Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Trip to Columbia Part II, Bob Feller Pickup

You knew it was coming. I went to a card shop/antique store that specializes in vintage cards, so you KNOW that I had to find myself a Bob Feller Bowman.

I, for the low price of $25.00, picked up this SWEET 1952 Bowman Bob Feller.
Once again, Bowman delivers with an awesome painting of Feller. I'm really digging these old Bowman cards. I hope you all enjoy them too.
The back looks similar to pretty much most of the Bowmans from that era. Love the ad for a $1.00 cap from my favorite team by sending in wrappers, etc. If I had a $1.00 hat today, it would be most likely made of toilet paper...

Monday, August 30, 2010

Trip to Columbia, SC - Part 1

This past weekend, Max, Chris and I took a drive in the new car to Columbia, SC in order to see my brother, and to go to a Greenville Drive game. Chris and I left Greenville, NC Friday evening and picked Max up from NCSU in Raleigh. We, then made our way south to Columbia. We stopped in Florence, SC for dinner and then ended up at my brother's apartment around 11:30PM.

We woke up Saturday morning and decided to check out two of Columbia's card shops and ride around the city. One of the card shops is actually an antique store (see my post from a couple months ago, this is where I found the 1953 Bowman Musial). Not to be outdone on this trip, and having Max with me this time, I picked some equally as cool stuff. Here is the first card I got from there:
A 1955 Bowman Eddie Mathews. I LOVE the TV Set design. Silly? No way man. It looks awesome. I love this set, 1962 Topps and 1987 Topps. The wood design is great. It just has a certain appeal to me, and I do enjoy it.
Mathews was a great player. Too bad he is no longer with us. Interesting fact: Often overlooked, his card is the second most expensive card in the 1952 Topps set. Still not close to the Mantle, but a VERY expensive card. BV ~ $6,000-$10,000. Ouch.
I'm going to stick with cheaper options, like above. Check back tomorrow for the next vintage pickup from the antique/card shop.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Ebay Pickup - 1950 Bowman Ralph Kiner

I have something cool Kiner related coming soon, so I went on Ebay looking for an affordable Kiner card and found this:
A 1950 Bowman Ralph Kimer. Obviously, it isn't mint, but in pretty decent shape, for a 60-year old card.
The back also looks pretty good. I'm quite happy with it. I hope you guys enjoy it as well!!!

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Card Shop Pickups

One of the things that keeps me going to the shop week after week, braving the 3 and 1/2 hour drive is the possibility that someone will bring in a collection to unload. I have been lucky a couple times; getting some sweet cards really cheap, but more often than not, I end up having to thumb through some 1991 Donruss and 1988 Topps.

This past weekend, a young guy brought his album in, and for the most part, it was 1993 Topps and 1992 Topps Gold. Stuff we thought was 'gold' (pun intended) back then. He did, however, have a couple things I liked, so I bought some cards off of him for $5.00.

First up, I was able to snag this 1993 Topps Black Gold Brady Anderson. Not too common a card, for sure. I hate that I broke the guy's set (well it wasn't a complete set, he just had the 5-10 cards that he received in the mail. That set came in series.) but it is cool to have a Brady that isn't all that common.

Holy Turd Burgulars Batman, a Cal Ripken I didn't have! I'm amazed. Anyway, never a bad day when I add to the 400+ different Cal Ripkens that I have. Not bad, if I do say so myself.


Finally, one of the few 'vintage' cards the guy had, a 1973 Topps Al Kaline. Also a very nice card. The 73 set is underrated, the front design was basic, but decent looking. The back took away from this set because the black border would rub off easily, thus making it hard to get a 'mint' set (if that's what you're into). Also, some of the photography in this set is God awful, but you do get a sweet Mike Schmidt RC...

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Happy Birthday, Cal

Today, my childhood icon turns 50. Wow. That is hard to believe. If he was Jamie Moyer, he'd still be playing. He has been retired almost 10 years. Makes me feel really old.
15 years ago, Cal broke Lou Gehrig's consecutive games streak. I was 14, getting ready to turn 15. I remember sitting on my brother's bean bag in the room we shared, watching the game. I, wearing my black Ripken jersey (which I still own) jumped up and cheered when he hit his home run in the game and I teared up when they dropped the number on the warehouse sigifying that Ripken had, indeed, broken the record.

Now, Cal is 50. All signs point to Cal becoming a part of the Oriole's front office sooner than later. I hope he makes an impact, but I know it will definitely take some time.

So, I tip my cap to one of the greatest players the game has ever seen and wish him a happy birthday.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Cards For Sale

Because my internet connection sucks worse than a Richard Gere movie, it is taking me a while to be able to get some cards listed on Ebay. I'm going to have to load my pics on my flash drive and do it from the office.

