Ebay Pickup - My Fourth Chris Davis 2014 Panini National Treasures Laundry Tag

I wanted to interrupt my TTM and Christmas postings to show off a card I picked up when I received an email from a seller on Ebay.  I had bought three items - best offer accepted - from a guy and when I asked him to keep me posted on any Chris Davis /5 cards that he may see, he emailed me soon after with a photo showing an assortment of Panini items.  One of those cards was this National Treasures laundry tag that is numbered to 5.  If the card looks familiar, it is because I have two of the others from this series.  I have the 1/5 and the 3/5.  I'll go ahead and say that I would love to find the other two, so if I see them, I'll be picking them up.

This is just a really cool series of cards.  I hope I can find the other two.  I've kind of been picking up a bunch of numbered to 5 Chris Davis cards.  This would be just as tough as completing a rainbow, in my opinion.

National Pickup - Chris Davis Laundry Tag

I met up with one of my friends from Instagram the Saturday of the National Card Show and finally was able to pry a card off of him that I have wanted for a while.  He had this Chris Davis 2014 Panini National Treasures laundry tag relic numbered 1/5 available, and I picked it up for a good price.

I already had the 3/5 piece, so now I have two of the five pieces for this series (40%, haha).  Not bad!  I got it off of my friend, Robert L., who also works for the Aberdeen Ironbirds.  Not a bad gig.  He's a good guy that I am able to chat with at times, and he updates me on happenings at the Orioles Low A team.

Thanks for the deal on this awesome card, Robert!  I am happy to have it in the Davis PC.

Christmas Gift From Sam

 

 I got half of my Christmas gift from my good friend, Sam, recently, with the other half on the way.  He says it is going to be something really good.  I don't know, though, because I really loved this half of it.  Ok, he told me what it is, and he's right, it's really amazing.  Sam got me some really cool cards to go with the gift, but the second half was delayed.  This Chris Davis patch from 2014 Panini National Treasures is really awesome.  It is a nice piece of patch numbered 9/25.

Sam hooked me up with another 2009 Bowman Sterling Nolan Reimold auto.  I love these cards, and am happy he sent it, regardless of how many I own.

Another card, among the many he sent, was this 2006 Bowman Futures Game relic of Nolan.  I had one of these already, but am happy for more.  With Nolan autos and relics, I don't care if I have duplicates.  I like getting any and all of them that I can get my hands on.

Thank you so much for the gifts, Sam!  You didn't have to get me anything else, but I'm happy you thought well enough of me to do so!

The Foulbunt Top Ten - No. 5

We are halfway through my Top Ten list, and I have shown some pretty amazing cards, so far.  There have been some great rookie cards, a sick patch and some really sweet vintage.  Each one of the cards on the list is something that is pretty amazing.  Card No. 5 isn't any different.

I am a huge fan of patches, like I said before, and a unique patch makes them even better.  I also enjoy low numbered cards, because, well, I guess because that's what we are told to do.  Regardless, the next card on the list is in a well-deserved spot and it is all because of the relic and the super low numbering.  So, here we are with card No. 5:

This is a 2014 Panini National Treasures Chris Davis relic numbered 1/2.  The relic is really cool because it is part of the laundry tag from Davis's game used uniform.  I have another card that is in my Davis PC that has a piece of laundry tag, but it is numbered much higher than this one.  I also apparently know where the 2/2 is, but as of today, he still isn't willing to part with it.

I got this card off of Ebay, but I don't remember what I paid.  That's probably a good thing, I do know that I considered this a huge steal.  I feel like I paid only around $50 for this.  Maybe a little more, but not much more.

I have spent a lot of time on my Davis PC this year, and I have some really great cards to show for it.  It is only fitting that one of them was able to make it into the top five of this list.

Belated Birthday Present From Andrew - Chris Davis Booklet

I got a package today from my very good friend, Andrew, that had my birthday gift that he had been meaning to send me for a while.  He has been really busy with school and cross country, so he hasn't had much time to get to the post office.  That's ok, though, because that makes it so I can stretch my birthday out as long as possible!!

