Wednesday, July 31, 2013

This card is like pulling a Jay Fiedler base card in 2000

This card is your veritable, "Well, we gotta make a card of the Jaguars starting QB even though he sucks and nobody cares about him...." Hey, don't get me wrong. He could figure it out next year. But if he doesn't, he'll be stuck holding a clipboard or worse yet, out of a job in 2015. Then this card will be like all the Jay Fielders you might have from the early 2000's. Just a card that had to get made cause Dan Marino's not playing anymore and well, the Dolphins and the Jags have fans somewhere. Presumably in the shlong-shaped state. I've honestly never seen a Dolphins jersey here in Denver. There's definitely no team rivalry or rancor about a team that has not won a playoff game since 2000. Never seen a Dolphins fan get their ass kicked in the parking lot of Sports Authority Field.

Raiders now..... well they can all go to hell.

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

2012 Certified Justin Tucker status

This card's been on my radar for a couple of weeks now as it's part of the "challenge" I've posted on the blog. I am going to try to win the one that ends tomorrow. Wish me luck! I really don't want a redemption as Panini is terrible when it comes to fulfilling these, even for players that sign very frequently! I've been waiting on a Devier Posey for over 6 months now and his autos are so plentiful you can pick them up for around 5 bucks including shipping which is about what most no-name autos go for these days.

2012 Limited, love these cards!

I've always liked Limited, 2012 was no exception. The next card that came from this break was card #64 Ahmad Bradshaw. This is numbered to 399 copies. I like how ALL of the cards you pull are numbered. I remember what a big deal it was to get a serial numbered card in the 1990's when I started collecting seriously. It was awesome. Now it does not hold quit as much weight. If there is a print run of 500 cards that means there are only 10 cards per state that can exist in the continental US. That's pretty crazy when you think about it. With a print run of 399 there's less than 8 per state. Some of the boxes go unbroken, some go overseas. There are just not that many sets that can be built with these ultra limited cards. Perhaps that's why setbuilders like me are a thing of the past. Most go for player or team collections, it's just easier that way.

Monday, July 29, 2013

2012 Limited Box break

Here's the second card from the box break I did last week. Janoris Jenkins had a fabulous rookie year for the Rams. 73 tackles, 4 INTs and 3 touchdowns from those picks would have made him a must add for any fantasy football league that awards points for individual players. I've played those before and wow does this add a whole other dimension to fantasy football. It's much easier to assemble top flight offensive weapons as there are any number of magazines and resources out there to help an owner. With defensive players you really have to know the game better and I did well in the years that we played this format. That's when you would start to appreciate guys like Julius Peppers, Jared Allen, Derrick Johnson and Nick Barnett. Football fans and collectors alike just don't respect the jobs these guys have to do to stop plays. The hobby just has no love for the defense but chances are if you're reading this, you already knew that.

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Tabitha

Here's a picture of our buddy Tabitha who passed today. Here's how we would want to remember her, healthy, happy and in a window full of sunshine. She was important to us because I got her for my wife's 21st birthday and she traveled with us wherever we moved. She was a faithful and loving companion throughout. I was in the Marine Corps so we moved all over. She has been with us for nearly every day that Heather and I have been married. Pets are so important to our every day rituals that it's hard to figure out how to move on when they leave us...

2013 box break

This is a card I pulled from a box break last week over at Mike's Stadium Sports cards. These 2012 Limited boxes are a great option right now for collectors that, like me, might be a little leery of opening 2013 product. 2012 has the Luck and the RGIII's to shoot for so that will keep the box prices up there.

It's with a heavy heart that I make my posting today as we had to make the decision to euthanize our feline companion Tabitha who had been with us for over 16 years. We opted for the in-home care and I'm so glad we did. It was a peaceful end to a months long struggle with multiple cancer types (lymphoma and mammary gland cancer) and we did not want to see her suffer anymore. If I learned anything from all this it's just to be as kind as you can to everyone and everything important to your life because you never know when it will be the last time. Moments are precious. Enjoy them.

