Musings About Sports, Cards, Life & Some of the Idiots That Inhabit It

Greetings Once Again

2009-04-17T08:09:00.002-05:00

After an absence that lasted way too long, I am back with enough clarity to start blogging again on what I hope will be a regular basis.
I won't bore anyone with the details of why I seem to have dropped off the face of the planet for the second time but suffice to say I was/am dealing with some pretty heavy family issues and I did not want to turn this forum into my own pity blog. To prevent that I walked away to clear my head and I can now get back into the swing. As I mentioned though....some of these issues are still ongoing so I might not be a daily writer for a bit but hopefully soon all will be back to as close to whatever normal is as they can be.
In the months & months that I have been away, I have managed to get to the cardboard crack dealer a few times and I have some great pulls, some dumb pulls, and some average pulls that I will be scanning over the next few days and posting along with comments and general impressions.
Stay tuned.......

Back Again

2008-09-16T08:51:00.002-05:00

It seems like every time I get on a roll with this blog again something comes along and shoots my wheels clean off.
This time it was Hurricane Ike. While I live well north of Hurricane Ike's path, I am in the same state and many of my friends, as well as my office is in Houston. I have been covering for most of my co-workers while they deal with the aftermath of Ike and the terrible destruction it wrought. Most have no power and some lost more.
As for Galveston...having spent some time there, It was not my favorite place but I have a lot of great memories from there and if you have never been to Galveston, you will never see it the way it was again. Destruction is an understatement.
I will keep updating the blog as time permits but until my friends and co-workers get back on their feet, I will do all I can to help them from here.

Stay tuned as I have not dropped off again.

First Allen & Ginter Autographs Posted

2008-09-05T09:00:00.002-05:00

I have scanned a few of the A & G Autographs and posted them. I have added a link in the upper right corner of the blog. If you don't see it, click here. This little undertaking is really for nothing else then to give me something to do. Due to a bit of an economic downturn I will not be able to pick up new stuff like I used to so I wanted to do something to keep the blog fresh that still involved cards. Hope you enjoy it.

Wax Heaven has Andrew Miller and I have Allen & Ginter Autographs

2008-09-04T13:13:00.005-05:00

Anyone that reads my blog regularly knows I am a big fan of Mario and the Infamous Tatiana over at Wax Heaven. They are big fans of Andrew Miller and Mario has made it a mission to get his hands on any Andrew Miller cards he can and then scan them for posterity. Well...I have decided to do the same. Since 2006, my wife and I have been collecting every Allen & Ginter Autograph we can. I have decided to start scanning them in and document them for all to see.
Currently we have 22 different Allen & Ginter autographs and while that is not earth moving considering how many autos (mostly crappy ones) Topps tosses into every set, I am still pretty proud of our little collection. I will start scanning in the next couple days so check back as I will post a link to the page.
And Mario......the Marlins don't suck. The GM sucks. The Marlins have a great team but the GM just doesn't know that a good team needs to be kept intact. They still have more World Series wins then just about any other NL team in the last 10 years and if they ever get a new stadium, I bet South Florida will become an MLB hotbed again. Same goes for Tampa Bay. They have a legit shot at going deep into the playoffs this year and they still draw less people then Costco on a Sunday. My local team..the Texas Rangers..have a very similar issue. The Ballpark here has no roof and day games routinely hit 115 degrees (130 on the field) and night games hover in the 95-98 degree range. Pretty miserable. The worst thing about the Rangers situation is that we have zero hope of getting a new ballpark with a roof since the one we have is not that old. The assclown that decided to build an open air stadium in Texas should be beaten.

2008 UD Icons Football

2008-09-03T12:49:00.007-05:00

I know I have been very football focused lately. I have more baseball coming but most of the pre-orders were football as it is just that time of year.
I pre-ordered a box of 2008 UD Icons mainly because it was new, it has a Dallas Cowboy on the front, and it seemed pretty balanced between legends and newbies. From the box I ripped I can attest to that. My box was about evenly balanced between current players, legends, and rookies. I didn't scan the base cards as they have been posted numerous times elsewhere. Really the only thing I scanned was the hits. Before I broke this box, I hoped that I would get more classic players when it came to relics or autographs since I knew I was going to be selling them (out of need not out of want). As you can see below, I was not disappointed:

Roger Craig Autograph #'d to /25 and Billy Sims Relic #'d to /150. Yeah...the sticker autograph sucks but hey....it's Roger Craig. I was very pleased with these pulls. Before I continue, here is a card from the Rookie Brilliance subset. Very nice:

I knew I had at least one more hit coming and it came in the last pack. I heard very ominous music playing kinda like in a movie right before the hero gets his throat slit and dies while the villain stares into the camera victorious. I just knew my last hit would have something to do with Marcus Monk. I could feel it. The last pack of cards was open in my hands and I could see that the hit was 3 cards away. As my thumb slid one card then another I could feel the bile rising into my throat. When I got to the hit.....here is what I found:

Thank the Lord! I will take a Mendenhall relic over just about any current RC escpecially the Red Kryptionian Marcus Monk. Really nice set and really nice pulls.
I guess if I had a final verdict, if you dig football cards pick up a box (or just watch for when I post the hits and RC's on eBay). The prices I have seen since it went live are about $95 a box so it could be worth it or you could pull a spare RC and spare legends and feel like crap. If I had the dough I would pick up another box as I truly dig owning relics and/or autos from players of the old days of football.

Marcus Monk has become my Joe Koshansky

2008-09-03T08:36:00.004-05:00

Hope everyone had a nice Labor Day. Being close to the Gulf Region, I spent most of it watching CNN and praying for our neighbors in Louisiana. As I have a lot of ties to Louisiana and particularly Port Fourchon, I was a bit relieved to hear Gustav moved slightly west but felt for the folks that were not expected to be in it's path...but suddenly were.
One thing of note did happen in my card collecting universe. I got a call from a friend of mine that owns a card shop and he said he had something for me. He made be promise not to divulge where or how I got them (not a big deal really he just doesn't want any notoriety) but I will be in his debt when I get out of mine as I managed to walk away from his shop with a mini box of the newly released Bowman Sterling football.
Having read Uncensored's review of the product I was not looking to land anything major but as beggar's cannot be chooser's, I tore into it. I soon realized....like the title says...that Marcus Monk (Red Kryptonite) has become my football version of Joe Koshansky (Green Kryptonite). If you don't know what I mean here is the story. From late 2007 to current baseball releases, just about every box I busted landed me a Joe Koshansky autograph. 2008 Co-Signers..got it, 2008 Moments & Milestones...got it, 2008 SPx...got two of them...you get the picture. I currently am the proud owner of more Joe Koshansky autographs then anyone other then maybe Joe's mother. Who is Joe Koshansky? Where is Joe now? Click here to find out. Needless to say, I think these will be an albatross around my collection for a long time. Enter Marcus Monk.....
It started with 2008 Donruss Classics. It continued with 2008 Playoff Prestige, then with 2008 Donruss Threads, then 2008 Topps Staduim Club, now.......2008 Bowman Sterling has infected me with another junk Marcus Monk autograph. First of all, for those that didn't read the Monk link above, he has been cut. Not just cut by the Chicago Bears, the team that drafted him THIS year, but he has also been cut by the New York Giants. Mr. Monk is currently the starting wide reciever for the "I Coulda Been a Contenda" Sucks Asses and his autographed RC cards are rotting away in my collection with little hope of ever dumping them on eBay or trading them for a used tissue.
Now..back to the 2008 Bowman Sterling mini box. After busting the mini box, my opinion doesn't differ much from the one I read on Uncensored. The base cards are nice but not anything I would break my back to complete the set for, the jersey cards are nice but not spectacular, and the autographs are...well.....Marcus Monk. My final opinon of the 2008 Sterling Football set is mixed. I like the cards but I don't really care about them. The Darren Sharper I got is nice because it is a swatch from his Pro Bowl jersey and the Malcolm Kelly is nice because it is a larger then some swatch from his "event worn" jersey and includes a bit of a patch but I could really give a crap about any of them. I probably sound like an ungrateful jackass to some but my critique has nothing to do with how I got the cards and everything to do with the quality and variety of the cards I pulled. Here are the scans:

And finally.....my Red Kryptonite....yes...I introduce Marcus Monk.....

One more before the long weekend........

2008-08-29T14:18:00.005-05:00

I got scan happy last night with the intention of having three or four days of posts in the can but since I have missed doing this so much I just cannot stop posting. So here is one last post before I check out for the long Labor Day weekend.

2008 Topps Stadium Club Football
OK.....I know this is yet another JC move. Call me a sucker, and idiot, whatever but I knew what I was doing and I did it anyway. Anyone that has been collecting since about 1990 remembers Stadium Club. The photography is great but the set never really impressed me. Now...Stadium Club has re-emerged. At one hit per pack and a dealer pre-selling below MSRP, I couldn't resist.
I opened the pack in anticipation of something......I don't know....different. At first I thought I had pulled a buyback of a classic Stadium Club. I flipped the card over and the stats were current and the date was 2008 so I suddenly realized that it wasn't a buyback...they just look almost EXACTLY the same as the SC cards looked when I was in f-ing high school and college. You would think that after maybe 10 or 15 years that Topps would maybe change the design around as the original Stadium Club cards sold about as well and a jar of fart scent...thus causing Topps to drop it from it's lineup. Nope...retro rules even if it is retro-boring. The photos are pretty great though but I wasn't impressed. Could the relics look any plainer? Good Lord Topps..... calling these relics IMPACT! is like calling a donkey a stallion. Miniscule patch sliver or no..the relics are just...blah. Look for these cards on an eBay autction near you in the very near future. Everyone have a safe and restful Labor Day holiday! Here are the piss poor highlights that I scanned all at once as I didn't want to waste my time (To be fair, I will say the Ray Rice is nice):

2008 SPx Football

2008-08-29T13:29:00.006-05:00

Here is another of the pre-orders I could not get a refund for so I decided to open and roll the dice. Last year 07 SPx Football was one of my favorite products. I loved the variety and the design. When 2008 SPx Baseball went live I picked up waaaaay too much of it and after trying to deal with three versions (or up to twelve) of the same card and getting multiple copies of some of the crappy Rookie Autos, it became a beatdown of the highest order. Not having learned my lesson with the baseball set, I pre-ordered some SPx Football when the 2008 set was announced. I soon realized, as I was opening packs and getting massive tiredhead, that I again was intentionally torturing myself. While, in my opinion, the set is nice and some of the relics are well done, I wanted to run naked into the corner of a desk when I was lucky enough to get TWO versions of the rookie, but I am sure future HOF'er, Jordy (Wonder if his parents watched ST:TNG) Nelson from the Packers. One version is a single relic inside an NFC die cut and the second is a dual relic inside an NFC die cut. WOW! I didn't bother to scan the Jordy Nelson as I am pretty sure my scanner would have died from the experience. Here are the highlights *EDIT-is it me or does Jake Long look like Drew Carey on steroids?*:

2008 Triple Threads....Yeah I know....

2008-08-29T09:04:00.008-05:00

Ok...I know this officially enters me into the Joe Collector club. Here's the deal though.... I like Triple Threads. Sure the base set is a useless mishmosh of parallel crap and the price point is too high but there is something about the product that has always intrigued me. I have picked up singles and a mini box or two but when the 2008 product was released, I decided to put a little more into it.
One of the main complaints I hear about Triple Threads is the price. $199 MSRP for two mini boxes is too much. In my opinion, if you removed the base cards from both mini boxes and added hits in their place you could keep that price point. For what you get now, I think a fair price would be $99 for a display box (2 mini boxes) with it preferably being lower.
I have seen people open these and pull a sweet Mantle/Maris/Ruth/Williams card and I have also seen people open a mini box and their hit was an Erik Bedard relic auto. Suffice to say that the dude who's only hit was the Erik Bedard was pissed. Highly pissed. I probably would be too but to be honest, what do you expect? You spend $50 for a mini box or $199 for a display box and you should be assured of a hit but I think it is pretty pretentious to expect a bad ass player every time. Sports cards are like playing the lottery. Sometimes you hit and sometimes you don't. I know people that pay $500 bucks for 7 cards (Exsquisite Basketball) and the best hits they got were a Dwight Howard/Luol Deng Quad Patch Auto and a patch auto from the nameless fool that was the 32ndish pick in the draft. Nice cards? Sure they are. Will they ever be worth $500 bucks? Hell No. I recall in 1984 that I must have bought and opened 1000 wax packs of Donruss Baseball and I wanted every pack to contain a Mattlingly RC. Out of all the packs I opened, take a guess at how many contained the aformentioned RC...... Give Up? None. I never pulled one. Same in 1985, I wanted a Clemens RC from every pack of Topps or Fleer wax I bought. Again...I never got one. If I had let the disappointment of not getting what I expected or wanted from each pack spoil my enjoyment then I think I would have missed a lot of great times and memories I have. I think the lure for some to collect today is the chase. Now...that being said....I DO think that someone who pays $500 (or even $200) bucks on a pack of cards deserves better..much, much better. I think the reason I like Triple Threads is because for every David Eckstein Triple Relic Auto that makes you want to vomit, you could pull a card like this:

Or this:

Call me an idiot or a Joe Collector but I think it is pretty cool have a card featuring the three DiMaggio Brothers or a Robin Yount with swatches from the Brewers uniforms when they stood out from any other uniform in baseball. Due to current events, I plan on selling the majority of the stuff I pulled from Triple Threads and from most of the other pre-order stuff but I will hang onto these cards. Here are some highlights from the rest of the pulls:

One last thing.....If there was one card I DID NOT want to pull it is the below card from the sorriest piece of crap alive. I have detailed my opinion of Manassole before but this was the last hit in the last pack of Triple Threads I opened. I was sorry it ended like this.

Just to pique interest........

2008-08-26T13:32:00.003-05:00

As I mentioned earlier. I pre-ordered a lot of stuff before life intervened and will be preventing me from laying out like I used to for cards. I was able to cancel and/or sell some of the products but a few were held onto.
Here is a list of some of the things I pre-ordered and will be scanning and posting about in the near future.
2008 Topps Chrome Baseball
2008 Topps Triple Threads Baseball
2008 Topps Chrome Football
2008 Topps Stadium Club Football
2008 Bowman Chrome
2008 SPx Football
2008 Be A Player Hockey
And a couple others I cannot remember now. I felt guilty that I had pre-ordered so much and my family and I were (and are) going through such a hellish period. My wife (being the Princess she is) agreed that I needed to keep some as next to her and my two Shar-pei's, it is long standing love of my life.

And to Mario at Wax Heaven.....brother...I have been reading what has been happening in your personal life and having been there under different circumstances, I feel your frustration and I am truly sorry you are havng to deal with it. If you want....email me your mailing address as I have something I want to send you. No strings attached my Friend!

First Legit Post.....2008 Topps Allen & Ginter

2008-08-26T08:52:00.006-05:00

Well....I am back. I cannot say I will post multiple times a day like I used to but I will do everything I can to get back to posting daily or as often as possible. I have really missed writing this blog and I have really felt bad that a very small group that read this semi-regularly tried to reach me but couldn't. I have always found writing this blog to be very thereputic. It is truly amazing how venting on a keyboard can purge a lot of bad feelings. Anyway...if I never get another hit on this site I would not be surprised but I will keep writing as long as I feel like I have something to say.
Now...on to the important stuff.....
I know I am pretty late to the party here. Allen & Ginter has been out for a while and I have read many blog posts and reviews on this product already. They have ranged from fabulous to crappy. Some call this a strictly Joe Collector product and some continue to crack case after case after case in hopes of landing something big.
Before my personal hell enveloped everything around me and briefly stole my ability to do the things I love so much (like writing this blog and regularly picking up cards), I pre ordered a case of Allen & Ginter. I have done this since 2007 A & G because I am one of those Joe Collector's that like to collect every posible subset and because I go to weekly trade meets and my duplicates help other collector's fill out their sets and their duplicates help me fill out mine. Becasue of financial difficulties, I tried to cancel my case order but failed due to a certain wholesalers no refund on pre-orders policy.
Before I go any further, I just want to say I love the Allen & Ginter set. I really dig the oddball cards like Team Orange and the 2007 Emperors and I also love the inclusion of cards like Harriet Tubman and Charles Dickens. I find it a very interesting set to collect because the design is great and the pulls are usually very interesting.
Anway....back to my case. Like I said..I like to collect all the little subsets from A & G. This includes the mini's and the mini variations and subsets. Call me a masocist but I try and get them all even though it is like smashing your head into a brick wall most of the time. So my case arrived the day A & G went live and I let it sit in my dining room trying to decide what to do. Finally I just couldn't take it any more and dove in. My wife joined me on this one and amazingly, she has become more of an Allen & Ginter fan then I ever could be. Her zeal in trading and building the set has surpassed mine ten fold. This is her first experience building a set from the ground up. The breaking, sorting, dealing with dupes, penny sleeves, short prints, cataloging and tracking (I use an Excel spreadsheet tied to a SQL database), and everything else that goes into building a set of 300+ cards. She has also experienced her first big autograph pull, oddball relic pulls, her first rip card, and her first real immersion in this thing we call sports card collecting. On the flip side, she has had to listen to me try and explain short prints, variations, errors, and gimmicks. She goes with the me trade meets and sits at tables with guys that have been doing this since they were kids and haggles for trades like she was a vet. She has made me stand in awe and I am very glad she has joined me on this as it has helped us get through an incredibly tough time. And now...she is trying to crack the infamous code.
I won't break down the case break box by box. As that has been done ad nauseum I will instead just show the highlights:
The Autographs:
What an ecclectic lineup huh? We were really lucky with our case break in terms of autographs. I spoke to other collector's that pulled two or maybe three a case and I also spoke to some that pulled what averaged two or three per box. We were in between that and very pleased with the haul. We were lucky enough to get Jeanette Lee/190; Andrea Farina/190; Bob Motley/190; Dean Karnazes/190; Ian Kinsler; & Jeff Francis autographs. That averages out to one every other box. Here are the scans of some of the autos. I didn't bother with the current baseball autos because they are fairly common.

