My Wallet Card Entry With Shrinkage... Not By George Costanza

 I have been spending the last few days trying to figure out which direction I wanted to go with the card that will spend the next year in my wallet. After spending the past 23 years collecting I had plenty to choose from too.

In case you are not familiar with Gavin's Wallet Card Game, here are the origins on Baseball Card Breakdown.

My first thought was a Ken Griffey Jr. card, being a Griffey collector it definitely would suit me well but which one would I select? The 1989 Upper Deck #1 is iconic and the first Griffey card that I purchased when I came back to collecting.

Then I considered Ryan Bader, my favorite MMA fighter and one of my personal collections. He is a local guy and I do hit his Power MMA gym from time to time so how cool would it be to get him to sign my wallet card?

I finally decided to go with a card that has some meaning to my collection, the 1992-93 Stadium Club Shaquille O’Neal #247 rookie card. When I came back to collecting in 1992 it was right in time for Shaq Attaq and I bought so many boxes of Stadium Club looking for his rookie card (along with his Beam Team and a Michael Jordan Beam Team) that I definitely put some Topps employees kids through college.

Now that the card was decided I found myself in a predicament when I realized that a regular sized card would not fit in my wallet without damaging the card. I went back to the drawing board and searched my mini collection and was not satisfied with any of the cards.

I was about to just skip the Wallet Card game when I remembered that Gavin stated there were no rules and that is when inspiration hit…

 

I shall call him mini-Shaq

 

 

A little bit of scanning here and a little bit of Photoshop there, toss in a couple of pieces of HP matte photo paper and my Xyron sticker maker and I have a card that measures 2 x 2 ½ (roughly 2/3 a regular card size).

Hopefully this is acceptable to the blogging community. I know this is not a pack issued card but it is identical card to the original card, just smaller, to fit in to my wallet.

 

Now to get snapping around town

 

 

Press Pass Has Called It A Career

On January 2^nd ESPN’s Business Reporter Darren Rovell tweeted that Press Pass was closing their doors. Unlike some sports card rumors this one seemed to be valid, especially considering the source. Press Pass VP of Operations Nick Matijevich finally validated the rumor as truth and as of this past Monday Press Pass has ceased all day to day operations according to their website.

 

Press Pass has made some great strides in sports cards beginning with adding jersey relics in to cards in 1996, a year before Upper Deck inserted the now famous Game Jersey 3-card set in to the 1997 Upper Deck Baseball release. They were also one of the first companies to insert autographs too.

 

While they have since been forced in to NASCAR, unlicensed NCAA and entertainment sets they are still a founding block in the sports card world and should be remembered fondly.

 

 

What happens next with NASCAR?

Panini has the money and the way they have been grabbing up licensing they seem to have it down to a science.

 

Topps has the money and with losing the NFL license in 2016 a NASCAR license would offer them a new revenue stream.

 

Upper Deck has become a niche card company and they do not really have the money to put up front though they do have experience on their side, they previously produced NASCAR cards in the late 1990s-early 2000s.

 

Leaf is always a wild card when it comes to licensing

One thing that has me a bit dumbfounded is that a number of unredeemed 2013 & 2014 Press Pass redemption cards have shown up on eBay for insane prices ($5-40). These cards are unredeemable now, why would someone spend anything on a relatively worthless card besides possibly a set completest?

Trade Completed

First I would like to thank CC, he was extremely generous with his offer and there are some amazing cards that he included.

 

Here is the follow up to yesterday’s post about the trade with Lonestarr.

 

The cards range from 1970 through 2014 and is made up of baseball, football, basketball and a couple of comic cards. Talk about variety and to top it all CC included a 2014 Elite Larry Fitzgerald Clarity card, which was on my eBay searches list as one of the next cards I planned on adding to my collection so that alone made the trade a big win-win already before even opening up the bundles.

