Monday, March 31, 2014

More 2013 Topps Chrome including a sweet one per box Blue Wave Refractor!




Not a bad day when all three of your card adds are rookies. Yesterday I added a few base cards from Topps Chrome 2013 like Eli Manning and an offensive lineman from the Giants. What's cool about the chrome set is that it's about half and half between rookies and veterans so if you're like most people and love the rookies, they are there but if you like star cards like Peyton Manning and Adrian Peterson, this is the perfect set for you too.

As I mentioned I'm attempting to complete the massively tough Blue Wave Refractor set. This is my third card and I have a lot of cards from this set sitting at my desk right now that I was lucky to get at a good price. They really don't have them at the local shop yet as they haven't really hit the live secondary market too much but online they can be had very cheap, especially if you are willing to pony up for them in bulk. I hit it out of the park on Ebay last night where I won a lot of 45 blue wave refractors (including a Peyton Manning who I've seen go for well over 6 or 7 dollars by itself) for about 64 cents a card. If you think you are going to get a deal like that at a card shop or card show I'd say good luck. The fact that these are coming out at 1 card per box makes this deal even more unbelievable. While the base blue waves are pretty cheap the autographs are another story. Since these are numbered to 50 I'm seeing prices for small time rookies go way more than I would have expected. Seems like others are trying to complete this set too.

Saturday, March 29, 2014

This day has absolutely EPIC additions. 3 autographs including Terrell Davis, one of my favorite players of all time.




The first card that I added today was from 2011 Leaf Limited, a "Material Monikers" autograph of Terrell Davis #26/35 purchased from Mike's Stadium Sports Cards. I have a couple of other Terrell Davis Autos but this would be my first Jersey auto card. While it is a sticker auto the design is clean and it's a nice addition to the cards I already have from 2011 Limited. I bought a box of this in 2012 and my main hit there was another Broncos RB auto, Knowshon Moreno Silver Monikers autograph numbered to 50. The other two cards, while not garnering much attention on the secondary market (or probably any market outside Arizona) are autographs and are from a high end product (2013 Bowman Sterling) that I broke late last year. Had I done a team break like I was originally planning the Cardinals would have killed this box as this team had 2 autographs and several jersey cards including a nasty multicolored swatch that you will see sometime soon. The Okafor is one of those sweet blue wave refractors which has entranced me every time I pull them, the main reason I am going after the 2013 Topps Chrome Blue Wave Refractor set. The Bowman Sterling set has them too and they look just as cool in this product, maybe even more because they are so thick. Even the base autographs require a 180 point holder to properly house them.

Very cool to add three autographs to my collection in one day, especially when most of my additions this month have been from old base sets.

Friday, March 28, 2014

Another three out of 2013 Topps Chrome, my vote for product of the year



The more I'm learning about Topps Chrome as I add these cards to my collection the more I'm revising my vote for product of the year from Finest to Chrome. Chrome has so much more of a rich history and the rookie cards really feel like more of a special pull than the base rookie from finest felt like. Just look at the Tyler Wilson. He may never play in the NFL from what I've been hearing but the card looks dynamic and worth the price of admission. 

When you look back at some of the huge Topps Chrome rookies, obviously in basketball Kobe Bryant comes to mind but for football you've got Eli Manning and Aaron Rogers being huge cards to have in a personal collection. In terms of the grand scheme of things, there are obviously much better cards to have than Topps Chrome base rookies, SP authentic of years past, Exquisite and the newly released National Treasures trump most any cards you can pull in these boxes but the "bang for your buck" seems so much more present in this middle tiered brand than the money pit that most boxes seem to be these days, especially in the rookie drought that was 2013. Can't wait to get my first Johnny Football card this year but I'm waiting for some real brands other than Sage, Press Pass and Leaf Metal to spend my money on.


Wednesday, March 26, 2014

3 more cool additions including Eddie Lacy Topps Chrome Die Cut, Christine Michael Autograph and Carson Palmer Sepia




These are all inserts from 2013 Topps Chrome. I broke a box of this as I mentioned. I did purchase the Carson Palmer on the secondary market as part of a refractor lot on Ebay. The sepia cards are numbered to 99 as are the rookie camo Refractor autos. Appears that these are twice as plentiful as the Blue Wave refractor autos which have a very nice following on Ebay as I'm finding out. Even the scrub rookies like Tyler Wilson (never played a down for the Raiders) and Ryan Swope (retired before the season ever started due to concussions) are going for much more than other autographed versions in different products like Certified and even the high end Spectra. This is probably due to the huge following that Topps Chrome has from year to year.