Anyway, I need to raise some cash, so I am selling a few random cards on Ebay. I am also selling all the cards my brother Andy pulled from his box of Topps Tribute. Here are some highlights of what I INTEND on listing tomorrow. Feel free to inspect them.
A 2009 Topps UH Matt Holliday Platinum parallel numbered 1/1. I forgot I even had this bad boy. I should be able to get a good bit from it, I hope. I hope to own the 2007 Topps Brian Roberts platinum one day.
Even though someone posted on here that this was not real, I assure you it is. My 2010 Topps Ike Davis pie face. I have seen this one averaging out to be $45 on ebay, perfect for me!!

Can't go wrong with printing plates. I have a couple, but I am going ahead and listing this one. 2008 Topps Stadium Club Josh Beckett Cyan printing plate. I also have a Sean Casey from a different set (can't remember which, I want to say Flair or Ovation? Not sure) and a 2007 Topps Pablo Ozuna. If anyone is interested in those, let me know via email.


Since Play at the Plate has claimed the Kinsler, I am putting the Varitek and Stephen Drew hat logo relics up for sale as well. I doubt I'll make a whole lot off of them, but every little bit helps. I have a new car payment and just too the cat to the emergency vet, do things are going to be tight for a while unless I sell a few things.
.
I also intend on, at some point, listing my 2007-2010 Topps commons on Sportlots. That way I have a little bit of card income coming in on a semi-regular basis. If any of you want to fill or start sets with any of these years I'll cut a sweet deal on the cards. I also have an extra set of 2010 Topps as well that can be had for the right price. That set is hand collated by me. Let me know!!!
.
If anyone is interested in any of the above items, I plan on listing them on Ebay around lunchtime tomorrow (11-12PM EST) and if you make me a reasonable enough offer beforehand, I may sell them outright, but I plan on, for the time being, doing auction style format. You may look me up on Ebay, I sell under the name Roaddogg57 (Ive had the account 11 years, give me a break).
.
Thanks guys!!

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Ebay Steal - 1950 Bowman Bob Feller

I have realized lately that I really like Bob Feller. I think I have said this before, but man, I think he is still amazing after all these years.

That being said, I think I'm going to try to get all of his Bowman cards. Shouldn't be too hard a task, right? Well, maybe for me, at least for now. I just bought a new car and have to take on a payment again after not having a car payment for the last 3 years. I'm sure I can do it just fine, but it is definitely going to take a little getting used to. Anyway, back to the topic at hand...
Here is the 1950 Bob Feller I picked up this week for under $20 shipped on Ebay. You cans ee the corners are rough, but the picture is great. I love how this one scanned. Still so vibrant after 60 years! Crazy, right?
The back of the card looks good too. I always enjoy reading about any of Mr. Feller's accomplishments (of which there are many). I hear a soundbyte they play on XM a lot from Feller talking about how he threw 107.9 mph in 1941 and then someone mentioning to him, 'Hey, did you see that guy? He threw 102.' Fellers response? 'So what, that's my change-up.'

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Another Ebay Steal - 1971 Topps Nolan Ryan

Drew sent me a link to a ebay auction last week after I told him I was looking for the 71 Ryan. I bid on the card and got it really cheap (an ongoing theme around here).
As you can see, the card is a bit off center, but otherwise, it looks pretty good. I now have Ryan's 70 and 71 and both of them came really cheap. I think I'm going to knock out his 1969 Topps next.
As you can see, the back of the card is a bit off center too, but once again, I'm still happy with it. Funny to see that he had 19 career wins and 366 strikeouts at this point in time. I've always thought it was kinda cool to look at some hall of famer's cards from early in their career.

Friday, August 13, 2010

Another Cheap Ebay Pickup - 1971 Topps Thurman Munson

Hey guys,
Here is another card I got off of Ebay last week. I got this one REALLY cheap as well; a 1971 Topps Thurman Munson. This card is one of the tougher cards in the set, and I was able to get it for less than $10. Not bad, huh?
As you can see, the card is not MINT, but I don't care. I really like it and the photo is a great shot of the former Yankee Captain blocking the plate.
It is a shame that we all know what happened to Munson. I still think his brief career deserves a better look for the HOF. Funny, isn't it? 2 Munson posts in a week from someone who definitely hates the Yankees... I have no problem giving players credit where it is due. I definitely appreciate hard nosed players who play the game the right way, and Munson definitely epitomized that in his brief career.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Ebay Rookie Card Pickup

I got this in the mail today after winning it on ebay the other day.
A 1968 Topps Johnny Bench Rookie Card. I got this card very cheap due to the smudge on Ron Tompkins' name. Otherwise, the front of the card looks really good.

