2024 National Paid Signer - Manny Ramirez

Another former player that I paid to meet this year at the National was Manny Ramirez.  I wish I could say that meeting Manny was cool, but it was pretty unremarkable. He did look up at me when I thanked him for signing.  He didn't say anything, and had his air pods in, so I doubt he heard anything I was saying.  Also, his signature wasn't much; I got this little loopy thing on my 2008 Topps Stadium Club. 

I chose this card because when it came out back in 2008, I (and a former friend of mine) really enjoyed this panoramic shot of Manny in a Dodger uniform. 

Ramirez (b. 1972) played in the majors from 1993 to 2011 for the Indians, Red Sox, Dodgers, White Sox and Rays.  He had 2,574, 555 home runs and a .312 batting average.  He was a 12-time All Star (1995 and 1998 to 2008).  He was the runner-up to Bob Hamelin (seriously) in the 1994 AL Rookie of the Year voting.  He won the World Series with the Red Sox in 2094 and 2007.

Ramirez played in Kinston in 1992, hitting .278 with 13 home runs. It would have been really cool to see him play at Grainger Stadium. 

A Signed Card From Jimmy K

A while back, Jimmy from the Wood Duck games gave me this signed 1992 Upper Deck signed by Manny Ramirez. He had this card for a long time and was willing to part with it.  I like the full Manny signature; I got a short sig the other day at the National. 

Thank you so much, Jimmy!

Some Awesome IP Autos From Billy

When the Down East Wood Ducks held their first exhibition game against Mount Olive College, the second person I met at Grainger Stadium (the first being my friend, Scott) was a guy I knew for a long time as the "Pickle Man."  He always wore a Mount Olive Pickles hat, which is why I referred to him as such.  After graphing together for a while, I struck up a friendship with Billy.  He has been coming to Grainger Stadium for quite a while, and I marvel at the players that he saw come through Kinston.

Recently, we decided to trade some autographs that we had gotten in the past, and he brought a small stack of cards today.  Telling me I could keep them all, I was blown away at what was in the stack after he said was a "20-minute search through his boxes..."  Amazing.  Obviously, the card that really got me was the above 1992 Topps Manny Ramirez.  I know Manny came through Kinston back in the day, but here is an early autograph, before Manny was Manny.

The hits kept coming, an Adrian Gonzalez, Tom Glavine, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jake Arrieta.  All of these guys were amazing finds in the stack.

I liked this Jose Constanza because it is just a really cool auto.  It looks similar to some other guys I've seen.

It just amazes me to think of all of the guys that Billy has seen come through as he has graphed ove the years.  I believe he told me he has gotten autographs in Kinston since the 70s.  He also told me that he used to be a popcorn vendor there, which must have been a sight!

A lot of these guys are players that I have heard of over time.  I would love to get a chance to really dig into his albums and boxes to see all of the stuff he has gotten signed over the years.  It also makes me think of just how others could be amazed at the stuff I've gotten signed over my short time graphing.

These 2001 SAL Top Prospects cards were also really cool.  I like these old team sets, especially when you are able to see whatever stadium is in the background.

Thank you so much for the cards, Billy.  Most importantly, though, thank you for the camaraderie over the last several years at the games.  Like I said earlier today at the game, this is fun and all, but it is so much more fun when you can go to the games and have someone to enjoy it with.  I'm glad we have gotten close, and I look forward to many more games and experiences together.

Trading For Trade Bait

I have been working hard recently in picking up stuff in trades that aren't necessarily for my PC so I can flip stuff as trade bait.  I have my first show in years coming up this weekend, and I needed some stuff I could put out to sell.  I had refrained from setting up at shows for a while because I felt like I didn't have enough stuff to justify paying for the table fees.

This Preston Wilson card might not carry a whole lot of value, but I picked it up because it was a sharp looking card, and I thought that it might get a few looks and sell for a little bit.

Another piece of trade bait that I got in this trade was this Manny Ramirez relic from 2008 UD Sweet Spot.  Manny really shot himself in the foot numerous times at the end of his career.  He went from being one of the greatest (and most eccentric) players in the game, to one of the most reviled.  His multiple suspensions have shot to crap any chance he had of getting into the Hall of Fame.  I think I can still get something for this at the show.  We'll see.

Finally, I got this 2009 UD Sweet Spot Trevor Hoffman relic in the deal.  I know Hoffman is a future Hall of Famer, and this is a pretty cool card.  I have quite a few relic cards from this set, and I think I have multiple Adam Jones ones, but the're scattered in my PC box and I haven't organized that one yet.

