I am Joe Collector

Beaver Believer #59

2013-05-23T01:00:00.002-07:00

Steven Jackson, always a Beaver, once a Ram, now a Falcon.

Reelect Bush!

2013-05-21T23:43:00.000-07:00

Not Really

I get more requests for scans of my Masterpieces patches than anything else so I am going to countdown from 60 to 1:

My Everest

2013-05-13T19:29:00.001-07:00

The time that my blog has been dormant has coincided with a dormant time for my collection...sort of.

There just hasn't been a whole lot out there to add to my collection other than a card a every week or so. One thing I have done is continue to buy Masterpieces patches. I am near 600 or so total, I am 1 Greg Olsen away from 5 complete sets, and a second Greg Olsen and Devin Hester away from 6 sets.

That; however, is not my goal necessarily. My goal is to complete a serial numbered set. I really don't know how close I am and I probably should do an excel spreadsheet to see where I'm at. One thing I do know is that I do seem to have quite a few that are numbered 2/50 and earlier this evening I picked up this one in all of its single color glory:

Also while trolling around ebay I picked these up last night:
Ripken /25

Mmmm blurry
and this Bench /10

Isn't it Ironic, don't you think

2013-05-10T18:35:00.000-07:00

Here's the auction

1966 Philadelphis Cello Pack Break Video

2013-05-10T09:48:00.002-07:00

Here is the video

I don't know what it is but the video doesn't quite sit right with me. First, the way he moved the cards just before the Sayers. Second, nice reaction..... It seemed to be dubbed over but seriously.

One More Down

2013-05-09T22:48:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't given an update on my Masterpieces sets lately but really there hasn't been anything to update on. I picked up a Herm Edwards Burgundy a few weeks back. I think that's been about it since I acquired the Robin Yount Blue /50 to complete that set.

Anyway, a week about I saw an AP Blue /50 posted. There are 2 in the set, #2 and #75. I found a mention of #2 a couple years ago. It was in a badly named lot on ebay and I missed out on it. Ugh. The problem with this one is that it was posted by Big Boyd Sportscards. I'm not going to accuse Big Boyd of shillin like Bob Dylan but a quick check of the Blowout Forums gives you an idea of what's up. To his credit, he responds, but in my experience his cards go for 2-5x what other people get for them. See Wolverine24 et al. Yes, I watch these things and know what I'm in for. Though I did get a Walter Payton Burgundy for $30 quite some time ago from the same seller. Additionally, I saw a Brett Favre Metallic /50 go for $35, yet Big Boyd sold one for $15 at about the same time this AP ended.

So I set my sniper at $25 and viola...winner.

2008 Masterpieces Green 75

67 Eric Chavez
2008 Football

Light Blue /50 need 2
79 - Scott Norwood
83 - Tom Brady

Green Metallic /50 need 2
78 - Jack Lambert
81 - Terrell Owens

Burgundy /25 10
5 - Barry Sanders
13 - Champ Bailey
15 - Dan Marino
19 - Desmond Howard
31 - Eli Manning
37 - Gale Sayers
46 - Joe Montana
51 - Jordy Nelson
67 - Paul Hornung
73 - Lester Hayes

2007 Baseball
Rusted /50 2
4 - Bill Mazaroski
10 - Cal Ripken

So what should I buy?

2013-05-04T17:14:00.001-07:00

Not me per se, I'm still tracking down the last few cards I need for my masterpieces sets. Interestingly enough, I still get quite a few emails asking me various questions. Some of these are from people that frankly want to know what to buy.

There are a few things to consider. First, what's your budget? Honestly, if you have to worry about a budget of $30-$50....save your money. Am I taking all of the fun out of this? Sure, but take it from someone that knows. You are going to end up hating yourself for buying a box and not getting much. If you truly have a couple hundred bucks to spend, ask yourself what you want? If you want to have some continuing fun, build a set then find a set builder box like Ginter or Heritage and buy a few of those. Right now Heritage is the best deal going. Ginter is incredibly expensive and the hits aren't worth a damn; conversely, for 3 boxes of ginter, you can get 6 boxes of Heritage. You'll get some extras, maybe a chance to pull some SSP's and some trade bait of jersey cards. With ginter, you are essentially paying $50 for 2 more jersey cards and no real SSP's. Sure you get mini's but...they aren't worth the extra cash. To me, Ginter is worth about $50 a box and Heritage about $40.

Hockey OPC
Basketball N/A - There isn't a current Basketball set that is worth buying to build a set.