Eddie Lacy has no fewer than 63 cards out of this product, plenty for the diehard Packer fans that had to be elatated with the emergence of this powerful running back. Even this base die cut rookie goes for anywhere from 5.00 to 10.00 on Ebay so chances are it would sell for 15-20 at a brick and mortar shop, especially in Wisconsin. 

I'd say that with this box I made my money back if I were looking at it from purely a dollars and cents perspective. The Christine Michael card certainly beat the odds at not only being an offensive player but ALSO from the champion Seahawks team AND being a shorter print autograph than what you'd normally expect to pull (the /600 variant being the most obvious and plentiful card that is likely to be pulled from a box.)

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Today's adds, a 17 year old pack pull and a couple hot new cards from 2013 Topps Chrome




Today's additions come from 1997 Leaf Signature series and 2013 Topps Chrome. The Mathieu card I pulled from a box in January and I got the Werner in a lot of Topps Chrome off of Ebay in February sometime. These blue wave refractors were very popular last year but you may remember they were only available to collectors who had a redemption from this product. These were extra cards in 2012 that Topps would send out to say "Thanks for waiting!" This subset returned in 2013 but this time they come at a rate of 1 per box and you actually get the card live, in the box without having to wait. I've decided to go after the regular blue wave non-autoed set as well as the Rookie Refractor Autographs which are numbered to 50. This will be a very difficult set to put together. The good news is that these can be found on Ebay pretty easily right now. I imagine that will change after a year or so as more of these go into private collections. The best time to strike for new products is now because they just get harder and harder to find.

Monday, March 24, 2014

Some new additions that are pretty old 1997 Leaf Signature 8 x 10 series



I was going through some of my old boxes of cards and came across these really cool autographed 8 x 10 authenticated cards from 1997 Leaf Signature. I remember buying a couple of these packs in San Antonio when I was visiting my wife's aunt at a local card shop. At the time these packs were selling for an unheard of 30.00 per pack but you were guaranteed an autograph in each pack, something nobody else was doing at the time. 1997 was about when things were starting to ramp up in the hobby with jersey cards and autographs becoming far more plentiful. Does anyone remember their first pack pulled autograph? I sort of do. It was around 1997 and I pulled a race car driver (I think it was Bill Elliot but I'm not sure) from a pack at the base commissary. Since I was stationed out in the middle of nowhere the base and Target was the only place I could really get packs. I remember being so excited but back then pulling any autograph was a huge deal. 

These particular ones were pretty cool as you could frame them. I have the Garrison Hearst (former running back for the Bengals, 49ers and Broncos) hanging on my wall that I put a matte and frame around. Even some on Ebay are showing up as framed.

I think I got the Druckenmiller card at a later time. Believe it or not I was collecting this guy in 1997, I remember having quite a few autographs of his and they were not dirt cheap like they are now. I'm sure all of you prospectors have a similar story of cards you've overpaid for in retrospect.


Friday, March 21, 2014

Couple more additions including Vikings Hall of Famer Alan Page

These next two cards are from 2009 and 2011 Sp Authentic respectively. The Page card I really like cause heck, its a hall of fame player and a player that I don't think I have any cards of. The horizontal layout for 2009 SPA looks really sweet and the background gives it that extra depth that really looks nice. This was UD at the height of their abilities. I do like the new 2013 UD exquisite although the price tag just doesn't justify getting a box to me. I'll keep enjoying the 2009 SPA and pining for the days when cards looked this nice. My favorite brand now has got to be Topps Chrome as it's a regular release, fairly priced product with tons of parallels and chase cards. The on card autos don't hurt but it does suck to buy a 70 dollar box and have your hit be Dion Jordan or someone who just doesn't sell very well on the secondary market.

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

A pair of running backs from 2011 SP Authentic added



Yesterday and today brings a pair of SP Authentic base rookies into the fold, Leshoure which is card 89 in the set and Harper, card #9.

Leshoure has some very nice variations including a gold autograph numbered to 15 copies and the base Auto RC Jersey that we've come to expect from this product numbered to 699.