So, this was a pretty cool trade.  I apologize, but the guy I traded with gave me his mom's name to ship to, so I don't know his name.  He did include a really nice note in the package, and I know he and I will trade again.  I told him right away as we were making the deal that all of this stuff was to populate my for sale/trade pile, and he was cool with it.  It bothers me sometimes when someone messages you saying "I just HAVE to have this" only to find out they sold it two days later.  So, I made sure to tell him my intentions right away.

I have two more days to prep for the show, and I am so wore out from work, that I wont be touching my cards tonight.  I hope I don't get home too late tomorrow night, because I really need to price some stuff.

Oh well, I'll get it done.  Thanks for listening to me thinking out loud.  You can tell that I'm tired!

Thoughts on 2011 Topps Heritage

I picked up a box of 2011 Topps Heritage from my local hobby shop today mainly because I was totally bored out of my mind. Anyway, I busted the box and here is a little bit of what I pulled:

Here is the best Oriole I got, a Nick Markakis base card. I love the design, the 1962 design is one of the best out there and I was really looking forward to Heritage this year for that reason.

Here is my one hit from the box, a Francisco Liriano relic. I was a bit underwhelmed with this pull, but it will be a little something to put in my display case at the next card show.

Here is a great pairing on the Then and Now insert. Usually Topps throws anything at the wall to see what sticks with their duos cards, but in this case, Spahn and Halladay is a great matchup. I like this card, for sure.

I was able to pull a card of one of my favorite Orioles' prospects, Brandon Snyder. I've met Snyder several times and each time, he has been really awesome to talk to. I hope to see him in the majors more this year.

One of the cool things in Heritage is seeing players in their new uniforms. I think that Topps Flagshhip comes out so early, you don't always get to see a player in the new uniform, so you have to wait til heritage comes out. You can see how strange Manny looks in the Rays uniform above. I also pulled new Orioles Derrick Lee and Mark Reynolds.

I'm always happy when I get a new Brooks Robinson card. I think pulling this card is what ended up satisfying me with this box break. It doesn't take much, haha.

I really thought this was a cool card. I keep forgetting that Babe Ruth coached for the Dodgers for a time. It is kind of weird seeing the Bambino with a number other than 3 on the back of his jersey, and seeing Dodger blue makes it even weirder.

Overall, I really like the design of this year's offering of Topps Heritage. I didn't have any great pulls (the Koufax auto would have made me pee myself), but in all, I was happy. I'm not sure if he is in the set, but pulling a Brian Roberts would have definitely made my day, but in the end, I got a good bit of trade bait and some stuff to sell at the next show.

1992 Topps Box Break With Max

I was in Raleigh on Friday to take (and bomb) the second half of the ASBOG exam (the professional geologist exam). After I fried my brain for 4 hours, I met up with Max and we went to Cardiac Cards in nearby Cary to wind down and relax.
After a little bit of debate about what we wanted to do, we decided to spend a little money on a box of 'junk wax.'

We picked 1992 Topps because we had the potential to pull the Manny Ramirez RC. I like how packs cost $0.55, when base packs range from $2.00 to $3.00. I really liked the photography in this set. It looks like Topps brought their A game to this set with some of the photos. See the above George Brett, and the Stan Javier and you'll see what I mean.

Here is an example of a player playing for a team toward the end of their career that doesn't seem to fit (Willie Mays as a Met, Hank Aaron as a Brewer?). I had no idea that Gibson played for Kansas City. Wow. Was a nice surprise, though. I like cards like this.

We did get the Manny RC, so we acheived our goal. I doubt what we ended up with paid for the box, but Max and I had a good time opening it. That was worth it, in my opinion.

2008 Topps Stadium Club

When I first saw the 2008 Topps Stadium Club at the shop, I wasn't too impressed. I was a fan of Stadium Club way back when, but nowadays, there is so much on the market (and I really think Allen and Ginter is the best thing out there) that I didn't really give TSC a thought. After I was told about Target's little pricing error, I picked up a few blasters, compared cards with P.A. from 'Player to be Named Later' and realized- TSC has some awesome photography! I opened a pack of the $25.00 stuff at the shop, and pulled a 3 piece/ auto Pujols (which will be scanned later on). I also love the Brian Roberts which has him bowling over someone! As Christopher would say- GO ROBERTS. I scanned a few cards- I really like the manny Ramirez and the almost panoramic quality of the photo and the Joba where he looks like a linebacker. I also pulled this Masterson auto yesterday.