So what else is there? Well there's always going for the big hit. What's the best way to go about this? Hmmm, that's a good question. Here's my view. A hit product is one of those where you esentially get an entire case worth of hits in a box, more or less. You just don't get all of those lovely base cards. I will warn you, the excitement is there when you open the pack/box but the let down can be quick and brutal. For example, 2007 Topps Triple Threads Football had one of the worst returns ever. These were anywhere from $125-$200 depending on when. Same with Topps Progression...yuck.

So it comes down to finding a value break where there is some reward. One of my favorite breaks is 2007 Upper Deck Premier.

See a break here: http://iamjoecollector.blogspot.com/2010/01/january-2-boxes-2007-premier-football.html

Each box runs about $90 from Atlanta Sports cards: 2007 Premier But beware of 2007 Ultimate, it was so bad that DA Cardworld used to give it away with a purchase of a certain amount. Anyway, Those rookie jersey autos are pretty nice even though they are sticker autos. The alternative is to go for a box of exquisite. That's about 4 boxes of Premier for 1 box of Exquisite. The RPA's are 1 per box but these are more easily searched. Basically, you can pick the A level RPA box out of the case of exquisite so don't buy a cheap orphan box off ebay. Obviously these days Exquisite is a college uni product which isn't for everyone and costs a ton of money. Your two best bets are National Treasures and Topps 5 Star, lots of good hits. Contrast that with buying 4-5 boxes of Topps Chrome. Yikes. You are playing with taking a massive loss and having a ton of base cards whereas 5 star and NT are full of alternative hits other than the RPA's to get value from.

Panini Silhouette Veteran Patch Autos

2013-05-03T22:47:00.000-07:00

I just realized it has been 5 months or so since I blogged about anything. Back in 2009 I always wondered what caused people to go months without blogging...quite frankly for me it's apathy, disinterest, with a side of disgust at times.

I've written before about cost to acquire and that nonsense but I'll reiterated what I mean. Right now there are 5 or so rookies that are worth chasing in football. Luck, RGIII, Russell Wilson, Trent Richardson, and Martin, maybe Tannehill. Here's the problem, when trying to pull one...good luck. 2012 Topps Chrome boxes are over $100 and your chances of pulling one of the aforementioned rookie autos is 1-2 per case...maybe. Thus, you might drop $1400 on a case and pull nada. Sure busting the case is fun but let me tell you about that sinking feeling of being half way through the case and knowing you are $500 down at least. My point being is that it costs a ton to try and pull one and even if you do you might still be way under water. The big hit is priced into the box/case already. Hence why I am apathetic. The hobby is really expensive right now. Plus even if you pull a big hit or acquire just one of those cards...what about next year? That card price isn't going up. Exception Kapernick. Example Newton, Tebow, Bradford.

Why am I disinterested? There are so many products out there that just keep coming and they are so expensive. I rememeber back in 2006 realizing how many worthless commons I had that weren't worth anything and that I never looked at. I had collector fatigue for sure. There's no product differentiation out there these days. If I showed you a random Hockey patch/auto you'd probably have no clue what set or year it was from. Why am I disgusted? Because you can drop $140 on a box of cards and end up with $40 worth of cards. Ouch. The card companies know this and they don't care.

Anyway, even in these crappy collecting times there are some gems out there. One of those is from no other than Panini. Much like the 2008 Upper Deck Football Heroes set, the cards are different, the checklist is good and the prices don't seem to be too bad. Hell, even Luck goes for $175 or so.

I've just included some basketball, but there are hockey and football obviously. Some of the veteran football are sticker which is a shame. Perhaps Panini should do this for BB. Here's a look at some of the cards:

Well It's finally done

2012-11-28T15:52:00.001-08:00

Yesterday while wasting time in the Burbank airport for a same day flight to and from LA I received an email from friend of Joe Collectors everywhere JP. JP informed me that he had pulled the Robin Yount Blue /50 from some boxes at blowout that were purchased during black friday. I about came out of my shoes. The battery on my phone was dying so I started to look for a plug in. Long story (coming) short we worked out a deal and Yount is on his way. I will be doing full scans of the set when everything is in order. I cannot tell you how excited I am for this. It's silly really but yes I am excited.

I have a case of Masterpieces retail on the way that I got from Blowout....let's hope Chavez is hiding in there.