Andrew really hit it out of the park with his gift.  He picked up this 2014 Panini National Treasures booklet of Chris Davis with an amazing patch.  The booklet is numbered 2/15.  I had some booklet toploaders, but I used them all on the ones I got from Blaine, so I need to grab a few more.

I have all of my booklets on display in my display case, using the booklet toploaders and card stands.  They all look really cool staggered together on the glass shelves.  I'm really happy with the setup.  Otherwise, I'm not too sure how they would be stored.  I feel like they have to be displayed.

I really appreciate the awesome gift, Andrew.  This patch is so amazing.  Thanks so much!

Chris Davis Cards From Blaine

My friend, Blaine, decided to sell off his collection recently, and hit me up with a great deal that saw me land a good portion of his Orioles stuff.  The box finally arrived last week and I was amazed at everything that was inside.  There was so much stuff in there, I will have to break it up in order to do it any justice here on this blog.

Blaine sold me on the collection when he showed me what Chris Davis cards would be included.  The above patch from 2014 Panini National Treasures was the first card I saw, and it really is what helped me decide to do the deal.  This card is numbered 5/11 (kind of an odd numbering) and shows a three-color piece of jersey/patch.  Not bad at all.

Here is another three-color piece, this one is from 2014 Panini Immaculate Collection.  This is numbered 2/25.  I love the Panini Stuff from around this time.  I'm sure it wasn't tier intention for these nice pieces to be so affordable, but they are, and I have definitely taken advantage.

Here is another 2014 Panini Immaculate, this time it is just a swatch of jersey and is numbered 80/99.

This booklet from 2014 National Treasures is numbered 53/99.  I already had a couple of these, but was happy to add a few more.

Finally, this booklet is numbered 80/99.  The relics are kind of hard to see from the scan, but spell out CRUSH.  Looks really cool, I think.

I'll hopefully have some time to show more of what Blaine sent me in the next few days, especially since there is no playoff baseball on IV until Tuesday.

Card Show Recap From Days One and Two

I've been set up at the three-day card show in Raleigh this weekend, and so far, the first two days have gone pretty well.  I have already broken even with another day to go.  That is always good, so anything else I sell is bonus.  I met a lot of cool folks today, and even seemed to brighten a few kids' days.

There was a father and two sons who came by my tables today, and we talked at length on two separate occasions.  The boys actually spent quite a bit of money, which I was very appreciative.  I ended up cutting them some great deals on some autographed cards, and even gave them a few Orioles rally towels to try to help out the O's mojo and bring them back into the win column.  I think it worked, since the O's beat the Rays today.  I hope it holds up.  That family was really nice, and I was happy to chat baseball with them.  I hope they come back, and I also hope they read my blog.  You know, since I plugged it all day, to anyone who would listen.  Shameless plugs and all.

They weren't the only group that I had lengthy conversations with; There were other Oriole fans who came by and chatted with me.

My favorite part of doing these shows is the ability to sit and talk cards and baseball with people.  I sincerely enjoy it, and I hope it shows when folks come by.  I told a guy I met at the last show, who I now consider a friend (his name is Dilan), that I have gone to shows for a long time, and I have met several dealers who seem as if you are getting in their way when you want to look at a card.  I do my best to not be like that.

Speaking of Dilan, he came back and chatted with me for a bit.  He came to the last show I did in June, and actually followed up with me afterward, when I gave him one of my business cards.  They paid off.  It was really cool seeing Dilan again, and being able to chat with him for a while.

Also, a true highlight of the day, was being able to finally meet my friend, Ryu, in person.  Ryu, whom I met on Instagram, lives near Raleigh, but has always been busy with baseball when I would come up for shows.  He was finally free on a weekend, and was able to come to the show.  I was really happy to meet him and say hello.  That really made my day.  He's an awesome guy.

I have also had the pleasure of helping a good friend of mine break into selling at this show.  My buddy, Tyler, has been wanting to try to raise some funds to help with tuition, so he thought he could come to the show to sell some cards.  I lent him some space on my table and helped him price cards.  So far, he has sold a little bit, but still has tomorrow to help sell some more.

I had a rule for this weekend's show - Don't buy anything.  Yeah, that lasted a while.  I bought the above Chris Davis 2014 Panini National Treasures patch card for $7 from the dealer next to me.  I saw it yesterday, and he didn't want much for it, so I figured, "Why not?".  The card is numbered 24/25 and looks really cool.

