Summer, Blogging, And Baseball. LOTS Of Baseball

That pretty much recaps my summer. The reason why I haven't been posting, is because I just got back from a baseball tournament in Pennsylvania. Over 3 games, I ended up going 2/4, with an RBI double, and a two RBI single, along with a walk and a hit by pitch. Unfortunately, our day was cut short because we lost in the semi-finals. I had a great time though, and it was a ton of fun. 

While at The National, I picked up a few autographs from 2014 triple threads, both of them being of Hall Of Famers (how surprising)! First up is this Mike Schmidt 2014 triple threads autograph /99. I got this card in a trade with one of the dealers there, Ryan, who was really nice. He owns a card shop in St. Louis (RbiCru7 Sports Cards And Collectables), so be sure to stop by when you're in St. Louis. I'm really happy with this card, since I don't yet have a Schmidt autograph.

The next card is of newly inducted Hall Of Famer Pedro Martinez! I ended up buying this card for a decent price, and even though I would've liked to have an autograph of Pedro in a Red Sox uniform more, I'm still happy with this purchase. I'm not a fan of sticker autographs, but I like the design of triple threads, so I don't mind the sticker as much. I'm very happy with both purchases!

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Iron Man!

Cal Ripken Jr was at the top of my "Want List," and I have been wanting to acquire one of his autographs for a while now. I didn't want a sticker autograph, and I didn't want one from panini or leaf, just because the designs are so bland. I ended up trading my Mantle/Yastrzemski/Musial triple relic, and I also added some cash for this card:

A Cal Ripken Jr autograph from 2007 upper deck black /10! I really like the look of the card, and I like the price that I payed for it, so overall, I'm very happy with the card! While looking at Cal Ripken Jr's statistics, I didn't realize that Ripken has the MLB record for most double plays hit into, which I think is interesting.

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Quick Post On Nice Card.

Most of my collection is focused around Hall Of Fame autographs, but every now and then, I'll venture out, and acquire a few older relics. In my opinion, Bert Blyleven should not be on in the Hall Of Fame, just because he lingered around on the ballot for a few years, and then finally made it. His case is similar to Lee Smith's, but I do not think that Smith will make the Hall. Heres the card:

I picked this card up for $20, from a dealer that goes to the White Plains shows in New York. They always have a lot of Yankees stuff, and a larger post will be coming up soon on that. I love sweet spot classics, and in my opinion, it's one of the best products out there, if not the best. The other product that I compare to sweet spot, is tools of the trade, which is also one of my favorites. There was no way I could turn down a patch of a Hall Of Famer for $20 from my favorite product.

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One Can Not Have Enough Arenado

 I'm a huge, Nolan Arenado fan, and every time I get the chance, I'll buy myself another Arenado autograph. Prior to The National, I had 9 Nolan Arenado autographs, all of them being on a card, and one of my main goals at The National was to buy as many Arenado autographs as I possibly could. I barely saw any, but I did spot these two for decent prices:

I found this at a table with a bunch of high end cards, but I asked for a price anyway. He said $25, and I eventually talked him down to $20. This is Arenado's first autograph, so I definitely couldn't leave that table without that card. 

The other card was this 2013 Topps Chrome black refractor autograph redemption. He was asking $50, which seemed fair, but I asked if he could do $40. He asked if I could do $45 on the card, which I happily agreed to, payed him, and got the card. I still have to redeem it, but It's already scratched off. Hopefully Topps can get this to me, and not take two years! Topps has actually gotten much better with their redemption program, and the past few redemptions that I have entered have all come within two weeks. I'm happy to add my 11th Nolan Arenado autograph to my collection!

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A Card That I Had No Intention Of Acquiring...

Going to the National was extremely overwhelming, just like last year. You walk in, and you just see tables, and tables, and tables, and endless tables of sports cards and memorabilia, and everything you could possibly imagine that has to do with sports. As many of you know, I love to collect Hall Of Fame autographs, whether it's on a card, a baseball, a postcard, a soccer ball, anything! Okay, maybe not a soccer ball, but you get the point. I found one table that had a huge variety of Hall Of Fame autographs, including many cut signatures of Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, and Mickey Mantle. I don't remember what the Mantle was from, but it was too expensive for me, and the DiMaggio was also a bit much considering his autograph is so, "common." The Ted Williams was priced reasonably, but I had to check if he would go any lower, so I made an offer, and he ended up accepting it! Here's the card:

Yep, this won't be going anywhere, unless I can find another Williams autograph on a ball, but that would be much more expensive... For now, I'm completely happy with this Ted Williams autograph! Hopefully I'll be able to add a DiMaggio and Mantle autograph at next year's National! This is definitely my favorite item that got at The National.