Friday, July 26, 2013

2008 Sp Authentic

From one of the sweetest brands comes an SP Authentic RC of Kevin Smith. He had a few good games and a pretty decent rookie campaign.  I like the clean design of these cards and the fact that it is on card is pretty rare these days too. I pulled this on Valentines day 2009 from Mikes Stadium Sports cards. Can't tell you why I remember something like that or why I remember that we went to Maggianno's that night for dinner but I do for some reason. This one is numbered 888/999. (an Ebay 1/1, right?). Enjoy! 



Thursday, July 25, 2013

Last one for the break

Now here's a card for someone that actually did well in the NFL. This card has some sweet swatches from Talib's KU college jersey. I've got a friend that went to KU that would love this card. Might have to show him this picture! Anyway Aqib Talib went to the Patriots so you know that he's got some talent. This was the last card pulled from my break way back in 2008. Good to finally catalog and show off these cards. Good day here in Denver with the temp at around 62 degrees at the end of July, almost unheard of so I'm in a good mood. Hot weather puts me in a bad mood, cold weather makes me happy. Funny thing, my wife is the exact opposite. Enjoy the card eye candy!

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

These cards look cool....

As much as I hate cards with the player pictured in their college uniforms these ones actually look nice. This is a 2008 Gridiron Kings Gold numbered to 100 copies. In certain lights you can see the canvas material look to the card, the layout and design for this is very well done too. I can't imagine how cool these would have been if they were hard signed by the player. Even without a signature I'd have to say this is the best looking card that I pulled in the case break.

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

First Autograph in a while....

So here's the only autograph I pulled in the case break. I got three Jonathan Hefney cards and what I've noticed about Donruss Threads is that they have a scattershot approach to how these cards are numbered. This card is numbered to 928 copies. Compared to 1999 Spx where most of the rookie autographs were numbered to 1999 copies that's pretty low. The rest of the cards in this set seem to be numbered much lower. The Kieth Rivers for instance was numbered to 120. Malcolm Kelly from 2008 Donruss Threads came in at a scant 100 copies. I can't figure out why they were numbered so randomly. I suppose it is like a numbered version of Contenders where some are really rare. Numbering sort of takes all the fun out of guessing what the SPs are though. That's why Contenders has been such a flagship brand over the years.

Monday, July 22, 2013

And here we go. Another Rookie Currently in the CFL!

This card, a 2008 Donruss Threads Cory Boyd Holofoil is another example of a guy who didn't make it in the NFL and yet had at least 100 or more cards produced of him. I can understand card companies not wanting to miss another Priest Holmes or Tom Brady but really? It seems like every non drafted rookie free agent gets a card these days just because companies want to expand their rookie content. If companies would move more towards veteran content then you wouldn't have this problem of cards that just don't mean anything like this one. As a set collector I want it because it's part of the set. If I were a Tampa Bay collector, I might want it because he was briefly with the team. Perhaps the only collectors these cards would appeal to is diehard CFL collectors (and I'm sure there are some out there) or college collectors. I suppose every card has its niche. This would be one of those "special cards".

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Our first Rookie for the break!

Here's the first Rookie card for the break done in 2008. Jonathan Hefney was an undrafted free agent for Tampa Bay and never ended up playing a game for them. He ended up being on the practice squad for the Philadelphia Eagles and then briefly, the Detroit Lions in 2010. He now plays for the CFL as with most players that were good enough to get a look in the NFL, but not quite good enough to start. Beckett media has 177 cards listed for Hefney. Pretty dang ridiculous for a guy who never saw the playing field. It appears that he was part of most products in 2008 even though he was not drafted.

I sort of like these bronze holofoil cards. Apparently the whole base and rookie print run had these holofoils as a parallel set. They must have been pretty rare as I only pulled 2 of them, both being rookies.

Saturday, July 20, 2013

And the last base of this 2008 break is....