 

Here are some of the highlights that will make excellent additions to my collection

2009 Signature Stars Ken Griffey Jr.

A new addition to my Griffey collection

1998 Metal Universe Jay Buhner & 2013 Triple Play Dustin Ackley

Two great cards for my Mariners collection including my #2 all-time favorite Mariner (Buhner) and my favorite current Mariner (Ackley)

 

A 2008 SPx autograph of Bronson Sardinha

Interesting fact about Sardinha, he was only with the Mariners organization for 12 days in April 2008, by the time Upper Deck inserted these cards in to packs he had already moved on to the Indians organization.

 

1992-93 Hoops Paul Westphal

I personally consider Westphal the second greatest coach in the Suns history after the legendary Cotton Fitzsimmons

1996-97 Collector’s Choice Charles Barkley Stick Ums
When talking about the best in Suns history, we can not forget the Round Mound of Rebound

 

2010-11 Donruss Steve Nash Cracked Ice

Another that belongs on the “Greats” list of Suns

 

1970 Topps Chuck Walker

The oldest card in the bundle is Walker from the St. Louis Cardinals days

 

1985 Topps Steve Largent

A wonderful addition to my Largent collection, this was the next card on my Largent target so this one is much appreciated

 

Panini Mini Sticker Russell Wilson

This sticker is very cool, I am not really a mini collector but this one is going in to the Seahawks binder no matter what

 

2001 Titanium Koren Robinson- Alex Bannister dual jersey relic
Robinson was one of those players who had the talent but had limited commitment and he had his demons (alcohol) and it ruined his career. Bannister was the opposite, he had the commitment but was limited on the talent. Kind of ironic how these two ended up on the same card together.

 

Close out with a couple of comic cards;
1993 Wizard Spawn (I love the Wizard cards and have a number of them in my collection)
1991 DC Comics Hologram Superman

 

 

In the end there were nearly 200 cards in all, mostly football and baseball, and included Mariners, Seahawks, Cardinals, Suns, Sonics and comic cards. I was surprised at how many cards are new to my collection and I am now able to exercise a number of "ghost cards" from my collection. Again, thank you CC very much.

 

The First Trade Of The Year

In mid-December I got an email from CC, also known as Lonestarr from Life and Baseball Cards, looking to work a trade to kick off 2015. He told me he had a pile of Mariners, Seahawks, Suns and Cardinals up for trade and after some emails I had his cards pulled and ready to ship. He told me his package weighed one pound so I knew I was in for a surprise.

 

The package came today and this is what 1 pound of sports cards looks like

 

I am running a bit behind today so I will post up tomorrow after I get a chance to break things down.

 

R.I.P. Stuart Scott

Today the sports world lost a legend with the passing of Stuart Scott this morning after a 7 year long battle with stomach cancer, he was 49 years old.

He spent over 20 years on ESPN and along with Chris Berman spanned multiple generations of sports lovers. He was just a regular guy too, everyone respected him and he entertained us in a way that has made an impression on so many people. Even though he is gone his “Boo-Yah!” will last forever.

 He has a couple of official cards, but not many. He appeared in 2010 Allen & Ginters with a base card, autograph and relic card and he has a dual-autograph (with Dan Patrick) in the 2012 SP Signature release. The base card can be found for a few dollars but hit relic and autographs have sky rocketed with the news of his passing.

Corky's 2014-15 NFL Playoff Predictions Wild Card Round

The 2014-15 NFL Playoffs begin today with the Wild Card Round, four games over the next two days determine who takes the next step towards Super Bowl XLIX her in Phoenix on February 1^st.

I have put together a bracket and I have made my predictions at who will win it all but I will wait until after the Super Bowl to post up my completed bracket, I don’t want to jinx the winner. Though it shouldn’t be a surprise who I picked to become Super Bowl Champions.  

Let us take a look at the collectability of each team and see if that can determine who will move on to the next round. Since the most collectible players are at the skilled positions I am mainly focusing on these players and these are just my opinion on the most collectible players. Here are the games for the Wild Card weekend, my personal predictions are bolded and some are different from my collectability predictions, which are italicized. I am trying to select a variety of cards from each player’s rookie season to display. I do not own any of these cards.

