The Rest of my Commons from Just Commons!

Hey everyone, Drew back here! I can't believe how quickly my second semester of college has gone. Three weeks remain, including finals week, and then I'll be off for my first college summer vacation. I recently started working at Dick's Sporting Goods as a cashier, so hopefully after a few weeks of saving I'll be able to become even more involved with the hobby. It's nice to finally be receiving money rather than solely spending it, and I'm excited for the summer! 

Today, I wanted to wrap up my first order from JustCommons.com. On Wednesday, I shared my seven new Joe Panik PC additions, and along with those, I was able to knock off 

2004 Topps was the first set I was given for Christmas from my parents, and sure enough over the years of elementary and middle school I managed to lose pieces of it. I traded some cards away (why?) and with that I recently decided to put it back together, put the cards in a binder and store them away. I'm not a very big fan of the set, although I've always liked the little outline drawings of the players in the bottom left corner of the cards. After this purchase, I'm down to needing only three cards to complete the set (I can't seem to find which three I'm missing at the moment, but when I do I'll leave them at the end of this post). I added 24 cards, including of players I collect so I can tuck those away with my PC's while still having the cards in the set binder. Perhaps my favorite part of the set are all the Postseason Highlights cards starring the Yankees and Red Sox. Ah, the good ol' days.

I also attacked a few of my other collections, including some I rarely pay attention to anymore. I couldn't pass up an Allen & Ginter Cano card, although I'm still trying to adjust to that Mariners uniform. As for Hensley, well, it sounds like it's going to be yet another uphill battle for the poor guy. Not only was he attacked over the offseason in his hometown and brutally injured, but he also had to have Tommy John Surgery. Ty seems like a really good kid, and he was great signing for me through the mail, and I wish him all the best with his recovery; I know the TJ Surgery news was crushing to him.

Andrew McCutchen was the other player I focused on with this order, because I was missing some pretty key base cards of his from over the years. I don't ever expect to have all the 1/1's and autographs, but I'd like to at least gain most of the players I collect's base cards from their playing days. Cutch isn't off to the greatest start of his career in 2015, but he's a consistent force to be reckoned with that should not be taken lightly. 

Topps Stadium Club is such an awesome product, and as soon as I knew this card of my all time favorite pitcher existed I wanted to add it to my collection. Sure enough, I was able to add this, as well as the following card of Mo's; both of which depicted a very special night in Yankee Stadium: his final game.

This was such a fantastic baseball moment that will most likely be overshadowed forever by the way Derek Jeter went out. I don't think Mariano minds this all that much, though. I wanted to make sure I had something to remember this game by, and this 2014 Topps will certainly do the trick. Topps has done a great job highlighting all the recent Yankee retirements, and I'm excited to see who will be the next player (from this current team or in the future) to make their mark on the franchise half as much as Jeter and Mariano did.

I was very pleased with my first JustCommons.com purchase, and I hope to add more cards from their site in the future. If you haven't given it a chance yet, I highly recommend you do. While Sportlots may provide you cheaper prices, JustCommons has a universal shipping cost that probably will save you money in most cases. And don't worry Check Out My Cards, you're not going anywhere. I'm still loyal, I swear.

*UPDATE: Here are the cards I am currently missing from my 2004 Topps set: 20, 67, 98, 365, 693! Email me at yanks1996wsc@gmail.com if you have any of these and are willing to trade!*

See Ya!

A One of a Kind TTM Mailday!

Hey guys, Drew back here! I've been collecting a few great through the mail successes lately to eventually put into a post together for you all to check out... and here we are:

Daniel Hudson: 2/2 (460 Days, Received July 19th)

Talk about a player who just can't seem to catch a break. Hudson emerged in 2011 as a potential future ace for the Diamondbacks, but in 2012 he underwent Tommy John surgery, and on his way back from the surgery he tore the ligament in his elbow for the second time, which required a second procedure. Luckily, he is starting to pitch again, and while he may never be the same pitcher with 16 wins and an ERA well under 4, it'll be nice to see him grace the mound again. In the meantime, after over a year of waiting, he signed and personalized two cards for my collection! Both came out beautiful, and I'll be rooting for him to come back stronger than ever before!

Ken Singleton: 2/2 (12 Days, Received July 19th)

I've listened to Ken Singleton call Yankee games with Michael Kay my whole life, and while he may not be recognized for his work; I've always considered myself a fan of his. He signed a 1972 and 1973 Topps card for me, and now I can say I have both primary Yankee announcers autographs (I obtained Michael Kay's at FanFest last year)!

Mike Cameron: 2/2 (14 Days, Received July 21st)

I'll always remember Mike Cameron for his defensive prowess, so it was only fitting that I had him sign a 2007 Gold Glove card! He was a very underrated, great all around player throughout his 17 years in the league, and I'm really glad I got to add his autograph to my collection.