2008 Masterpieces Green 75
67 Eric Chavez

2008 Football
Light Blue /50 need 3
2 - Adrian Peterson
79 - Scott Norwood
83 - Tom Brady

Green Metallic /50 need 2
78 - Jack Lambert
81 - Terrell Owens

Burgundy /25 11
5 - Barry Sanders
13 - Champ Bailey
15 - Dan Marino
19 - Desmond Howard
31 - Eli Manning
37 - Gale Sayers
39 - Herm Edwards
46 - Joe Montana
51 - Jordy Nelson
67 - Paul Hornung
73 - Lester Hayes

2007 Baseball
Rusted /50 2
4 - Bill Mazaroski
10 - Cal Ripken

Misleading Auction or No?

2012-11-11T22:39:00.003-08:00

Here is the title:

DEREK JETER 2008 UD On Canvas Masterpieces Green Frame AUTO 1/1 card Yankees

Here is the auction here

What say you?

Sick Patches Bro' - Come on Upper Deck. Really?

2012-10-07T13:18:00.003-07:00

Sweet single color goodness

Nailed it!

2012-08-23T19:14:00.002-07:00

Attention Cynical Buddha, Please Report Immediately

2012-08-23T00:10:00.001-07:00

So here's the deal, I need Robin Yount Blue /50 to complete the 2008 Masterpieces Baseball Blue /50 set. I am pretty sure that Cynical Buddha has one. His list on his Yount Collector Website lists the card as #45 (hades) but I digress. I have found reference to 2 of these cards on the web, one on Worthpoint and one on his website. I have been searching for this card for 3 1/2 years. In contrast I have found zero mention of the Eric Chavez Green /75 that I need. I have begged, barrowed, but never stolen to get this set. I've searched endlessly for this card and cannot find another.

Here's what I would propose to Mr. Buddha. I will pay handsomely for the card AND should one ever come available on Ebay, I will purchase said card (within reason) and send it to you for free.

Joy of a Completed Set 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces Football Green /75

2012-08-17T21:48:00.000-07:00

I actually completed this set back in January/February of this year but hadn't gotten around to scanning it. It's a bit of an interesting story on a couple of aspects. First, as many of you know the last card I needed was the David Tyree. A common for the most part but, much like the Eric Chavez BB couterpart, exceedingly difficult to find for some reason. I don't recall seeing one before this one popped up. I suspect that there might be a case out there full of these things. Same with the Barry Sanders, I've never actually seen a scan of another. Second, the Tyree came available during the Giants Superbowl run. It really didn't get a whole lot of interest. None the less, I haven't seen one since meaning that if there is a rare card you need and it pops up never, grab it while you can.

Without further ado (click on thumbnails):

Wantlist:
Light Blue /50 need 3
2 - Adrian Peterson
79 - Scott Norwood
83 - Tom Brady

Green Metallic /50 need 3
10 - Brett Favre
78 - Jack Lambert
81 - Terrell Owens

Burgundy /25 13
5 - Barry Sanders
13 - Champ Bailey
15 - Dan Marino
19 - Desmond Howard
31 - Eli Manning
35 - Frank Reich
37 - Gale Sayers
39 - Herm Edwards
46 - Joe Montana
51 - Jordy Nelson
67 - Paul Hornung
73 - Lester Hayes
82 - Terry Bradshaw

2008 Masterpieces Baseball Color Parallel Want list
Green /75 119 of 120
67 - Eric Chavez

Blue /50 need 1
46 - Robin Yount

2007 wantlist Rusted /50 2
4 - Bill Mazaroski
10 - Cal Ripken

The Joe Paterno Story thus far

2012-07-28T19:25:00.000-07:00

I guess what bothers me most about the Joe Paterno story is the mob mentality that goes along with it. I see a complete lack of analysis and ability to reason. In my career I have seen this over and over again and I go between amused and annoyed. Rarely have I ever gotten mad about a topic, but this is one of them. I suppose what makes me the maddest about this is people that pretend to be reasoned and intelligent make conclusions and comments that are anything but and then accuse me of being the blind one. I've heard terms such as Kiddie toucher and pedophile thrown around in such a way that make it seem like Paterno was the one actually abusing the children. We all know that this is not true. The way that I view this is that people want to blame someone, try to find a way to prevent this again and thus blame everyone connected with it.

The same is true in the Aurora shootings with James Holmes. If you read as many articles as I do daily, there are those that want to ban guns etc, this will not change anything. The only people that deserve blame in these situations are the offenders themselves. Perhaps in the Penn State situation there were others in the administration whose job, and legally, required them to report this Penn State horror to the police. Make no mistake, Sandusky should be imprisoned for life and those whose job it was to report to the police should be imprisoned as well.

