Friday, February 17, 2012

Yea! New Through-the-Mail!

Apparently the secret to getting my through-the-mail autographs back is to go stand in line for a free autograph.  For the second time in a row, within days of getting a free in-person autograph of a Chicago Blackhawk Hall of Famer I've gotten an envelope in the mail with my mailing label on it.

Unfortunately, for the first time I've suffered some damage on the return shipping.  It appears that the athlete put the card back in the penny sleeve before the ink dried on the card AND neglected to include the toploader on the return shipping as well.  Oh and I don't think they actually sealed the envelope.

But hey I still got an autographed card and it's a member of the Lightning.

Love the look of Heroes and Prospects


That's right, it's Teddy Two-Goals!  Or Two-Time Teddy. Or Teddy Two-Step.  Or whatever I call him on twitter when he scores a goal.

As you can you see, some of the Sharpie rubbed off on the penny sleeve and the signature itself is a bit smudges.  Of course, some of it is my fault.  I didn't prep the card at all, thinking that the ITG Heroes and Prospects set didn't have that high of a gloss on it.  My bad.

Still, to add a Teddy Purcell autograph to my collection is a plus.  If he hadn't signed a two-year deal before this season, chances are he'd be on the trade block for the Bolts along with Pavel Kubina and the recently departed Dominic Moore. 

Purcell was a deadline pickup for the Lightning in 2010 as Tampa Bay sent Jeff Halpern to Los Angeles for the young winger.  Last season was a bit of a breakout for Purcell,  as he potted 17 goals and 51 points for the Bolts. A slick skater with a sneaky quick snapshot Purcell has 14 goals this year and is showing that he is a valid secondary scoring option for the sometimes punchless Tampa squad.

He would be even more potent if he shot the puck more, but playing on a line with Steven Stamkos kind of prevents that from happening.  Anytime you are on the same line as the best shooter in the NHL you tend to defer to him whenever possible. 

Thanks for sending the card back Teddy!

1 comment:

Captain Canuck said...

too bad about the smear... I never send top loaders or penny sleeves with mine. Too many times I've seen the sleeve signed.

nice return though!