Game 1:

Arizona Cardinals at CAROLINA PANTHERS

Betting odds: Panthers favored by 5.5 points with an O/U 37.5

 

 

Arizona:

Carson Palmer QB (Not playing)

 

Larry Fitzgerald WR

 

Patrick Peterson DB

 

 

Carolina:

Cam Newton QB

 

Kelvin Benjamin WR

 

Luke Kuechly LB

There is no question that Newton is the more dynamic QB here, not to mention that Palmer will not be playing,  and while Fitzgerald ranks at the top of almost every collectors favorite Wide Receiver list it is hard for him to collectability compete with Cam Newton’s rising star (as long as he stays a winner). There are definitely collectible players on both teams but these two are head and shoulders above the rest of the two rosters.

 

Sadly without Palmer the Cardinals offense has become anemic and barring some freak event I wouldn't be surprised to see the Cardinals held to under 12 points. This really is tough going for the team especially considering that this may be Larry Fitzgerald's final game in a Cardinals uniform.

WINNER: Carolina Panthers

 

 

 

 

Game 2

Baltimore Ravens at PITTSBURGH STEELERS

Betting odds: Steelers favored by 3 with an O/U 46

 

 

Ravens:

Joe Flacco QB

 

Justin Forsett RB

 

Terrell Suggs LB

 

 

Steelers:

Ben Roethlisberger QB

 

Le’Veon Bell RB

 

Troy Polamalu DB

 

Big Ben has had an amazing career, including two Championships, so his cards have maintained a solid pricing where Flacco is streaky. During the 2012-13 Playoffs he went through the roof and played some amazing ball which ended with a Super Bowl trophy and huge contract but he has since dropped back to Earth price-wise. Forsett has had a resurgence in Baltimore but Bell had a slightly better season and everyone loves Polamalu and his hair. This is a close one but, begrudgingly, I go with Pittsburgh to win.

WINNER: Pittsburgh Steelers

 

Game 3:

Cincinnati Bengals at INDIANAPOLIS COLTS

Betting odds: Colts favored by 3.5 points with an O/U of 48.5

 

 

Bengals:

Andy Dalton QB

AJ Green WR

Giovani Bernard RB

 

 

Colts:

Andrew Luck QB

 

Reggie Wayne WR

 

T.Y. Hilton WR

The Bengals are a mysterious team, they have been hot and cold this year more than anyone and that really effects their collectability. One thing though is even on their best collectible days Dalton and Green will never compete with the value that Luck alone brings to the table. Toss in the future HOFamer Wayne and the young superstar Hilton and the Colts take this game.

WINNER: Indianapolis Colts

Game 4:

Detroit Lions at DALLAS COWBOYS

Betting odds: Cowboys favored by 6.5 points with an O/U of 48

 

Lions:

Matt Stafford QB

 

Calvin Johnson WR

 

Golden Tate WR

 

 

Cowboys:

Tony Romo QB

 

Dez Bryant WR

 

Jason Witten TE

 

With Detroit it has gotten to the point where Stafford is no longer the QB of the future, he is an average QB at best even with Megatron and Tate. The Cowboys have the over-rated Romo, the over-reacting Bryant and the unstoppable Whitten. As much as I dislike the Cowboys they do have more collectible players (even though they have not proven to be the Super Bowl winners that Jerry Jones seems to think he has every year) and I do think that Romo may actually get a second playoff win.

WINNER: Dallas Cowboys

I will follow this up each Friday as the playoffs progress.

R.I.P. Donna Douglas

I was pretty bummed this morning to find out that Donna Douglas passed away after losing her battle with pancreatic cancer, she was 81-years old.

 

Douglas is most well known for her character Elly May Clampett on the Beverly Hillbillies from 1962 through 1971. While the show ended a year before I was born it was always on re-run during my youth and I still list it as one of my favorite childhood shows along with programs like Gilligan’s Island and Hogan’s Heroes. Her passing leaves only Max Baer Jr. as the surviving member of the show’s main cast.

It is odd that yesterday I forgot that The Twilight Zone New Year’s Day marathon was on SyFi Channel and when I finally put it on the only episode that I saw in its entirety was Eye of the Beholder, one of the two Twilight Zone episodes that Donna Douglas appeared in (the other was Cavender Is Coming).