Ty Hensley: 2/2 (14 Days, Received July 21st)

Pretty cool right? I had a brief but effective stint last year buying some of Hensley's cards while he recovered from hip surgery, and I ended up sending him two of those cards requesting an autograph. I would normally never risk sending a card as valuable as a printing plate, but I knew he was a reliable signer, and I have the cyan plate too just in case anything were to go wrong. I thought it would be cool to own a signed printing plate, but I also told Ty I'd be willing to trade him both printing plates I owned for some game used memorabilia. He didn't seem to have interest in the offer but signed the plate for me, as well as the blue parallel to the left numbered to 500. I hope Hensley can recover from all his injuries and pitch like he did before, because he could end up being a difference maker one day for the Yankees!

Bobby Doerr: 3/2 (15 Days, Received July 22nd)

I felt kind of bad sending to Mr. Doerr again, especially as he continues to age, but I really wanted to get the two Pacific cards he has signed for my set. I bit the bullet, and they both came back signed, and you can clearly see that Doerr's signature is beginning to get a little shaky. However, at 96 years old I'm pretty sure that's something to be expected. I absolutely love the painting card on the left, and these cards mark numbers 21 and 22 in my Pacific autograph set!

Doerr also gave me a signed 2007 Topps "Distinguished Service" insert on top of the cards I requested! I think this mistakenly placed in my envelope, but I'm not complaining because I really like this insert set and the cards look even better sporting signatures. It's really awesome to have something reflecting on a different part of Doerr's life as opposed to his baseball career, since he's lived an amazing 96 years full of achievements. This was as good of an added bonus as its going to get.

Vernon Wells: 2/2 (18 Days, Received July 25th)

Unfortunately, the Yankees didn't get an awful lot out of Vernon on his pit stop in the Bronx, but I'll always remember him more for being the star of the Toronto Blue Jays as I began to watch baseball (along with Roy Halladay). Wells ranks around the lines of Mike Cameron as far as stat lines go, but the presence Wells made as a five tool player in his prime was frightening to face for a while. He also was in the lineup at the first baseball game I ever went to, so it's definitely a signature I've needed for a while. He signed a 2001 and 2014 Topps card for me, and both cards came out great!

July was a really successful month for my collection as you can see. I was able to add some needed autographs without spending anything but the price of stamps! This month I've got some more in store, as I'm starting to work on fixing up my basement and sort things out before I leave two weeks from now. I've got a card show and a bunch of TTM requests to send out in the meantime, and I'll let you all know how things go when I get there! But for now, See Ya!

Get Well Soon Ty! Recent PC Pickups

Hey guys, Drew back here! As many of you know, I recently started a new player collection; 2012 Yankees 1st round draft pick Ty Hensley! Unfortunately, the well touted prospect just recently underwent successful hip surgery, and will be out for a good chunk of the 2013 season. In order to wish him a proper get well, take a look at some of the cards I recently added of his:

I made a Check Out My Collectibles purchase about a month ago, taking home a bunch of great new cards for my collection (you'll see most of those another day). With the few bits and pieces of store credit I had left, I added a few Hensley cards to deepen my collection of his. Of course, I added the 2012 Bowman Chrome base and refractor, two pretty essential cards towards any prospect collection.

I also added these two parallels from the regular Bowman set; the orange and blue ones in particular. The orange is numbered 208 of 250; the blue numbered 390 of 500. I'm not the kind of collector who would chase multiples of the same card; I've always liked just having one of a card. I'm not against it though, so if you guys have any of these cards for trade I'd love to take them off your hands.

I bought this one off of eBay for less than $10 delivered, the Bowman red ice parallel numbered 1/25! It's a beautiful card; easily one of my favorites in the small but ever growing collection. I was surprised it didn't go for more than it did, because of the scarcity and the whole "eBay 1/1" spiel, but I'm definitely glad it didn't.

I've been selling quite a bit on COMC (although I've hit a dry spell of late), and I was able to fund enough $ to buy this sweet Hensley magenta printing plate! It's been a while since I've been able to add a 1/1 card to my collection, but after selling my Torii Hunter SP Legendary Cuts 1/1; I felt like I should replace it with something I liked more. 

But wait! There's more! I also happened to stumble upon the Cyan plate on eBay, and I got it for $10 less than I paid for the magenta. It was a great price, and my opinion, the better of the two!

Despite the injury, I'm still confident that Ty will be able to rebound and get to the majors one day! I'll definitely be rooting for him when he does! Get well soon!

See Ya!

March 24th White Plains Show Pickups

Hey guys, Drew back here! So, on Sunday, Dad and I took a quick trip down to White Plains! I didn't bring as much money as I usually do, but I still had a good time and got some nice deals. The main reason I wanted to go was because some personal favorites of mine were signing autographs, and I wanted to add them into my signed baseball collection. You'll get to see all of that tomorrow, but for now, take a look at what I was able to pick up!