I love the Bob Motley auto. He is one of the last (if not THE last) Negro League umpires and he is a very, very interesting guy. If you want to read more about him click here. As for the Jeanette Lee and the Andrea Farina auto's, just more interesting auto from this set. I mean seriously....what other set would include an autograph from the Rock, Paper, Scissors Champion in it's set?
The Relics:
Overall.....a pretty bland collection of relics. Some, like the Joey Chestnut and the Kevin Van Dam are cool but it looks like they are the same swatch. Something interesting that I read on more then one blog but I have not been able to confirm.....some of the relics are color swatches and they are harder to come by. Not sure if that is true but I will attest to the Ichiro relic having two versions. I pulled a grey swatch from the Mariners away jersey and a navy blue swatch which appears to be from the Mariners alternate jersey. I think my favorite was the Lisa Leslie relic. Mainly because I was able to watch her and Team USA Women's basketball team win Gold in Beijing. Here are the scans of a couple of the highlights:

The Other stuff:
I only got one Rip card out of the case. My wife was lucky enough to open the pack that held it and after agonizing over whether or not to rip it.....she did. I have never seen her so excited to do anything related to this hobby then she was when she ran across this and pulled the tab. Here is the rip card and what she pulled out of it (sorry the scan is a bit sliced on the side):

Not a red auto or a wood parallel but a Jackie Robinson EXT mini is not bad.
We also managed to pulled a cloth (more like a silk if you ask me). Call it divine luck or just luck but being a Red Sox nut, I was really happy with the player on the cloth we pulled:

I had not read the reviews or anything when I opened the case so I was a little shocked when we pulled this next card. Not shocked because of who it was but because there was no number on it. Later I found it was a short print and pretty hard to come by. Too bad he is in a bit of a rut now but I am glad I will be able to complete a 351 card set when I am done. Here is the scan and again...sorry it is clipped. My scanner is acting like it wants to die and is doing odd things. I had to chop off a few inches as it was full of zig zag lines.

We also pulled a handful of Team Orange, World Leaders, World's Icons, two Sharks, and Greatest Victories. I didn't bother scanning those out of pure laziness.
So that is my Allen & Ginter pre-order. In summary, say what you will about Allen & Ginter but I love this product. Sure it is dupe city and it is a huge beating to get sooooo many duplicate cards. It can also be a beating to pull Matt Capps, Mike Hampton, and Mark Teixeria relics and nothing else from a box as I did. Some collector's hate it for reasons they feel are legit and some love it. I personally think it is produced is too huge a quantity but for the gems you have the chance to pull it is great.

Need a little help...

2008-07-05T15:18:00.005-05:00

Hey folks,

Hope everyone had a relaxing 4th!

If anyone reads this blog for anything except blood removal advice, I need some help. I won't get into a long drawn out story but suffice to say that times are tough in the ol' Mr.RedSox household. I am going to try and do something I never have done before and that is sell a card out of sheer necessity. The card I have chosen has proven to be a bit of a pain in the ass. The card I am going to try and sell is a 2007 Turkey Red Chromograph David Wright. The reason it has proven to be a pain in the ass is because of a couple of factors.

#1-It is a Group A Chromograph. The Group A Chromographs have zero pricing anywhere. I could really care less about "book" value. I have scoured eBay and the closest I could get was a Group B 2007 TR Chromograph of Curtis Granderson and I saw two that sold. One sold for $170 and the other sold for $90something. I have also called 10 card shops in my area and have been told a value ungraded from between $250 and $450. I found a 2006 Turkey Red Autograph up on eBay and it was at $265.

#2-Topps did not release print run info. The card is not numbered and the best info I could get it that the odds of pulling ANY Group A player is approx. 1:3700 packs. Group B is approx. 1:270 packs...so you see the dip from A to B. The Group A players are Alex Rodriguez, David Wright, Jason Bay, Gary Sheffield, and Jake Peavy so I would think next to A-Hole...I mean A-Rod, Wright would be the next most desirable player from the group.

#3-The card is graded. I knew I had a card that was decent so when I did my grading experiment, I tossed it into the pile. Beckett gave it a 9.5 on the card and a 10 on the Auto. Now I know certain folks have a serious disdain for Beckett but these are just the facts.

Now...what I need help on...does anyone that reads this have any idea of what they think I might be able to get for this card in an auction (probably eBay)? I want to know because I haven't sold a card in about 30 years and I never have done it out of desperation....so I don't want to get screwed. If no one has any idea then I will take the usual zero in the comments area as testament and I will just work something out. But...if anyone has an idea, drop me an email or drop a comment. Again....I 'm not going to turn into a treasure hunter. I just need to get a few bucks to get through a spot of tough times. It makes me sick to think of selling anything but sometimes we have to.

Here is the card:

Want to increase your blog traffic?

2008-07-03T15:38:00.004-05:00

Want to get more hits without having to write new blog entries? If so read on and post the link below on YOUR blog and watch your tickers go apeshit!
Before you fear clicking on the link below thinking scam, it is not....nothing malicious here but I just had to post this because for some reason I find it hilarious. In going through the last 100+ visitors to my blog, I noticed people from Canada, Israel, New Zealand, Australia, Africa, and various folks around the US hitting my blog and I was really kinda pumped thinking my readership was growing.....well...then I looked at the referral URL and they were all Google searches that pointed people to this entry I wrote in April of 2007 before I changed the direction of this blog thanks to Mario, Gellman, and many other blogs I read one day (and still read).
Suffice to say the entry above has nothing at all to do with sports cards. In getting into more detail of my traffic, I found that 80% to 90% of my traffic was to the article above. So I don't know what that means. I know a few people read this regularly and I really enjoy doing it so I don't think I am going to stop. I just find it really funny that a baseball card blog's biggest draw is a year old entry about getting dried blood out of carpet that I wrote one night after my mother in law tripped and cracked her head on a dresser thus gushing blood all over our Berber.
Have a Happy 4th and Mario....I got some scans coming your way as soon as I can break away.
By the way.....the steps in the article do in fact work. Keep them handy!

2008 UD Piece of History Shout Out to Wax Heaven

2008-07-03T08:32:00.003-05:00

For Mario at Wax Heaven as I know he digs the Miller and the Willis!

2008 Upper Deck A Piece of History Review

2008-07-03T07:02:00.011-05:00

Was able to sneak out and pick up a box of the new 2008 UD A Piece of History. The box promises 4 relics per box (including the A Piece of Hollywood) so I was curious how UD could differentiate this product from the 10,00000 others that they have out or coming out. As the wife and I broke this box, I found myself initially not really liking this product but by the half break point I was no longer opening packs but reading the back of the cards instead. This set has a lot of inserts. A LOT. And they seem to be a pretty abundant spread of them as well. I was also curious to see what the "A Piece of Hollywood" relic insert was all about. Here is my breakdown.
Card Design Grade: B

The design is nice but a little boring after a while. Not sure if they were going for a faux marble print of something else. The design wavers between old and new school with the marble undercoat and the old school lettering on the borders. Here is an example of one of the base rookies and the Timeless Moments insert set. There is a silver and gold or bronze Timeless Moments parallel:

Quality Control Grade: B to B-

Check out the borders of the card and tell me what you see. I see the potential for a LOT of cutting mistakes. Sure enough, a few of the base cards do in fact have cut issues. You can kind of see it in the Buchholz card above. One edge has the word Rookie cut well. The other side not so much.

Inserts and Parallels Grade: A

Here is the meat of this set. I have not been able to get a hold of a complete checklist yet but from what I have seen in my break is that every card has a parallel....at least one. The base rookies have a regular parallel and an autographed version as well. The Box Score Memories insert has three versions that I have seen Base #'d to 699, Red #'d to 99, Blue #'d to 75, and Relic #'d to 75. Not sure if the relic has the same variations. My guess is yeah. Here is the relic Box Score Memories and the Stadium Scenes relic insert:

Staying with the insert theme. Check out the cards below. The one on top is a Franchise History insert (see Box Score Memories above). The bottom card is the A Piece of History insert set and these are the cards I found myself no longer opening cards and reading the backs instead. These cards are really a good idea. I am like anyone else and love a nice baseball, football, etc. set but it IS nice to have the broken up just a bit I think. With cards like the one below about Lewis & Clark, the Creation of the Internet, The Space Shuttle, The Hindenburg, etc, they highlight significant moments in history. My wife felt like they were trying to bite off Allen & Ginter and I guess I can see that but I think the two products have a different vibe. I feel like I am opening history when I break the A&G but I really like seeing the picture on the card (usually a painting or historical interpretation). Either way I liked them. There is also a least a red parallel of these too.

While still on the topic of inserts and parallels, the autographs. Not much to say about them as they appear they might just be the rookies and they are basically base rookies with a sticker.

Piece of Hollywood inserts Grade: Incomplete

Not sure how I feel about these really. The card itself is nice but the information about the relic you pulled is woefully inadequate. First of all, I like the front of the card. Simple and bold. The back of the card is where things get wobbly. There is only a small picture of the intact relic and on the card I got, from the 1999 film Three Kings, it says it was worn simply by "George". WTF? What if I had never seen the film how the hell would I know who "George" was? Having seen the film I do know that "George is in fact George Clooney but you would never get that from the information on the card. I am not sure if it was because of licensing issues or what but a picture of the actor wearing/ using the item featured and a more comprehensive description would have been nice. I want to break another box and see what Piece of Hollywood I pull before I give my final grade. Here is the card, front and back:

Overall I am going to give this a B right now. Nothing really special and nothing really bad. Upper Deck is making way too many products in my opinion. Their need to fill out the scads of products they are releasing is causing them to seem watered down and generic. I would prefer 4 or 5 flagships with great stuff personally.

Trot Nixon is what every player should be

2008-07-02T14:49:00.005-05:00

Red Sox fans may remember a scrappy young player that graced the outfield at Fenway for 10 years. He was like the little engine that could. His name is Trot Nixon and he has re-appeared in the major leagues with the New York Mets.

Photo-Stan Grossfeld-Boston Globe Staff

The Boston Globe put together a little gallery of Trotter's road back to the major's after the Indians didn't keep him and he got optioned to AAA by the Diamondbacks. In looking over the pictures, I got a bit misty in remembering what an overall asset players like Trot Nixon are. Trot has always made time for fans. After games. when other players were in their cars halfway up the Mass Pike, he was still signing autographs. When most players would hold up at the wall chasing down a foul ball, Trotter would run like he was going to crash through it....and sometimes he would actually crash into it. He played balls out every night. He is pretty close to what I think athletes SHOULD be. Honest, thoughtful, hard working, and thankful for what he has and where he is. To many times I see athletes acting like playing baseball or sports in general is a birth right. Playing baseball and getting paid for it is a privilege and an honor. Fans can be demanding and unforgiving and sometimes they turn players into the jackasses they become. I am glad to see Trot is still Trot.

Welcome Back Trotter!

Photo-Stan Grossfeld-Boston Globe Staff

An Open Letter to Barry Bonds

2008-07-02T12:35:00.016-05:00

Dear Barry,

How is it going? Hope you are enjoying your unintended vacation? Staying in shape I hope? Just wanted to make sure you were OK as the last we heard from you and your agent was that you were willing to play for free now for ANY MLB team. Strange since at the beginning of the season you said you would only go to a contender. Funny how things turn out isn't it?

Barry...sit back and imagine what it would have been like if you HAD actually broken the home run record. But I did break it you might be saying! No...you didn't. You cheated. You roided yourself up and that is cheating. True enough that steroids do not make you a better hitter...that is natural talent. Quick wrists are not a side affect of steroids. But see..you used steroids to gain power and strength. You hit many more home runs then you would have otherwise. I must admit I am still pretty pissed that you and many of your era's colleagues sullied the game I have loved since I was a child. The difference between the other offenders in the steroid era (Giambi, Palmeiro, Sosa, etc.) is that they never achieved what you set out to achieve. Their careers and their reputations will always be side notes in baseball history. You think Jason Giambi will go down as one of the greatest A's or Yankees of all time? No...he will be remembered as the guy with the porn stache that sweats too much....Oh..and a semi-admitted steroid user. Sure they were not banned by baseball...but you knew you were cheating. Now every time some kid hits 10 home runs one year then lights it up for 25 the next, he has to deal with the scrutiny you helped bring on. That will be your legacy. Your name and reputation are forever tainted and you will be remembered as a liar, a cheater, and someone that could have been great but instead has become a punchline.....a joke.

Like it or not, Hank Aaron is the Home Run king of baseball. Followed by Babe Ruth. You are a footnote of an era that no one will ever forget and hopefully no one will ever allow to happen again. When Marc Eko branded that baseball, he was doing what every person that truly loves baseball was thinking and wanted to do. He was marking you along with that baseball. You will forever be an asterisk. Call it the Scarlet Letter of the Steroids Era. That is the legacy you will live and die with and your children will carry on after. It is sad that you have brought it to that and ruined what could have been an amazing career.

The saddest thing of all is that you had talent. You didn't need steroids. You were fast, strong, and you knew how to play the game. You might not have broken the home run record but I am sure you would have achieved your own measure of greatness, You chose to walk down another path. So the next time someone yells LIAR or CHEATER at you when you are out grabbing a protein shake, don't ignore them or get angry. You did this to yourself and you are the only one you have to thank or blame. You opted to roid out. Get ready to explain to your grand kids what this means when they look at your display in Cooperstown.

Both your Father and your Godfather, Willie Mays' legacies deserved better then you have provided.

Welcome to Baseball History. Here is your life. Here is the sum total of all you have accomplished and the proof of your greatest folly...putting yourself above the game and history. Here it is....in leather.

More on Manny (I know and am killing this subject)

2008-07-01T12:32:00.003-05:00

God Bless Dan Shaughnessy. The Boston Globe writer nails the issue with the Red Sox and Manny in his Globe article here. He is far more subtle and uses a lot more tact then I did but at the same time says the same thing. The Red Sox MUST act on this. Manny has pissed in the face of Red Sox fans, the MLB, and his teammates for years and Red Sox fans (me included) always gave him another chance and ignored his bullshit because he can hit. Not anymore. It is time for this pretentious, spoiled, idiocy to end. When athletes start acting like they are primadonna's and feel they should be able to do what they like.....and we let them....we are saying it is OK to pay some ignorant fool millions of dollars and he can act like to dick because he has the ability to win games and bring money to an organization. To that I say TWO words...BARRY BONDS. Who misses him? Is baseball worse off without him this year? Hell no! It is better off. We no longer have to scroll through 85 stories on Steroids McMusclehead to get to the box scores. Manny is a spoiled child and should be treated like one. He should be sent into time out in the form of a suspension and pay dock. Everyone is right....imagine doing what Manny or Shawn Chacon did in the "real" world. Our asses would be in jail, fired, or both. It is time for owners and GM's to STOP looking the other way and it is time for fans to STOP letting this shit slide. These athletes need to learn it is NOT ok to act like this. We help pay their salaries and we root for them when they win and cry for them when they loose. We, the fans have power but we fail or refuse to use it because we want a good team and we want our team to win. But..look at the Tampa Bay Rays for example. They were the perennial doormats of the American League....but they refused to let two of the best prospects in baseball (Delmon Young & Elijah Dukes) act like dicks on their dime. And now look at them. Distractions gone, they are winning and they are good. The players care about each other and they care about the fans. Sometimes the best example to follow is the one that will take you on the toughest road back.
Guys and gals...I know I am running this so far into the ground that egg rolls will soon be hitting me in the face but this really rakes at me. Maybe it is because it finally affects my team but I think more so that the way athletes act in all sports, baseball, football, basketball, etc. has gotten out of hand. It is really easy to rag on them. I think it is time to hit them harder.

Finally an eBay seller worth a crap.

2008-07-01T11:23:00.003-05:00

I got the second of three cards I am waiting for before I shutter my eBay ID's and for the first time in a long time, I bought from a seller that sent me EXACTLY what they said they would in the EXACT condition they said it would be in. Kudos to cardsnomore . See the card below. I have been collecting the Sepia 2007 Topps Triple Threads parallels for a while now and the Roy Williams was a elusive catch for me. After my last experience with the David Murphy RC, I was expecting more crap from the eBay trashpile but the above seller is worth a check and he has some pretty decent cards as well! As for the idiot that sold me the David Murphy RC that looked like a 2 year old had taken it into a bounce house, I am waiting on him to see if he can get another one. I have already sent him proper shipping directions and told him if he didn't send another card, refund me, or something, I was posting his info for all to see.

Also..if anyone has any Sepia 2007 Triple Threads (Any sport) let me know what you might want in trade as I am pretty keen on getting as many of these as I can for some reason.

Manny Being Manny Being a Bitch

2008-07-01T07:41:00.007-05:00

For those that don't know what the guy Manny Ramirez pushed to the group looks like. See below. He is a young and spry 64 years old. Yeah....you read that right. 64 years old. And the picture below was taken TWO YEARS ago. Manny is such a fucking tough guy that he goes after people the age of most grandfather's. Manny....you should feel like shit but I know you don't you are way too conceited to feel such a base human emotion. To feel bad for someone you must first be able to feel regret and that requires a soul. That is strike three for Manny right there. That motherfucker couldn't buy a soul with the $20 million he is being paid this year.
Manny says that it is over and that what happens in the clubhouse STAYS in the clubhouse. Again...Manny doesn't seem to realize that it does stay in the clubhouse unless the story of you pushing a senior citizen to the ground ends up on the front page. Then it is public and we ALL want to know why you had to do that. What could a 64 year old say that could have pissed you off so bad? Did he call you a fucking child? A crybaby little bitch? Nah....I bet he just said that he wasn't sure if he could get you 16 tickets.....and you felt he wasn't showing you the proper "respect" so you shoved him to the ground. Jack McCormick wants this to end and I probably know why...he loves the Red Sox and doesn't want this to be a distraction. But this SHOULD be a distraction. Yeah..it's not fair to the other players on the team but maybe, just maybe if it begins to affect the teams cohesiveness, the leaders will do something. Maybe they will put Manny in his place or encourage Theo to say enough and get him out of there. Going after Youklis is one thing. Youk is close to Manny's age and it would be fair. Going after a 64 year old is crossing a line that should never be crossed. It takes a special kind and dick to do what Manny did and that is the kind of dick that has no respect for anything but himself and doesn't give a shit about your team or history of this game. Most people are raised to respect their elders...I guess Manny's parents raised him to respect $. And that is fucked up.
This whole incident is really gnawing at me. It sickens me that we have allowed Manny to wear a Sox uniform for this long. Listening to him bitch about wanting to be traded, Manny Being Manny, etc. is simply sickening. This should punch Manny's ticket out of Boston but it should not wait until the end of the season. It should be now. If it means we don't win another ring this year so be it. It means that much to me to have him gone. This is like hitting a woman or a child....that feeling doesn't just show up nor does it just go away. Once you do that you cross a line that can never be uncrossed and there is no place for you in any world I live in. I am glad Jack McCormick can forgive Manny because I can't. And I won't be able to forgive the Sox if they do not take action here.
If you want to see what most readers of the Boston Globe think, go here.

