Another HOF auto

One more HOF auto that I've bought with the proceeds from that Jeter bat barrel nameplate that I sold:

Everyone know who this is, so there is no need to describe his feats, his fielding prowess, his daily backflips before each game, or his Wizardry.

Add this to the list of HOFers whose autographs I now have.

Big Trade

When it comes to trading, I like to trade type for type, such as an autograph for an autograph, relic for a relic, etc. On rare occasions, I will trade an auto or relic for a short printed card that I need for a set, such as those SP variations in the 2009 Topps base set.

Lately, I've been diving into the world of high-end sportscards. I've sold a few "hot" autographs of guys like Porcello and Hanson, and I've been buying packs of the mid- to upper-level products like SPx, Sweet Spot and even a Ballpark Collection, although the latter leaves me cold. I've pulled such hits as Markakis and McLouth autos, a Griffey American Heroes 1-of-1, and a Ryan Braun By the Letter autograph.

The Braun BTL is now the subject of a philosophical debate: Would you rather?

Would you rather have an on-card/on-material autograph of an up-and-coming superstar like Braun, or a glossy, inset auto card of a Hall of Famer?

Personally, I would rather have the HOFer, especially when that is a guy who doesn't normally sign everything in his path. That is why I traded the Braun BTL, numbered out of 10, for a Leaf Limited autograph, numbered out of 100, of Mike Schmidt. As an added bonus, in order to make the trade "even" according to book value, I received an Albert Pujols Fleer Platinum RC.

I think that, although the Braun is a VERY nice card, low numbered, and signed on material, if I can get a pseudo-rare autograph of a Hall of Famer and a rookie card of a no-question-about-it Hall of Famer, I'd do it again. And again. Do you agree?

Even MORE Card Shop Booty

Wow, has my luck been red-hot lately.

Today is Trade Days, and I go early so that I can get some trading done. Unfortunately, nobody showed up for another hour, so I spent time, and money, in the store. Fortunately, I've become pretty good at picking the Sweet Spot out of new boxes. The first one I get is a Clay Buchholz jersey, but the second one is the Sweet Spot:

This is one of the two autographs I have been dying to pull since I came back into collecting, and started drifting toward high-end autograph hounding. The other is a Jeter, which I happened to get my grubby little paws on today, too:

A friend and fellow trader had an "extra" Sweet Spot that he was willing to sell. Not cheap. But worth it. So I got both of my white whales in one day!

In the meantime, I also did a bit of trading. I swapped the Ryan Braun SP Authentic By the Letter auto for this HOF autograph plus a rookie card of a future HOFer:

I also won the raffle of three packs of cards, including a Sweet Spot, so I was fortunate to get another HOFer jersey:

The Yaz is available for trade, but the others aren't. If you are interested in the Yaz, or any other auto or relic I have here, email me.

All in all, not a bad day of trading and pack-busting. I'm happy.

Shipping Problem Postscript

I'm still a bit upset that the big addition to my collection, a Nolan Ryan autograph, ended up creased and crinkled, but the seller was MORE than accommodating, and sent me this beautiful Bob Gibson autograph from my latest desire, 1999 Fleer Sports Illustrated Greats of the Game.

But this only gives me another problem, one that Gellman and others have tried to answer: do I leave this in its graded case, or do I bust it open? Thoughts? Opinions? Thanks for all your support.

Hit of the Year? Maybe the Decade!

For some reason, lately, I've been interested in getting the "hits" from Sweet Spot. The '08 Sweet Spot has been in the store up until recently, and now that the '09 SS are in, I thought I'd give it a try.

My luck is usually pretty bad, or average at best, so I let someone else pick the pack for me. Tom, the owner, was nice enough to pull out a fresh box, and, going on my judgment from the '08 boxes, I took the pack in the back of the stack. (No, I will not eat green eggs and ham....)

What did I get?

Not great. He even has an Indians' uniform on, but its a Giants card. Meh.

So I had Emily, Tom's daughter and resident good-luck charm, pick a pack for me. I think she picked the 3rd or 4th, and this is what I got:

Holy Shitaake Mushrooms!!!!!!!!!!

This is the biggest name, lowest number, most unique card I've ever pulled. I've only been buying high-end stuff for a short while, but SHNIKEES, this is amazing!