Finally, after a little over a month, my son, Chris, came home from the Grandparents Tour 2015.  He has grown some since he left, and I sure missed him.

I had a really great show so far, and there is still tomorrow to go.  I hope it goes well!

Ebay Pickup - 2014 National Treasures Chris Davis Majestic Tag

I got a huge steal from Ebay the other day that just came in when I got this Chris Davis Majestic tag card.  Numbered 1/2, I was amazed at the price in which I landed it.  This card is so awesome!  I now own two tag cards of Davis.  They're odd cards, for sure, but they're really cool.  The fact that this one is only numbered 1/2 makes it even cooler.

I hope you guys enjoy taking a look at this one, because I don't really have enough words to describe it.  I need so many magnetic cases now, it isn't even funny.

A Care Package From Frankie

It was about this time, 6 years ago, that I met a young kid who had a great blog and huge enthusiasm for cards.  That kid was 12 years old and now he is in college.  I took Drew under my wing and we forged an amazing friendship.  When I heard that Drew took a liking to a young kid with a new blog and had dispensed a great deal of advice, it was like a torch had been passed.

Drew met up with Frankie, of the blog: My Life in The Sports Card Hobby, at a card show in New York and told me about it the next day.  It was really cool to see Drew kind of mentoring a young person in the hobby, much like I had done with him over the years.  After Drew told me about his blog, I went and read a bunch of Frankie's posts.  He has an amazing collection, even though he is a Yankee fan.  So, to introduce myself to him, I sent Frankie a care package consisting of one item that I thought he might need for his Yankee autograph collection.  I was right, he hadn't acquired the auto I had sent, so I did a good job of finding something that helped him out.

While I didn't want anything in return, Frankie insisted that he send me back a care package, and I got it a few weeks later after a little big of a blogosphere mix-up.  You see, the package Frankie meant to send to me, actually went to Drew, and I received a package intended for Drew.  We laughed it off, and fixed the issue and now I have a few amazing cards that Frankie had sent my way (via Drew).

The above 2012 Bowman All Star Futures Game relic of Dylan Bundy is a really great card.  The card is numbered 176/199 and looks really awesome in person.

Another of the cards that Frankie sent was this 2014 Panini National Treasures Adam Jones jumbo patch card numbered 11/99.  I have gotten so many amazing patch and relic cards lately, I'm going to go broke buying magnetic cases to fit them all.  I also need to get a new storage box for all of my amazing relic cards.

Thank you so much for the package, Frankie.  I really hope that you have enjoyed your time in the card community so far.  You have gravitated toward a great mentor in this hobby (Drew) and I hope you can grow your collection into something far more amazing than it already is!

Huge Mega Deal With Michael

Recently, my very good friend, Michael, told me that he was getting back into baseball cards because of my influence.  After a huge buying binge, Michael had a change of heart and decided that his spending was better served on memorabilia.  While he planned on keeping major PC stuff, like his Pee Wee Reese PC, he decided to quickly part with his newly acquired autos and relics.

This is where I stepped in.  Michael has been a good friend of mine for something like 3 years now, and we talk pretty much every day.  I knew that he needed the money, so I was able to help him out.

We scheduled a Skype session for him to show me everything that he was putting up for sale and I gave him a "Yes or No" to express my interest.  We went through every card he had made available and decided to itemize the cost so I could make payments, yet get the cards.

After going through all of the cards, and letting my initial sticker shock wear off, we settled on a deal.  I was getting a great bulk price on the cards, and he was getting instant PayPal.  Win win for both of us.  Now, you will see all of the hits, and a couple throw ins that I got from my friend.

At the top of this post, you'll see an amazing acetate card from 2013 Leaf Trinity.  That Hunter Harvey card is freaking amazing.  Numbered (by hand) 44/58, it really looks awesome.  Just so you know, the rest of what he sent is just as nice, if not better.  So, here we go!

Michael sent me a couple booklet cards from 2014 Panini National Treasures.  This Adam Jones booklet is especially awesome, since it has the "S" from the back of Jonesey's jersey.  It is numbered 6/25.  Another amazing card.