 

There are a number of Douglas official cards and autographs to choose from including Leaf Pop Century, Panini Golden Age and Rittenhouse Twilight Zone.

The Goals Of 2015

With 2014 in the books, thank goodness, I turn my attention to 2015 and build my collecting goals for the year. Because last year I decided to make changes to my blog I was able to set 11 goals, which I was able to accomplish with only 1 missed opportunity, while most this year's goals will be a continuation and build on the goals from last year.

 

Two major focuses of mine this year is to reduce the over-crowding of my collection and interacting with other collectors. These actually work hand-in-hand because when I connect with others I can work trades and help get some of the cards that do not fit in with my team and player collections in to the hands of someone who needs the cards for their collections.

 

Post 22 times a month 

Continue VCoM and The Art Gallery series while adding a Pack War series and possibly other fun posts

Celebrate 6 years of blogging in June after missing last year

Interact more with other collectors and increase the number of trades, I only had 5 trades this past year

Reach 400 unique Griffey cards, I am currently at 291 cards (not counting duplicates)

Work on building my other player collections; Steve Kerr, Steve Largent and Ryan Bader

Goodbye To 2014

With the year closing today I look back over the year at my collecting goals and see how I faired to what I had set for myself back in January.

 

The goals that I set were attainable and within reason I was able to complete most of them. Around mid-year things in the real world took a turn for the worse and I found myself in collecting funk, which I am still dealing with. This did put a dampener on my 5-Year Blogversary plans but I will work on that in the coming year.

 

Here is how the year unfolded:

 Blog Goals for 2014:

-Post at least 21 times a month

Done

 

 

-Continue the VoM series, add a Sketch Card of the Month series and consider additional fun series

Done (Mostly)- I posted 11 VCoM and 11 Art Gallery, 92% not bad. I also like the idea of adding a Pack War each month, seems like something I should have been doing all along

-Make the blog “mine”, build on what works and change what does not work

Done- This one is more of an on-going philosophy but I did drop the full blown reviews and added the Art Gallery and Pack War serials to make the blog fit my interests

 

 

-Celebrate 5 years of blogging in June with something special

Failed- Being in a funk has caused a delay here

 

 

-Increase my Followers to 100+

Done-Fellow blogger Daniel Wilson of It’s Like Having My Own Card Shop helped me greatly here when he offered a contest on his blog to help me reach my goal. Thanks to his help, and all of the readers who joined my blog, I reached my 100^th follower on January 16^th

 

-Update my Blogs I am Reading list

Done

 

 

Personal Hobby Goals

 

-Focus on my personal collection, determine what I want and collect only those cards

Done- Another on-going process but I have slimmed down my collection through trades and selling and only focus on collecting players and teams that interest me

 

 

-Stop picking up cards on a whim

Done (Mostly)

 

 

-Bust only products that interest me

Done

 

 

Interact more with other collectors, bloggers and readers to try and work some trades

Done- I didn’t make as many trades as I hoped to but I did add a Trade Bait section as well as joined Zistle and this has led to a handful of trades over the year.

 

 

Create a “Wanted List” so I can zero in on what is important to me

Done

I did add another goal during the year. When I joined Zistle in January and organized my collection I realized I only had 92 unique Griffey cards and that didn’t seem appropriate for someone who is a Griffey collector. This was when I started building my Want List and set an additional goal of 200 unique Griffey cards by the end of the year.

I hit Griffey card #200 on July 29^th and have since increased my collection to include 291 unique Griffey cards.

Closing Out The Year With A Win

The final card of the year to be added to my collection is this 2014 Topps UFC Bloodlines Ryan Bader #1/1 blank back from Topps Vault.

 

Bader is my favorite MMA fighter and a heck of a good guy. I recently missed out on another Bader blank back Topps Vault card being sold by Topps a couple of weeks back and had accepted the idea that it would be a awhile before I added a Ryan Bader #1/1 to my collection but I ended my year on a high note.