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A Two Second Purchase From Andrew

I sold my finest greats autograph of Lou Brock to Andrew, so I needed to find a replacement. I found one, but the autograph was all smudged, and it was $20, which was a little too rich for me. Andrew mentioned that he had a Lou Brock 2014 five star autograph, and asked me if I wanted to buy it off of him. He gave me a fair enough price, so I gladly took the card off of his hands for half of what I sold my finest greats autograph at. This card will most likely be heading to Beckett for grading.

A very clean autograph...

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One Of The Best Deals At The National...

Craig Biggio is one of my favorite players, not only because he's a Hall Of Famer, but because he would play his hardest everyday, and play the game right. Marcel and everyone at Sports Card Legacy, had their own table, and it was filled with a bunch of awesome high end cards, and I spotted a few Topps Dynasty cards. I saw Pujols, Ortiz, Biggio, and a few others, and I immediately asked how much for the Biggio. He said $70, which Is already a great price, but I asked him if he could do $60. Marcel said the best he could do is $65, so I took out some cash, and quickly paid him. I definitely don't regret it, because this card is great looking! 

The patch isn't the greatest, but I could care less about the patch. The card is numbered 6/10, and I don't really see anything wrong with the card, besides a few scratches on the case, but I'll most likely be getting this card graded anyways. This is my second Biggio autograph, and I'm really happy with this purchase. It's definitely one of my favorite cards that I got at The National, especially for the price.

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A Simple Contest

As many of you know, I love to hold contest, to see other peoples responses. This time is no different! Here are the simple rules:

You must be a follower of my blog

You must make a separate post, explaining how you got involved with the hobby, and how you started collecting cards with your own story

You must mention this contest

And you have to include either your 3 favorite songs, or your favorite music artists

And lastly, you have to comment on this blog with a link to your blog

I hope I didn't make that too hard, but I think other people will enjoy writing about this, and reading other's responses. (It's really not the difficult though). 

The contest will last until August 17th, and the cards will be shipped to the winner shortly after

TO WIN THE CONTEST, YOU MUST HAVE THE BEST ENTRY

Again, all you have to do is follow my blog, mention this contest on your blog, and include your entry when you make a post about it. And comment on this, just so I know that you entered.

And the winner will receive these cards:

Thank you for joining, and I look forward to reading your responses! 

Hop On The Griffey Train!

Last year, I bought a single pack of 2013 Panini USA Champions, because I got a box of cards, and wanted to get the free shipping, so I had to spend $1 more. So for a about $1.80, I got a pack of 2013 Panini USA Champions, and I pulled an awesome Ken Griffey Jr autograph /100, which I eventually traded away for a bunch of low-end cards. I'm still questioning as to why I would do that... Anyways, I later traded for another Griffey autograph, which was from 2006 Upper Deck Ovation, and I, yet again, traded it away for a bunch of low-end cards. Yeah, I made some pretty dumb deals back when I didn't know much about cards, and I didn't have a blog. One of my main goals at The National was to acquire a Ken Griffey Jr autograph, that wasn't expensive. I found a bunch of awesome Griffey's, but they were either too expensive, or they didn't look good. After hunting for a day, on the second day, I spotted a nice Griffey, that wasn't a sticker, was numbered, and was from Upper Deck. Score!

I bought this for only $60, and I found a nice Rivera patch /10 (which you will see later on), so I bundled those together and got a nice deal for the both of them. I was/am really happy with the purchase, and I'm happy to welcome yet another Griffey into my collection. This card, along with most of the cards that I got at The National, will be headed to Beckett for grading in September. Hopefully I can sell off some of my legos, and make some money so I can send a few cards... It's not technically an on card autograph, but it seems like it's on a piece of paper or something like that, with a small indent in the card. Hopefully this one won't be going anywhere!

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Nobody Wants An A-Rod Autograph...