Manny: AP Photo McCormick: 2002 Boston Globe File Photo / Jim Davis)

Fuck You Manny

2008-06-30T11:10:00.007-05:00

I am a huge Red Sox fan. As I have stated before, I will probably be buried in a Red Sox coffin or stipulate in my will that my family go to every Red Sox home game and each time scatter my ashes around Fenway. I love the Sox. But I fucking hate whinny little millionares. If you do not know already, read this.
Manny..you can go fuck yourself. You think because you are Manny Being Manny you can just be a prick whenever you want to? The team secretary not only has to do just about everything in the world for you spoiled assclowns but he also has to be your emotional tampon when you want to cry about not getting 16 tickets to a fucking Sox-Astros game? You know what Manny...some people aren't able to afford ONE ticket to a baseball game and you turn into a Bitch over 16 free ones. You are a piece of trash of the highest order and maybe you should take a lesson from Mike Lowell or Dustin Pedroia and learn a little respect for other people you emotionally stunted fuckwad. Telling the guy to "Just do your job" and then pushing him to the ground because you asked for 16 tickets the DAY OF the game must make you feel like the big stud you have always seen yourself as. Did it make you feel cool? Well...in my opinon, it made you look like a big douchebag and from this point on, my rooting for Manny is gone. I WILL not root for a classless drop of ball sweat like that. Manny has disrespected Sox fans, other players, and the front office for too long and we have always sucked his dick because he is Manny. He has gone too far now. No more. All Sox fans should resolve themselves to boo his ass back into the dugout. If he wants to ask to be traded again.....he should be shipped to AAA to finish the season. He wants to apologize....sorry dickless, the I'm Sorry machine broke and all that is left is the Fuck Off machine.
Manny...if you want to push someone...do this...after a game one night, go out on Yawkey or Landsdowne after a home game and try to talk shit to a Bostonian that could not afford to go to the game but loves the Sox so much he goes to every game and stands outside and parties with the rest of the people that crowd the street. 20-1 Manny ends up with missing teeth and looking like he had a boot party all over his fucking face.
Manny..your doucheocity is rivaled by no one. You are now the King of all Douches.
If the Red Sox front office doesn't suspend him, I think they should be boycotted until they wake up. The Sox should look at the Mets and see what a classless piece of trash organization looks like and resolve never to be that way. So Theo....suspend the prick..for the season. You have enough farm players to make it through the rest of the season without him. And anyone that thinks they can justify this and think I am being too hard on good ol' Mr. 20 Million. Bring it on.

Oh Romo, Oh Romo...where for art thou Romo?

2008-06-30T10:32:00.003-05:00

Morning everyone. What a weekend. I picked up a couple boxes of 2008 Donrus Elite football this weekend in hope of finally landing a few (or at least ONE) Romo relic or auto. Here is the deal. I am a Dallas Cowboys fan. Now before you start cursing the air I breathe, I was born that way so I had no choice.
In the last few seasons, I have become a bit of a Tony Romo fan and it appears that the card God's don't want me to be. Since late 2006 until the present, I have opened probably 100 boxes of football cards and I have not landed a single...not ONE...Tony Romo. Not a base card, relic, auto, parallel NOTHING! I can pull 3 Favre or Quinn's but not a SINGLE Romo. I walked into my local shop after reading the checklist of 2008 Donruss andseeing it was littered with Romo cards. I was sure if I bought two boxes I would hit a base card, a parallel, and maybe..if I was lucky, a relic. Well guess what??? I hit the mother lode of John David Booty and Jerrico (did his parents know how to spell and what Jericho really was? Maybe a better name would have been Judas or Leprosy Cotchery) Cotchery. I got ZERO Romo's cards. Alas I believe I am cursed. A scan of eBay shows scads of Romo 2008 Elite. Romo, Romo everywhere but not a one for Daddy. :( Just had to get it out of my system.

New Email Setup

2008-06-27T14:34:00.003-05:00

I have set up a new email address for anyone that cares to email me directly. Previously I had just given it to anyone that asked or people I knew and it was a getting a bit inbred if you know what I mean. Anyway....if you care to email me, do so here.

What does Big in Japan mean?

2008-06-27T13:06:00.008-05:00

Way off topic but I have had a few folks ask what the Big in Japan part of my blog name means. Well...I kind of wondered if anyone would ask or how obscure the reference was. Big in Japan in a song off an album called Mule Variations by one of my favorite singer/ songwriters Tom Waits. I have been a fan of Tom Waits since I was about 15 and heard the album Nighthawks at the Diner and thought it was simply fascinating. Anyway...that is what it means. Just a small shout out to what I think is a pretty amazing artist. My wife despises him and thinks he sounds like a drunk singing karaoke. I admit he is an acquired taste and not for everyone. But neither is C&C Music Factory or Jay-Z. If you care to read more about Tom Waits, click here . If not.....so be it!
****And...if you are looking for a way to blow about 5 to 7 minutes this weekend. Download the song "What's He Building In There" from Mule Variations, drop it on your iPod (or whatever) queue it up, turn off ALL your lights until it is pitch black in your house, make sure you won't be distracted for the duration of the song, pop in the ear buds and click play. Come back here and let me know what you thought.*****

Update on the $10,000.00 joke

2008-06-27T11:07:00.003-05:00

In case anyone was wondering what happened with this eBay Auction . The idiot did not sell his $10,000.00 1/1 Chris Paul. He had 10 offers and declined each one. I hope he had that card enshrined in the Library of Congress as it appears he thinks he has landed the Magna Carta of New Orleans/ Oklahoma City Hornets cards. I hope since the dipshit didn't sell his card, he took himself out for a gellato while he was visiting the Land of Make Believe.

EBay is a Cesspool

2008-06-26T14:08:00.009-05:00

OK......Each time I have purchased or sold anything on EBay I have sworn that was the last time. Dealing with dickheads that are either trying to a) rip you off, b) cannot read item descriptions, c) claim their kid did it when they win but have buyers remorse, or any one of the litany of bullshit excuses some of these assclowns use slowly kills me and makes me want to run naked into the corner of a desk. Seriously people. If I say I ONLY ship to the continental US, and THEN say, that means the 48 contiguous states and Alaska & Hawaii, why in the fucking green gravy hell would you email me and ask me if I ship to Canada? When did Canada become the part of the US? Hint...it hasn't but I swear to God every single time I sell something some tic tac dick in Ottawa emails me asking me how much to ship to Ontario. (Nothing against Canada folks. I have travelled there extensively and love it.)
The worst of the worst and the reason I believe EBay is the infected ejaculate of Satan are the scumbags that intentionally try and rip people off....for nothing. You know...if I was a lecherous prick like some of these people, I would try and rip folks off on say....a Babe Ruth $2,000 plus card not a $2.00 3rd tier RC. Oh wait.....if I did that...that's right...that would be a felony in some states. The fucktards are like ants. They are everywhere....which leads me to my latest experience.I will not mention the seller's name but I will say he is in Northeast region of the US. And to protect a few folks, the same seller sold more then one of these. So I am watching this 2007 Sweet Spot Sweet Beginnings Signatures of David Murphy. This card books for $8.00. EIGHT F-ING BUCKS. Not like it is a Jordan or anything. So..........Auction gets ready to end and I end up winning it for what I think is just about right. Here is word for word the description the guy put in his auction, "check scan -----mint condition----Sharp Corners--Vibrant Color--Well Centered--Clean Back" and sure enough, the scan looked legit and the guys feedback was 99.9% positive. I pay and wait for the card. Well....it came today and as soon as I got the envelope from the postman, I knew I was fucked. I felt the hard plastic of a team set hinged holder AND I heard the lovely sound of the card edges banging into it as it was about half an inch too big for the fucking card. So from there to here (about 2,000 miles) this card's corners have been dinged to shit. You might be saying....that isn't the sellers fault! He shipped it with the only thing he had for such a large card! How could he have possibly known that Ultra Pro has made a 150+ point top loader and sleeves for 5 years and that 3M has made Scotch tape since cro-magnon man walked the fucking earth? You're right......considering the Sweet Spot product is not sold at Wal-Mart, Shaw's, or the Pump N' Pantry, I ASSumed the guy knew his stuff and hey.....my fault for assuming. But wait....it gets better....upon closer inspection, I notice a white-ish dot in the center of the helmet. Guess what??? You give up? It appears that some fucking cum bubble tried to cover up a ding in the helmet on the card with a blue marker. I wonder if the person that did that was the same ass grease that DIDN'T mention that little part in their auction description?
Screw these people and screw Ebay. I am done. I do not have the time nor do I have the patience any longer to answer questions 185 times or try to reason with some scam artist that most likely knows full well they are selling bullshit. I also don't have the patience to deal with EBay's joke of a dispute process which usually consists of 2 weeks to a month of waiting until they say your fucked anyway. I have two more cards coming then I am shutting down my EBay ID's and I pray the bastards that cannot seem to use their common sense when it comes to buying or selling on EBay have an especially shitty rest of their lives.
Sorry for the very negative and very profuse use of swearing but this has crawled up my ass with a fork for the last time.
Here is the scan of the card in question. See if you see what I see. Click on the picture to blow it up and look along the left (helmet side) edge of the card. I trimmed off the other edge to not make it huge. Also see if you can find the white dot that someone tried to cover up.......

Great blog entry about the hobby....

2008-06-23T13:34:00.007-05:00

Hey...if you read this blog with any regularity, read the article at Sports Cards Uncensored . It is a really great musing on the state and mindset of the hobby, the industry, the collectors, and the jackasses (Joe Collector's) in it.
I really admire the bloggers like Mario, and Sports Cards Uncensored, and the hundreds of others that keep their sites current and relevent. From someone that just started blogging about a hobby that has been a large part of my life for many years, I am just beginning to realize how much work it is to blog, update, inform, warn, and rant in a way that is not only fun and interesting but also serious and meaningful. A lot of the bloggers (myself included) have a lot of shit they could be doing and a lot of other stresses in their lives that they could say they are done with blogging or have no time and no one would blame them.
A lot of people think collecting cards is a bubble gum kid's thing and don't understand how 36 year old men can act like a retard when they open a pack of cards and get a Dilbert Dickweed rookie. They don't understand because it's not their thing. I don't understand why people eat food that tastes like the cards I collect, work out 5 times a week and still die of a heart attack or people that spew their negative shit over anyone that is within ear shot in hopes of making as many people as pissed and miserable as they are. No matter what your "thing" is...it is cool. It's cool because it is yours and it helps define the person you are.
If all my cards went up in flames or sunk to the bottom of the sea, I would be sad but I would still be me and I would still collect cards because just like my wife and family, just like a good meal and an occasional beer, cards bring me happiness and give me a sense of pleasure. If you have none of that or if cards aren't your bag...then go out and find it.
(What the hell did I just write? I must have been asleep or just watched Fried Green Tomatoes.)

OK...I Get it.....

2008-06-20T10:49:00.005-05:00

OK folks.....I know my blog is called Red Sox Musings and there is little if any Red Sox info or opinions here. This labor of love has morphed into a card blog but I get little reminders (some friendly and some calling me names of the solid waste variety) all the time that I should not say I "muse about the Sox if I don't" Ok...so let's muse.
Curt Schilling...so now he is out for the year. Didn't we already know that? Oh...right...The Red Sox wouldn't allow him to have surgery so it is the Sox' fault. Bullshit! Curt Schilling (and I am honestly a HUGE fan Curt..seriously) sold the Sox a bottle of snake oil. He KNEW he was hurt BEFORE he signed his "last" contract with the Red Sox. He wanted to retire a Red Sox and now his season will end (and possibly his career) and he will go to the bank and cash that 1 year deal check he got from Theo and the Sox. What went down would be like me trying out to be a porn star with no penis. Dude...a pitcher knows when his shoulder ain't right and Schilling admits he knew BEFORE he signed the deal. He claims he hoped it would get better and he realized a few weeks after he inked the deal it was not better and suddenly felt this is something the Sox should know about. Curt...if you had just said no, retired a World Series Champ AND a Red Sox, you would have been a legend...period! Now..while still a legend, you will be a guy that might have not fully disclosed an injury to sign one final million dollar deal. The Sox could have pushed harder for Santana (bet he wishes the trade had gone differently) or maybe looked at another option. Luckily they have been cool. Their farm system is stacked with young stud pitchers.
Curt Schilling has had a woefully underrated career and has been a rock and an ace on every team he has played for. He deserved to go out better then this and the Sox deserved better then this.

What would you pay? As much as a loaded Kia you say? Your Eternal Soul My Dear Sir? Here is your card.

2008-06-20T08:31:00.007-05:00

I think that the person selling this card is insane. For those that hate clicking on links, there is currently a card on Ebay that someone is trying to sell for $10,000.00. TEN GRAND! Mantle's RC doesn't even go for that. This is nuts. How can someone really believe that someone would drop 10 G's on a Chris Paul 1/1 when 1/1 cards are a plentiful pull nowadays? Not only that but whomever pays $10,000.00 for the card also has to PAY $4.00 TO SHIP IT. WTF? I am going to pay you 10 grand for the card and you are going to make me pay FOUR F-ING BUCKS to ship it to me? But then again. The guy says in the auction that he "honestly" doesn't want to part with the card....but for the right price he will. That price is apparently someone's soul. Wait..I am sure there is some jackass who would pay the asking price for the card. There are idiots everywhere. But come on man. Any fool that would pay 6 figures for a Chris Paul autograph/ relic 1/1, OKC patch or not, from Topps Triple Threads and not maybe put that cash in the bank or pay down some debt should have no right to exist. $10,000.00 for Wanger? Ruth? Mantle? Hey..if I had the disposable income and could find the "perfect" card from one of the three then maybe. But Chris Fucking Paul? Taking nothing away from him as he was a ninja in playoffs but what is he?? a second year player? Say he blows a knee or just starts to suck balls like say......Joe Smith and you are the dumbass that just dropped 10 mortgage payments for a 1/1 basketball card? The seller has had 9 offers and has declined each one. I wish I could see what the offers have been as I bet most would consider at least one of them their "right" price. I get crap all the time from my wife and family for spending money on cards when gas is so expensive and our economy is slowly circling the bowl but I think that if I even dropped HALF of what that person is asking for that Chris Paul, my wife would just walk up to me while I was asleep and blow my testicles off with a shotgun.
The search for the big money cash cow card happens with every set. Everytime someone pulls a x/999 rookie they start planning their kids future based on what they will sell the card for. Then two years later, they still have the card, they are still waiting for the guy's "skills to kick in" and suddenly you hear he is accused of killing someone at a titty bar. Nice. Great investment nutsack!
Sports cards are supposed to be fun to collect...right? I don't open a box or a pack and think I have hit the lottery when I get a good card nor should I. Sure money and the search for the big hit has taken over this "hobby" and it will always be there while players as great and Ruth, Mantle, Williams, Staubach, Bradshaw, Bird and Magic play, win, and retire. I find it more fun to pull a card from some rookie and instead of cheesing in my pants, hope THEY will be as great as the legends that came before them and if they do, I can pull that card out and know that I had it way back when.
I plan on handing my cards down to my kids or to someone that will give a shit about all the trouble and joy the hobby gave me and cherish the cards for what they are. Memories, history, futures.
Off the soapbox and sorry for the language. I just get irritated when I see people trying to cash in in such a ridiculous way. It is one thing to sell cards and want to make extra money on the side. Zero problems with that. I have done it. But what this is and what I see a lot of is robbery in my opinion.
*****EDIT*****
In reading the post I made above, I want to make it clear that I am no holier then thou "I am better then you" person. I believe in a free market economy and the right to choose like anyone else. Honestly, I know of no one that would not sell any card they had for $10,000.00. I just personally find it appalling. This is the kind of treasure hunters that keep $300 packs coming and they can keep them. The day I spend $300 on 5 to 7 cards is the day my wife divorces me or the day I need to be institutionalized as I will have flown over the cuckoo's nest.

SPx Mystery Redemption RR3

2008-06-19T15:01:00.002-05:00

SWEET! Thanks to Wax Heaven, I just discovered that the SPx Redemption I pulled from the first pack I opened is going to be Evan Longoria. I will refrain from making any Desperate Housewives or Eva jokes only because I am wicked glad UD chose him rather then someone like Homer Bailey.

BGS and BVG Graded Cards are in!

2008-06-19T11:02:00.012-05:00

Tuesday was a bit of a buzzkill. I went to pick up my graded cards and storms had knocked out power so I was not able to get them until yesterday (Wednesday). Before I go card by card let me first say that overall I am pleased with the results. My cards recieved great grades for the most part and they are what I expected (except for one of them). My wife says it is a testament to how well I take care of the cards and she now thinks that being as anal as I am about putting them in sleeves immediately is validated. I just think it shows how the different grading companies grade. A friend has had cards graded by PSA/DNA, BGS, and GAI and he believes (as do many, many others) that BGS (Beckett) is by far the most strict and the most critical. Be that good or bad I guess if they are the most strict with their grading then I guess folks might want to look into that before buying a graded card.
Here we go (click on image for full scan. Blur is from the holder).

This was the card that had never been touch by human hands outside of the Topps employees that created it. It arrived in a penny sleeve and a top loader so if ANY of my cards were going to get a 10 I thought this one had the best chance. Here is the grade breakdown:
Centering-10
Corners-9.5
Edges-9.5
Surface-9.5
Overall-9.5 Gem Mint/ Autograph-10
I have to admit I was a bit bummed but then you realize how hard a 10 Pristine is to get. I know a dealer who has dealt with BGS for about 15 years and sent thousands of cards and he has gotten only two 10 grades in that time.