This Brooks Robinson booklet is a jumbo relic and auto card that looks awesome.  This Brooks is numbered 15/25 and the auto is on what looks like some kind of acetate as well.  I really like how the autos show up on there.  I wish I could get a few more like that or the Harvey.

From one of my favorite offerings from the 2014 season was this Museum Collection quad card of Machado/Gausman/Davis/Jones.  I had a couple of these and a couple quads of Davis, so when Michael made this one available, I jumped on it.  This has a bat relic from Machado, a jersey swatch from Davis, a piece of patch from Jones and a 3-color patch from Gausman.  A really nice card, numbered 59/75.

Next up is this jumbo patch/auto card of Adam Jones from 2014 Panini National Treasures.  I was surprised that Michael was willing to let this go, as I thought he was pretty high on this card.  The orange jersey swatch looks awesome scanned, as you can tell.  This card, numbered 13/49, has an awesome example of Jones's signature.

Even more from 2014 Panini National Treasures is this awesome Brooks Robinson relic numbered 72/99.  I had seen this on his Instagram before and wanted to deal for it.  Now, I have it and I am really happy.  This is a great card of Brooks.

One of the most amazing pieces that I got from Michael was this 2007 Topps Triple Threads triple relic card of Yogi Berra.  Numbered 8/36, this Ruby parallel contains pieces of (flannel) jersey, bat and GLOVE!  This is my first game-used glove card.  So really awesome.  I also love the wool jersey, which makes this the third in my collection.  That would actually be a nice side PC, wool jersey cards.  I am so taken aback by this card.  It truly is epic!

Something had to follow up that Berra, so here is a dual relic card from 2009 UD Team USA.  This card is numbered 256/499.  I have increased my Gausman PC by a great deal, and adding this to my collection puts it right at the forefront of the PC.

I have seen prices of Topps Supreme stuff and am amazed at how low the price point is for a lot of the stuff that is out there.  Everything I have seen from Supreme looks great, this Adam Jones included.  This 2014 Topps Supreme Jones has a jumbo swatch of jersey and another nice Jonesey auto and is numbered 22/40.  I want to add more Supreme to my collection, too bad Chris Davis wasn't included in last year's set.

Now, I couldn't let a 2009 Bowman Sterling Nolan Reimold auto out of my sight, so I had Michael add it to my "cart" when he showed it to me.  This is either my third or fourth version of this card and they never cease in their beauty.  I think this year of Bowman Sterling is one of their best offerings of all time.

On our itemized list, this card fell toward the bottom of Michael's pricing (which was beyond fair).  His reason was that he wanted Chris to end up with this card.  Numbered 3/27, this 2012 Topps Triple Threads has two relics each of Lincecum and Strasburg and three relics of Justin Verlander.  Chris loved it when I showed it to him, and I told him that it would be his, once I got it in a magnetic case for him.

Michael busted a box of 2014 Bowman Sterling recently, and added some of his auto hits from his break into our deal.  This Clint Frazier was one of the cards that I really wanted.  I figured that I would pick him up and hold onto him since he is a really good prospect.  I never really get into prospects, but I thought I would give one a shot.  There are a few other prospects that I would be interested in collecting, but Frazier was at the top of the list of guys I wanted to pick up.

Speaking of Frazier, I went ahead and picked up this base card as well.  I have already fended off kids asking me to trade for this card (and the green parallel), but I don't want to part with the Fraziers at all.

I did, however, pick up a few cards I wanted to use as trade bait.  This Colin Moran is one of them...

...so is this Forrest Green (that I won in a "pull" that Michael did).

This Austin Meadows is also trade bait, but would command a bit more than the previous two guys.

I also picked up this Gregory Polanco for potential trade, but he and Meadows might be guys I would be inclined to hold onto.  I do have to say that 2014 Bowman Sterling looks pretty awesome for 2014.  I have heard a lot of complaining about Topps, but I have to say that there was a lot of stuff that came out in 2014 that looked awesome, so overall, I felt like 2014 was a banner year for cards.  What do I know, though?

I picked up this Gosuke Katoh to send to one of my friends.  It was pretty cheap and is a TTM auto.  The card still looks great, and I know my buddy will love it.

