Received: 7/12/11
Time: 5 Days
Address: Home
Item Sent: 1980 Topps, 1982 Fleer, 1985 Topps
Item Received: 1980 Topps, 1982 Fleer, 1985 Topps. All signed in black Sharpie.
Notes:
I have wanted to write a request to John Castino for longer than just about anybody. As soon as I started this hobby in April 2010, I picked out a few of his cards to put in my fledgling "to send out" box. The stats scared me away, though. His reported success rate on SCN was just a shade over 20%, and with no successes reported since 2009. Despite Mr. Castino being one of my earliest favorite Twins, and one of my most desired signatures, I kept putting it off. Finally, while on vacation in Grand Marais last week, I put pen to paper. I have been typing most of my requests for the last year or so to save time, and I generally don't think there's much difference in success rate between typed and hand-written letters, but I will still occasionally opt for the hand-written method on a tough signer to try giving that perceived extra bit of effort. I don't know if the fact that this letter was hand-written had anything to do with the success. I like to think it had more to do with the sincere and polite content of my letter. Either way, I am extremely happy with the result. I have wanted to add Mr. Castino's autograph to my collection since I was a kid. His unsolicited inscription of "79 AL ROY" on his 1980 rookie card is icing on the cake!
