Pull Shark

2010 Topps Allen & Ginter Stephen Strasburg Framed Auto RC

2011-08-02T10:01:00.001-04:00

I'm auctioning off my Strasburg on eBay

From what I gather, it's a very rare card! The Nats are only 10 games back of the wild card, wonder if Strasburg can help them get into the playoffs?

What? No gum?

2011-04-19T20:56:00.000-04:00

I throughly enjoyed getting a full box of retail 2010 Heritage at Walgreen's and stuffing my face with bubble gum as I flipped thru the cards. Now, all I can get are rack packs with no gum. Sheesh.

Stale Gum: On-Location Blaster Break: 2011 Topps Heritage.: "What the hell, it was only 100 miles away."

Bust #18

2011-02-10T23:04:00.001-05:00

Some eBay mojo!!!

2011-01-18T21:40:00.003-05:00

So this is what I actually buy from eBay seller: everyone_loves_cards:

I made an offer on his Buy It Now auctions, and sure enough, with no haggle, he takes it all... and then he loads the bonus!:

The 78 Murphy is probably one of my best ones now and the 59 Jim Rivera is NICE.

I say go buy while the getting is good!

MEGA-WIN!!!

2011-01-15T11:18:00.002-05:00

I've used the phrase, "I never win anything", quite a few times. But for a long time, this phrase will have to remain unspoken. As far as I know, I hit the biggest jackpot of all time on Sports Card Radio:

And this isn't the only time I've won free cards, see my previous posts and/or check out SCR. Much thanks to SCR and Panini America, awesome product, can't wait to see the cards!

2008 Topps Update and Highlights

2011-01-02T18:06:00.001-05:00

Wal-Mart Hits

2010-12-09T09:47:00.000-05:00

Picked up a rack pack of 2007 Upper Deck Rookies Exclusive Edition for 2.98 at Wally World:

Got this nice Adrian Peterson Star Rookie that Beckett has at 6$ Hi:

2010 Topps Update Hobby Box Break!

2010-11-24T00:10:00.000-05:00

Nice hit! And it was free!

2010-11-21T15:00:00.000-05:00

Check out my free pack at 7:40...

Thanks to Sports Card Radio and http://www.fsfuk.co.uk/ !

eBay... 70's style...

2010-11-18T19:34:00.000-05:00

Another redemption!

2010-11-15T19:16:00.002-05:00

Not a Strasburg this time, but an Andrew McCutchen. 10 Years from now, this may be the better card:

This one comes from a fulfillment company (not directly from Topps), in a top loader (not between two pieces of sandpaper) and shipped directly to my house (not the post office)! Good deal!

More win!

2010-11-13T09:28:00.004-05:00

I won pack #3 at 5:20. Hoot!

Wow, very nice eBay hit(s)...

2010-11-06T11:50:00.000-04:00

Very, very, very nice Murphy RC and a few others I picked up from the same seller that came along with the '78 RC...

More eBay...

2010-11-04T20:41:00.000-04:00

I won Hockey cards!

2010-10-30T10:48:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Sports Card Radio and Panini America! My first hockey cards: http://www.sportscardradio.com/index.php/popular-youtube-video/774-201011-certified-hockey-box-break-panini-america

More eBay hits...

2010-10-27T21:22:00.000-04:00

1989 Upper Deck Complete Set

2010-10-25T22:29:00.000-04:00

Thanks to the baseball card gods, a mint 1989 Upper Deck complete set now belongs to me. I won this auction: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280573288030&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT#ht_484wt_1156 but I should have been suspicious of the seller's low rating, the short description for such a nice set and nearly outrageous claims on how "pristine" and "perfect" this set was. So I get home today and here is what I see:

It just had to be raining cats and dogs right about the time my mailman delivers my 1989 Upper Deck complete set. This wasn't bubble wrap, so the moisture damage made it's way thru the package. There was no need for a knife, as this package was already open by default. The (2) 600ct cardboard boxes that held this beautiful set were loose in the package and you could feel the moisture on the boxes. The seller did take the time to put all 801 cards in sleeves, but was VERY lucky that these mint cards weren't totally destroyed. I can't figure this seller out, so I'll keep quiet about that. Now on to the goods:

Other cards that stood out for me...