Here is another card from the pulls I did with Michael.  This Trevor Williams numbered 73/810 will be for sale or trade, as I don't know who he is.

I was happy to add some of the 2015 Topps First home run coil cards.  This Adam Jones and the below Chris Davis both look awesome in person.

Sadly, the cards don't sell for a lot, so I could have bought one cheaply, but I tried to work out a deal with someone and they wanted WAY too much for them.  Oh well.

I didn't know that Topps brought back Gold Label cards last year, but Michael threw in this Cal Ripken Gold Framed Gold Label card in our deal.  A rare Ripken that I didn't already have, this 61/99 card looks really cool.  When he first showed it to me, I thought it was the late 90s version, which I have several of, but no, it was from 2014 (and framed), so cool!

Another prospect card that I plan on holding onto is this 2015 Topps Rusney Castillo gold parallel RC.  Numbered 1,014/2,015, this is a hot commodity right now.  I could probably sell or trade it for something decent, but I thought it would look good in my RC box.

Getting toward the end of the pile, Michael added this 2007 Topps Opening Day card of the Oriole Bird, with an IP signature.  This is really cool, and I will likely add it to Chris's collection.  I think he will really enjoy it.

A Bob Feller card for my PC is another throw in from Michael.  Numbered 477/500, this 2005 Donruss Timeless Treasures Feller looks really nice.  I have never seen any of these before, so I was happy to add this.

Finally, Michael threw in my current favorite card from 2015 Topps.  This Eddie Vedder first pitch card is awesome.  I already had two in my collection, but Michael knew my love of Pearl Jam, and included it in the deal.  The only complaint I have from this subset is that Topps really should have worked to have autographs included in this.  I would LOVE a Vedder auto, and pulling one would probably put me on the floor.

So, there you have it, my epic deal with Michael.  I was so happy to get this stuff in today.  I told Michael that I would break this up into several posts, but if I did that, there is stuff here in my 'to be blogged' pile that wouldn't get posted til next year.

Thank you so much for the deal, Michael!  I hope the money I sent helps you out.  I look forward to future deals, but let me build some money back up, haha!

Amazing Deal With Michael - Chris Davis Laundry Tag Card

You guys have heard me talk about my great friend, Michael, quite a bit on here.  He and I completed a massive trade the other day when he put this amazing Chris Davis 2014 Panini National Treasures laundry tag card.  This card is just awesome.  I mean, really awesome.

Michael valued it so ridiculously cheap, I had to jump on it. I traded him a few signed baseballs and some signed post cards for it and a bunch of relics and autos that I'm going to use to refill my trade bait section.

I think Michael has realized that I'm terrible at the upkeep on that page, so he assisted me in getting some new stuff to populate it.  I really appreciated how he looked out for me on this card, and the other stuff he sent me.  He could have commanded a premium on the Davis tag card, but instead, valued it at cost.  He has always done right by me, and I won't forget it.  This Davis card is now a key centerpiece in my collection, and actually, I think it will take a place in my China cabinet, next to my Jimmie Foxx booket card.

Thank you so much for the deal, Michael!  I really appreciate it, and I will break the rest of the stuff up into additional posts, to be blogged in the future.  In the meantime, please head over to Michael's blog and give it a read.  He has been posting more and more lately, and has actually conducted quite a few interviews recently.  You can access his blog here.

Ebay Steal - 2014 Panini National Treasures Chris Davis Booklet

I'm not usually lucky on Ebay when it comes to straight up stealing things like I see some folks doing.  I get good deals, but it is rare for me to get one that I would consider an absolute steal.  After I sold my buddy, Joey, a baseball recently, I used the money for some Chris Davis PC needs.  I had a little less than $5.00 left over from that buying spree and happened upon the above Chris Davis booklet card from 2014 National Treasures.  It was at $2.99 + $2.25 shipping with about an hour to go.  I figured that I would take a shot on it, so I bid $6.00.  I ended up winning the card for $5.74 plus the shipping.  With what I had left over from Joey, I ended up paying out of pocket $3.81 for this booklet card.  To me, that's a steal!

The card is numbered 92/99 and looks great.  Yeah, I wish it had a patch on it, but I'm ok with the gray swatch.  Especially with the price I paid!