Well I do! The first table that I went to on the second day, I dug through a bunch of dime boxes, and picked out about 50 different cards. That's not really what this post is about, it's about a few Alex Rodriguez autographs that I saw in a showcase. One was graded, but the case was cracked open, and the other one was a bit cheaper, and had a bold black signature. I asked about a price, and it seemed fair enough, so I decided to jump on it. Forget about what A-Rod has done in the past, with all the PED scandals, he's a changed person. He's not that jerk that charges the mound, or throws his bat down and argues a bad call, he's now someone that respects the game, just like how Derek Jeter respected the game throughout his career. Jeter was a very different player though, and him and Alex didn't get along very well when they both played together. Anyways, here's the card:

Yet another card I can knock off of my checklist! I haven't seen any on eBay (I have no intentions of getting rid of this card), so I'm guessing the reason why the price was high. This card will definitely be headed to Beckett for grading, and I'm really hoping for a 9.5/10. This card will be staying in this collection as long as I'm a Yankees fan! 

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An Unexpected Birthday Present From...

The Great William! I definitely wasn't expecting this from him, and just like when he sent me the Showalter baseball, this one was completely unexpected. It was super nice of him to give it to me, let alone think of giving me a birthday present, when I'm just another blogger that he's met throughout the many many years that he's been blogging. I've only been blogging for about 11 months now (wow, it's been that long?), but William went out of his way and bought me this awesome Brooks Robinson signed baseball:

He was on my list of players that I wanted to get at The National, and I don't yet have a Brooks Robinson autograph, so I'm very happy with this baseball, and it's even better when a friend gives it to you. The signature is really sharp on this baseball, and it really stands out. I would have liked for this post to be longer, but I'm sort of out of stuff to ramble on about... Thank you so much William for this awesome signed baseball, I greatly appreciate it! 

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Another Card Taken Off My Checklist Thanks To The National

I brought a bunch of my cards that I was looking to trade/sell, so I could get more Hall Of Fame autographs. One of them, being the Carlos Santana laundry tag that I pulled from 2015 Museum Collection, which I no longer had an interest in. I found someone that was interested in it, and I did the Santana plus some cash to land me this awesome card from 2015 Museum Collection:

A Mark McGwire autograph /30! I'm extremely happy with the purchase, as he was on my want list, and I got it for less then I wanted to spend for a McGwire autograph. It's not on card, but the fact that it's from Museum Collection more then makes up for it. Most likely, this card will be going to Beckett for grading in September, so I'm hoping for a 9.5/10, because I don't see any flaws on this card. McGwire was one of the best players of the 80's and 90's, and if it weren't for his PED's, he would be in the Hall Of Fame. The best (clean) 90's player is definitely Ken Griffey Jr, and Barry Bonds is one of the best players of all time. Money well spent for this card.

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Inception + Cash = Jackie Robinson

My main focus was Hall Of Fame autographs, but I decided to break a box of inception, and I ended up with a Buxton redemption, and a few other top prospects. What am I going to do with that? I ended up finding someone that had something that I liked, was interested in the 5 cards that I got from my break, and that went to the card shows that I usually go to every few months or so. The price on the card that I was interested in was fair, so I decided to add some cash to the 5 inception cards, to land me this awesome quad relic of:

Jackie Robinson! This was not on my list, but I have always wanted to acquire a Robinson relic card. I would rather have a Robinson relic over a Ruth relic (and that's coming from a Yankees fan), but that's just me. All the history behind Jackie Robinson is amazing, and what he had to go through just to play the game he loved is in a way fascinating, but depressing. He may not be stronger than Ruth, but he definitely had the guts to play in the major leagues, when no other . He is definitely one of the most historic players in baseball history, and it's so cool to own something of his. It's numbered only /25, and this card will most likely be going to Beckett with Dodger Penguin in September! 

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Bo Knows The National

Before The National even started, I made a deal for this awesome Bo Jackson sweet spot autograph /125. I got this from Jake on Instagram for $50, and a Sean Newcomb bowman chrome autograph. I immediately took the deal, because I had the other Bo Jackson five star autograph that I could sell there, to help with this Jackson that I purchased. I love sweet spot, and it's definitely one of my favorite products. I also like how Jackson's signature is much more written out, compared to the 2013 Five Star autograph that I had earlier.

I'm definitely happy with my first purchase, and I'm hoping that Beckett will grade this, because I haven't seen any graded sweet spot autograph out there. If Beckett does accept this, then it'll be going to Dodger Penguin in September for grading. Thank you to Jake for this deal!

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