Donruss Threads # 19 Joey Galloway. Drafted by the Seahawks he was a productive player over the years. He played for the Dallas Cowboys, the Patriots the Steelers and the Redskins. Drafted 8th overall he was one of those guys that actually lived up to the hype. On a side note I could not resist the box busting fever so I headed on down to Mike's and busted a box of 2012 Limited today and got a single that I needed for a set. I'll be posting those very soon so stay tuned. Got a giant patch card and the autograph of a murderer. For someone that's fascinated with crime and serial killers this actually was not a bad pull even though many people would have been disappointed to have procured it from their box break.


Friday, July 19, 2013

2008 Donruss Threads Earnest Graham

Here's another Tampa Bay base card from 2008 Donruss Threads, # 18 Earnest Graham. He was a pretty decent RB for the Bucs a few years ago. I had him on a fantasy team or two in 2007 which was good because he logged in 10 TDs that year even though he did not hit 1000 yards. Any double digit touchdown total from a RB is great for the season, especially with all the 2 back systems that are used these days. The more I look at these cards the more I like them. Stay tuned for more!

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Tampa Rolls

Even I'm getting a bit bored with posting base cards daily but it will get better soon. Jeff Garcia was one of the best rookie free agents of all time for those that remember football in the early 2000's He won a ton of games for the 49ers. His career ended rather sadly for what a great player he once was. He ended up bouncing around from one cellar dweller team to another. (Sorry Browns, Tampa and Lions but it's true). Lesson learned is that a bad team can't really benefit from a once-was. (Take note Arizona, Carson Palmer's not going to get you anywhere, trust me.) Mark my words. If the Cards happen to get in the playoffs I'd be pretty damn surprised.

On a side note I purchased a nice lot of cards for resale that I think will do well. I got a 2011 Elite Andy Dalton, Gold Standard Auto RCs of Demarco Murray, Randall Cobb and Austin Pettis. Finally I got a Gold AU RC /25 of Kellan Moore. Based on my research when breaking these up they will sell for much more than the 52.00 I paid for the lot.

Here's the card for the day. Autos and Jersey cards are coming soon from this 5 year old break, be patient!


Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Card for the day!

Here's the next card I got from my 2008 break. This is a 2008 Donruss Threads Ike Hilliard # 20. This blog is a great way for me to appreciate base cards. I generally view them as filler. They take up tons of space and time to sort them if you're so inclined. On Ebay they are found for fractions of a penny when you buy them in lots. Anyone remember when base cards were ALL you got? It was only in the early nineties that the insert craze took cards to a whole new level. Now you expect 2 -3 autographs per box depending on the product.

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Tried to get the Justin Tucker today... but failed.

I saw the Justin Tucker on Ebay along with a nice Bernard Pierce autograph that I could put up for sale. Alas the price went up more than the cards are worth so I'll have to wait for the next good deal to roll around. In the mean time, here's another card from the case break in 2008 that I did, added to my Beckett organize!
This is card # 3, Warrick Dunn. The amount of base cards I got has a rather large sampling of players. I'm used to there being only 2- 3 hot players per team in a 90 card base set. Last year's Spx brand only had a 50 card base set. It seems better to have smaller base sets as these have been devalued so much and except in rare cases like Exquisite and Topps Five Star, people aren't really chasing them. What ends up happening is that so many box breaks are rookie oriented when they should be veteran oriented. Otherwise these cards just won't have long term value. That's honestly the main problem with the hobby. Too many rookie autographs and not enough Elways, Montanas and current veterans to keep the boxes from tanking after a year or two.

Monday, July 15, 2013

Here's a card from years ago!

I'm posting some cards from a case break I did at Mike's Stadium Sports Cards back in 2008. These cards were filed away with my cards I'm selling but I pulled all my pack breaks out from the horde.The first one's just a base card of Cadillac Williams. 2008 Donruss Threads #142. This guy was super hot back in 2005 when he got drafted. Never really took off like he was supposed to. Looking at his stats on NFL.com he did manage to get 21 TDs and over 4000 yards. Much better than I thought he had, however, not the kind of stats that people were paying for when his rookies first came out.

