William Strikes Again- Signed Ball Exchange!

Hey guys, Drew back here! Although it isn't Friday yet, the week is already over for me, because due to the impending huge snow storm here in the Northeast, school's already been cancelled for tomorrow, and there's also a good chance we'll miss Monday! Talk about a great way to kick off the weekend!

A week or so ago, I received probably the largest package I've ever gotten from my closest hobby friend, William! I wasn't exactly surprised, since he's been so generous to me along with several other bloggers over the years. Plus, part of what was inside I knew would be there, as it was part of our recent autograph trade. However, although he mentioned a few small things here and there, I didn't see any of this stuff coming! Take a look:

First and foremost, recently William helped his family make some custom shirts for his dad Ken Regenthal, who's basically raced most of his life. William was kind enough to make a few spare shirts, and he sent one over for me, which I thought was really thoughtful! It may be a bit much to wear to school, however I'll certainly make great use of it, as I normally do with T-shirts.

Second, he also promised to save me one of the programs from the Pirates game he attended during last season (you can read about his experience here)! He forgot to send it for a little while, but I was really in no rush to receive it, since he was doing me a favor anyway. Boy, were the Pirates a great story in the beginning of the season. They've become my favorite National League team by a long shot, so I'll be rooting for a nice rebound season, and hopefully a little playoff baseball for once!

Next, he threw in a few Yankees extras, all being from products that I haven't gotten much (if any) opportunity to check out yet. Bowman Chrome is great for purchasing singles, but I mean come on, 3 cards a pack is a ripoff unless you pull a superfractor autograph of Mike Trout. However, the design is very sharp, and I really like the way the Banuelos insert looks. As for the Thurman Munson out of Panini Golden Age, it just seems like you could make many celebrity lookalikes using it. It's a great card though.

Also, he tossed in an opened pack of Topps Prime football, probably because he didn't really have any interest in any of the cards. I'll take them though! I've really slacked off collecting football cards lately, and to be quite honest I didn't even find the Super Bowl all that exciting to be honest. Baseball season is right on the way though!

All of the preceeding stuff was really awesome and appreciated, however this item here was the core of our most recent trade:

In exchange for the Harold Baines baseball I got signed during my recent card show, William sent me this Jim Palmer signed baseball, with the 'HOF 90' inscription and all! It was a sad day for the Orioles organization the day the ball was signed, as Palmer's former manager Earl Weaver passed away. I never got to write a tribute for Mr. Weaver (nor Stan Musial for that matter) because I was knee deep in midterm exams, however I offer my deepest condolences for their families and their organizations.

Even though it was a tough morning for Orioles fans, Fanfest proceeded, and Palmer signed the ball for William. You can read all about it here! I really appreciate William getting this ball signed for my new and growing signed baseball collection!

Thank you so much William for all of this, as well as all of the other great things you've done for me over the years! I hope you enjoy the Baines ball when you eventually get it!

See Ya!

Mail from William... Orioles Fanfest Pickup!

Hey guys, Drew back here. You may be a bit puzzled as to why the title contains "Orioles Fanfest Pickup", following "Mail from William", who is an Orioles fan. However, William recently went with his son to this year's Orioles Fanfest to meet many O's stars, past and present. One of the stars there was one I wanted pretty badly for my custom set. I didn't get the custom done in time, but William was still awesome enough to get a card signed for me. He sent it over my way a week or so ago, and it came out awesome! Before we get to that, first here are a few extras he threw in:

First are just a few mixed Yankees. Besides the Matsui, I don't think I had any of the others. But who knows. My basement is such a mess.

I thought this was pretty sweet. It's a Don Mattingly card from 1992 Upper Deck, part of the "Iooss Collection". Walter Iooss Jr. was a photographer who apparently took all of the photographs for this set. This card is numbered 5673 of 10,000, and features an awesome picture of Donnie Baseball. Definitely needed that one, for sure.

While those were cool, the main piece of the package was this signed 1973 Topps card of Jim Palmer! Like I said, I didn't get my card to him in time to get it signed, but this looks really awesome. He signed it in thick black sharpie, and the card is in pretty decent shape. Palmer was considered one of the, perhaps the best pitcher of the 1970's, winning 3 Cy Young awards and making 6 All Star teams. I already own one autograph of his, from one of those early 90's Nabisco products, but this one is my favorite of the two.

Thanks again William for doing this for me, it really means a lot!

See Ya!

Complete Autograph Set? Yes Sir!

Hey guys, Drew back here. A few nights ago, I was talking to my buddy William about my new autographs from my dad, the Jim Palmer and Duke Snider ones. He said I should consider doing the set, so I checked eBay to see who else was in the set. I had a few already, and oddly enough, those 2 plus the 2 I just got were the only cards to be found! And after checking Beckett, Check Out My Cards, it seems that I have completed the 1994 Nabisco Legends Autograph Set!

So, in this set, there are 4 cards, all autographed by Hall of Famers. They include mini seperate certificates of authenticity and are one of the first autographed sets produced. 1993 was the 1st year Nabisco did these, and I have the Catfish Hunter autograph from that set. As far as these players go, you can't get a whole lot better than them! Bob Gibson was one of the most feared pitchers of the 60's, and his 1.12 ERA in 1968 is a Major League record! Jim Palmer won 268 games for the Orioles, and was one of the top 70's pitchers. Frank Robinson hit 586 home runs over 21 seasons for the Reds, Orioles, Dodgers, Angels, and Indians, coming close to 3,000 hits. And Duke Snider was one of the greatest center fielders of all time! Combined between the 4 players are 37 All Star appearances and 9 World Series championships! Wow!

Dad got me all 4 cards at some points, from the same sellers, and boy is that a nice set to have or what? Next up is 1993 Nabisco, let's do it!

See Ya!

Christmas Gift from Dad! Sweet Stuff!

Hey guys, Drew back here. So, it's becoming a tradition every year for Dad to go out of his way and go Craigslist crazy for my Christmas gift. He loves getting lots of cards and hoping for nice finds, which we certainly have found in the past, the best being a 1980 Rickey Henderson rookie card. This time, he got 4 sets, a 300ct box of Yankees, a few Hall of Famer autos, and a good 17 relics. I didn't wanna overload you guys on scans, so I made one of those video slideshows for the first time in a long time. Check it out!

I will show you scans of the two biggest cards in case you couldn't view the video. On top of the box were 2 Hall of Famer autographs, and they were of Orioles Great Jim Palmer and Dodgers Great Duke Snider! I got Snider TTM but this is a sweet addition to the Hall of Fame PC and I did need Palmer which was cool. Both were from the Nabisco All Stars set, which is a really cheap and affordable set for Hall of Fame autographs! Each card comes with a certificate of authenticity, and they display nice photography. I own the Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson, Duke Snider, Jim Palmer, Bob Gibson, and Catfish Hunter autos from this set now, and I don't know if I'm done yet!

Thanks so much Dad! See Ya!