A little while into the show, I found a younger guy selling a bunch of prospect and star autographs, which is usually what I look for at these shows. Over time, I've composed a list of my Top 100 favorite players, and my goal is to eventually have an autograph of all of them (I have 66 of the 100)! However, this Ty Hensley autograph from the new Bowman Sterling stood out first to me, since I had the refractor version already. He wanted $8 for the card, which was a bit much for this one for me, so I tried to see if he could work with me. 

I then saw this sweet Zack Greinke autograph from 2004 Topps, and decided to ask the price on it. He said it books between $20 and $30, but then said he'd give me the two cards for $20! I couldn't pass up that offer, as Greinke had been an autograph on my list for a while now. However, I decided to keep looking and make sure there weren't any other cards I wanted. 

Well, there was one more, this sweet 2006 Upper Deck F/X Matt Cain autograph! Again, I inquired on the card, and he said it books around $30, but he'd give it to me for $10! I hadn't seen a Matt Cain autograph for around $10 in ages, so I pounced at the 3 for $30 offer he gave me! Cain and Greinke were two of the top pitchers I've wanted, so it was awesome to knock them both off in one swing. I don't believe that Greinke is deserving of the fattest contract for a right handed pitcher ever, but I guess he showed up to free agency at the right time.

Then, Dad & I went to a table ran by two girls that usually have the nicest new cards in the building. They have all sorts of rare 1/1's, printing plates, and parallels of prospects, you know; the stuff all out of my price range. However, they also had some mid-end stuff, including this beautiful Tyler Austin Bowman Chrome autograph! Austin's prices have skyrocketed since he became the Yankees 2nd best prospect according to many lists, so I've had a hard time getting a hold of this one for a solid price. Fortunately, I paid $30 for this one, which is certainly fair according to eBay value. The last time I spent $30 on a prospect autograph it was of Manny Banuelos, who proceeded to get injured directly after the purchase, crushing his stock. Hopefully that doesn't happen this go round.

My Dad decided to treat me to a sweet card also from the same girls, this 2006 Topps Finest Robinson Cano autograph! I can never add enough autographs of my favorite semi-affordable player, and Dad understood that by helping me out here. Now the 9th Cano autograph in my collection, this one is up there as one of the shiniest (go grammar!) of his that I own. However, this is already an old autograph in my Cano collection... and you'll see what I mean in a few days. 

Before Dad and I left the show we also picked up a jumbo pack of 2013 Topps! I haven't gotten to open any of it yet but made it a priority to do so at the show. I really like the design, and I think a lot of them would look great signed TTM. I counted about 8 cards in the 50 card pack that will probably be going out in the mail once the season starts, so hopefully I'll get a few of those back as well. It's amazing to see how clear and visually appealing Topps' flagship products have gotten over the years. I'm definitely impressed, even though I'm not exactly a huge Topps fan thanks to their poor customer service.

Fortunately, I did awesome on the inserts, although I didn't get a hit in the pack. I don't think I'd trade any of these, except for the Lowe emerald which will probably go towards William's set chase. By the way, if anyone has any of those emeralds laying around, be sure to go check out his blog and see if you can help with his daunting task! Final thoughts: the Calling Cards seem pretty pointless but I love the die-cuts and '72 minis! I tried the Million Dollar Chase and it is pretty lame. If anyone wants Desmond Jennings (who went undrafted in my 8 team fantasy draft) for their Topps team let me know.

Thanks again to Dad for taking me to the show and for the Cano! I've got a whole lot of awesome things to come; be on the lookout! See Ya!

Happy Spring Training! Yankees Prospect Mailday!

Hey guys, Drew back here! Today is one of the greatest days of the year: the first day of Spring Training baseball! In honor of this special day for so many young prospects that finally get the chance to show the pros what they've got; I have a few sweet prospect autographs of one of my favorite Yankee prospects to show off! I've been picking up a lot of 2012 Yankees 1st round pick Ty Hensley's cards on eBay lately; all for relatively cheap prices. I watched some footage of him pitching, and I was very impressed with his tools. However, I'd still say he's got about a 50/50 shot of being a solid major league starting pitcher. I decided to take the risk though, and I may add him to my list of PC's!

The first autograph of Hensley's I picked up was his regular Bowman Chrome auto, which was kind of an accidental pickup. When I saw this auction, the scan made the card look like a refractor, and I didn't read into the details enough to notice that it was just the regular autograph. Nonetheless, I think it's cool that Hensley makes an attempt to sign his full name on every card, even though the letters are a little sloppy. 

I ended up buying his Bowman Sterling refractor autograph a few days later, because the price of shipping cost more than the price of the card! For such a low price; I couldn't pass it up, and it sure is a beautiful card in person. 

I already have a few more sweet Hensley cards to show off, but I figured I'd start with a few autos to kick this new PC off with a bang! If anyone has any card of his for trade, please let me know! Thanks everyone, and Happy Spring Training to you all!

See Ya!