This set is CHOCK FULL OF HOFers and future HOFers:

Dale Murphy :) + RevNeg

Rafael Palmeiro

Edgar Martinez

Eddie Murray

Kirby Puckett

Tom Glavine

Rickey Henderson

Tony Gwynn

Robin Yount

Ozzie Smith

Ryne Sandberg

Mike Schmidt

Roger Clemens*

Greg Maddux

George Brett

Nolan Ryan x3

Barry Bonds*

Mark McGwire*

John Smoltz RC

Craig Biggio RC

Randy Johnson RC

Ken Griffey Jr. RC

All of them debuting in their first Upper Deck card. Not bad for $50.03 aye?

2002 Topps Hobby Box Break...

2010-10-24T12:41:00.000-04:00

So I did some research into who I thought would be the next HOF'er who didn't already have one foot in the door. My research yielded Joe Mauer and David Wright. Naturally, I need their rookie cards, in base format. Off to eBay I go and pick up a sealed hobby box of 2002 Topps for 15$ + 8$ shipping. I got what I wanted:

I could have just bought the Mauer on eBay for roughly the same price. But heck, why not get a hobby box? Reasons for doing this are many:

1. Potentially pull a GEM 10 Mauer (I did not, it's at most a 7)
2. Still have nearly the entire set of 2002 Topps Series 2 (I nearly completed the set)
3. Potentially pull a super short print (did not happen)
4. Get to know the years that I missed (did happen)

Unfortunately this box was damaged. And therefore 10% of the cards had a very bad corner. 70% had a noticeably bad corner. The Mauer had a noticeably bad corner which is why I grade it only a 7 at best. Also, the cards were all stuck together and the card itself was just plain ugly with the ugly brown border. I got 3 gold parallels (hard to tell what was gold and what was base) but no HOF gold. I also hit a 1952 Gold Reprint of Hank Bauer.

Until next time...

(4) 1993 Fleer Baseball Boxes... busted.

2010-10-20T00:49:00.000-04:00

So, I decided I wanted the first and only PSA GEM Mint 10 1993 Fleer Dale Murphy. I hop on ebay and find 4 boxes... 20 minutes from my house. An hour and a half later, I have them in my house and ripping away. Here is just a smidgen of what I got...

Interesting pictures... can you spot the pop-up? The bowler? The wild thing? Ricky Henderson? The hat-under-helmet? The mostly rear-end shot? The half empty picture? The whiff (or foul ball)? Or the old-geezer knuckle ball?

1993 Eyewear!

Notable players:

Right behind every Randy Johnson was a Dale Murphy:

Some of the inserts way back when (part of the reason I stopped collecting):

7x CRJr's:

7x Ryan Express:

So here are the potential GEMs, not sure if they'll grade that high, what do you think?

These cards weren't a whole lot of fun to rip. The most annoying fact was that they seemed to have added some complimentary sand and resin in between each card. Sand and glossy surfaces don't match. And, there are virtually no rookies worth noting. I was going for the 1st GEM Murphy card and I think I got close. The Ryan is probably a 9. Anyway, thought I'd share, up next will be a 2002 Topps Mauer search.

eBay Hits

2010-10-15T21:26:00.002-04:00

2010 Topps Allen & Ginter Hobby Box Highlights!

2010-10-14T23:21:00.000-04:00

Tony Hawk AUTO!

eBay Hits

2010-10-14T22:44:00.002-04:00

eBay hits!

2010-10-12T21:07:00.001-04:00

$6.38

$14.88

eBay hits!

2010-10-09T13:23:00.000-04:00

Q: How do you get a good deal?

A: Buy in bulk:

Braves come back to tie series 1-1!

2010-10-09T10:16:00.001-04:00

Star of the game with game winning solo shot into McCovey cove in the top of the 11th:

Just like the Braves to have an unlikely hero. Former pitcher who recently signed. Best of 3 now!