I remember being it being a bit disappointing to draw the Buccaneers as my team but it could have been worse. The guy that drew the Titans only got base cards. I at least got an autograph, a jersey and a couple of rookies from the break.

Sunday, July 14, 2013

What about box breaks?

I'm thinking  it might be fun to break some along with my challenge. Maybe I'll even do it exclusively for my collection, who knows? If you think about it base cards are really inefficient and tough to get on ebay unless you get giant lots. With box and case breaks you get the excitement of the break and you get the chance to get some sweet cards. I broke a box of elite 2013 football today. I've broken a few boxes over the last year or so but not really sure what to do with the cards. I think I'll do a slow reveal with one card per day. Hey, when I run out, time to go to Mike's Stadium Sports Cards and break again!

I've broken 2013 Elite, 2009 SP Authentic, 2012 Leaf Limited and a few other packs that will make it on here. Once all the cards have been documented and logged in my collection I'll make the next trip.

Today I decided to get a card that caught my eye. One of my favorite players of all time was Terrell Davis. He was the final piece to getting the Broncos their Super Bowl wins. This was about the time I started watching football. His cuts and power were unequaled in the NFL. For his short glory period he may have been the best back of all time. I hope he eventually makes it to the Hall of Fame. His career was short but sweet.

This card was a buyback from Upper Deck. This is somewhat of a high numbered card (one would expect this to be numbered to 30, not 130) but it's still really sweet. I really love the idea of purchasing old base cards and making them special like this. Enjoy!

Thursday, July 11, 2013

The next card is..... drum roll..... A redemption!

The next card on my list seems like a good one, at least it's an autograph! It's a 2012 Panini Totally Certified Red Autograph of Justin Tucker of the Ravens. He got his first Super Bowl ring as a rookie and seems fairly cemented as the placekicker for the Baltimore Birds next season. This is a redemption card and it does not look like it's gone live yet so it might be a long time before I actually get the card. Heck, I've got an outstanding redemption from Panini that's been going on 2 years now. No wonder people hate these things.
(Edit) Looks like these are live now, great news!

Here's a picture of the auction I just missed out on. I'm just getting the first card as per my self imposed rules.

I've been watching much more baseball lately. Even though football's my first love baseball is pretty damn awesome. Amazing to see the guys you watching playing growing up now as managers of teams. I have not kept up with the sport for so long that's what's happened.

In movies, go see "The Heat". I went and saw it with my wife thinking it was going to be some lame chick flick. I laughed my ass off the whole time. The movie was WAY better than I expected. Now it's time to wait for the horror flick "YOU'RE NEXT". Looks to be freaking BAD-ASS.


Monday, July 8, 2013

Random Thoughts

So far the challenge has been pretty easy. All the cards are within my budget. What happens when I'm faced with a low numbered Aaron Rodgers autograph or maybe even a Walter Payton 1997 UD Legends Auto card? I'll probably just have to save for a while rather than purchasing outright. I've considered what I'd do if a 1/1 comes up that perhaps I get outbid on. I will have to substitute for another comparable 1/1 card in that case. If I'm faced with the prospect of a large lot perhaps I will only chase the first card listed, something along those lines. My thinking is that there are so many random base cards and small time sellers looking to unload overproduced cards that it might be quite a while before I encounter these dilemmas.

                                                        A Budget Buster....

The next card is.... a Press Pass Rookie of the Sweetest QB.

My 1971 Marty Domres arrived today. It looks like it's probably a PSA 6 which is fine. I could have spent a little more money and gotten a slabbed PSA 7 or 8 but I don't think you can beat a 42 year old card in this shape for $1.60 including shipping. Turns out this is his rookie card too which I did not realize.