Here is the next one.

For those that cannot make out what this card is, it is a 2007 Turkey Red Chomographs #DW David Wright. This card went straight from the pack to a screw down holder.
Grade Breakdown:
Centering-9.5
Corners-9.5
Edges-9.5
Surface-9
Overall-9.5 Gem Mint/ Autograph-10
This is what I expected and the only thing I see (or didn't see) was the surface issues. I looked at it under a high powered magnifier and it looked smooth as silk.

Next Card:

2007 Topps Chrome Rookie Autographs #TC172 John Beck. Mario at Wax Heaven might like this since he is closer to Miami then anyone I know other then my Aunt in Orlando.
Grade Breakdown:
Centering-9
Edges-9.5
Corners-9.5
Surface-10
Overall-9.5 Gem Mint/ Autograph-10
Wow..centering 9? Holy Tape Measure Batman! The fine folks at BGS don't miss a thing I guess. I actually found an article written by a former BGS grader and he broke down EVERYTHING they look at and for. He described how to check centering, edges, etc. and I swear when I did what he said, the centering was dead on. Oh well. Still, 9.5 is very, very good.

Now to the next card:

All I can say here is DAMN YOU BUYBACKS!!!! I actually expected this. This is a 2005 Diamond Kings Buyback of a 1983 Diamond King. Basically, Donruss bought this card from someone's collection, had Steve Carlton Autograph it, and stamped it 1/1. When I looked at the surface of this card before sending it, I thought the assclown that owned it must have stored it in a sandbox. The surface is dings, pocks, and other assorted maladies. I seriously considered not sending it in as I knew it might grade low because of that. My shop owner told me to re-consider that since it was a 1/1 and while Carlton's stuff doesn't sell well, he is a Hall of Famer and at the very least this would keep it as it. Sure enough the surface screwed the grade to hell. Here is the breakdown:
Centering-7.5
Corners-8.5
Edges-9
Surface-4
Overall-5/ Autograph-10
I was well on my way to a solid 8. Oh well.

And finally:

The Grandaddy of my collection. The card I have had longer then any other and also my first trade. 1960 Topps #343 Sandy Koufax. A little history on this card. The person that traded me this card was about 30 years old when we made the deal and took care of his cards. BUT, Prior to reaching an age where taking care of them became important, he did was just about every other kid in the 60's did and wrapped the stacks of cards in rubber bands and stuck them in a shoe box. I did not expect this to grade high. I knew it had issues but since this card has tremendous sentimental value to me, I sent it in to keep it from getting any worse possibly. A grade of 4 is one lower then I expected. I thought when I sent it (and still do) it was a solid 5 possible a 6. I took it over to my local shop owner and he said he thought a 4 was fair. I can live with it as I do not intend on selling it but I would be damned curious to crack this case open and see what grade PSA/DNA or GAI gave it.
There you have it. My first batch of graded cards. I do plan on sending a few more in but I am going to have to change my eye on the cards I send. I need to be much more critical if I plan on using BGS again.

2007-2008 Bowman Elevation Basketball

2008-06-17T15:06:00.002-05:00

I know I am in the minority in collecting Basketball cards. Primarily, I am a baseball guy. On occasion, I have been known to stray though. Football, Hockey, Basketball....I guess I am a sports card whore. I have had a few interesting experiences recently with Bowman (Topps) and their 2008 Elevation set. For the most part, I think it is a fantastic set. Nice cards and populated really nicely. A few days ago, I pulled the below card from a pack where EVERY single card was either off center, poorly cut, or bent. It just amazes me that this happens. I will let the picture speak for itself and I will try to make this my last post crying about quality.....maybe.

Something Graded This Way Comes....

2008-06-17T14:58:00.003-05:00

Today is the day I am going to pick up my graded cards from Beckett. I will be scanning them in and commenting once I have had a chance to get them and feed them through the scanner. Stay tuned!

2008 Topps: The Good, The Bad, The Replacements

2008-06-17T14:37:00.007-05:00

I had a couple people email me and ask about my comments in a previous post. It was about the comments about Topps and my experiences with them in regards to replacing cards missing from Hobby boxes. The emails basically asked what I did not get and what Topps sent me to make up for it. The people wanted to see if my experiences matched theirs. They did...I got equally crappy cards to what they got. In a nutshell, out of two boxes of 2008 Topps HTA, I was supposed to get an autograph and a relic in each box. In both boxes, all I got was the relic...and they weren't bad. I sent a letter to Topps and got back two autographs. Here are the two relics I got and the two autographs Topps sent me back. Judge for yourselves if they equal what I would have gotten in the boxes had they been correct.

David Wright Bat and Carlos Beltran Bat...not too shabby.

Josh Anderson and Randy Messenger Autographs.....hmmmmm. Ok...they ARE rookies sure but..I cannot shake the feeling that.....yeah. They pretty much suck. I guess it is true what I have heard from a lot of people in that Topps sends crap make up cards. Maybe I would not have felt jilted if I had pulled them out of the packs myself. Oh well. I am sure some might say that Topps didn't have to send me anything and you are right so perhaps I should be grateful I got anything at all. I guess I am too much of a jerk for that though.

2008 Upper Deck Series 2 continued......

2008-06-16T14:17:00.004-05:00

I sent my severely flawed Team USA Junior National Autograph/ Patch back today. If you know not of what I speak, click here to see my previous post. If anyone needs it, here is the address to return cards to Upper Deck:
The Upper Deck Company
ATTN: Quality Assurance Department
5909 Sea Otter Place
Carlsbad, CA 92008
What sort of pisses me off more then anything is that I not only have to lay out the cash to buy their product but I also have to lay out the cash to send it back to them. I use delivery confirmation to be safe so by the time I leave the post office I have dropped an additional $5 to $12 bucks for something UPPER DECK screwed up! I know full well that occasionally cards get damaged but Jeez....so early in the 2008 release schedule and I have already had to return 3 Upper Deck cards (2 Spectrum and 1 Series 2) and 4 Topps/ Bowman cards (2 Bowman Elevation Basketball and 2 2008 Topps Autographs) I have also had to send requests to Topps to make good on boxes I have busted that were supposed to contain an Autograph and have not on 2 other occasions in 2008. Where is the quality? In 1987 I did not expect quality. I expected the gum to be fused to the back of the last card and some corner damage. Having to worry about quality assurance today is just sad. With the amount of money they card companies are charging for packs and boxes I should open every pack and 99.9% of them should be PRISTINE. Odd screw ups and occasional corner issues I can live with but the frequency it has been happening lately is pathetic. Some folks might defend Upper Deck because they always send you a consolation prize when they return your card (replaced or not). That prize usually ends up being two packs of low end Upper Deck cards. I don't agree. when I send back a damaged card I pulled out of a $30 pack or a $100 box, why would I want 2 packs of Series One. While that was not the case here in that I bought a $30 pack, I am trying to make a point. Call me a snob or say I am being to critical but make my consolation prize QUALITY ASSURANCE.When you are standing in line at the post office to spend your own money to ship a damaged or flawed card back to the maker, it makes you realize that gas is $4.00 a gallon, milk is $4.00 a gallon and you could loose your job at any time and that money you just spent to buy the cards and then return some of them might be of better use in your gas tank or in the bank.

2008 SPx Baseball Continued and others...

2008-06-16T12:12:00.006-05:00

Before I left on vacation, I got permission from the wife to go and buy a few packs. It was a tough choice but I opted for a few 2008 Bowman HTA's, a few 2008 SPx Baseball, and a few 2008 Playoff Prestige Football.

2008 SPx has been a pleasant surprise and a bit of an odd duck to me. For the life of me, I cannot see why companies make 3+ versions of the SAME card. Parallels are OK...but ONE parallel would be sufficient for me. Upper Deck has gone ape shit..as they always tend to do..with SPx. Here is the list of Derek Jeter cards in the 2008 SPx set as an example:

Main Set:

2008 SPx

Insert Set:

2008 SPx Superstar Signatures

2008 SPx Winning Materials Autographs

2008 SPx Winning Materials Dual SPx

2008 SPx Winning Materials SPx 150

2008 SPx Winning Materials Triple SPx 15

2008 SPx Winning Materials Triple Swatch Autographs

2008 SPx Winning Trios

Parallel/Insert Set:

2008 SPx Superstar Signatures Silver

2008 SPx Winning Materials Baseball 99

2008 SPx Winning Materials Dual Jersey Number

2008 SPx Winning Materials Dual Limited Patch SPx

2008 SPx Winning Materials Dual Limited Patch Team Initials

2008 SPx Winning Materials Dual MLB 20

2008 SPx Winning Materials Dual Position 20

2008 SPx Winning Materials Dual Team Initials 25

2008 SPx Winning Materials Jersey Number 125

2008 SPx Winning Materials Limited Patch SPx

2008 SPx Winning Materials Limited Patch Team Initials

2008 SPx Winning Materials MLB 125

2008 SPx Winning Materials Position 75

2008 SPx Winning Materials SPx Die Cut 150

2008 SPx Winning Materials Team Initials 99

2008 SPx Winning Materials Triple Limited Patch 15

2008 SPx Winning Materials Triple Team Initials 10

2008 SPx Winning Materials UD Logo

2008 SPx Winning Trios Gold 15

2008 SPx Winning Trios Gold 25

2008 SPx Winning Trios Silver Limited Patch

Now...if your head has not exploded, you will see there are TWENTY SIX different Jeter relic cards and FOUR different autographs. Is that needed? I mean seriously, If I were the biggest Jeter fan in the world (I am not but I acknowledge his HOF greatness), would I really have the time or compunction to collect all these cards that for the most part are EXACTLY the same? I am a massive Red Sox fan but if I tried to collect all the different Sox players and their trillion different versions in this set, by 2220 when I got them all (if I wasn't dead or in a puddle of my own filth and insane) I would be too old and broke to enjoy them. Maybe that is taking it to the nth degree but you get my drift.

Here is one of the two Jeter's I have pulled from the 08 SPx packs (sorry for the blurry scan. I am working on it):

This is the 2008 SPx Winning Materials Dual Limited Patch SPx serial #'d 50/50. Is it a nice card? Sure it is. But knowing that there are twenty three OTHER versions of Jeter's cards in this set minus the two I have already pulled would be a bit of a kick in the nuts if I were sweet on Jete. Again...maybe I am missing the point.

Here are a few more from the pre-vacation SPx pack busts.

I feel a bit cheated after buying as many packs as I have and still not landing a Triple Materials card. I did land one of the Mystery Redemption's so I am hoping that makes it all OK in Rich's World. If you want to see a pretty sweet bust of SPx, head over to Wax Heaven. Mario, after thankfully decided to un-shutter his site, pulled some pretty nice cards. The Griffey relic is especially nice and kicks the crap out of just about anything I pulled.

Overall...I still love SPx. Baseball, Football, or Basketball it is the best value for the dough if you crave a guaranteed hit. Of course that hit might be a grey away swatch of Bartolo Colon's uniform but it is something. My final grade would be wavering between a B+ and and A- only because of the ridiculous number of parallels.

Grading

2008-06-16T10:33:00.002-05:00

Back from vacation and not refreshed at all. Funny how a vacation usually always turns into more work and stress then your actual job isn't it?
Anyhow...before leaving for vacation I dropped off my first batch of cards to Beckett to be graded. I have never been a fan of grading nor have I had much use for it. Why would I want my card encased into a holder where it cannot be touched or anything? Why spend that kind of money? Well....my local card shop owner and I were chatting and it became clear to me that in CERTAIN cases grading is a good way to go. In my case, I have certain cards that I want to make sure stay in no worse shape then they are now or never get in bad shape at all.
My 1960 Topps Sandy Koufax, 1971 Topps Carl Yastrzemski, 2005 Diamond Kings Steve Carlton 1/1, 2007 Finest Joba Chamberlain AU, 2007 Turkey Red Chromograph David Wright, and a few others were the first to make the trip to BGS. I am curious to see how they grade. One of the above has never been touched by any hand other then a Topps employee and the others have been encased in screw down diamond cornered holders since I got them so I will be very, very intrigued by how they rate. I am picking them up tomorrow (Tuesday) afternoon and I will scan each one and comment on the grade I got. If I am somewhat happy with the results, I will send a few more that I want to preserve. Who knows....I may need to sell a few of them sometime and I am sure someone would be happier with a graded version then just what I think they are.
Will post more from the 2008 SPx and the 2008 Playoff Prestige Football sets later today.

Vacation

2008-06-07T10:08:00.002-05:00

Hello Everyone. Just want to drop a quick entry that I am going to be on vacation starting today. Updates won't be regular again until the 15th or so. Who knows???? I might hop on and add something!

My Other Addiction

2008-06-05T14:30:00.005-05:00

Since I am fessing up to being addicted to sports cards, I might as well admit to another addiction....the Playstation 3.

I had a Playstation 2 since the day it launched and it gave me many hours of gaming glee. Then the PS3 arrived. My wife knew I wanted one, but like a responsible adult, I kept my mouth shut. This last Christmas it became too much for me and I asked for it. I told my wife that it would account for the next 2 Christmas gift and she finally acquiesced and got it for me. Since then, I have been embroiled in first..MLB 07: The Show and now MLB 08: The Show.

Other then the fact I play almost exclusively a baseball video game, this post has nothing to do with anything other then me being honest!

Hi..My name is Rich and I am a Cardaholic

2008-06-05T10:38:00.003-05:00

Hi...My name is Rich...and I am a Cardaholic.
I think my hobby has turned into more of an addiction then anything. The more people I talk to, I hear the same thing. Having never been addicted to alcohol or drugs, I honestly cannot say I know what it is like. All I know is I will go the card shop say on a Monday and buy packs, boxes, whatever. As soon as I get home and rip in, I feel empty. Then...I look at the clock and see how long the card shop will open. Then the guilt sets in. Do I go or do I not go. With $4.00 gas, skyrocketing food prices, a mortgage, two car payments, a wife that is taking a sabbatical from work, and two chronically sick shar-pei's, my sane and adult half says HELL NO! You can't go and you SHOULDN'T have gone to begin with. But....my Darkside (insert Tales from the Darkside theme here), says, "Dude...you totally deserve it. All the stuff you do. GO! Get what you want and have fun."
So which part of me do I listen to? Depends. I love cards. I love the thrill of opening the packs, the joy and tedium of sorting them, I enjoy looking at them and remembering when and where I got them. I love it all. It is a hobby..it is an addiction....it is undeniable. When I was about 18 years old, the prospect of college, girls, a brief sojourn into comic books, and the start of the rise in pack prices made me turn my back on the hobby. I moved out of my Mom's house and started my life on my own. Then...one fateful day... my Mom called and said she was going to sell the house and I needed to come and help her clean it out. Being a good son I did. In the midst of tossing old Hit Parader magazines and old wrecked and worthless Star Wars toys in the trash, something emerged that I had not seen in five years. My cards. Oh my. I put them aside and helped my Mom finish cleaning. I took the cards back to my place and spent all night going through them. I collected for the joy and had no clue what penny sleeves or top loaders were so all my 1984-1991 cards were loose in the wax boxes they came in. A few days later...realizing I needed to get some type of supplies to keep them in good shape, I went to a card shop and was re-introduced to the hobby. I saw $100 SINGLE packs, I saw that my 5 1987 Fleer Barry Bonds rookies were worth a small fortune, my beloved Will Clark cards were still worth something only to ME, I found sleeves, loaders, screw downs, and many other things that hooked me like a fish.
Many years later...I am now a 36 year old that is starting to grey with a wife and I am still hooked. My 5 1987 Fleer Barry Bonds rookies are not even worth a small fortune in Zimbabwe, some packs are now $300 and climbing, it has caused arguments with my wife, tough choices on how to spend extra money, and many other things. But it has given me joy at the worst times in my life, happy memories, and it continues to give me to ability to feel like a 12 year old when I open a pack.
So my question is....is there a 12 step plan for Cardaholics? If so, point me in that direction. I know very, very soon I am going to have to make a choice between putting gas in our cars or buying a box of 2008 Allen & Ginter. What choice will I make? Stay tuned........

2008 Upper Deck Series 2 or 2008 Mommy..why is my autograph cut in half?

2008-06-04T08:45:00.006-05:00

Wow....Mario at Wax Heaven shares a lot of my opinion on the current state of the hobby. It has gotten to be a gluttonus orgy of autographs and butchering history to sell a pack for $300. While the autograph I pulled from the 2008 Upper Deck Series 2 box I busted is not as bad as this or this or any of these (Thanks to Mario at Wax Heaven), It is still one of the shittiest, most ill quality controlled cards I have ever seen.

See if you can pick the card I speak of out of the line up:

If you chose the Autograph Patch of Riccio Torrez, you win the Golden Goose. What the HELLLL??? How did this make it out of the Upper Deck plant? Don't tell me that Torrez signed the card screwy so UD had no choice...there is plenty of white above the name to have done it right. Or...HAVE HIM SIGN AGAIN!!! He is a Junior team member for God's sake. He may be great one day but right now it is in HIS best interest to have a sweet looking card. I have a feeling this is going back to Upper Deck to request a do over. It is a fantastic looking card...seriously. But come on Upper Deck...this is just poor, poor quality control. It looks like what it is...a mistake that should have been caught and fixed before sealed in a pack.

Here are the other highlights:

A couple new Presidential Predictors, a pretty sweet patch from Chris Carpenter, Fukudome Rookie, and a sampling of the USA Baseball base set. I like them but I am still smarting from the Torrez autograph.

2008 Bowman

2008-06-04T08:35:00.004-05:00

Over the last few years the Bowman brand has gone from a niche set to an prospector's wet dream. Bowman Chrome is almost impossible to find when it is released as it is scooped up by fortune hunter's looking for the next Albert Pujols.

While it is sad it has come to that, I still enjoy the Bowman brand as I love reading and getting the scoop on rookies that might be in AA ball now but could be in The Show by the All-Star break.