People often refer to the Freeh report and such as proof, but the Freeh report is long on conclusions and short on supporting facts. This is a common mistake in analysis, remember I teach Criminal Law and have worked as both a prosecutor and a defense attorney. I could go on and on about the topic but I have found a very comptetent analysis of the situation already. Keep one thing in mind while reading these articles, are you trying to find excuses to blame Paterno, or anyone for that matter, or are you being objective. Now that some of you are very angry and frothing at the mouth, please read all 3 and point to specific facts when making your argument:

http://www.volokh.com/2012/07/26/ncaa-to-the-taxpayers-of-pennsylvania-drop-dead/

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2012/07/the-case-against-joe-paterno-weak-to-non-existent-on-the-current-record.php

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2012/07/the-case-against-joe-paterno-part-two.php

Again, please use facts in supporting your conclusions or you will be publicly mocked. True, Paterno could have done more but that is usually the case with hindsight.

My Corporate Personality Profile

2012-07-16T23:28:00.001-07:00

They pretty much nailed it. Jeff Dover Personality Profile

and find some more

2012-06-29T18:56:00.000-07:00

I paid way too much for Ray Rice and Calvin Johnson but the rest weren't bad. So i've picked up 20 from DA cardworld in the past week, that's a mere 10 cases worth. Hi, my name is Joe Collector and I've got a problem. I may check one of these days to see if I have a serial numbered set....now that would be cool.

1 - 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces Captured on Canvas Jerseys Patch #CC17 Harry Dougla $5.70

1 - 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces Captured on Canvas Jerseys Patch #CC22 Dwayne Bowe $7.60

1 - 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces Captured on Canvas Jerseys Patch #CC29 Roy Williams $7.60

1 - 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces Captured on Canvas Jerseys Patch #CC33 Jeff Garcia $7.60

1 - 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces Captured on Canvas Jerseys Patch #CC44 Willis McGah $7.60

1 - 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces Captured on Canvas Jerseys Patch #CC45 Limas Sweed $7.60

1 - 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces Captured on Canvas Jerseys Patch #CC54 Jerome Simps $7.60

1 - 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces Captured on Canvas Jerseys Patch #CC56 Ray Rice /50 $19.00

1 - 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces Captured on Canvas Jerseys Patch #CC6 Calvin Johnso $14.25

I still find them every once in a while.

2012-06-27T19:49:00.001-07:00

DACardworld came upon a bunch of these somehow. This is more than I usually pay but when I don't have to add $3 shipping to all of them, that helps a lot. To give you an idea I paid $5 shipped for a shockey the other day. I'm at around 550 of these patches now.

1 - 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces Captured on Canvas Jerseys Patch #CC12 Tony Romo /5 $14.25

1 - 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces Captured on Canvas Jerseys Patch #CC7 Chad Henne /5 $7.60

1 - 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces Captured on Canvas Jerseys Patch #CC50 Matt Leinart $9.25

1 - 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces Captured on Canvas Jerseys Patch #CC4 Brian Brohm / $6.20

1 - 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces Captured on Canvas Jerseys Patch #CC39 Jonathan Ste $9.25

1 - 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces Captured on Canvas Jerseys Patch #CC38 John David B $6.20

1 - 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces Captured on Canvas Jerseys Patch #CC34 Jeremy Shock $7.40

1 - 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces Captured on Canvas Jerseys Patch #CC3 Anquan Boldin $7.40

1 - 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces Captured on Canvas Jerseys Patch #CC27 James Hardy $4.75

1 - 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces Captured on Canvas Jerseys Patch #CC26 Felix Jones $9.25

1 - 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces Captured on Canvas Jerseys Patch #CC20 Kevin O'Conn $4.95

1 - 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces Captured on Canvas Jerseys Patch #CC11 Brett Favre $28.50

Two Auctions you may be interested in

2012-06-16T14:58:00.000-07:00

These are my auctions that I am selling for someone.

Father's Day Panini Andrew Luck Cracked Ice 25
Father's Day Panini Kevin Durant Cracked Ice 25

Wantlist - It has been slow going indeed

2012-06-13T15:31:00.000-07:00

This will continue to be updated for your collecting pleasure. 26 of 2571 to go. (98.99%)
Green /75
Complete

Light Blue /50 need 3
2 - Adrian Peterson
79 - Scott Norwood
83 - Tom Brady

Green Metallic /50 need 3
10 - Brett Favre
78 - Jack Lambert
81 - Terrell Owens

Burgundy /25 13
5 - Barry Sanders
13 - Champ Bailey
15 - Dan Marino
19 - Desmond Howard
31 - Eli Manning
35 - Frank Reich
37 - Gale Sayers
39 - Herm Edwards
46 - Joe Montana
51 - Jordy Nelson
67 - Paul Hornung
73 - Lester Hayes
82 - Terry Bradshaw