The scan of the back picked up pretty true, it is WAY off center. I'm not too worried about that either, given what I spent on the card. Let's just say that it was pretty much a steal. I feel like I do pretty well in my ebay conquests. This one being a prime example.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Where's Waldo - Brian Roberts Edition

Max came to the card shop a couple weeks ago with his 2010 Topps boxes under his arms, finally ready to collate his set. After I got the Yu Gi Oh kids situated in their tournament, I helped him sort his cards.

While sorting and looking at the cards, I noticed this really cool Ryan Braun card...
I thought it was really cool that Brian Roberts can be seen in the background. It's always fun looking at the background on some cards and seeing the little things that are going on. Sucks that it appears Braun is robbing Roberts of a double that could have pushed him closer to 60, but this is still a cool card nonetheless.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

2010 Topps Tribute Thoughts

My younger brother Andy is not a baseball card collector. I've been trying to work on him for the past five years, trying to get him interested in them in hope that I would have someone else to talk about cards with. He has been coming to the card shop with me (pretty much weekly) over the past five years. I had complained that there wasn't much to open at the shop this week except for 2010 Tribute, which I surely couldn't afford. He chimed in that he could afford it because he had been earning money by cleaning out horse stables for my parents. I went online and showed him some of the things he could get from 2010 Tribute (Strasburg auto being the huge hit), but made sure not to put any kind of pressure on him (He's my brother, I'm not going to make him buy anything at the shop unless he wants to). He decided that he would go for it.

(I also decided to pick up a pack) I pulled this Thurman Munson triple relic. Andy picked this pack for me, he is always good at picking packs. Pretty sweet card.

One of the highlights of his box was pulling this Bobby Cox Auto/Relic. I had never seen any Cox autos, so this one was pretty cool. I know a bunch of Braves fans who definitely would sweat over this card. Andy was a bit underwhelmed, but I assured him that he got a good pull with this one.

I went ahead and gave Andy a dollar for this one, since it was a Murray. I had hoped that he would have pulled a Brooks, but Murray was the only Oriole that Andy pulled.

He pulled this sweet Phil Rizzuto bat. Once again he was a bit underwhelmed, and I, again, assured him that pulling a Rizzuto bat was a good hit. The box was very Yankee heavy, and I think he understood that he could maybe ebay most of the Yankee stuff and recoup some of the money he spent. He was starting to feel some buyer's remorse, for sure. I felt bad, but we kept on opening the packs, hoping for that blue Strasburg redemption card.


Redemption card? Strasburg? Nahhh. Just a Matt Kemp Auto Dual Relic. He was once again let down, but even he knew that this one would definitely be claimed, and quickly. His period of letdown on this card didn't last long once he realized how quickly he could sell this to get some money back. Of course, I'm going to help him out by listing some of the hits on Ebay, making trades, etc.
.
I kind of feel a little bad, since he is 14 and dropped so much on the box, but he's a smart kid and definitely has busted enough boxes with me to know that when you set your heart on getting one card, you most likely will be let down. Shooting for the Strasburg was pretty bold, but in the end, I'm glad he had the balls to at least give it a shot. He also got some really good pulls (the Cox and Kemp for sure) and we had a good time opening the box.

Friday, August 6, 2010

Some Sportlots Pickups

I decided to pick up a few cards from Sportlots the other day since I needed only 3 more to finish my 2009 A&G set. I got a few others because I didn't want to paypal $1.00 haha.

I picked up the 2010 Topps Pro Debut of Matt Hopgood because I haven't been able to find Pro Debut in too many places, and I wasn't ready to buy a box yet. I may pick one up later on when the price goes down... If the price goes down.



I found the 2010 Bowman Topps 100 Hobgood as well. I really like Hobgood; he isn't having the best year, and may not have been the best choice for a first round pick, but he is a really likeable kid. I'm hoping he works on his conditioning and becomes an effective starter in the O's system.


I also got the 2010 Bowman Roberts. Since everyone is coing nuts over Strasburg, and the price of these is ridiculously high, I doubt I'll find any packs of Bowman anywhere.

.

I love sportlots, if you haven't tried them to finish off your sets, I highly recommend them.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Cards From Drew

I completed yet another trade with Drew the other day by sending him a Robinson Cano relic in exchange for this Russell Martin relic. Of course this card is about to be flipped on to someone else (Max), but its always fun to be able to complete a trade.

Drew also sent me some Oriole cards (completely unnecessary, but appreciated nonetheless).

Yay, a GOLD Jones/Markakis. Sweeet.