Grabbed up a few packs of the 2008 Bowman set that comes out as a first course to the Chrome entree. Here are some highlights..

Won't bore you with the details of each card here as I am sure most of you are aware of the set.

The Daric Barton is an Autograph and the Chrome Braedyn Pruitt is a Refractor. I really like the design of this year's release. The Chrome inserts are simple and easy on the eyes and the base set is neat, clean and highlights the player.

Next up is 2008 Upper Deck Series 2 or 2008 UuuuuuuWhat the Hell happened here????

Josh Hamilton and the Texas Rangers

2008-06-02T15:16:00.005-05:00

I am a die hard Red Sox fan. Odd thing about that is I have lived in North Texas my entire life. The first baseball game I ever attended was Texas Rangers vs. Boston Red Sox in 1984. I remember it so vividly because we were sitting on the third base line right next to the Red Sox dugout and for about 10 minutes Wade Boggs was my best friend and spoke only to me. There was hardly anyone at the game and we moved down to the first row next to the steps to the dugout. My mom took me early and we saw batting practice. Jim Rice was ripping them out and during the normal milling about of the pre-game stuff, Wade Boggs looked at me smile and asked if this was my first game. That...in condensed form was the birth of a lifelong Red Sox fan.

I have always carried a special place in my heart for the Rangers though. They are my home team so I feel drawn to them. For the last 10 years, they have given me nothing to cheer for. Lame prospects, no pitching, and lost opprotunities to sign future legends are all part of Rangers lore. They tried really hard to land Randy Johnson...he signed with Arizona. I have always thought that the person that designed the current Rangers Ballpark should be beaten. First let me say I love outdoor baseball. I really do....but THIS IS TEXAS! In August the temp in North Texas approaches 101 to 110 degrees daily. Who in their damned right mind builds a stadium with East and West exposure with no roof (retractable or otherwise). Dear God...going to that place in summer is miserable even at night. 98 degree night games are almost as bad as dry 105 degree day games where you are exposed to the sun for 9 innings and feel like a piece of leather. Field tempratures reach 140 degrees at times. There is a name for heat like that. What name? HELL!

Anyway....that leads me to Josh Hamilton. When the Rangers signed him, it raised a few eyebrows. Lots of people locally had issues with the Rangers signing someone with so much potential downside. The Rangers said they did their homework and were confident Hamilton would be fine. I read his story and unlike a lot of people who say they will stay clean, something about Hamilton's saying he will rings true. Maybe it is because he says in all honesty he knows he could go off the wagon and thinks about it all the time. He is one of the few people that actually have been honest with themselves and the public about their addictions. I respect that and I respect him. He makes time (a lot more then most players) for the fans and treats them like they always want to be treated. He has given me a reason to stop what I am doing and watch the Rangers again. He just got back to back Player of the Month honors and might go to the All-Star Game and who know....might even try for the Triple Crown. Simply said....he is a man that faced his demons and still does every day. He doesn't allow himself to be put in situations that might lead to relapse and doesn't want pity or anything else. Oh...and he is a damn good baseball player. I will go to my grave a Red Sox fan but Josh Hamilton and the Rangers and woken something in me and given me hope that the team around the corner and become as great as they never were.

(AP Photo/Mike Carlson)

2008 SPx Baseball and the Return

2008-06-02T11:23:00.005-05:00

Good Morning all! Up front....apologies to all for my rather long sojurn. I had to deal with numerous family issues and they kept me from doing a whole lot in terms of hobbies and intersts for the last few weeks. For now I am back and hopefully the issues will stay mothballed for a while so I can get caught up on a ton of stuff!

On to the cards...SPx has long been a favorite of mine. I love the one hit per pack but most importantly, they are great looking cards. The base cards in this year's baseball set look great (pain in the ass to get them into a penny sleeve sometimes but great), and the relics and autos look like they had some thought put into them in terms of design.

Here are the relics I pulled followed by a description.....

First card is a 2008 SPx Winning Materials Dual SPx of Chase Utley serial #'d 05/50. Love that the pinstripes are on both swatches.

Second is 2008 SPx Winning Materials Limited Patch 50 of Bartolo Colon serial #'d 08/50. Yeah...it is Bartolo Colon and it says he plays for the Red Sox but shows him in an Angels uniform and the swatch is from the Angels uni but I always dig getting a patch.

Third is 2008 SPx Winning Materials SPx Die Cut 150 of Derek Jeter serial #'d 137/150. While I am not a Yankee fan, I can appreciate that Jeter's cards hold their value and he is a HOFer.

So those were the highlights of the relics. I dig them. If I could change one thing it would be the blank holes left from the unfilled relics. They make the cards kind of look like mistakes.

On to the autographs..... This year I really, really dig the Rookie Signatures series. The touch of dye cutting makes them look really sharp. Here are the highlights of the autos and a few others.

First card is actually a bit of a joke with me. The card is a Rookie Signature of Joe Koshansky. What's the joke? Well...every set from 2007 to current that Joe Koshansky has had an autographed card, I have pulled it. I have no less then seven Joe Koshansky autograph cards. When I bought the SPx box from my dealer, I said "dollars to doughnuts I pull a Joe Koshansky autograph". I cracked the box and ripped the first pack and what did I pull?????? Yep, I pulled the above Joe Koshansky autograph. I guess I have become a Joe Koshansky collector by accident.

Second card is a Rookie Signature of Chris Seddon. Mr. Seddon might be going the way of Joe Koshansky as this is the third auto of his I have pulled.

Third card is a Rookie Signature of Eugenio Velez.

Fourth card shown is a Ken Griffey Jr. American Hero insert serial #'d 621/725. Wasn't lucky enough to pull the 1/1 versions of these but still a pretty sweet card.

Not shown is an SPx Rookie Signatures Mystery Redemption Card that I pulled. Don't know who the "Mystery" player is going to be and my dealer said I was a fool because I actually scratched off the number and sent off for it but I love the thought of the "mystery".

Overall...I love these and I fully intend to buy more. Perhaps a lot more. These cards are really nicely done and the player selection is really nice. If anyone cares about my recommendations, I recommend the hell out of these.

Sometimes we all eat a sh@!t sandwich....

2008-05-21T14:13:00.001-05:00

Again....my apologies to anyone that checks this regularly. I have been very lax in my updates despite my best efforts. I am dealing with 1 ill mother and 1 ill mother-in-law and my wife's job keeps her out of the house a lot. Therefore...I am playing houseboy.
Updates are coming so please don't abandon me!!

2008 UD Spectrum (or the big fat not worth it)

2008-05-16T08:45:00.004-05:00

I can always tell which new products are selling poorly. My local card shop orders variying amounts of certain products and when I can go into his shop at least once a week and after 5 weeks I see the same number of boxes (minus the one I bought) sitting on display, I can pretty well figure it is a dud.

That brings me to 2008 UD Spectrum. I had high hopes for this box. I was in the shop then the owner cracked the case and I got my pick of the litter. I guess I ended up with the runt. Here are the pulls but a special note....three of my pulls are missing. Where are they are??? Well they are back at Upper Deck. Just about every one of my relics or autos were damaged out of the pack. The "premium" pull was a J.D. Drew Dodgers patch serial #'d to 25. The top of the card was folded down from corner to corner. I doubt this will get replaced since it is a low run but I just had to send it back since it was the best pull I got really. The other pull that I sent back was one the ridiculous star autos. I was fortunate enough to pull an autograph of Eddie Ojeda. Who the f-ing hell is Eddie Ojeda you ask? Well.....idiots....he is of course the world famous and instantly recognizable backup guitartist from Twisted Sister! Now that the sarcasm is gone.....seriously...Eddie Ojeda....dude....who cares about the second guitarist from the 4th rate 80's hair band much less getting his autograph in a box of F@!#@ING baseball cards?

Anyway...Those were the two I sent back. I have others I need to send back as well but wanted to wait to see how UD handles these. I have no doubt I will get a mint Eddie Ojeda back...hell they might even send me a Don Dokken autograph relic with a swatch of his pubes for my trouble.

Card # 1 is a 2008 Upper Deck Spectrum Spectrum Swatches Green of David Ortiz serial #'d 35/50. Since I am a Red Sox fan I love this card.

Card # 2 is a Rookie Signature of Josh Newman. Pretty boring card with almost no information or anything eye catching.

Card # 3 is 2008 Upper Deck Spectrum Derek Jeter Retrospectrum Red serial #'d 34/99. Just one of the gazillion parallels in this set.

So my final verdict is save your money. Bowman Chrome is coming soon as is Triple Threads and SPx Baseball.
And here is a special message to card companies......STOP putting cards of non-sports figures in sports cards sets. Unless they DIRECTLY relate to sports (i.e. the old Fans of the Game series which were cool). The last thing I want to pull when I buy a box of baseball cards is an Eddie Ojeda, Minnie Pearl, Henry Winkler, or any other dumb ass non-sports related autographs.

Back and a quick review....

2008-05-15T09:02:00.005-05:00

This has been a ridiculous month. It is amazing how important things you do seem to be one day and then the very next day, something happens that makes everything seem inconsecuential.
Anyway....these reviews might be a bit dated now but I have never said the reviews or comments would always be about current products (see 2005 Diamond Kings!)... I am going to keep this short beause I am still dealing with some personal issues but I don't want people to think I am one of those people that start a blog then abandon it!

2008 Topps Co-Signers Baseball-
Well....I dug the 2007 product but never really found it more then a second choice when I could find nothing else that struck my fancy and I just had to spend money on cards.
The day that 2008 Co-Signers was released, it just happened to be my birthday so I decided to splurge and give it a roll. I had read what the great folks at Wax Heaven had to say about it and while I wasn't really excited about the chances of a good pull, I still let a small child's excitement overrule my 3x year old wisdom.
My local shop owner cut me a special deal on the box along with a few other things I grabbed so I was even more pumped to get home and rip in. That excitement soon crashed like the Hindenburg and I was left wondering if Mario @ Wax Heaven and I got the same box....Here are the highlights...

I would first like to draw attention to the last card in the scan. I left it at the end as I was pretty stunned I got it. Yep.....that is the same Freddy Sanchez/ Steve Pearce dual auto that Mario pulled. I hope he was as excited as I was!! From other reviews I have read, one common factor in most of them is this card. I would guess that I have read 15-20 reviews of 2008 Co-Signers and in probably 5 to 10 boxes, this card was pulled. From other peoples reviews and from what I pulled, I think Topps is trying to dilute this set way too much. If I buy a mid to premium product, I feel I should get a fucking mid to premium auto. Taking nothing away from Freddy Sanchez or Steve Pearce but BULLSHIT! If I had bought a box of Tri-Star Prospects Plus or another rookie-centric product I would have no problem with this card. I don't know......it just seems like having any player sign is the norm now. I am sure there are one or two Freddy Sanchez and/ or Steve Pearce fans in the U.S. and I am sure they would love this card. If so, let me know and I am sure we can work out something!!
The rest are pretty standard fare really. Nothing really stood out except for the Jacoby Ellsbury and the Clay Bucholz.

Overall I have to say I am a bit let down here. Sure...I am probably being too critical but it seems that Topps saves all the primo autographs for their Triple Threads or other "premium sets" and put all the average to below average autographs into their more affordable sets. Perhaps I should not base my opinion on just one box so maybe, if funds allow, I will pick up another box and try it again.....perhaps.

Sorry

2008-05-14T07:36:00.002-05:00

Hey everyone.....Sorry I have dropped off the grid in the last week or so. I have had some family issues that have taken up all my time. I will be posting updates in the next day or two so anyone pissed that I haven't replied or updated.....be patient. I will soon return.

Opinions on the hobby and why I collect.....

2008-05-02T15:03:00.010-05:00

I was reading a few articles and essays today about card collecting and where it is at and where is has come from and it has made me a tad nostalgic. When I was but a wee lad, I remember the rare times my Mother would buy me an entire box of cards to open. Back then a whole box of wax packs was something special as I didn't know anyone (meaning other kids who collected) who got them regularly. I can recall sitting cross legged on the floor and before I knew it, I was surrounded by empty wax packs with the cards in the process of being sorted by team. There was no sadness that the ripping was over as it was a special occasion.
Now...people buy cases and cases of boxes hoping to hit it big. One example is a friend of mine who will remain nameless. When the 2007 Topps Allen & Ginter boxes came out, he bought THREE CASES! Why did he buy three cases? He read that there was a Mother Theresa autograph that was a 1/1 and a George Washington card with a clip of his hair that was a short (1/2 or 1/5) run and he wanted either or both of them. His sole motivation behind that? It was to sell them. Out of three cases of cards, he did not pull either one of the cards he was wanting. For the last few years his collection and his collecting has gone from a hobby to an obsession to make money. He no longer looks forward to opening packs. He will buy cases of a hot product and rip through it in the time it takes me to open one single box. bypassing commons, tossing the relics or autographs he pulls into a stack and then going through them when he is done to sort them by "common" and "money". He then waits for the pricing to come out and posts them on Ebay. I asked him where the joy in just ripping through a case was and his response to me was "I lost my joy of collecting a long time ago." I followed up by asking him why he still spent money on the cards he he replied that he felt like he was being "screwed" out of money by the card companies and he wanted to make some money off their overproduction.
I sat back and thought about that. To this day I cannot see how any card company is screwing anyone. They put out the product and customers buy it if they want it. I am no fan of the 10 different parallels or the $200 seven card pack but if someone wants it then who cares? My friend's logic is he feels screwed over and now he wants to make a shitload of money off the product (he calls it his kids college fund even though he has no kids and has not had a girlfriend in 5 years). What he fails to see is that he is actually HELPING the card companies do the exact things he derides them for. The more money people spend on cards the more cards the companies make. The more cards they make....the more 10 parallel's and $200 seven card packs they make.
On the other side of this coin, I see things like I saw the other day while in my local card shop. This kid came in with a smile on his face and announced that his mother bought him two packs of Topps basketball cards from Wal-Mart and he got a LeBron James. He went to the counter and asked the owner what he should put it in. Instead of asking if it was an auto or a relic, the owner went over to the supplies wall and pulled one penny sleeve and one top loader out of his stock and handed it to the kid and didn't charge him a dime. The kid said thank you and said he would ask his mother to bring him back and happily walked out the door. The owner and I just looked at each other and smiled and he went back to talking about whatever we were talking about. But that moment stuck with me. I still feel...as foolish as I might be....that that is the rush we should still feel for this hobby.
I collect because it brings me peace. I can have the worst day of my life and stop at the card shop and buy a few packs and suddenly I am 10 years old again. I drive home and cannot wait to open the packs and see what I pull. I pull 5 commons or base cards out of a 5 card pack? Who cares? Once they are all open I can sit on the couch, floor, at my desk, or anywhere, and get lost in sorting, bagging, and boxing them. Usually that turns into me looking at my other cards and pulling them out to look at them and remembering how I felt when I pulled them. Next thing I know I have just spent hours lost in something I have loved since I was a child.
Call me a dumb-ass or an idiot or even a fag but I love collecting cards. I am not a shut-in, a loser, or a nerd. I have a good job, a great wife, two dogs, a house, and two cars all of which bring me happiness. Collecting cards on the other hand gives me a way to find order in chaos. Perhaps I am making trying to make my hobby into more then I should or trying to make it into a Norman Rockwell portrait...who knows. I feel that anyone who collects cards should be able to do so for whatever reason then choose. But when it becomes solely a money thing it loses it's shine for me.

What I just wrote is my opinion. If you are offended by what I typed then sorry. Please don't fill up my comments page or my inbox with comments calling me an idiot or worse as I really don't care. If you collect to sell then good for you. Seriously. If that aspect of the hobby makes you happy then that is all that matters.

2008 Press Pass Football

2008-05-02T13:27:00.004-05:00

So off baseball for a post or two.

2008 Press Pass Football was just released. With Press Pass issues, I normally wait until the Press Pass SE (Signature Edition) comes out but the buzz and the design changes to this years base Press Pass issue just insisted I buy a few.
I am not a big fan of college football. One thing I am though is a prospector. Now...I do not use that term like a lot of people in the card realm do. By "prospector" I do not mean I buy cards low to sell high. I mean that I love buying and pulling cards of draft picks etc. and hoping they hit it big. I will most likely never sell them, I just enjoy having them.

This year's football draft class was pretty impressive. Darren McFadden, Chris Long, Glenn Dorsey, etc. Lots of players have a chance to be the next big thing.

The local card shop had boxes for sale and packs taken from broken boxes and I opted to go the pack route. I picked out five packs to try my luck with.

Here are the results and my take:

Card # 1 is a Press Pass Signings Bronze of Martin Rucker. He ended up being the 12th pick in the 4th round (111 overall). He is a tight end so unless he ends up being the next Jeremy Shockey or Tony Gonzalez, I doubt he will be much of an impact player...but what do I know.

Card # 2 is a Press Pass Signings Bronze of Chris Long. He went # 2 overall and he certainly has the pedigree to be a smash in the NFL with his father being Howie Long. This is one of those cards that you pull and hope the kid does something special.

Card # 3 (right to left) is a Press Pass Signings Bronze of Kenny Phillips. He went as the 31st pick in the 1st round. Another first rounder that could be a nice player.

Card # 4 is a Teammates Reflectors parallel featuring Jacob Hester and Glenn Dorsey serial #'d 230/500. Dorsey went 5 overall and Hester went 69th overall. Nice card but 500 these days seems like a lot.

Card # 5 is a Reflectors base parallel of Brian Brohm serial #'d 229/500. Brohm went 25th overall to the Packers so with Favre retired, if his replacement falters....who knows, Brohm could see some time.

Card # 6 is a Collegiate Leaders card featuring Darren McFadden. Some people say McFadden could be the next Adrian Peterson or Emmitt Smith. But could he really be the next Rashan Salaam? Time will tell. I expect his cards to be as hot as Peterson's were.....until he succeeds or fails. Then they will either skyrocket or drop to the $1 bin.

Card # 7 is a base Teammates featuring the Arkansas 1-2 punch of McFadden and Felix Jones. Jones was picked up by my beloved Dallas Cowboys so I am hoping he is what everyone said he is. Some draft experts say he is the best running back in the draft. Let's hope so because I was wicked pissed the Cowboys passed up Rashard Mendenhall to take Jones.