Since this arrived today I'm posting the next card that my eBay search turned up. This card I never would have bought were it not for this odd challenge simply because I've been lead to believe that Press Pass cards are inferior to the premium brands that I've been collecting. In many ways they are. These are printed on ultra thin card stock. They don't have NCAA licensing because Upper Deck paid an exorbitant amount of money to be the exclusive producers of college football cards. This means that Press Pass, Leaf, Sage, and all the card companies back in the day that used to be able to show college logos and reference the team name cannot do this. The team logos have been airbrushed out and on the back of the card, it states the year and the statistics only. If you look at this brand over the long term it actually did have some value for college only collectors. I am not sure if college collectors embrace these logoless cards like they did Press Pass of yesteryear. I see that Tom Brady Press Pass rookie cards typically sell in the 10-12 dollar range, much higher than I'd expect. Peyton Manning's 1998 base Press Pass rookie sells anywhere between 4-5 dollars, still not too bad. These cards in terms of value tend to hold about the same as the Score brand or back in the day UD Collector's Choice, one of the lower tiered brands aimed at the younger collector.

I have quite a few cards that are in my inventory as I not only collect cards but I sell on Ebay as well. I bought a very large lot last year at the beginning of the football season and sold most of the Robert Griffin III cards that I had because his value was through the roof last season. I am fairly sure that I sold this card along with a few others when his cards were hot. Looking through my inventory I saw all the rest of the cards from this set but not the Griffin. I drafted him for my Yahoo Fantasy Football (paid league) last season as a sleeper and I ended up starting him over my projected starter (Cam Newton) about 70% of the time. He put up some ridiculous stats and his abilities as a rusher were just staggering. I ended up getting 3rd place (and my money back at least) mostly because of this duo of dual threat QBs despite injuries and bad luck at the other positions.

This card may have long term value, especially if he returns from his ACL injury at any point next season. Adrian Peterson set the bar pretty high with his miraculous return so it's possible that RG3 might do it. Will he ever be as good as he was in 2012? Most naysayers say he won't but only time will tell. He's good for the hobby and great for the Redskins who have been searching for a top-flight QB for decades it seems. In the mean time, enjoy my first RGIII card!

Saturday, July 6, 2013

Leaf Rookie Retro Boxes

So these have been popping up left and right in the new product Leaf Rookie Retro. These boxes are pretty steep at over 250.00 per box. What's interesting is these span over a wide span of years and all the major sports. One card is an encapsulated rookie card of a major star and one "Matrix" card that they created specifically for this product. You get one star highly graded card with PSA 10s of Albert Pujols and BGS 9.5 rookies of Tom Brady, Sam Bradford, even Micheal Jordan. Leaf got these cards through a major buyback program and they were even able to get a few 1/1 superfractor cards of today's hottest stars in football ,baseball and basketball. So far I have not seen hockey cards pulled in this product. I have seen breaks on YouTube where you get 30 dollar cards and some where you get cards worth hundreds. Quite a gamble and it did NOT get good reviews because of this. Someone pulled a Bryce Harper BGS 9.5 USA orange refractor /25 and that is the kind of card that belongs. Another box yielded a BGS 9.5 Topps Chrome Aaron Rodgers. The ungraded version goes for around 50.00 on eBay so that actually was a decent pull as well. We'll see a brief surge of these highly graded star cards on eBay for the next few months before they get scarfed up and put into collector's strong boxes because of this product.

Friday, July 5, 2013

Card of the Day

I love these College Mascot cards by Upper Deck. I've owned and sold a few and the way they look in person is simply amazing. The inner design is some sort of embroidery/stitching and based on recent Ebay sales they go for quite a bit. Enjoy this bit of eye candy while I wait for my next card to arrive in the mail!

Thursday, July 4, 2013

What's the next card?

The next card that came up in my search once the Manti Te'o was cataloged; 1971 Topps Marty Domres # 66. Here is another San Diego Charger player. I consider myself a Broncos fan so a card like this would not normally find its way into my collection. The fact it's a vintage card also changes up my collecting habits because I've been focusing on all the razzle-dazzle serial numbered autographed inserts of rookies who often don't live up to the hype. How good was Marty as a QB over the years? He played in 9 NFL seasons and is best known for replacing the great Johnny Unitas in Baltimore in 1972. Coincidentally his best season was in 1972 where he threw for 11 touchdowns with 6 interceptions. He ended up with more interceptions than touchdowns in his career however and was usually relegated to the backup role on the four teams he played on. He spent time with the Chargers, Colts, Jets and the 49ers. He was a great college player for Syracuse and he's been inducted to their Hall of Fame. He was drafted in the first round by San Diego (9th overall) in 1969.

