Just Some Updates

I am setting up this post in advance because I am having back surgery tomorrow morning. The surgery is actually split up in to two surgeries, one for each side, with my second surgery coming in two weeks on August 27th. I have a laundry list of health issues dating back eleven years and a number of surgeries but now my spinal cord is beginning to break away (L2, L3 and L4) and the bone chips are pushing against my lower nerves causing damage and sever pain. Hopefully these two surgeries will be it and I will be done so my spine and spinal nerves can begin to heal. I should be home sleeping by the time this posts if my surgery schedule goes as planned.

On the card side I have completes my trade and sell list and I am finishing up with my wants lists. I have begun posting items on eBay and will shortly add my trade and want pages to the blog after I have begun to heal in a couple of days. In all I have nearly 200 items on my trade list so hopefully I will be able to offer something for plenty of readers.

Durant Eventually On The Move?

Kevin Durant has brought up the subject that when his contract with OKC is up in two years he will seriously consider returning to Washington D.C. where he was born. Personally I love the idea, not for the reason that most people do but because I dislike Clay Bennett with a passion. The man is a liar and a thief and losing Durant would put a hit on Bennett’s wallet and he deserves anything that will damage his ego.

 

For Wizards fans this would be a great addition to a young team and definitely strengthen the lineup in one quick swoop not to mention keep the team in the playoffs for the next decade.

RIP Robin Williams

My wife just called me to tell me the terrible news that Robin Willaims passed away today of what appears to be self inflected asphyxiation. I am pretty torn up inside because my generation grew up watching Robin Willaims from his main stream introduction on Happy Days and then his jumping off point Mork & Mindy through his recent television program The Crazy Ones. Just going down his IMDB list brings back so many memories, my favorite Disney film has always been Alladin and I don't know how many hundreds of times I have watched Good Morning Vietnam. Any one who grew up in the 1970, 1980s and 1990s will be quick to list off a whole slew of Robin Williams shows/movies that have made an impression on them one way or another.

He has been fighting drugs and alcohol through his life and apparently has been dealing with depression recently, his loss leaves a huge hole in the heart of the comedy world. Sadly the eBay Toads will be showing up soon to reap off of the worlds loss.

*FISH FACE

I have been hunting for a card that has alluded me for nearly 20 years, mainly because of price. When Skybox was getting ready to release the 1994 Simpsons Series II release in 1994 they issued 10 promo cards including two Willy “The Dupe” Dipkin baseball cards. The first one B1 contains the Bongo logo and a write up about the upcoming release and the second one P4 actually has stats on the back like a real baseball card.

 

When the set was released I picked up a box and was able to complete the set, even pulling a rare Arty Art card. But I was unable to get my hands on one of the promo cards. It wasn’t until I joined eBay in 2000 that I was able to even catch a glimpse of one but the prices were always to high. Even 20 years later the prices are still higher than I would normally consider paying for a promo card. The B1 Dipkin, the more common version, still sells in the $15-30 range with the rarer P4 version often topping $50, though there is a P4 currently offered for $40.

 

Last week I saw a B1 version posted for $4.99 and I forgot to bid, fortunately it ended with no bids and was relisted. This time I posted the minimum bid and waited as the time ticked down. In the end I won with the $4.99 bid plus $1 shipping and this beauty is mine.

 

The card is based off of Billy Ripken’s 1989 Fleer “F**K Face” card, replacing the “F**K” with “FISH”. I am pretty excited to finally own one, I am still on the hunt for a P4 version with his stats on the back but I am unwilling to spend the insane prices that are being asked currently.

Vintage Card Of The Month: 1933 Goudey Indian Gum Joe Logston

This month’s VCoM comes from the 1933 Goudey Indian Gum series, these cards were included in penny packs of Goudey Gum in 1933. The 96-card checklist was made up of military commanders, Native Americans, pioneers and Western scenes. Some of the names on the checklist; Pocahontas, Billy the Kid and Buffalo Bill. This is card #66 from the set.