My grade for 2008 PP is a solid B+. Nice variety of cards in the base set as they are not all just the same design. Base cards include what some sets would call inserts and I dig that. There is also a nice mix of draftees and current NFL players so that should please any football fan. Plus the chance of pulling one of the first on-card autographs of a potential superstar player is intriguing.

2008 Topps Finest Baseball

2008-05-02T11:56:00.005-05:00

Since the last two posts were from 2007 products, I thought I would get current with the next. The week it came out, I picked up a box of 2008 Topps Finest and had uber high hopes as 2007's Finest was one of my favorite from that year. A box of 2007 Finest garnered me many nice cards and even garnered me one of the cornerstones of my collection (if said cornerstone doesn't crash and burn ala Francisco Liriano) in a Finest Redemption # 10 card. That redemption ended up being the Joba Chamberlain autographed rookie. That one is also in the "to be graded" stack along with the Turkey Red David Wright Chromograph.

Anway...back to the 2008 Finest. The scan first and then I will given my opinion (Sorry for the dark scan..not sure what happened)....

Card # 1 is a Green Refractor Chris Seddon Autograph serial #'d 054/199. Basically a parallel of the base autograph. Seddon is kind of a journeyman Rookie already but since he is a Marlin, maybe the folks at WaxHeaven will dig it.

Cards # 2 & # 3 are redemptions. I ended up getting two redemptions because I had to buy my box from mini-boxes as my local shop owner had pre-sold all his complete boxes. He gave me the same price for the three mini-boxes as the wrapped boxes so I didn't complain and it might be better for me depending on what the redemptions end up being. Maybe a nice Clay Bucholz auto??

Card # 4 is a funny one. I have read many,many reviews of this product that SLAM Topps for putting these inserts into the rotation. One thing everyone was pissed about was they were concerned the "Rip Girls" cards would be pulled in place of a player auto. Well...Topps came out and said they were not taking the place of the standard pulls but were instead made to be unannounced "gifts" to the collector. I can attest to this as I pulled the "Rip Girl" card in the same pack as the Seddon auto. So this one is of the "Rip Girl" Felicia...or FeFe as she says on he back of the card. Nice looking girl but I doubt the card will be very popular. Ebay had them at $25 with half of the cards I saw not selling.

Card # 5 is a Matt Holliday Gold Parallel serial #'d 04/50. Yet another short printed parallel. Nice but rather plain in my opinion.

Card # 6 is a Joe Koshansky rookie autograph. Who knows of Koshansky will end up being as good as his minor league career has been? Either way...it's is an on-card auto and that is nice.

Card # 7 is a Ross Detwiler. On-card auto is about all I can say about this guy so far.

So..what is my opinion of 2008 Topps Finest? Well.....in a word...blah. I think the design is boring and the auto's I pulled leave a bit to be desired in terms of player selection. The Finest Moments and Team Favorites inserts are also, in my opinion, probably the ugliest cards I have seen so far this year. Will I buy more? Probably..but I won't drop $150 on a box again. At most I will pick up one more mini-box as I just don't find these cards very appealing.

2007 Topps Turkey Red Baseball

2008-05-02T11:06:00.003-05:00

Another late entry. Reason for this one is because my wife had a birthday recently and I wanted to get her a box of baseball cards to open along with her other gifts. I wanted to get her a box that was nice and she could pull some good cards BUT I didn't want to break the bank and get her Triple Threads or anything like that. I settled on Turkey Red since it was a sub-$100 product and the chances of her pulling a nice Auto or Relic were excellent.

Excellent ended up being fantastic as this has got to be one of the best box breaks I have seen in a product produced at the level Turkey Red is.

Here are some highlights:

Card # 1 is part of the President's insert set. It is Card # TRP30 of Calvin Coolidge. Neat card and a nice pull. I am a history buff so I enjoy pulling the odd historical figure card.

Card # 2 is a Chrome Black Refractor serial #'d 34/99 of Alex Gordon. I had no idea some people valued these so highly (not to mention Beckett's value) when my wife pulled it. While I am not a huge fan of the double, triple, and quadruple parallel's, refractors, and other variations, pulling a hard to find card is always kind of a thrill...which leads me to......

Card # 3 is a Chromograph of David Wright. I am a big David Wright fan and think he will be a better third baseman then Mike Schmidt so I was thrilled to see this pop up. It was made even better during the sort (I sort everything as the wife just wants to open them). I was sorting them all and when I looked up the Chromograph of Wright in Beckett it had no price listed. I found it was a Group A auto and according to Topps, they are the hardest to pull group. I took it to my local card shop and the owner could find no market for any of the Group A cards but he did offer to trade me for it. I then out out feelers to friends in the hobby and again...they all came back and said they did not know what it was worth but they came back to me offering varying amounts of cash or trade for it. The offers I got from friends were cash between $75 and $200 or trade of similar value. Wwhile tempting, I collect for the joy of it and the peace it brings me. I have sold a grand total of three cards in my life and got screwed so bad (I was a kid and the dealer was a pirate) that I vowed to never sell another card. I have kept that promise to myself. Currently the Wright Chromograph is in a screw down holder waiting to go to Beckett or PSA for grading as I think this might be one of the few cards that warrant it.

Card # 4 is one of the four different Daisuke Matsuzaka cards and variants in the TR set. This is the checklist card and I dig it becuase it is has his name as Dice-K and of course...as a Red Sox fan, I love ANY Sox pull. Out of the one Hobby Box of Turkey Red, I pulled at least one each of the Dice-K base and variants.

Card # 5 is one the folks over at WaxHeaven might dig (if they don't already have it). It is a Turkey Red Relic of Andrew Miller from his days with the Detroit Tigers. Couple neat things about this relic. #1 it is a "game worn" jersey swatch and # 2 the swatch was cut from a seam and you can see a small amount of black piping under the white.

Those are the highlights. I have always liked Turkey Red and this box just made me like it more. Topps can sometimes hit a home run with a product and in my opinion..it did with 2007 Turkey Red. But with Topps....for every homer there is a pop foul down the third base side that gets caught.

2007 Topps Updates & Highlights

2008-05-02T09:10:00.003-05:00

I know this is a little late, but I just recently cracked a couple boxes of 2007 Topps and was pretty surprised with what I pulled. The reason I just got around to opening last years Topps release when the 2008 Series II is close to being released is because I won them. I normally am not a big fan of Topps flagship product. I have always felt the basic Topps release looked cheap and "kiddie" so I usually look over them when choosing a pack or box at my local card shop. The owner of my local shop, as I have mentioned in previous posts, has a drawing every week for customers and the last two weeks have been lucky ones for me. I have one two weeks in a row and each time I had a football, hockey, and baseball box to choose from. Each time the baseball box was a 2007 Topps Updates & Highlights. If I were just choosing for me, I would have gotten the football box over the Topps box but my wife loves cracking open packs and she ONLY likes to open baseball so I picked the Topps U&H mainly to appease her. The boxes I won were both the HTA jumbo packs that have about 50 cards per pack and while I still think the overall design of the cards are a bit cheap, the pulls have made me re-think my aversion to Topps.

Here are just a few:

The first card is a Yellow Printing plate of Brian McCann serial #'d 1/1. This is the first printing plate I have ever pulled and only the second 1/1 I have pulled. In a time where card companies litter releases with short printed parallels and special inserts I have to admit that I loved this pull. The fact that this is one of the printing plates used to press the cards is really cool. Yeah...it is Brian McCann but it is still pretty scarce and, in my opinion, pretty sweet.

Card # 2 is 2007 Joba Chamberlain Rookie Gold Parallel serial #'d 0111/2007. I am a die hard Red Sox fan therefore my natural enemy are the Yankees but I have got to say I enjoy watching Joba pitch. I want to see him do well, not for his card values, but because I really enjoy watching his toss. As long as the Red Sox hit a homer every time they face him I will continue to root for him....just not the Yankees.

Card # 3 is another Yankee staple. It is an oddball card for a squirrel of all things. Polley Walnuts is a squirrel that sits atop the foul pole at some Yankee games and legend has it that it is an omen of a Yankee win. Surprisingly this card books around $30 and from what I hear it is a pretty short printed card.

Card # 4 is a 2007 Highlights Autograph of Gary Sheffield. Sticker auto's are not my favorite but I don't really have anything against this card. I actually sort of like it.

Card # 5 is an All-Star Stitches with a piece of an "event worn" jersey from Chase Utley. This is one of three All-Star Stitches cards I pulled. The other two are Trevor Hoffman and Chris Young jerseys. Would have been nicer if they were game used instead of event-worn but I still dig the card.

So those are a few of the highlights. Scanning them all would take pages but with Chamberlain, Phil Hughes, Tim Lincecum, Ryan Braun, &Masumi Kuwata rookies along with the Copper #'d to 56 (pulled six from the two boxes) and Gold #'d to 2007, parallels this was a nice two box break for the wife and I. Has it made me a base Topps fan? No. But..I will not be as averse to picking up a box in the future.

Will Clark

2008-05-02T08:47:00.003-05:00

I cannot really explain when or why Will Clark became by favorite player. I know that in 1987 I had a folder for school that was a reproduction of his 1987 Topps Rookie Card so I know I was a fan in 1987 but ask me to pinpoint a time or date and I cannot. I have always hated the SF Giants so that is not the reason. All I can think of is that he has always struck me as a regular guy that played baseball with intensity and really loved the game and that connected with me. Either way......I started collecting Will Clark cards in 1987 beginning with his Topps, Fleer, and Donruss rookie cards. Since that time, every card show, card shop, or anywhere else that sold cards I would buy any and all Will Clark cards I could find. I took a hiatus from the hobby while I was in college and a few years after but recently I decided it was time to start picking up Will's cards again. I soon realized that I had no relic or autographed cards of his so I was glad to discover that he is still a popular common insert into premium sets. The first special Will card I picked up was his 1998 Donruss Signature Series autograph and I have since picked up a few more. Here are a few of those cards. I live only a few miles from Will Clark's home in Southlake, Texas (he lives in Louisiana as well) and I have even run into him out and about from time to time. The few times I have said anything to him he has been very, very cordial and friendly and seems to genuinely enjoy talking to fans of his. He is still "The Thrill" to me and memories of his heyday are great ones!

Wax Heaven

2008-04-28T14:13:00.003-05:00

I was roaming through a Google search I ran using the "2008 Finest Rip Girls Auto" keys and came upon a really cool site. WaxHeaven.com. It is run by a gentleman named Mario Alejandro and I must say I thought it was pretty cool. I loved the layout and found myself on the last page of his archived blog pages and wondered where time went. I love sites like his that focus on the industry and are interesting, fun, and personal.
That is really all. I just wanted to share that site with anyone that happens upon my blog and hope they get as much enjoyment out of it as I did.

SPx Football and SPx Basketball: My 2 favs of the season

2008-04-23T13:38:00.004-05:00

Been a long time since I posted. Been busy with work and a lot of personal issues but here we go...

I usually try to avoid the middle to premium products. I do this mainly to avoid disappointment. It feels pretty crappy to spend between $20 and $60 per pack and while you get a guaranteed hit, that hit ends up being a Joey Harrington relic or autograph or a similar spare that doesn't even come close to justifying the price you pay. Well.....lately I have found a product on the low end of the middle of the road product that has given me nothing but pleasure to open. Those to products are both SPx and I will be sad to see them run out this year and only hope that next year's release is as well priced and full of gret pulls.

I bought my first pack of SPx Football in hopes of pulling an Adrian Peterson or a Tony Romo anything. Still haven't pulled either of those but look at the quality of the stuff I have pulled instead. Same goes for the SPx Basketball. I wanted to pull a LeBron or a really good rookie. No LeBron but again look at the stuff I got instead:

Card # 1 is a 2007 SPx Gold Holofoil Rookie Triple Relic Autograph of Trent Edwards serial #'d 18/25. When I pulled this I was really shocked. What a sweet card in my opinion. Two swatches of jersey, a piece of a football, and autographed. Trent Edwards is a rookie and took the starting job in Buffalo from J.P. Losman. This guy was the only QB picked up in the 6th round of last years draft and if he can keep it going, some project him to be as good, if not better then, Jim Kelly.

Card # 2 is a SPx Winning Materials Jersey Number Dual Jersey of Robert Meachem. While
there is no serial # and the two swatches are the same color. I just really like the simplicity of this card.

Card # 3 (right to left) is and SPx Endorsements Autograph of Chris Leak. Again, no serial # but really nice card. While
Chris Leak has been cut by the Chicago Bears and is now trying to get a try out with an AAFL
(start up league) team, this is still a very nice card.

Card # 4 is an SPx Auto Rookie featuring Jamaal Anderson serial #'d 340/499. Base Rookie card
that is autographed and serial'd. This gives you a good idea of what the base set looks like. Very nice.

Card # 5 is from SPx Basketball. It is an SPx Endorsements Autograph featuring Hakeem Olajuwon. Oops..I should say Basketball Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon. Retired icon and now HOF'er on a really nice looking card. This is one to hang on to.

Card # 6 is an SPx Super Scripts Autograph of T.J. Ford. A good to moderate NBA Guard on a good to moderate card.

Card # 7 is an SPx Freshman Orientation Triples featuring swatches from Rookies Al Horford, Corey Brewer, and Joakim Noah. Love the card but my one gripe is the miniscule size of the swatches.

So you see..while only the Trent Edwards has really been a mega pull in my opinion, the quality and the variety of what you can pull is great. The low price also makes it appealing to the collector that doesn't have the money for the Triple Threads or the Premier lines but still want a guaranteed pull that has some quality. Unlike Topps Staduim Club Basketbal and Upper Deck's Trilogy Football which have disapointed the more I have opened, these have not made me feel like I have wasted my money.

2008 Topps

2008-03-18T18:07:00.003-06:00

Picked up a couple packs of regular 2008 Topps and as I was going through them, I realized something. I have never really been a Topps guy. I know they basically created sports card collecting as a hobby. I have just always found their quality and designs...a tad cheap. Now...I am only talking about the regular issue here. Brands from Topps such as Triple Threads, Moments & Milestones, and Pristine are awesome. But the basic good ol' Topps cards have always struck me as an afterthought. This years release...while improving the design and variety of the inserts, still leaves me wondering what Topps was thinking. Out of two packs, I pulled 5 inserts? Five! I mean seriously here....how many inserts is too many? Do we really need an insert called a year in review that chronicles games from all of last year? Seriously....I pulled a Year in Review Delgado + Reyes + Balks = Mets Win card. Why do I care about what happened at the Met v. Rockies game on May 29th, 2007 when I am neither from NY or CO? If Topps insists on doing an insert like that, why not chronicle the Division, League, and World Series? My one exception to Topps insert mania is the Trading Card History inserts. If all look as good and are as fun to pull as the one I got...That might make me keep buying 08 Topps. Oh well.....Here are the highlights from my two Hobby packs. I left out most of the base cards but you can see what they look like from the pics:

Card # 1 is Topps Gold Parallel serial #1966/2008 of Robinson Tejeda. Nice card but nothing that makes me want to chase the rest.

Card # 2 is the base Hunter Pence Rookie in which Topps uses the same Rookie Cup they have used since I was 8yo I think.

Card # 3 is a Topps Trading Card History insert of Ichiro. This is the card from the series I mentioned above. Awesome card. Topps reprinted a Japanese card and pjut a current picture of Ichiro on it. Lots of fun.

Card # 4 is one of the jillion or so Mickey Mantle Home Run History cards that Topps has tossed like ashes in the wind into just about every pack I get. They should just make this the teaser or thick cardboard card they place to throw pack searchers off.

Card #5 is the base Mickey Mantle. I like the care and it is a great shot of Mantle.

Card # 6, # 7, & # 8 are inserts. The Mauer All-Star Rookie Team 50th Ann. card is nice but..I don't...I just feel Insert overkill with Topps.

I will buy more just because I loved the Trading Card History series but I wish Topps would stick with products like Allen & Ginter and the others I mentioned above. Or maybe those products enable Topps to keep making these.

2008 Topps Moments & Milestones Baseball

2008-03-18T16:54:00.001-06:00

Back to the Great Game with a half box rip of 2008 Moments & Milestones.

I really liked the 2007 M&M set. I like this years too. My only complaint that I hoped Topps would do something about that I hated last year was how confusing the cards are. Unless you are really, really up on stats, you will think you have about 100 dupes sometimes. The cards follow certain special moments and milestones (hence the name) from the previous season. Well...the problem comes in say the Jim Thome set. These cards track his hunt for 500 home runs. The is one card for each home run. In case you missed that...that is 500 CARDS just for Jim Thome. Each and every base card is numbered to just 150 copies so it is nearly impossible (or at least not viable) to build an entire set of all the cards printed. Where the confusion comes in is that all the cards look virtually the same. Again...Jim Thome....his cards for his 256th homer and he 380th homer have the same back and virtually the same front with the exception being the homer number. The good thing is that each card, since it is serial #'d only to 150 for the base cards, are really nice finds. This is also a Hobby Only product. Here are the highlights (left off the base cards) from my half box rip:

Card # 1 is an M&M Black Parallel serial #'d 02/25 of Pedro Martinez highlighting his 1999 Cy Young Season that included 313 strikeouts. This card represents the 51st strikeout.

Card # 2 is an M&M Black Parallel serial #'d 18/25 of Daisuke Matsuzaka highlighting his 2007 Rookie Season and his 201 strikeouts. This card represents his 95th strikeout.

Card # 3 is a M&M 2008 Rookie Autograph featuring Joe Koshanky (it is actually Koshansky and it is spelled correctly on the back). No serial # but a very nice card and the possible error makes it better.

Card # 4 is an M&M Black Parallel serial #'d 06/25 of Jorge Posada.

Card # 5 is an M&M Black Parallel serial #'d 21/25 of Jim Thome.

Card # 6 is an M&M Black Parallel serial #'d12/25 of Hanley Ramirez.

Card # 7 is an M&M Blue Parallel serial #'d 10/10 of Jim Thome.

Card # 8 is an M&M Blue Parallel serial #'d 01/10 of Aaron Hill.

Card # 9 is an M&M Black Parallel serial #'d 20/25 of Ichiro.