I like this card as the red border really contrasts with the photography. That being said the edges are really condition sensitive, much more so than if they had opted with a white background. The red, once dinged up really shows imperfections, bent corners and whitening around the edges. I considered getting a graded version of this card but decided that for the price, this one was in good enough shape that I could live with it. Getting graded versions of vintage cards is only necessary with really old cards of hall of famers, either that or cards that are subject to counterfeits such as the 1984 Topps Dan Marino.

2013 Spx Manti Te'o Autographed Rookie #81

Here's a photo. On closer inspection his last name is Te'o. I wonder how many ebayer's misspell this name. Probably everyone. The autograph is fairly nice and memorable; it's not quite a "give up" squiggle like Chris Johnson from the Titans but it's not as nice as Terrell Davis or Dan Marino's. The jersey looks clean and unused because it's not a Notre Dame Game Used Jersey as Upper Deck might lead you to believe. It's a jersey that was probably put on for a few minutes. I'm not sure why collectors demand the jersey piece these days as it has no real connection to either the players or the games they've played in, especially with these rookie cards. The card is well designed and miles above any of the other 2013 cards that have been issued so far. I'm pretty happy to have it and it looks great in person. You can't even tell without close inspection that the autograph is on a sticker. Upper Deck designed the card so that the sticker is well disguised.

Start it up!

I've really enjoyed reading people's blogs, my main inspiration comes from Sports Cards Uncensored. This blog by Adam Gellman has it all. Honest reviews, great journalism and a true love of the hobby. You can find his blog here: www.sportscardsuncensored.com His site started up in 2008 and was in response to some of the shady practices that happen on Ebay and one of the largest hobby magazines, Beckett.

I'm a 39 year old guy that collect's cards. I've always enjoyed sports but what makes me a collector is the sometimes insane personality you have to have to be interested in holding on to and categorizing little 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" pieces of cardboard. I collected for a while when I was 14-16 years old. My brother Adam Lorenz and I used to love going down to the local 7/11 in smallville Santee, CA and getting packs of 1987 topps baseball cards. I think they were around 50 cents a pack so we couldn't get many. I don't think we had many trips either because one or both of us were always in trouble at home; a sort of house arrest was our reality for many summer days. I think the fate of my baseball cards was the same as most kids; the cards ended up in the garbage. That being said, what with the junk wax production levels of the late 80's and early 90's I think my mom only threw out 3.00 worth of cards in today's market. I never even finished the gargantuan but beautiful 1987 Topps wood bordered baseball set. I bought the whole set at a local card shop years later for 6.00. This set featured no true rookies but some great cards like Mark Mcgwire featured in his A's uniform years before the home run derby between he and Sammy Sosa that temporarily catapulted his popularity as well as the Bo Jackson which holds interest for football and baseball collectors alike.