 

Joe Logston was your typical early American pioneer, his stories always revolve around killing people and things with his bare hands and surviving through situations that a normal human being would perish. One of the most repeated tales about Logston is about the time he killed two big Indians after they ambushed him. They had him dead to rights but he prevailed and not only killed both Indians, but he knocked out one guy with a single punch and then used the Indians own knife to kill him.

 

This card is surprisingly in amazing condition, the edges are straight, the corners are slightly rounded but still hold their shape, the colors are beautiful, the cardboard is still solid and the back is legible and besides some discoloration from wear on the edges is beautiful. The glaring problem is the ink stains on the front, some of the ink has begun to break down but is still visible. On the humorous side, with the ink splotches over his eyes it looks like Logston is wearing sunglasses.

When You Need A Laugh

I came across this card and it made me laugh. Someone at Rittenhouse has a sense of humor. Without the complete comic panel the context of this card’s imagery is really off-color humor. Seems like Bucky has given Captain America quite the "come from behind" surprise.

Should We Believe Preseason Hype?

It is time to begin stocking up on Geno Smith rookie cards.

 

Following a recent poll of NFL coaches and execs regarding next season’s potential starting NFL QBs Geno Smith was rated as the #32 ranked quarterback. His response, "If I'm No. 32, by this time next year or the year after, I expect to be in the top 5."

 

The poll ranked QBs in four tiers with Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Andrew Luck rounding out Tier 1 as the Top 5 QBs. So apparently Smith, who threw for 3,046 yards, 12 TDs and 21 INTs for an NFL worst 66.5 QB rating, plans on over taking Andrew Luck (the #5 Ranked QB), who threw for 3,822 yards, 23 TDs, 9 INTs and a 87.0 QB rating.

 

Geno Smith had some good outings last year, in the Jets 8 wins Smith threw 10 TDs compared to 5 INTs and an 89.6 QB rating. On the flip side in the Jets 8 losses he threw 2 TDs compared to 16 INTs and a 39.6 QB rating and includes two games with 0 TDs and 3 INTs and two games with a QB rating of 10.1 or less. At this point he isn't even the best QB on the Jets roster.

 

I don’t doubt he has the ability to get better but then so did Mark Sanchez, who got better over his first three seasons before collapsing on 2012. I think Smith’s biggest obstacle to overcome will be the Jets themselves.

 

I think we can hold off on rushing to snatch up Smith’s cards, I seriously doubt he will be a Top 5 QB within the next two years unless 27 other QBs suddenly succumb to a 17-week flu.

 

At least he isn’t like some of the other Jets players like CB Dee Miliner claiming to be the #1 player at his position, even though he only played in 13 games and was benched multiple times, or like LB Calvin Pace who claims the Jets have the league’s best defense, even though they were ranked #20 last year, #19 in 2012 and #20 in 2011.

 

To add insult to injury Michael Vick yesterday said that he feels that Geno Smith is 10% better than last year. When you consider that Smith was a hyped up rookie you would expect a significantly better than 10% increase in skill. He should be running the First Team with precision now, not still learning how to read defenses and run through progressions.

Green Lantern + Big Bang Theory Sheldon Wardrobe Card = Awesome

I am a huge Green Lantern fan and I enjoy Big Bang Theory so I think that Cryptozoic did a wonderful job with the placement of the shirt piece so that Hal Jordan’s masked face is perfectly centered in the window. Sheldon's (Played by Jim Parsons) shirt relic cards tend to run more than the other actor's relic cards with his Green Lantern shirt relic cards usually topping $50 or more, but paying $1,200 is quite a bit more than I would ever consider paying for something like this but I can understand the premium that a card like this would demand.

Instant Collection, Just Add Wasted Money

For the up and coming collector I found the deal for you, 1.2 million collectibles for the low low price of $20,000 plus shipping (not listed). For the price of a car you get an amazing collection that breaks down to only 17 cents per item. These items are part of a closing store’s inventory, if this is the type of product the store attempted to sell I can understand why it is now closed.

