The Goals Of 2016

I initially had a full write up about what I want to accomplish in the coming years but looking back I see that I had some pretty basic goals and reached some while missing others. I figured that if I have the focus I will accomplish what I want to do and anything I miss is because I did not have the proper time or full commitment so setting these as goals seemed rather moot anyway.

Since I will not be setting any specific goals I just want to get back to enjoyment I once had as a collector. I had a tough 2015 and I have to admit there were some days where I was ready to throw everything in, I wasn't able to write and I had not interest in picking up cards. I just really want to find the collector in me again.

The End Of A Year

Goodbye To 2015.. And Good Riddance

This year has been quite devastating to the Corky family and my life has changed greatly because of it.

The year began with my 16-year old cat having to be put down after fighting an aggressive cancer in January.

My aunt, who I was her caretaker since October 2014, lost her battle with lung cancer that metastasized in June.

My great aunt passed away due to complications from Alzheimers in October

In between all fi that I got divorced after 16 years of marriage.

This is a year where I have been picking up the pieces since January, had I tossed in a move or job change I think I would have hit all the major stressors in life. There have been a number of days I have had a hard time writing so on the good days I would write multiple posts so I had something I could post on days I had writer’s block.

 

Regarding my 2015 Blogger Goals

-Post 22 times a month

Half done, I posted 7 out of 12 months (58%)
 

 

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

Done, though I did not do much of additional series.

 

-Celebrate 6 years of blogging in June after missing last year

Missed, my aunt passed away on my 6 year blogiversary so I was in no condition to do anything special.
 

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

Missed (sort of), I did interact with more bloggers but I only accomplished 3 trades.

 

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

Done with room to spare. I am currently at 552 unique Griffey cards.

 

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

Half done, I doubled the size of my Ryan Bader collection but only added a couple of cards to my Largent and Kerr collection.

Happy New Year

I would like to wish everyone a safe and happy New Years Eve!

The Top Pickups Of 2015

With the year ending I was doing a mental countdown of my favorite pickups of 2015 and originally I wanted to keep it to a Top 10 and by the time I was ready to write the post I was up to 20 cards so I removed a couple of cards that were not as important to me and ended up using some creative manipulating and finished with my Top 10 list plus 2 Honorable Mentions

1.      Ken Griffey Jr. 1990 Topps Foil Test & 1991 Topps Desert Storm

2.      2010 Topps UFC Ryan Bader Nickname parallel

3.      1977 Topps Carrie Fisher autograph

4.      1988 Score Traded Jay Buhner XRC

5.      2014 Upper Deck Lauren Hill Heroic Inspirations

6.      1988 Topps Brian Bosworth RC

7.      Wrestling Trilogy

8.       Kenny Powers collection and customs

9.     1977 El Paso Sun Kings Kurt Russell custom

10.  2011 Leaf Family Guy LaVar Burton and Alfonso Riebeiro autographs

Honorable Mention

Randy Couture TTM

Macklemore TTM for my nephew

Luke I Am Your Father... Well Sort Of

With the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens it seems like Star Wars cards are all over the place and prices range drastically. Autographs and sketch cards are drawing major attention but if you watch carefully enough you can find a deal.

There are some actors that I would love to get a hold of their autographs but usually prices are pretty insane for some of the main characters in the movies and cartoons but sometimes a gem will fall when it is listed wrong with an incorrect title or listed under the wrong category and so far I have been able to grab three of those falling gems.

Earlier this year I picked up an IP Carrie Fisher and Tom Kane and now I picked up Dave Prowse, the actor who played Darth Vader in Episode III, IV and V. The Carrie Fisher card was listed just as “Fisher”, Tom Kane’s cards can really vary in price and I just got lucky and now the Prowse card was listed as a “Star Wars Card Lot Steve Prowse”.

Prowse played Darth Vader physically in the three movies and was the original voice of Vader before the switch was made to James Earl Jones. Prowse is actually a pretty good signer and has one of the most beautiful autographs from the Star Wars series. The signature is done in beautiful silver ink along the left side of the card.

Merry Christmas To All

Merry Christmas to all of my readers and I hope you have a safe and wonderful holiday.

