Contest Winnings From Gavin's BFG

I joined in on two Big Fun Game recently with Gavin’s being last month. I just got the cards and he included some additional cards in to the package. The big hit was the 2005 Topps Retired JR Richards autograph, Topps did such an amazing job with these Retired Autograph sets. The selection also included two of Gavin’s customs; a Day/Boggs card from Always Sunny In Philadelphia and the second is the Giancarlo Stanton box bottom cut card.

Like Wes, Gavin is a generous person and his customs are just the bomb. In addition to a couple of Mariners cards for my collection he included four custom cards that are very welcome. The first is AJ Lee, and even though she is retired she is still one of the most popular wrestlers with collectors. Her autograph is one of my gray whales but they are still demanding a premium because they are still pretty rare when you compare them to some of the autographs from current popular female wrestlers like Bayley and Sasha Banks.

I was torn which custom to show next but I decided to go with the Simpsons tobacco cards next. The cards are tobacco era sized but the Montgomery Burns card has been aged nicely and has a very original feel to it, I love it. Last year Gavin did a collection of Homer at the Bat cards that I just loved, he actually sent me a glow in the dark Griffey magnet card, which is on display with my Griffey cards, so these two a wonderful addition. If you haven’t been able to tell I enjoy the Simpsons and the Homer at the Bat episode is one of my all-time favorite.

The final custom is this Ken Griffey Jr piece of art, really the best way to describe it. The card is set up like a picture or painting and when you flip it over it looks like the back of a picture frame. It is the details like this that makes a cool custom become a freaking awesome custom.

Thank you, Gavin, I had fun with the game and you really produce some magnificent cards.

Wes' World Cup Of Trading

I took part in three blogger contests recently with Wes’ World Cup of Trading being one of them. He contacted me in May asking if I could do two sketches for him and when I sent them he let me know I can select some of the cards he had up for trade.

The three cards I selected were

2013 Leaf Metal Draft Tyrann Mathieu

A Mathieu autograph has been one of my gray whales for a while so I was very happy to see this available.

2013 Topps Pro Debut Louie the Lumberking

Louie here is the mascot of the Mariners’ Class A team Clinton LumberKings

2013-14 In The Game Mike Bossy relic

I was born on Long Island and as a kid I remember going to Islander games with my dad and brothers at Nassau Coliseum and Mike Bossy was the man. While this was up for trade on Wes’s blog I didn’t even notice that this is a Vault #1/1. These cards are similar to Topps’ Vault cards, they were kept in storage and re-released in products later. I have some SportKings Vault cards but this is my first Vault #1/1.

Being the generous man that he is, Wes allowed people to pick additional cards when the contest was ending. I asked for the Adam Jones 1^st homerun medallion. Over the years it has hurt seeing the Mariners trade off some young players who ended up being successful elsewhere but Jones is probably one of the more painful recent loses. 

I also asked about the Topps Strata Clear Cut autographs, which Wes included them all. I am considering using these as donor cards in one of my “So you don’t have to” segments.

Knowing I am a Griffey collector he included a nice stack of The Kid. There were 20 Griffey cards that I needed for my collection and that was greatly appreciated.

 

Thank You Raz For The New Ryan Bader Additions

I want to thank Raz for his very welcomed care package last week that included a group of 2017 Ryan Bader cards that I did not have in my collection. Like my other PCs my Bader collection is on hold for now and with two Topps UFC releases this year I was falling behind on my collection.

The first two cards are from the 2017 Topps UFC Fire release, which was only available online. The set was not very large; only 50 base cards, 39 autographs and 20 Fired Up inserts. Each base card had 3 parallels in addition to the base cards and the autographs had 2 parallels in addition to the base auto.

The cards Raz sent are the base card and the Red-Hot Foil parallel #/142

The next two cards are from the 2017 Topps UFC Knockout release, which came out less than a month ago. Bader was removed from the checklist to this set because he signed with Bellator MMA in March but because most of the autographs are hard signed they had already been sent out and he signed and returned them so Topps decided to include his autograph and relic cards after all.

The first card is his Tier One autograph, these cards are amazing and right now this is one of my favorite Bader autographs that is in my collection. I just love the design of these cards and the parallels are even cooler with the card being black and signed in either copper, silver or gold ink. 

The second card is his Knockout Autographs. Topps tends to use the horizontal design with Knockout, which I like because it allows them to use images that are extended like this overhead strike from Bader’s fight against Rashad Evans. This is what his base card would have looked like if it were included in the set minus the autograph.

Again, thank you so much Raz, I really appreciate you taking the time to send me this package.

Johnny's Big Fun Game Winnings

Last month John from Johnny’s Trading Spot held a Big Fun Game contest and I was slotted #17 out of 21 picks. I ended up stealing a Highland Mint Rick Mirer Mint Card from Oscar of All Trade Bait, All The Time. Up until I had seen the Mirer card selected at the #10 spot I was planning on just picking a number but when it comes to one of my favorite Seahawks QBs I had no choice.

The card is based on Mirer’s 1993 Topps RC #285, but more majestic, and The Highland Mint went all out on the package. The card is enclosed in a plastic clam shell and when opened the COA is folded in a sleeve on one side and the card is nestled in to a one-inch screw down on top of a piece of felt.

John included a collection of Mariners from current back to a 1983 Donruss Bryan Clark and a trading card sized Mariners felt pennant that is now hanging out with my Mariners Moose Funko Pop. The Mariners are sitting at 30-30 after a 5-game win streak.