Years later I got into collecting again. The mid 90's was an exciting time for collectors as autographed and game jersey cards started to be produced by Press Pass and Upper Deck. Box prices soared and it became a hobby that was really geared for young adults. I became fascinated with the Upper Deck Footbal Spx brand in 1999. This was truly one of the first high end sets that had on card rookie autographs. I ended up paying too much for the set that I built from scratch because the rookie autograph card values did not keep up with their initial demand. Cards like the Akili Smith and Cade Mcnown were commanding over 150.00 apiece at the time I got them. Years later? You could probably pick up both for 30.00. The cardinal rule for sports card collecting is to wait. Wait until the player establishes themselves. So many rookies have "hype" and are sold for unreal levels before they've ever even played a game. For every Peyton Manning there is a Ryan Leaf and for every Tom Brady there's a Tim Rattay. If you really want to grow your collection and have something valuable in the long run it's better to collect hall of famers and players with extensive resumes. Ebay sales are dominated by pork belly future traders looking to make a quick buck off of a player with a good game or two. I'll admit, I've been able to cash in on these trends myself and it's always sweet when you do get lucky. Since I'm primarily a set collector I get all the bad players that you have to buy to complete a set along with the 1 or two future hall of famers that the set might contain. The key is to wait until the hype dies down. I did end up spending alot of money on that built from scratch 1999 spx football set but as I went along I got smarter. Some of the big names I did not end up overspending on were the Ricky Williams, Duante Culpepper and the last card to finish it all, the Tim Couch. Couch's rookies were going for over 300.00 in their heyday. I managed to get mine, 7 years later for around 25.00. I think even that price is too much considering his "bust" status but I understand the price considering it was short printed to 500 copies and it was a popular set for a long time.

I've collected a few sets from Upper Deck Spx, I now have the 1999, 2000 and 2008 complete sets. All of these typically have around 28 to 30 autographed rookie cards. When Upper Deck lost their NFL license in 2010 I became less enthusiastic about the brand. I enjoy seeing rookie cards with the player in their team uniform. I must say it's interesting to see Dan Marino in his early 80's Pitt uniform or Joe Namath as a Razorback. The cards they make are the best collegiate cards that have ever been made in the history of cards. I still love them. I have decided it's a good thing to branch out from doing set collections for one brand. It takes me years to complete a set because I don't like to spend too much money doing it. I try to purchase lots, resell some stuff and basically wheel and deal until I have all the cards I need.

The new challenge I've come up with is to collect ALL football cards. Obviously this is an impossible goal with card companies cranking out thousands of new football cards seemingly every week of the year. Collecting at random will put me in contact with new sellers, new forums and new ways of thinking about this hobby. Heck, I've already started a blog about it which is something new in my 20 + years of collecting!

The way I'll do this is to search football cards on Ebay for items ending soonest. The item that comes up at the top of the list is the card I'll find a way to get. Will I press the button to buy it right away? Hell no! We all know that Ebay sellers sometimes ask WAY too much money for their cards. I'll save the card in my list and find out what the true market value of it is. I won't trust Beckett; this company is way out of touch as Adam G. tells his readers.I'll check the past sales on Ebay and try to find one for the best price that I can.

First card on the list, oddly enough was a 2013 Spx Manti T'eo autographed rookie card. I know I had to overpay here because here's a rookie with some odd character issues (this is the linebacker from Notre Dame with the strange case of the invisible girlfriend, google search if you want to know more). He seems extremely talented and is one of the top rookies in this years proclaimed "weak" draft class. He slipped down to the second round and went to San Diego. I think this is a good place for him although it's likely that San Diego is going to get worse before they get better. I got this for a good price and it got to my mailbox a scant three days after I won it. I got the card for about a third of the price that a box of Spx would cost and while you get some base cards and 3 other "hits" I don't think that box prices these days are ever really worth the gamble. Even if I got this card out of a box I'd probably end up with 2 cards that would sell for 3 dollars each and a 99 cent jersey card. Better to just let other gamblers crack the wax and I'll buy singles on Ebay. What will this card be worth in 10 years? If I had to guess it will be a 5 dollar card. There's always the outside very small chance he'll be one of the all time greats like Ray Lewis, Singletary or Urlacher. In that case the card might double or triple in value. As you can see, from a collector's standpoint it does not make sense to buy the card now. With this challenge I will be buying some cards too soon. Along with that I'll be buying some cards that have absolutely bottomed out and will only gain value. Vintage cards fall into that category because they aren't part of the speculator's gambit. Football does not have as rich of a history as some of the other sports but there are some really great vintage cards. Walter Payton, Johnny Unitas and Joe Namath have valuable rookies that most collectors are familiar with. My hope is to come in contact with some of these great cards as well as some of the duds that are the butt of sports jokes. With this method I think I'll see both types. The good, the bad, the spectacular and the ridiculous.