 

The collection is made up of junk wax complete sets, boxes, hand collated collections, singles, Starting Lineups and other collectible items. Toss in some “hits” like Brian Griese jersey relics and Travis Wilson autographs, vintage cards form the 1970s and 80s (vintage?), rookies from amazing players like Brady Quinn and on and on.

 

About the only thing of true value is a Barry Bonds autographed baseball and a couple of pucks signed by Mike Richter and Adam Graves. The collection might be fun to look through and some items could be useful to player collectors but in all honesty there is very little value, despite the fact that the seller lists Beckett values up to $40 for various cards. The seller, who has 100% positive on 151 feedback, has only 2 feedback in the past two years and has not sold anything since 2011.

This is the type of listing that belongs on Craigslist.

The Best Of All

Today I close my week of Griffey with my favorite Griffey pulls/pick ups of all time. I began collecting Ken Griffey Jr. cards in 1993 shortly after I returned to collecting. Selecting Griffey was an obvious choice for me, he was my favorite player on my favorite team.

 

My collection was actually pretty decent but sadly when I was divorced in 1997 my ex-wife was quite vindictive and before she left she trashed a portion of my collection while I was at work, which is why I have so many Griffey ghosts. In the past 17 years I have been slow building up my Griffey collection, which is why I only had 92 unique cards earlier this year, partially due to my frustration of not wanting to re-purchase cards that I once owned.

 My Top 10 All-Time Griffey cards in chronological order…

My first pick up was the 1989 Upper Deck #1 Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card:

 

That was followed up with 1990 Leaf #245:

 

One of my favorite products in 1993 was Studio and this 1993 Studio #96 was my first Griffey pulled from a pack:

 

In 1996 holograms and die-cuts were becoming the rage and Upper Deck was leading the charge by putting them together with the SPx release. I still remember pulling this 1996 SPx #55 during a visit to my LCS:

 

Glow in the dark cards are awesome, there just aren’t enough of them around. This 1997 Score The Franchise #1 glow in the dark parallel was an eBay pick up a couple of years ago. I have since added the 1993 Upper Deck Glow Stars #111 to my collection too:

 

I have never pulled a Griffey autograph or relic, which sucks, but I have added a number of them to my collection. I picked this 2006 Sweet Signature #138 autograph about 6 years ago:

 

I love oddball cards, the more odd the better. One of my favorites is this 1999 Upper Deck Happy Holiday #HH-1 Santa Hat relic, a 5x7 card. These were Upper Deck exclusives given out to employees and vendors. Over the years UD has also produced Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, Wayne Gretzky and Tiger Woods holiday related cards:

By far my favorite Griffey relic card is my 2000 Upper Deck Ovation Japanese #S-KG Shoe relic. I am enamored with the Japanese culture and when my LCS got a couple of packs of the Japanese 2000 UD Ovation in 2001 I bought them all in hopes of pulling anything Griffey related and had no luck. I hunted this card down shortly afterwards for roughly $25, an insane bargain. By far this is the most yellow relic I have ever seen (And I love it):

 

This 2000 Stadium Club Play At The Plate #PP4 Dirt relic card is my third favorite Griffey relic card (after the next card on the list). The dirt included is from a batter’s box but it doesn’t say any specific stadium.

 

The final card on my list is the 2003 Upper Deck Vintage #CA-KG Capping The Action baseball cap relic. I really dig the design with the old-school television set displaying the baseball cap relic.

 

Like yesterday I am slipping an 11^th card in to my Top 10 list. This card is more a sentimental selection due to the timing of its addition to my collection.

 

In 1999 I took my girlfriend to Las Vegas on a much needed vacation. We went for a walk and ended up at the legendary Smokey’s Card Shop. I picked up a pack of 1999 Topps Gold Label and opened it in the shop. While talking to the owner’s wife she asked who I collected and before I left she pulled out this card from behind the counter and handed it to me because in her words “We were a cute couple”. Two days later we were back home in Seattle and I took my wife to the place where we had gone on our first date and proposed. We were married later that year and 15 years later she is still my rock as well as having a lucky hand when she is selecting packs.