I didn't know much about Kiner, so I went to the Baseball Reference to find out more.

• He was inducted into the HOF in 1975
• He played only 10 years, the first 7 for Pittsburgh
• He finished his career with the Indians in 1955
• He hit .279 for his career, but had a whopping .548 slugging percentage!
• In only 10 seasons, he hit 369 home runs and had 1015 RBIs, for an astounding average of 37 HRs and 101 RBIs per season!

In the similarity scores, three of the top ten he is similar to are Indians: Colavito, Doby and Belle. And by age, he is similar to Colavito, Thome, McCovey and Killebrew. Here's to you, Mr. Home Run. Thanks for the bat!

photo courtesy of Baseball Almanac

Now comes the big question: do I keep it, trade it or sell it?

Looking on the Bay, there are only three similar cards that have sold already.

1. the Canseco bat barrel nameplate that Mario at Wax Heaven talked about that sold for $305
2. an Orlando Cepeda nameplate that sold for $246
3. an Adam Dunn nameplate that sold for $248

That's very, very, VERY enticing, and since this is a 1 of 2, I think it might go for more!

(As an aside, do you believe that an Adam Dunn bat barrel would sell for more than a certified great player and HOFer like Cepeda?!!?!! I can't.)

I think I will keep it for a short time, then sell it. Unless someone knocks me over with a tremendous trade offer that I can't refuse.

$3 Autogamer bin find

For only $3, who couldn't resist a relic of a HOFer? Not me. I must say that I would not have bought it if it was a plain white relic. At least I (sorta) know this came from a Cubs jersey.

Card of the Moment VI

This card of HOF third baseman Brooks Robinson is also from the Upper Deck All-Star Classics pack that I spoke of in the last post. This is the insert for the All-Star MVP. I love the design on these. Simple and well thought out. Not overly gaudey. Nice sharp pictures with great color to them.

Serendipitous Accident

I was at my favorite individual pack store yesterday, just down the hall from my favorite singles, autos & hobby box shop, and decided to splurge on a variety of cards: '02 Fleer, '02 Donruss, '94 Upper Deck, '00 TSC, '91 Ultra, '00 Skybox, '99 UD Choice. Basically, a pack or two of any baseball I could find. I thought I spied some Fleer Metal, thinking it was also baseball, until I got home and discovered it was basketball. Drats! No way to return this, either, since I'd already started to rip!

Much to my surprise, though, the first card out was the one below: a rookie Kevin Garnett! Go figure, I can't pull a decent auto or relic out of an entire box, but with only one pack of basketball, I get a RC of a future Hall of Famer!

 

Has anyone else ever had an experience like that? I'm sure you all have.

Card of the Moment III

This moment's 1999 Topps Gold Label card is Sammy Sosa in his Cubs heyday. This is a good opportunity to use the old Dictionary (or Dictionary.com) and look up Heyday: "the stage or period of greatest vigor, strength, success, etc.; prime." Hmmm, greatest vigor and strength. Do you think this may apply to Sammy and what he was doing at the time to improve his performance? As the Church Lady used to say, "mmmmm, Could be!"

In any event, I love these cards. They are Bowman's Best before Bowman's Best. This is the Class 1 version of the card. It is from the year after he hit 66 home runs and "endeared himself to America." I remember those heady days when McGwire and Sosa were chasing Maris' record, and they made baseball fun again, before heading into the deep steroid-laced funk that followed. Seeing McGwire bear hug Sosa was very cool.
As for his Hall of Fame credentials, at this point in his career, they are not very impressive considering he was an average outfielder. 273 HR's is pretty good, but 800 RBI's is not great considering how many HR's he did hit. 158 RBI's in one season is way up there, though.

If you ask me, I would say that he is close but not in. He may get in sometime if the steroids era looks softer and rosier at some point in the future, but don't count on it happening any time soon.

Updated Trade List

I've updated my Trade List (Up for Grabs) to include Relics & Autos. I have a few Braves rooks in there, for anyone interested (yeah, I'm talking to you, dayf!), as well as some broke-down pitchers, steroid kings, near-HOFers and journeymen. Take a look, please, and make me an offer "I can't refuse."