound to be a great person!

If you ever read this, thank you Mr. Klein!