So far I've only added one autograph to my collection this month so, kind of slow for the really cool expensive cards. I've mostly added base cards from 1992 Skybox and some of these base SP Authentic rookies. The JJ Watt, the Cam Newton (which I have now) and the Kaepernick RC are the keys to this set but there are some nice ones to be had like Aldon Smith and Andy Dalton which are some forgotten gems out of the 2011 class.

One thing I've noticed on Ebay is that of the newer products nearly every card that exists has been sold in the last 60 days. This may not be true for really rare cards or items that are more than 5 years old but it's really the biggest source of cards online, forget all the retailers and even Johnny-Come-Latelys like Check Out My Cards .com

Monday, March 17, 2014

Today's add, 2011 Sp Authentic Jarvis Jenkins


I had to look this player up to see where he played and if he was still in the league. He plays DE for the Washington Redskins. He got two sacks last year, and this is his career total. No wonder I've never heard of the guy! This is one of the base cards from the mishmash 2011 Sp/Spx/Threads product and is number 46 in the set. Regardless of the NCAA format this card really pops with the Clemson colors against the light grey background. I can't imagine how cool this set would have been with NFL team colors....

Sunday, March 16, 2014

Today's addition 2009 Sp Authentic Wes Welker #23


Today's addition comes from a box break I did in December 2012. I've always loved the SP authentic brand and this was the last year that UD had their football license. All players are shown in team colors. What's interesting about these cards is there is a retail version of SPA, something I wasn't aware of until I put this in my Beckett Organize. The retail version looks similar but has a different player photograph on the front. If I saw SPA at my local walmart or target I'd jump for sure. Retail odds don't tend to bode as well for the "hit collectors" though so this is something to be aware of.

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

A real blast from the Past 1991 Wild card Draft #119 Brett Favre


Today's card looks rather primitive by today's foil board and autographed card scene. The cardboard is as thin as you can get and could be in no way considered a premium card. This is a collegiate licensed product so Favre is shown here in his Ol' Miss uniform. Initially I thought it was a Falcons uniform with the logo airbrushed off the side. One could see how I might make this mistake but because it's clearly marked as a collegiate licensed product on the back I realized this was not the case. The draw for these cards was the "stripe designation" for the insert cards. Each higher tier of "stripe" on the top was progressively more difficult to get. This might not have been the first insert but I could imagine the Beckett magazine was filled with these cards topping the hot list back in the early 1990's.

Despite the gaudy printing style and general ugliness of the card one can't deny that this is a cool one because it features one of the game's greatest QBs of all time. Would I want to go out and seek the other 3000 or so cards with all the variations and shortprints? I'd say not but I'm content with one of the best cards from the set. It sells any where from 2-5 dollars on Ebay and it's safe to say that it will never lose value. Eventually it might even be viewed as a classic.

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Today's card, a super sweet RC year card of Cam Newton Carolina Panthers


        Today's card is 2011 Sp Authentic #94 Cam Newton. This is not officially considered a rookie card as Upper Deck started doing a strange thing with their products in 2011. We're all used to the base cards of veterans, a pack will mostly yield 18th year cards of Peyton Manning, 14th year Tom Brady cards and the like. Well with 2011 Sp authentic (Spx and Threads were also lumped together in this large set) we started to see the era of the base rookie card.  Base cards in 2011 Spx/Sp Authentic/Threads were rookie year cards but not officially considered rookies for some reason. 

         Despite the fact they are not rookies and they don't feature pro uniforms they are still pretty damn cool cards that are well designed and balanced. I pulled this from a pack in 2011 and it's sat in my "to be filed" box until today. Looking in my collections on Beckett this is my second Cam Newton card.

Sunday, March 2, 2014

Something old and something new




These two cards are pretty dissimilar in era and production methods. The first one is 1992 Skybox Impact #190 Russell Maryland of the Cowboys dynasty. The cardboard is ultra thin but was just pulled from a pack that my boss gave me from his old stuff laying around. The second one is a really cool Blue Wave Refractor autograph parrallell of Dernard Robinson numbered to 125 copies. Looking at these two cards side by side it's crazy how much card collecting has changed since I started in 1987. The first card came from a .50 cent pack though and the second from a 50 dollar pack. I never would have expected the shift to autographed and memorabilia cards 20 years ago and I never would have believed that packs would be so expensive. That being said I'd much prefer the way things are now.