A 2009 Purple Spectrum Roberts. I'm pretty sure I don't have this one yet. Its a nice card. I kind of miss Spectrum, a little.


AWESOME another Reimold! Can't have enough Reimold cards. He should be back in Baltimore soon! I really hope so. The O's need him to come back and hit some homers.

Finally, definitely a Roberts I didn't have. 2009 Topps Chrome Blue Refractor Brian Roberts 199/199. So, I guess that makes this a 1/1. Haha, just kidding. But it really is cool that it is 199/199. I have his black from 2009 that is serial #1. Pretty cool.
.
Thanks Drew!

Set Complete - 2009 Topps Allen & Ginter

FINALLY!!! I finished 09 A&G! Took me long enough. Here is the completer card - Jimmy Rollins, card #350. Woooo!

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

17 and Counting

Ok, I was digging around in my Gu/Auto box the other day looking for a birthday present for someone and I found this...
UD Spectrum Ubaldo Jimenez RC. Mmmm. I was totally surprised when I found it. Jimenez is having an amazing year. I'm thinking, hands down CY Young Award winner for this season. He has been flat out filthy this year, I'm hoping he keeps it up. He has maybe 11 starts left. Wouldn't it be awesome if he won 28 games this year? That'd be awesome!!

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

A Few Cards From My Brother

I got a box of Oriole cards from my brother John a couple weeks ago. He's the one who gave me my first Cal Ripken cards 20+ years ago. Here are a couple from the box.
This is a 1991 Bowman Bill Ripken. Bill has really come on strong as far as coaching; he was a coach for Team USA. Rumor has it that he is a strong candidate to be named to the Orioles coaching staff for next season. We'll see if that pans out, because Bill is tied into he and Cal's business ventures (most notably, Ripken Baseball which owns a couple minor league teams).

BRADY!!!!! A 1991 Donruss Brady Anderson. Brady currently works some games for MASN as a color commentator, but he is another candidate to be tapped for the Orioles' coaching staff. I'm hoping he gets a gig on one of the minor league teams... You know I'll be going to those games, for sure, if he does!!! I really REALLY want an Anderson ball. Maybe a bat too. Yeah, no maybes. I WANT an Anderson bat.

Finally, a Brian Roberts. I already had this one, but it's still a good looking card. Another sharp offering from Fleer. Once again, I'm a little sad that they're gone.
It is really nice that my brother has been able to straighten himself out and get back into cards full on. I'm hoping he stays in it and tries to get a collection together that can rival mine.

Monday, August 2, 2010

Cards From Play at the Plate

I got a package the other day from Brian over at Play at the Plate. He's working on getting a patch card from me. I think he's well on his way.
Here's a pretty sweet Mike Mussina. I liked the mid 90s Fleer offerings. Its too bad that Fleer flooded the market and spread themselves too thin. Upper Deck also really blew it when they tried to re-do Fleer. Another of UDs epic failures of the past few years.

Hey everyone, a Brooks card I didn't have! Wooo. Pretty sweet card. I don't have a whole lot of Topps' American Pie stuff. It never really appealed to me, but this card looks good.

Ahh, Larry Bigbie. I went to 2 Orioles games in 2005 and watched Bigbie jack homeruns in each game. He (last time I heard) is playing in Japan because of the Mitchell Report. It really is a shame, because I liked Bigbie. I still do, actually. I'm not sure that I blame him. He was a young kid trying to make it to the majors. He roomed at David Segui's house while a rookie, and I'm sure he was introduced to bad habits at the time.


I also got some more 2009 Allen & Ginter that I needed for my set. I only need 3 more, woo hoo!!
Thanks Brian! I really appreciate it!

Some More Mail - Nolan Reimold Bobblehead

Because we went to the Oriole game on Friday, July 22, I missed the Nolan Reimold Bobblehead giveaway at Bowie. Not to worry... this new fangled website called Ebay makes it possible for me to get the hook up on just about anything I'm looking for hahaha. So, yeah, I got the bobble head. I'd like to try to get a few more of the Oriole bobbleheads.

I thought it was broken when I got it, but it was because the bat is detatchable, keeps it from snapping off.
Reimold is heating up, he hit his 9th homerun today for Norfolk and has brought his average up to .225. Considering he was at .179 about a month ago, he has really come along. Lets hope he is on his way back.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Cards from 'Stats on the Back'

Here are a couple 1970 Topps I was able to take off of my list from Mark over at Stats on the Back.

Always good to knock some 1970s off my list. I owe Mark some cards in return. I just need to go through my boxes and find something suitable... I'm hoping I can knock something off of his 'all-time team' list. I think I can.