I really like this set but it's sole drawback is that it can get very confusing and cumbersome if you need to sort lots of them. I entered about 40 of them into Beckett's online card manager and it took me 45 minutes to scroll through all the versions.
Still...I will get more I am sure.

2007 Playoff Absolute Memorabilia Football

2008-03-18T12:19:00.003-06:00

I was roaming the isles at Target the other day and decided to try my luck with a few retail packs. I opted for 4 packs of 2008 Upper Deck Baseball (which I will post later) and 4 packs of 2007 Absolute Memorabilia Football.

In a word...WOW! I have never been so fortunate with retail packs as I was with the four packs football cards I got at Target. I must have gotten the Quarterback super hit because just about every card I pulled was a QB. And a good one too....Here are the pull highlights...

Card # 1 is a Spectrum Silver Rookie parallel featuring Dallas Baker and serial #'d 088/100

Card # 2 is base Rookie featuring Marcus McCauley serial #'d 300/699

Card # 3 is a Rookie Jersey Collection featuring a swatch of jersey from rookie receiver Sidney Rice. No Serial #. This is a retail only exclusive.

Card # 4 is a base Brett Favre. Nice pull and now that he is retiring all his cards are keepers.

Card # 5 is a base Peyton Manning. Again totally solid pull.

Card # 6 is a base Tom Brady. Great pull but I am starting to see a pattern here....

Card # 7 is a Spectrum Red parallel featuring Phillip Rivers. ANOTHER quarterback???!!

Card # 8 is Spectrum Blue Rookie Parallel featuring Brandon Siler and serial #'d 034/250. Not a QB. Whew! I thought the world might end.

Card # 9 is a base Jay Cutler.

Five quarterbacks. Maybe I am whacked out and five big name QB's in 4 packs is not that unusual but I think it is percentage wise more then I have pulled before.

Either way..really, really like this set. Will try and snag a couple Hobby packs and see if I can pull anything more.

2007 Upper Deck Trilogy Hockey

2008-03-18T12:06:00.003-06:00

The hysteria that began with Adrian Peterson and Kevin Durant now shifts to Sidney Crosby. I collected hockey cards for a few years and stopped when they all seemed to start looking the same. I have always been a big hockey fan but it has been about 10 years since I bought a pack of hockey cards and I honestly would not have this time but I have seen the most beautiful hockey cards lately. Seeing all these fantastic looking cards and reading how hockey cards are surging...I decided to give it a shot. I was hoping to pull a Sidney Crosby of any kind. Was I disappointed? Let's find out....

Card # 1 is a Trilogy Honorary Swatches of Patrick Marleau. Nice card, small swatch.

Card # 2 is a Trilogy base card of Jason Pominville.

Card # 3 is a Trilogy Base card of SIDNEY CROSBY!! Sometimes luck is on your side I guess.

Card # 4 is a Trilogy Base card of Ryan Smyth.

The Crosby pull, even though only a base made this worth it.

2007 Topps Stadium Club Basketball

2008-03-18T11:47:00.003-06:00

Curiosity got the better of me. I am easily wrapped up in hysteria and this time I wanted to see if I might get lucky and pull and Kevin Durant or maybe a LeBron James game used or better.
Talked to Blake at Lonestar and asked him what he thought was one of the nicer basketball products out and he said he thought 2007 Topps Stadium Club was nice. I told him I bought a few 90's to early 200x's Stadium Club Baseball cards and thought they look like cheap cards that were trying to look nice. He said they improved them quite a bit so I trusted him and here is what I pulled..again minus the base cards.

Card # 1 is Stadium Club 2007 NBA Rookie card featuring Ramon Sessions serial #'d 1748/1999. Nice card and I agree with Blake that the design and quality have improved.

Card # 2 is a Stadium Club Beam Team Autographs featuring Samuel Dalembert (no serial #). Maybe it's me but while the autograph is nice, I think the card looks cheap with the hologram prism looking triangles all over the card.

Card # 3 is a Stadium Club First Day Issue Parallel featuring Clyde "The Glide" Drexler and serial #'d 1148/1999. Glad to see that still do the First Day Issue parallel. I have a 1995 Stadium Club Hockey of Wayne Gretzky that books considerably more then the base version. Very nice.

The base cards I pulled were Vince Carter, Dennis Rodman, and Al Jefferson. They look just like Drexler's card above just without the First Day Issue stamp.

So again...did not pull what I wanted..but isn't that part of the fun of the hunt?

2007 Upper Deck Trilogy Football

2008-03-18T11:34:00.003-06:00

I have to admit something....I am chasing the unattainable. I am hunting high and low for the elusive pot o' gold. What am I seeking you ask? Traveler.... I am seeking Adrian Peterson. I am craving a game used, auto, or both.
I bought a couple packs of 2007 Upper Deck Trilogy Football in hope of landing something....anything....Adrian Peterson. Well....I didn't hit a Peterson but I did not do too bad I think. Here is the rip and the pulls (minus the base cards).

Card # 1 is a Trilogy Rookie of Jamaal Anderson serial #'d 384/399. Nice card but Anderson has yet to distinguish himself.

Card # 2 is a Trilogy Sunday Best Gold Materials containing a piece of Phillip Rivers game used jersey and serial #'d 10/33. Very nice card but in my opinion, the swatch is very small.

Card # 3 is a Trilogy Rookie Graphiti Autograph featuring Dallas Cowboys 2007 Draft Pick Isaiah Stanback and serial #'d 154/199. Nice card and nice auto but need to wait to see how Stanback works out. Won't be too hard since the Cowboys are local.

The base cards are nice but typical base fare. Overall I am very pleased with the pulls but still hunting for the Peterson.......

2005 Donruss Diamond Kings

2008-03-14T10:15:00.003-06:00

Thought I would go back in time to this amazing set. 2005...what a year for cards. I was very skeptical about Donruss rehashing a set of NOTHING BUT Diamond Kings. I always enjoyed getting them in regular Donruss cards simply because they seemed special because you did not get them all the time or as many of them.
At the time, my wife and I lived in the Houston area, and the only close card shop was about 45 mins. from our house in Pearland. We made the drive out there and the guy that owned the shop said he had just gotten the 2005 DK set in. I was not impressed and ready to move on to another product. My wife on the other hand really enjoyed the art and the design of the cards and I eventually relented and we bought two boxes and later...we bought an update box too.
In hindsight, I am really glad my wife pushed me to get these cards. I do not think I have ever had more fun opening any cards (except maybe Allen & Ginter) in my life. These cards were a diverse, interesting, and relic/ auto filled enough to make you want to keep ripping. It is also the set that gave me my personal White Whale. I got my first (and only) 1/1 out of this set. For that reason alone it will always hold a special place in my heart!
Here is a sampling of the neat cards we pulled out of the three boxes we ended up opening:

Card # 1-DK HOF Heroes Signature Materials Silver Don Sutton. It is serial #'d 18/25 and features two swatches from either jersey or pant and a very nice autograph.

Card # 2-DK Gallery of Stars Signature Combos Prime David Ortiz serial #'d 24/50. It features a swatch of jersey, a piece of Papi's Bat and an Autograph from Grande Papi himself. My wife pulled this and it remains her favorite even more so since we are both die-hard Red Sox Fans!

Card # 3-DK Recollection Autographs Platinum Steve Carlton serial #'d 1/1. This is my fav. The one card that knocked the air out of me. Never before and not since have I ever pulled a 1/1. I have pulled x/5 and x/10 but 1/1. I was floored. This is an original 1982 Diamond King that was autographed by Mr. Carlton and stamped in Platinum foil on the front with Recollection Collection and on the back in Platinum 1/1.

Card # 4-DK Materials Bronze Magglio Ordonez serial #'d 185/200. Basic card with two pieced of bat. Nice.

Card # 5-DK Materials Framed Red Kazuo Matsui serial #'d 90/100. Red Framed version with dual jersey swatches.

Card # 6-DK Signature Bronze Jody Gerut serial #'d 51/100. God knows where this one time hot prospect is now...but I have is autograph.

Card # 7-DK Materials Bronze Troy Percival serial #'d 076/200. Nice card with dual jersey swatches. My only complaint being the white pinstripe swatch was attached to the card in a very sloppy manner.

I also pulled many other really nice short prints and oddities as well as base cards too. If I ever saw a box of these lying around anywhere, I would grab it.

Up Next.......

2007 SP Rookie Threads Football

2008-03-14T09:15:00.003-06:00

I have had these for a while but thought they warranted a post here.

My wife let me splurge around Christmas time (love you babe!) on a couple packs I had been wanting badly. I had been really, wanting to check out the Rookie Threads packs as I had read many reviews that said they were super hot packs and not to miss them. While I love sports cards as a whole and usually have zero problem opening a pack with just base cards, I am an acknowledged guaranteed hit junkie. I love opening a pack and seeing a jersey, autograph, refractor, or other big hit. That being said I was jazzed to the hilt about the 07 Rookie Threads. The wife knew it and after a loooong day of tagging along with her on domestic tasks (woman things) she said lets go to the card shop and get you a couple of those packs you have wanted. The accelerator went through the floor and 25 seconds later we screech into the card shop parking lot. I tell Blake I wanted a couple packs of Rookie Threads. I get them in my grubby mitts and I am off. We get back to the house and I get to opening......here is what I pulled out of my two pack extravaganza!!!

I am only going to hit the big guys here and omit the base cards for now. The base cards were good but nothing to write home about.

Card # 1 is a Rookie Threads Rookie Exclusive Signatures Autograph featuring Selvin Young serial #'d 094/100. Beautifully simple autograph and if this guy does what I think her might do, this card will be a sleeper.

Card # 2 is a Rookie Threads Silver featuring Ted Ginn Jr. w/ no serial #. Again...beautiful card.

Card # 3 is a Rookie Threads Phenom Flashbacks featuring Santonio Holmes w/ no serial #. Nothing special here with the player or the edition but the look and feel of the card makes it special to me.

Card # 4 is a Rookie Threads Rookie Lettermen Black featuring and autograph from Sidney Rice and serial #'d 223/250. This was the only hit in the second pack I got in the second pack as SP/ UD say if you pull one the the Lettermen it will be the only hit. I love the manufactured patch and the autograph is nice too. My only gripe about card like this......it is virtually impossible to avoid pack damage around the corners and edges. Most cards as thick as the Lettermen set are put together by hand and sealed into the pack. Pack handling and packaging that normally do not really affect normal cards are sometimes terrible for thick cards like these. I pulled a really nice 2005 Sweet Spot Signatures Bat Barrel Blue Ink of Robin Yount in 2005 and the card looked like it had been dropped down a flight of stairs. I called UD and they replaced it but even that card looked beaten. I wish the card companies would take measures to mitigate damage like this. The Bat Barrel card goes from $175 book value in MINT condition to between $90-$100 book in the condition my card is in. One the plus side. Everyone I have talked to that pulled an 05 Bat Barrel and a few that pulled an 07 Lettermen said their card is as bad or worse then mine is. At least I am not alone.

Up Next.......

2007 Upper Deck Sweet Spot Football

2008-03-14T08:15:00.003-06:00

What the hell happened to the Sweet Spot line? Wasn't this set like $10 bucks a pack like last year and now they have jumped to $110 + for six (yes 6!) cards? WOW!
I would never spend that much for what is essentially one pack of cards. But...thanks to my local sports card dealer, I was able to get one. The fine gentleman that runs my local card shop hands out tickets every time you make a purchase in his store. He drops the other end of the ticket into a hopper and every Monday he draws two tickets and whomever comes into the store can try and match their up with the two he pulled. I went into his shop on a Wednesday and bought some supplies and a couple packs and got two tickets. I went back into the shop on Monday to get more supplies (for my ongoing organization push) and remembered the ticket. I held them up to the two the owner pulled and a huge grin appeared as I realized I had matched one! The owner places 3 or 4 full boxes on the top of the drawing hopper that the winners can choose one from. My choices were a basketball box, a hockey box, and to my utter dis-belief.....a tin of 2007 Sweet Spot Football priced at $120.00. I asked Blake (the owner) if the Sweet Spot was indeed a choice and he confirmed it was. Then...it was a matter of do I get a basketball or hockey box that had10 or 20 packs per box so I would get quantity and MAYBE quality? or do I get the tin of 07 Sweet Spot which is one pack of six cards and basically assure myself of quality but only get a one pack rush? Being the big hit whore that I am, the thought of an Adrian Peterson autographed rookie was just too much to pass up so I snagged to tin handed the owner my ticket to verify it and headed home for the tin cracking ceremony.
Question...have you ever seen a movie were the anticipation a character is experiencing rises and rises? The music builds and builds and eyes get wider and wider? Then, when the pay off happens, it is so anti-climactic that the sound of cymbals crashing down stairs...a metaphor for your hopes crashing....are heard and a look of either disappointment or sadness flows over the characters face? If you have, you would have been very familiar with the look on my face when I cracked open the tin of $120 cards. Now....yes...I know...I didn't pay for them so I have precious little room to complain. And I am not really complaining as much as I am disappointed in Upper Deck. Disappointed that they would charge as much as they do for this and, while the cards look fantastic for the most part, allow what I got to go out. So what did I pull.....here are the four big ones...

Card # 1 is a Sweet Spot Rookie Signatures Autograph of Joe Thomas from the Cleveland Browns (if the helmet didn't give that away) serial #'d 570/799.

Card # 2 is a Sweet Spot Signatures Autograph of Greg Olsen from the Chicago Bears serial #'d 10/99

These are the two "big hits". The cards are beautiful. The faux helmet inlaid into the card and autographed is a great idea and it is pulled off well. My only rub on these is if these are the "big hits".....they could have done better then Joe Thomas. Greg Olsen I understand as he is going to be a fantastic player. But Joe Thomas? Yeah...I know he was the 3rd overall selection in the draft but if any of you were asked to name the 3rd overall pick in the 2007 draft that is now a starting offensive lineman for the Browns....who could? Maybe I am just a whiner because I didn't pull a Peterson, Russell or another big name rookie. Oh well....let's see what comes next...maybe the two minor hits will make up for it.

Card # 3 is a Sweet Swatch Jersey with no serial #, of Miami Dolphins DE Jason Taylor.

Card # 4 is a Sweet Swatch Jersey with no serial #, of Miami Dolphins RB Ronnie Brown.

I had to check these cards again. I needed to make sure that I had not gotten an Upper Deck Football retail pack confused with the Premium $120 Sweet Spot cards. Nope...I had not. What the Hell??!!! These cards look like pack fillers not part of a premium product. The jersey swatch is minuscule, the card design is terribly plain, and Jason Taylor and Ronnie Brown? Could I not get two players from the SAME TEAM? I hate the Dolphins.

My hopes were already dashed and I had not even gotten to the two base cards yet. What were my two base cards in the $120 premium 6 card tin?

# 1 base card was Sweet Spot Deion Branch serial #'d 413/499 and Sweet Spot Brandon Jacobs serial #'d 398/499. So...my base cards are serial #'d but my minor hit jersey cards are not? At least all of Deion Branches cards are all selling for $120 each (insert sarcasm here).

So that's it. If you walk into a shop and decided to splurge and drop a bill on 2007 Sweet Spot Football, you could pull a gem or a dud. I call this one a partial dud. Book value on all the cards I got combined did not even equal the MSRP! I am glad I won them..of course...on the hockey box I passed up there were probably 2 Sydney Crosby Autographed Jersey Cards.

Up Next.......

2007 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Baseball

2008-03-14T07:33:00.003-06:00

This is a set I have been a big fan if for a few years now. I like the design, feel, and variety from this entire set. It's focus is more on the new draftees, rookies, and classic players or sports personalities. I have brought maybe 6 pack so far and have been more then pleased with the results.
Here is a sampling of some of the gems I pulled:

The first card is an autograph from Jon Gilmore serial #'d 102/819. He is an Iowa high school third baseman that was drafted in the first round of the supplemental draft by the Atlanta Braves. If he goes anywhere, this should be his first autograph that has been released.

The second card is probably one of my favorites because it exemplifies the reason I love this set. It is an Elite Aspirations Autograph of Tom Osborne serial #'d 066/100, the head footbal coach from the University of Nebraska. In what other set can you potentially pull an autographed Tom Osborne?

Bottom left is an Elite College Ties Red combo. It features University of Arizona alum Jennie Finch and Amanda Beard and it is serial #'d 048/100. There is an autographed parallel I would love to snag as well.

Bottom right is an Elite Aspirations serial #'d 096/100 and features Jennie Finch. Again.just like the Tom Osborne, this also has an autographed twin.

I also pulled David Price (#1 overall draft pick by Tampa Bay) among the base cards I got. These cards are really nice looking and have some very interesting designs (with the exception of the School Colors set which looks cheap).

Up next.........

Donruss Americana

2008-03-13T13:01:00.005-06:00

So I was craving a card fix a few weeks ago....I go to Lone Star to see what Blake has gotten in lately. While browsing the displays and chatting with Blake, I see something new. Donruss Americana. I had read about it coming out a while back and it sounded cool. For details see this.... http://americana.donruss.com/ . Being a movie/ pop culture nut in addition to a sports nut, this sounded perfect. Plus...since my wife really only likes to open packs when she gets something good (an autograph, memorabilia, etc.) and Americana promised each pack would contain at least one autograph or memorabilia from such luminaries as Humphrey Bogart, Marilyn Monroe, William Shanter, Adam West and Burt Ward, etc. I was sure I could not go wrong. Well...luckily...I did not go wrong at all. Check out the pictures below for what she pulled out of just two packs!

Sorry for the shoddy scan. Should have done them one at a time and probably will on the next scans. So for the people that can barely see these..here is the rundown....

The first card is:

Americana Hollywood Legends Materials Super Stars- Loretta Young serial #'d 01/25. Details: It is a rather large swatch of a coat worn by the actress.

The second card is :

Americana Hollywood Legends Materials- Jayne Mansfield serial #'d 144/325. Details: Medium sized swatch of a satin shirt worn by the actress. What makes this one unusual is that it has what appears to be a coffee stain on the part I got. I have seen two other versions of this with what looked like a swatch from the same shirt and all were normal off-white.