2008 Masterpieces Baseball Color Parallel Want list

Black
Complete

Red
Complete

Blue /125
Complete

Brown /100
Complete

Green /75 119 of 120
67 - Eric Chavez

Blue /50 need 3
7 - Evan Longoria
46 - Robin Yount
96 - Ernie Banks

2007 Masterpieces Baseball
Green Linen
Complete

Green
Windsor

Complete 4 for all 7

Serious Black /99
Complete

Black Linen /99
Complete

Blue Linen /75
Complete

Pinot /75
Complete

Hades /50
Complete

Blue Steel /50
Complete

Rusted /50 3
4 - Bill Mazaroski
10 - Cal Ripken
82 - Tim Lincecum

Update on the Frank Thomas "Fake" Patch

2012-06-12T20:57:00.001-07:00

BTW, I hate the new Blogger interface.

Recall if you will a post about a Frank Thomas Patch here. Apparently I need to eat a little crow, but my analysis was correct. It's possible to analyze something correctly but end up with the incorrect result.

I received an email:

Joe Collector,

You've bought a number of items on ebay from me in the past (I'm pokeyr22).....I appreciate that. Occassionally I check out your blog, because I'm rooting for you to complete the parallel sets and your blog is well written and entertaining. I just got caught up on the last several months of posts and noticed a card that you spotted as a possible fake - the Frank Thomas Patch/Auto. Well, I can solve the mystery. I pulled that card from a pack when I busted three cases of Masterpieces back when they were $350 a case on blowoutcards.com. I have attached the photo. I just figured that your devotion to the Masterpieces collection deserved the answer to the mystery. It turns out the card is legit - UD must have replaced a ruined patch card with this one, which is why the "PATCH" watermark is missing. I pulled it from a pack and sold it to the guy that was re-selling it.

I have also attached an image of the Evan Longoria Blue /50 that I sold after BGS graded it a 10. Some uber-Longoria collector bought it from me and didn't even care about the BGS grade. I figure the image can be a place-holder for that card until you obtain the real one.

Love your blog. Keep up the good work.

Cheers,

JP

This guy's word is good enough for me.

The Masterpieces "buyback" Fakes are Back, Back Again, Tell a Friend

2012-04-27T18:40:00.001-07:00

Oh these guys never stop:
and just added to ebay:

I'd add a comparison to a real Lincecum auto but this one isn't even close. Come on bro, you can do better than that.

Here is the auction

Fake above

Real Below

and not to be outdone

Darren McFadden

Find the auction here

Fake - The auto does look good but Upper Deck never made these.

Real below

remember what Upper Deck said:

Wantlist - So Close

2012-04-20T21:14:00.000-07:00

This will continue to be updated for your collecting pleasure. 28 of 2571 to go. (98.91%) Need 28 Green /75
Complete
Light Blue /50 need 4
2 - Adrian Peterson
79 - Scott Norwood
83 - Tom Brady
86 - Vince Lombardi

Green Metallic /50 need 3
10 - Brett Favre
78 - Jack Lambert
81 - Terrell Owens

Burgundy /25 13
5 - Barry Sanders
13 - Champ Bailey
15 - Dan Marino
19 - Desmond Howard
31 - Eli Manning
35 - Frank Reich
37 - Gale Sayers
39 - Herm Edwards
46 - Joe Montana
51 - Jordy Nelson
67 - Paul Hornung
73 - Lester Hayes
82 - Terry Bradshaw

2008 Masterpieces Baseball Color Parallel Want list
Black
Complete

Red
Complete

Blue /125
Complete

Brown /100
Complete

Green /75 119 of 120
67 - Eric Chavez

Blue /50 need 3
7 - Evan Longoria
46 - Robin Yount
96 - Ernie Banks

2007 Masterpieces Baseball
Green Linen
Complete

Green
Windsor

Complete 6 for all 7
Serious Black /99
Complete

Black Linen /99
Complete

Blue Linen /75
Complete

Pinot /75
Complete

Hades /50
Complete

Blue Steel /50
Complete

Rusted /50 4
4 - Bill Mazaroski
10 - Cal Ripken
22 - Babe Ruth
82 - Tim Lincecum

Excellent Article on Hauls of Shame

2012-04-14T17:50:00.000-07:00

I find this stuff to be very interesting. These are the big boys of collecting and they have to go through this stuff.

Monday isn't always a bad thing

2012-04-13T23:19:00.002-07:00