The Art Gallery: ACEO Stewie Vader

This month’s Art Gallery display comes from Nicole Falk a freelance illustrator who also works in other mediums too. She has worked mainly with Topps on various sets but most notably a couple of different Star Wars set.

This is an art card, not part of an official set and I am guessing it is a custom card purchase. This is actually my second Family Guy custom sketch card, in 2014 I picked up a Stewie/GPK card by Chenduz. This one combines two of my interest with Family Guy and Star Wars. This specific image comes from Family Guy: It’s A Trap parody of Return Of The Jedi where Stewie’s Darth Vader mask is removed so Chris’ Luke can see his face.

Happy Festivus

A Festivus for the rest of us!

You may now begin the airing of grievances...

A Deserved Second Chance?

Former #1 draft pick Matt Bush is in the news again but this time for something good. Bush has had many legal issues, all connected to alcoholism, and most recently served 3 ½ years in prison after a DUI hit and run where he injured a 72-year old man. Since his release he has stated that he has been sober since March 2012 and is ready to move on to the next chapter in his life.

Bush signed with the Texas Rangers Friday and will be 30-years old when Spring Training rolls around in February. During his fall from grace he has been part of now 4 organizations originally being drafted as a shortstop by the Padres before being converted to a pitcher. In 2009 he was traded by the Padres to the Blue Jays who released him after having a drunken run-in with police. He signed with the Rays in 2011 but released when he was ordered to serve time in prison.

He has not had the best career as a short stop or pitcher but because he has acknowledged his demons, done his time and wants to move forward it makes me want to root for him. As the former 2004 #1 pick he has plenty of cards, including autographs and relics, in various 2004 sets and a couple of 2005 sets but that is all for now. Obviously now would be the time to start picking up his cards if you think he can make it to the big league, but at the age of 30 years old time seems to be against him.

A Custom Christmas Package From Gavin

The other day I received a nice Christmas package from Gavin of Baseball Card Breakdown that was tailored to my interests, I would like to thank Gavin for the package I am very grateful.

I will begin with the custom 1987 Topps LaMarr Ho Ho Hoyt Christmas tree ornament. Hoyt has been transformed in to Father Christmas complete with beard and red cap. The card has a hole punch and string and is ready to hang on the Corky family tree.

Next up is a 1947 Goudey Indian Gum Luqaiot card. I will admit I was a bit confused by this one, I have 1933 Goudey Indian Gum cards and I thought this one was from that release but I noticed there was something different. The 1933 Indian Gum cards have green ink on the back, this card is black, and most of the cards that depict a specific warrior have a “Goudey Gum 1933” logo on the front. Additionally the bottom of the back of the cards is different. I didn’t even know that the set had been reprinted by Goudey in 1947, so this was a learning experience for me. The 1933 Luqait is on the bottom for comparison.

This was also a personalized card from Gavin, I lived in the Seattle area for half of my life and Luqaiot was a warrior from the Salishan Tribe in the Pacific Northwest out of the Kittitas Valley in Washington.

Now on to the freaking awesome part of the package, Ken Griffey Jr.

A 2015 BCD Ken Griffey Jr. Cardsphere Heroes #5 (A Green Star- Orange Ink #1/1)

 

The back of the card includes bloggers from the Cardsphere who collect Griffey. What makes this card even cooler to me, above all the coolness it already has, is that I have wanted a Griffey card depicting him in a Seattle Mariners Turn Ahead The Clock jersey. On July 18, 1998 the Mariners wore a “Future” jersey against the Royals, also wearing a “Future” jersey (The Mariners won 8-5). In 1999 Twenty teams, including the Mariners and Royals, wore TATC jerseys.

Surprisingly no card companies jumped on board, now you would expect to see a SSSSSP version included in a Topps set but in 1998-99 they all missed the chance to make a subset or insert with these jerseys so collectors who want them stick to custom cards and now I have one.

The final Griffey custom card is one that I have wanted for a while, Gavin makes some of the coolest custom cards and like me he is a fan of glow in the dark. Using the 1992 Topps design he created a magnet card using an image from the 1992 Simpsons Episode “Homer At The Bat”, one of the best episodes ever. To make it better he used glow in the dark strips as the border so now the card sits proudly over my printer in all of its Simpsons/Glow in the dark glory.