TTM This Week: Art of Negotiation, This Week's Autograph Returns

TTMCast this Week

Hobby pro Les Wolff joins me on the podcast this week to talk about the art of negotiation. Les brings a dealer’s perspective to negotiating prices when it comes to buying and selling collectibles.

We spoke with Star Wars TTM collector Jay Shifman. Jay has taken his love for Star Wars and passion for collecting autographs and for the past few years has been collecting autographs from people in the growing Star Wars Universe.

You can listen to all our podcasts at ttmcast.podbean.com.

TTM Successes

This week saw a nice return from Archie Manning. When I first started TTMing Manning was the one guy who I never had success with when sending out requests. Over the years his signing habits have changed and I’ve been lucky enough to get a few returns from him.

I also saw a couple of 1987 baseball cards in the mailbox this week and one hockey return as well.

Several TTM web sites including, SportsCardForum.com and SportsCollectors.net have player addresses.

Here’s a look at the players and the cards that have found a home in the collection:

Archie Manning

Manning spent 13 seasons in the NFL primarily with the New Orleans Saints. He finished his career with Houston in 1982 and 1983 and Minnesota in 1983 and 1984. His 1983 card with Houston was his last Topps card. He recorded a 35-101-3 record as a starter including 0-8 with Houston and 0-2 with Minnesota.

Manning had always been a thorn in my side when it came to obtaining his signature through the mail. It took me almost five years of trying to finally land a successful request. This 1983 Topps card marks the third time I’ve been able to obtain his signature through the mail.

He signed my card in about four weeks.

Darrol Ray

Ray played in 72 games for the New York Jets from 1980-1984. He was selected by the Jets out of Oklahoma in the 2^nd round of the 1980 NFL Draft. He intercepted 21 passes for 581 yards and three touchdowns during his career. He currently runs Ray’s Smokehouse BBQ in Norman Oklahoma.

He signed his 1983 and 1984 Topps cards in about four weeks.

Mark Eichhorn

ichhorn served as relief picher for four MLB teams from 1986-1996 including the Blue Jays, Braves, Angles, Orioles. He was the American League Rookie Pitcher of the Yearn 1986 with the Jays and won two World Series championships with Toronto. He finished his career with 48 wins and 32 saves. Mark coached his son Kevin in the 2002 Little League World Series.

He signed his 1987 and 1988 Topps cards in about three weeks.

Mark Thurmond

Thurmond won 40 games for the Padres, Tigers, Orioles and Giants from 1983-1990. His best season was 1984 with the Padres when he went 14-8 with a 2.97 ERA. He spent most of his later career working out of the bullpen. He did not spend a single day on the disabled list during his career.

He signed his 1987 Topps card in about four weeks.

Cliff Speck

Speck spent 12 seasosn in the minors before finally making his dream come true with the Atlanta Braves in 1986. He appeared in 13 games and finished with a 2-1 record. He was one of the players who appeared in the longest game in the history of professional baseball. Playing for the Rochester Red Wings in 1981, he was summoned to replace pitcher Steve Grilli with the bases loaded and no outs in the 33^rd inning. He surrendered the game winning single to Dave Koza, resulting in a 3-2 Pawtucket victory.

Speck signed his 1987 rookie card in about three weeks.

Phil Russell

Russell played in over 1,000 games a defenseman for Chicago, Atlanta, Calgary, New Jersey and Buffalo from 1972-1987. He scored 99 goals and amassed 2,038 penalty minutes during his career. He scored 15 goals for the Blackhawks in 1973-74 and 13 for the Calgary Flames in 1982-83. After retring he went on to coach in the IHL and AHL.

He signed his 1977-78 Topps card in about four weeks.

You still have time to enter to win an autographed Jude Druin card. I’ll be announcing the raffle winners on this Saturday’s show. Just send me an email with your mailing address to [email protected] to enter this week’s raffle.

Have a TTM success story you would like to share with me? Please, send it me at [email protected]. If I use it in my column, I’ll send you a prize.