Currently Hernandez and Iwakuma are on the DL but that doesn’t stop shiny cards from shining. Iwakuma will be going through a simulated game on Sunday and well, Hernandez needs to stop hurting himself while celebrating. 

I am a fan of the physical Bunt cards and inserts like this Cruz Infinite card are the reason why. Cruz is teetering on the DL with tightness to his calf and is missing his second game in a row.

A pair of 2017 Topps Opening Day Jean Segura (Base and Rainbow Foil). Segura has found the perfect spot in Seattle and just signing a contract extension last week. He had a good year with the Diamondbacks last year but he really looks like he may top it this year.

Brett Boone was loved in Seattle and his second tenure he was uncontested leader of the team, including the 2001 116-win team. This is a printed autograph so I still go without a Boonie auto in my Mariners’ collection but I hope to add one before the end of the year.

I end with a 2013 Panini Hometown Heroes Jay Buhner, a card straight from my Bone Want List.

Browncoats Unite!

I received a care package from JediJeff of 2x3 Heroes, a package made up of 2015 Upper Deck Firefly The Verse cards which is greatly appreciated.

Joss Whedon’s Firefly was cancelled after just one season but like Judd Apatow’s Freaks & Geeks one season is plenty to make the show a cult classic. To put it in perspective, Firefly ended in 2003 but there was enough interest for Whedon to release the movie Serenity, which closes out the Firefly series, in 2005. To add to it, there is still enough interest in the show that Upper Deck released this set 12 years after the show left television and even now the show is still one of Netflix’s most streamed television shows.

When the set was released I had major interest but I wasn’t in a position to buy boxes so I focused on the autographs and sketch cards but even those were outside of my spending budget so I put the idea of building a set on the back burner but now with JediJeff’s package I am more than halfway to completing the set so I have a renewed interest and have created a want list of the cards I need to finish it.

The set is 171 base cards plus autographs, manufactured patches and sketch cards. A pretty standard non-sport set, so excluding the parallels the base set will be pretty easy to put together and eventually I would like to add some sketch cards. The one autograph that I really want is the Jewel Staite, she is such a cutie, but her official autographs can come close to $100, some actually top $200, so that will be a No for now.

The first 126 cards are broken down in to 9-card episode subsets with each subset designed by a different artist. The first 9 cards are based on the episode Serenity and the artwork is by Matthew Clark. Cards #10-18 are based on the episode The Train Job and the artwork is by Spencer Brinkerhoff III and so on. It is a very cool idea because you get such diversity on the styles so each 9 card subset doesn’t look like the other 9 card subsets.

The next group of cards is characters, ships, magazine covers, Tales of Serenity and then more ships. It truly is a wonderful set for any Firefly fan. If you are interested in the show and haven’t seen it the show is still available on Netflix but only until April 1^st so time is short. Each episode is about 43 minutes long with the Serenity movie (presented as a two-part episode) is 86 minutes long so the entire show can be finished within a week but don’t wait.

Again, thank you Jeff, I appreciate you taking the time to share the set with a fellow fan.

A Welcome Trade Package

Trade packages are always fun. I just received a nice package of four cards from Jon of A Penny Sleeve for your Thoughts and he picked out a wonderful collection of cards for me.

First card out of the gates is a 1938 Goudey Action Gum #26 Bombers In Formation. This set is a brightly illustrated release depicting war, little did the good folks at Goudey know is that they were actually creating scenes that sadly predicted actions that would take place over the next six years during World War II.

Next up is a pair of Griffey cards, which leads one to ask how amazing is the fourth card is if I am posting about Griffey cards first?

This 1994 Score Gold Rush #3 is straight off of my extremely long Want List, always nice to strike a card off of the nearly 1,500 card list.

Another card off of my Griffey Want List is this 2003 Upper Deck Game Face #30 Sample card and at around 150-pt thick it is a solid card with the portrait of Griffey in the center on leather. The base card version of this card, #159, uses a different picture. There is also a double card with Roy Oswalt as well as a relic version.

The final card is made up of two things I love, Star Wars and sketch cards. Not just a sketch card but my first booklet sketch card which shows Darth Vader and Luke by the talented artist Bruce Gerlach. The scene is from the first face to face meeting of the Skywalkers in Cloud City where young Luke, who apparently does not know Dutch, finds out that Vader is his father and then ends up getting his hand cut off.

I want to thank Jon for taking the time to send me a very appreciated package during a tough time for me.

A Very Appreciated Care Package

Shortly before I moved Angus from Dawg Day Cards sent me a care package of early 90s Griffey cards, plus one Buhner card with a Griffey cameo on the back, which was very much appreciated but they got packed away quickly before I had a chance to sort them. As I said last week I recently moved back to Arizona, a very quick and emotional move, and now that I am back in Arizona I have taken on as a caretaker for my elderly parents. Needless to say stress has compounded daily and any break away is welcome so thank you Angus.

I finally had a chance to sit down and spend some time just focusing on a hobby that helps clear my mind. In all there were 58 cards that I needed for my collection, including some new to me cards and a couple of ghost cards, and with this bundle I topped 1,100 unique Griffey cards.

Here are some of the more interesting cards:

1992 Fleer 7-11 Citgo

1992 French’s Mustard

1992 Promark

1993 Cartwrights

1993 Fleer Atlantic Collector’s Edition

As well as a couple of ghost cards that disappeared in “The Purge”

1993 Topps

 

1993 Ultra

1995 Upper Deck

1996 Upper Deck Retail Predictor

And of course the Jay Buhner, 1993 SP, with Griffey mugging for the camera on the back