The third card is:

Americana Stars Signature Materials- Ernest Borgnine serial #'d 001/100. Details: Yep..the one and only Cabbie from Escape from New York and overall acting legend! The card features a piece of a shirt worn by the actor inside the star at the bottom of the card and above that is an authenticated real autograph from him as well.

The wife really enjoyed opening these. She pulled a few of the base cards as well including a Catherine Bach and Dick Van Patten Silver Proof.

Here is what I pulled..while not as totally awesome as what she pulled. Still not too bad..if you are up on current events and know about some not too well known actors and actresses.

The first card is:

Americana Cinema Stars Materials- Giovanni Ribisi serial #'d 034/380. Details: Star in middle contains a small swatch from a green shirt worn my the actor. Not a household name but not a bad actor. Probably best known for his role as the Medic in Saving Private Ryan. I have seen more then a few movies that he has been in but my wife had no idea who he was.

The Second card (on the bottom left) is:

Americana Private Signings Signatures- Cindy Morgan serial #'d 316/330. Details: Nice authenticated autograph on this otherwise plain card. Cindy Morgan is mostly known as the Irish Spring girl from the 80's commercials and she was in Tron and Caddyshack. Again...unless you have seen Tron or Caddyshack you might not know her...even if you have you might not. I have to really look past how she has aged to realized who she was. For those fellow Tron fans...was Lora and Yori.

The third card (bottom right) is:

Americana Private Signings Signatures- Tara Conner serial #'d 044/150. Details: Nice authenticated autograph. Tara should be fairly well known. She is the almost disgraced Miss USA 2006 that almost lost her crown for drinking and making out with Miss Teen USA 2006. She entered rehab and Donald Trump allowed her to keep the crown. Much to the relief of all the USA! This, along with the fact that she only signed 150 of these, makes this card surprisingly sought after.

I also pulled a couple Silver Proofs and base cards.

That will wrap it up for Donruss Americana for now. If we buy any more , I will post what we pull.
Coming up next....who knows?

Sportscards

2008-03-13T11:20:00.008-06:00

I have not posted in a looooong time so I am sure the two or three people that actually read the mundane mundaneness I have added here are no longer around.

I had a bit of inspiration to add to the blog today. Over the last four or five weeks, I have been organizing, sorting, adding to, and pricing my collection of sports cards. I have been collecting baseball, football, hockey, and various other types of cards since I was very young. Over the years my collection has always moved with me but has remained poorly taken care of for a great many years. Recently I started buying packs of cards again. My wife has also, while very moderately, gotten into opening packs with me. This inspired me to get all my cards out and start the very labor intensive task of getting my house in order.
I went to my local card dealer (Hi Blake @ Lone Star Sportscard in Carrollton!) and bought boxes, penny sleeves, rigid top loaders, screw down holders, and any other accessory I thought I might need and the project got under way. Usually when I get off work, I will spend 3 or 4 hours going sorting, ordering, and entering my collection into Beckett's online collection manager. I started with the baseball cards as they represented the largest chunk of the work to be done. I sorted by maker (Topps, Donruss, Fleer, etc.), then by set (Allen & Ginter, Spectrum, SPx, etc.), then by year, and then finally by number and set. My intention was to do the baseball, then the football, then the hockey and the rest. Well.....this little trial has turned into a labor of love. I have been skipping merrily down memory lane for the last few weeks. I have been finding cards that I have not looked at in more then 10 years. These are cards that I thought were the most important things in the world when I was younger. But for far too many years have sat in dusty binders, crowded boxes, or in anything I could shove them into to get them out of the way. I have re-discovered cards that have made their way into my collection that I would stare at for hours when I got them. Like the 1951 Topps Red Backs Tommy Glaviano. That was the first year Topps released a baseball card and while the Tommy Glaviano is only worth about $10.00. I was a white whale to me. There is also the 1960 Topps Sandy Koufax. This card came into my collection courtesy of neighbor that lived across the alley from us when I was young. He also collected cards but all of his cards were pre-1970 era cards (Mantle, Maris, etc.) so they were very interesting to me since this would have been around 1982-1986 probably and my collection at the time probably consisted of what equals about 20 packs. He saw how much I loved his cards and told me one day he would trade with me. He told me to go home and bring him 10 cards I thought were the best ones I had. He would in turn look at what I had and pick out what he thought were equal value in his collection and we could trade. Ready to bounce out of my Pro-Wings shoes I ran inside the house and carefully selected my "best cards". I do not recall what I gave him under the guise of being my "best cards" but I promise you what he gave me far out valued (money wise anyway) what he gave me. When it was over, I had given him 10 of my best cards and he gave me 7 of "equal" worth and a lot more. The cards he traded me were, 1960 Topps Sandy Koufax; 1959 Topps Lew Burdette; 1960 Topps Luis Aparicio/ Maury Wills World Series Card; 1960 Topps Nellie Fox/ Harvey Kuenn; 1961 Topps Willie Mays MVP; & 1971 Topps Carl Yastrzemski. Even back in the mid to late 80's when I got these, they were worth a nice bit of money. But as I got older, I realized why he probably did what he did. He loved those cards. He also loved the fact that this little geeky kid from across the alley also loved cards. He and I would sit out on his back patio and talk about cards and baseball all the time and looking back I think the idea of trading a Willie Mays and a Sandy Koufax for what was most likely a Bert Blyleven and Tony Gwyn (taking nothing away from either as they were both greatness) meant less to him then the fact that he and I connected and he saw that I really did care about the cards. Since the day he gave me those cards, I have made sure they were taken care of. while some of my cards got laid in shoeboxes , the cards above always stayed in actual card boxes, in penny sleeves, top loaders but always taken care of. They now reside in penny sleeves secured into screw down, acrylic cases to protect them. I still have every one of them but most importantly...I still have what is one of the earliest memories in my youth about baseball and baseball cards.
I will post more card stories over the next few weeks.....stay tuned!

Here are scans I just made of two of the cards. These are the original cards he gave me. I just took them out of the screw downs for the scan. So Brian....if you stumble across this and remember the geeky kid across the alley on Creek View Circle...I still have all the cards you gave me and I would like to think that partially because of you, I am still collecting and I still get the same rush I did then when I open a new pack.

Chapter 1: The Fios Install......

2007-08-14T08:25:00.000-05:00

Above is the fiber that was run prior to install.

I have sliced off the rancid foreskin known as Time Warner cable! I wish them agony and years of pain! But enough about them....for now.

My Fios tech arrived at around 2:15pm. After a quick walk through the house to check what goes where, we went out back through the garage and to the southwest side of the house. He checked around and asked me if I had any qualms (not his word) about where he put the ONT (optical network terminal) I showed him roughly where I wanted it and he was off.......

Total time to this point was about 5 minutes.

He moved his truck out back to the alley and brought over 2 boxes. One contained the ONT the other the very small battery backup. The ONT was on three parts. The backplate, the guts, and the cover. He measured the backplate on the exterior side of the house and screwed it into the brick. Then he took to fiber cable and measured it out spooled the remainder into the backplate and afixed the part from the ground up to the side of my house. The he applied the guts part of the ONT. The picture describes it better then I can but basically, this is where the fiver connects and he brings in the phone, internet, and video parts of the connection. He moved wicked fast and I was having a hard time keeping up. This guy was like the terminator. He never went anywhere without exactly what he needed to do that particular job. He was very efficient.

Anyway...after he got the guts hooked up, he went into the garage and hooked up the battery backup. He drilled one hole through the brick through the drywall in my garage to run a cable through. Then, he went to his van and activated everything on his Panasonic ToughBook laptop.

Battery Backup next to gray sprinkler system

Then,,the moment I was waiting for....the disconnection of my Time Warner line! I made him wait while I positioned myself for the best picture. It was wicked liberating.

Once all that was done, he loaded up a tote with my HD/DVR, Actiontech router/modem/wireless access point, all the cables etc and we went inside. He said he needed to go into the attic and connect it up there. That took about 5 minutes and he was back downstairs. He unhooked my Time Warner HD/ DVR and then asked me a question that made me want to hug him. He asked me what connection I wanted to my HDTV? I was a bit taken aback having gotten used to Time Warner's terrible service. I told him I had to buy a component cable when TW set up mine as all they hooked it up with was RCA. He laughed and said he could hook up RCA, Component or HDMI. HDMI???? You are going to give me an HDMI cable I asked. Sure enough....he pulls out a Monster HDMI cable and BAM!

While the DVR downloaded all the guides and whatnot, we went into the study and he hooked up the Actiontech. The one Actiontech replaced my Linksys router/ Wireless access point and my TW cable modem. Again..he activated it with the toughbook, I went through the ID setup, and I was on. He realized he had not plugged in my Vonage modem and fixed that. Hit the phone button and there was a clear dial tone.

He then went with me while I got my work laptop on the network along with my wife's and my guest desktop. He made sure every PC was working fine. Then we went back into the TV room and he made sure all was updated and then spent about 20 minutes going over the features and functions on the remote and menus. That was it. He was done. He picked up all his lose cables, closed the ONT and he was one.All told the install to about 4 hours. Most of that was spent outside.

After playing with everything for a day, I am bummed about only 2 things and they both are limited to the TV service. 1) There is no page up/ page down feature for the guide. 2) there is no way to set reminders on future programs.

Called support and they told me that would all be resolved when Fios upgraded the Interactive Media Guide in the coming weeks...http://promo.verizon.com/img/ . We will see but it does not affect my joy to have this. Time will eventually tell but so far I am very impressed. To make it even that much better, there was an article in the paper here today that said on average, having the Fios Fiber run to a house increases that houses value by 1%. Not bad!!

I am sure I left some stuff out and might add on later. Enjoy the pictures!

I am Fios.... Hear me roar

2007-08-13T17:23:00.000-05:00

It is official....I am now in the 21st century. I have just upgraded to Verizon Fios. Check back soon for pictures and a better description.

Time Warner Sucks so bad I am taking my ball and going home!

2007-08-13T10:30:00.000-05:00

Well, I have reached the end of my Time Warner rope! I can no longer take the drops, crappy service, rude and unhelpful customer service, and overall crap that I am paying TW to server me up every day.
This afternoon, a Verizon Fios tech will be coming out to install Fios fiber optic internet and TV service and I will shortly after be calling TW and telling them where they can stick they terrible service!! I will be updating the blog with pictures I take during the installation.

Hopefully all goes smoothly!

Time Warner Cable Just Lost Me

2007-04-24T15:34:00.000-05:00

Time Warner Cable...what the hell are you doing? I have been a Time Warner (TW)/ Comcast customer for 5 years now. In that time I have been consistently amazed at how pathetic their infrastructure and customer service has been. I have stayed with them merely because it was already there and I am wicked lazy. But now....they might have just done enough to push me away totally.
A brief history.......For the first 4 years of my membership (or membershit) in the Time Warner coven I spent most of my time amazed it was 1) so expensive and 2) so unreliable. Randomly, in perfect sunny 80 degree weather, my Internet connection as well as my TV service would drop. Thirty minutes here four hours there. Each time a call to the Customer service (CS) number would either get me a recorded message saying they knew there was an issue and technicians are working on it or it would get me a live person acting amazed and saying they were unaware of any issues in the area. Despite the fact that I could very clearly see I had no cable TV and no Internet, the providers of that service could not. Neat huh? For the last year, Time Warner has been exceptional in it's ineptitude. First I buy a BRAND NEW house and call TW to have them come and install TV and Internet service. I tell them I have a High Definition TV and want the HD/ DVR service. This dude comes out and hooks it up....or so I thought. About a day later, I start to have my HD channels randomly stop working. Sometimes for days at a time. The my Internet service started to do the same. I work from home so it was a massive pain but I would call CS and they would send out a guy. He would go up in my attic for 10 or 15 minutes and come down and say it works. And work it did for about 2 days then rewind and replay. This went on for about a month and I finally went online and Googled for any TW email address I could find and typed a terse email to them. I must have had 20 or 30 random TW employees that I copied on the email. Finally...a senior tech came out named Paul and spent a week going from my house and tracing my line a mile down the road and BAM.....he found a problem. A faulty line and transformer were causing the issue and it took 10 lazy ass techs tightening coax and me flaming as many TW people as I could to get the issue fixed. But....it was fixed.
Now...as I mentioned above, I have an HD TV. I love HD. Red Sox games in HD are almost a religious experience. TW has never had more then about 10 or 11 HD channels available. Far, far less the Verizon's FIOS or Direct TV had. Each of them have about 20 to 30 HD channels. But like I said above. I am lazy and TW was there. So I lived with it.
Present day: I get may latest bill. In small print in the notes section, something catches my eye. Two letters actually catch my eye....HD. I perk up.....are they adding channels? No...they are not adding ANYTHING. Instead....they are going to start charging me for an HD Tier? WHAT? HD Tier? The fee is $3.00 extra bucks a month. Yeah.....$3.00 bucks is really small potatoes..but FIOS and Direct TV charges nothing extra...and you get 20 OR 30 CHANNELS COMPARED TO 10!!!!!!
TW has a monstrosity of sack man. With all the competition you think they would be busting their assess trying to add stuff and keep customers happy. Hell....even add 10 more channels and THEN charge me $3.00 extra a month and I wouldn't care a bit. My neighbor across the street got feed up and went to FIOS. He has had nothing but good things to say about it since. Now I think I have convinced myself. When the Sopranos go off the air in 6 weeks....so will go Time Warner. Thanks for the bullshit and vastly overpriced service but I am taking my ball and going home.

Getting dried blood out of carpet

2007-04-24T10:02:00.000-05:00

Here is something out of left field but I wanted to share.....
If anyone needs a sure fire way to remove dried blood from carpet, do this.....
Pour ice cold water over the entire stain. The pour a LARGE amount of regular table salt over every inch of the stain. Let it sit for about 15 or 20 minutes and blot up the salt and water. Keep blotting until blood comes up. Vaccum the excess dried salt up.
I was amazed this works but it does. Like a champ.

Yankees Lose! Sox Lose! Stars Lose! One out of three ain't bad.

2007-04-24T07:32:00.000-05:00

Morning all.....
Well.....we can finally see what selling your soul to Satan will get you. When the Yankees did it, everyone said they had the best team money could buy. Maybe they did.....I prefer to believe that God (the Sox) and Satan (the Yankees) decided to play chess. Satan was able to get the upper hand on God for a few years but God was able to jump up and flip the board over before the Yankees got to the World Series. Then...in 2004, God WON! Satan got mad.....but the holy power was too strong at that point. Each year...the Yankees got weaker and the Sox stayed the same? But this year, the Sox made a move. They got Dice-K, they got J.D., they got Lugo (??), Okajima, Paplebon is back in the pen......and peace spread out through the land. The Yankees got Igawa and..........that's it? For the first time since I can recall, the Red Sox are a better team on paper then the Yankees. We will see how things progress.

In the NHL...the Dallas Stars lost last night. I'm still not sure but I don't think the refs realized there was a playoff hockey game going on. Every time someone tripped or dropped their stick, it was a minor on someone. The refs managed to successfully stifle any physical play in the last period of play. Good job guys! Way to kill a sport.
On a positive note. Since the Stars lost, My mother in law will not have to eat a Sausage , egg , and cheese toaster sandwich with triple gravy with extra gravy on the side that she has to dip the gravy drenched sandwich into and then each the cold side gravy with a spoon.

I know that these first few posts will be boring as hell and probably really pointless. But I am trying to get my Bloglegs! Hopefully I will find my muse and the entries will get better.

Turning Japanese

2007-04-23T13:32:00.000-05:00

So I am trying to learn Japanese. I don't know about you but it has to be one of the most confusing languages around. I read somehwere that parents are teaching their kids new languages by playing it when they put the kid down for bedtime and having them fall asleep to it. I tried that for a week and I am ready to label it bullshit. It is more like falling asleep to a strange foreign movie. Maybe if my mind wasn't so corrputed with adulthood it wouldn't be a big deal. Maybe the innocence of youth makes it easier to absorb.
I have a pretty good language program but I must sound like a mornon sitting around with an IPod on my hip contantly repeating, Sumimasem, AigoGa wakadimas ka? and Watahse wa wakadimas.

Oh well, if I ever meet Dice-K I will be able to tell him I understand and ask him if he speaks English....and probably be totally full of crap and sound like a tool.

Added Opacity

2007-04-23T10:20:00.000-05:00

Hey...another interest I have is Urban Exploration....I rarely have the balls to do it but I find it wildly interesting. One of my favorite sites is Opacity...Mr. Motts has guts galore and his photos and location bios are fantastic. I am not sure if he allows me to do this but if he says no...I will remove the below feed. Check out the bottom of the page and enjoy!

I will also be adding a list of my favorite movies now and again. I am linking them to the Amazon.com webpage until I can find a better page with better descriptions.

Day One.....no idea what is going on!

2007-04-23T09:49:00.000-05:00

Hello to whoever is lucky enough to read this.
I have seen so much about blogging on the web and in the news and never had any interest in doing it. Well....let's just call it boredom but here I am. I saw a link...followed it and here I am. From the title of my blog, you might or might not be able to tell some of my interests. I am a huge Boston Red Sox fan, a huge Tom Waits fan, and I also have a big interest in Feudal Japanese history. I cannot promise I will talk about any of the three very often if at all but hey....who cares anyway?
I just watched the Red Sox totally slaughter the Yankees over the weekend and it really has me pumped for the season. The four consecutive homers Sunday night was icing on the cake really. For the first time in as long as I can remember, the Sox actually LOOK like they think they are better then Satan's children (the Yankees). Dice-K is a ninja the team as a whole is solid as hell. My one concern is of course center field. Coco is caca, and Wily Mo plays like I did in peewee league, swing at everything and just look like you are trying hard! But...I guess if those are my only two worries I am not too worried.

OK...here is a little about me.....I will be very vague at first but as time goes on, I might add more.
I live in Texas, I am married with zero kids, I work for a large computer firm, my wife and I have 2 Shar-Pei dogs, I have been a subscriber to Mad Magazine for many years, I like Spinach, I mow my own yard, and I belieive that God's final act on the 7th day was to create frozen pizza.

Ok...I am going to wrap up my first post. Thanks to anyone who reads this and if no one reads this then I will try and make it more interesting!!