2012 East Coast National Recap! (Pt. 4)

Hey guys, Drew back here, with the 4th and final installment of my little card show series. Finally, after waiting almost an entire week, I got my hands on my pictures that were taken at the show, and I was pretty impressed with how they came out. It must have been a nerve-wracking experience for photographers back in the day when they couldn't view what they just took, so I guess I learned a pretty valuable lesson: never leave the camera home! With that said, let's finish this review out strong; here are the players I was fortunate enough to meet last Saturday!

The first former player I met was former Twins pitcher (among other teams) Jim Kaat! Kaat is a pretty well known name around baseball, given his 25 year career spanning the 50's, 60's, 70's, and 80's, as well as being a broadcaster basically from his retirement on. He made 3 All Star teams in his long career, but easily the most impressive statistic on his resume is his 16 gold gloves; the most by any pitcher in MLB history! "Kitty" Kaat retired with 283 wins and 237 losses, with an ERA of 3.45. 

A lot of people have talked about whether he should be in the Hall of Fame or not. Personally, while he was a very nice man, and I've always enjoyed listening to his broadcasts, I don't believe his statistics were dominant enough to put him in. He was a very good pitcher, but until Jack Morris gets in, I don't see Kaat getting in. 

He was a pretty nice guy though, even though he didn't really say a whole lot. I told him how I enjoy listening to his broadcasts, and he said he appreciated it, but besides that, not much else was said. I'm still very glad I took the opportunity to meet one of the few lifelong baseball men still around.  

Next, we met perhaps the greatest entertainer to ever put on the pinstripes, Mickey Rivers! I always loved hearing stories about Mickey through his Yankee days, like when he'd jump on the bullpen car begging the team not to bring in a certain pitcher, or starting plays in a runners position! He had a pretty solid career, and was a key contributor to the Yankees two World Series wins in 1977 and 1978. 

Rivers seemed to love the heck out of my signed Mickey Mantle photo, reading off all of the autographs and trying to identify who some of them were. A few players, Ron Blomberg in particular, made Mickey start cracking up, for reasons we're not all that sure. 

Finally, after he started to get bored reading off all of the autographs, he asked me where I wanted his signature, and I told him to put it anywhere. He ended up starting the right side of the picture with a nice, large autograph with his number 17! 

Mickey seems to love these autograph signings, with his big smile sticking out like a sore thumb throughout the show! He made it a really fun experience, and I can easily say he was one of the coolest players I've ever met, along with Ozzie Smith and Ernie Banks!

After Mickey, Dad and I jumped on the next line to meet the man behind the most legendary moustache in sports history, Rollie Fingers! Fingers was the 9th member of the Hall of Fame that I've gotten to meet, and it was a neat experience due to how influential he was towards the closer role in baseball that is a huge thing today! He pitched 17 seasons with the A's, Padres, and Brewers; making 7 All Star teams, winning 3 World Series, and his 1981 season earned him not only the Cy Young award, but the MVP as well! 

Rollie also wasn't the most open players I've met, but I told him how I made the custom card in his honor and he said it was pretty nice and he appreciated it. And, well, the moustache still is very much in tact, and it was an amazing sight to see, being a facial hair enthusiast!

Next was yet another borderline Hall of Famer, former first baseman Fred McGriff! I always had a lot of respect for McGriff, and I was thrilled when the "Crime Dog" was added to the lineup. I don't really know why, because I hardly know anything about him, but he just seems like a class act, and since there aren't any suspicions of him using PED's, it makes things a lot easier. Honestly, when you look at it, through that 1990's era, the best natural sluggers wound up being Jim Thome, Ken Griffey Jr, Frank Thomas, and Fred McGriff! He was only 7 home runs shy of 500 on his career, which was disappointing for him I'm sure, but it was a great career without a doubt.

I didn't have a whole lot to say other than what I wanted as an inscription, because I couldn't really think of much to say. He seemed like a pretty nice, humble guy though, which was nice. 

Former Yankees second baseman Willie Randolph was our next signer! I needed a little bit of money help to get an autograph ticket for him, and Dad obliged, which I really appreciated! We split the cost of the autograph ticket, which I've gone on record to say is a bit ridiculous for a player of his caliber. But then, after a big birthday turnout, and the thought of only having one chance to meet him, I decided to go for him as well. While Willie played for multiple teams during his career, he'll forever be known as a Yankee. 

The day before the show, I happened to be watching the final game at the old Yankee Stadium, which I had recorded back in 2008 onto a tape. When Randolph was announced during the player introductions, he took a slide into second base, so I had to commend him on his slide when I met him. He told me he ended up hurting his knee for about 3 weeks after that slide, but it was worth it because unlike the players who collected dirt into little holders, he went home with the dirt on his uniform, which he plans to hang up and frame in his house. I'm glad I remembered to bring that up when I got to talk to him, and he seemed like a really personable, nice guy.

Classic Photobomb by the guy in the background.. thanks buddy. 

The final player we met was the free guest of the day, should be Hall of Fame closer Lee Smith! We waited almost an hour to get this opportunity, as the free signer always has the longest line. However, even though his shift was almost over, Lee was still an awesome guy to us. He signed my Yankees picture, despite only pitching 8 innings for the Yankees (0 runs in those 8 by the way) in his very brief stint with them, as well as a card I had with me of his. Dad and I told him we believe his 478 saves deserve to have a Hall of Fame plaque, and we wished him the best of luck on getting into the Hall in the future. He said thank you to us, and  did a praying motion, saying he hopes he gets in one day. You have to feel for a player that is itching to make their way into Cooperstown. I'm rooting for Lee from now on. 

Still with me everyone? I know, the last few posts have dragged on and on, but I've had so many great opportunities lately that I need to document them somewhere! All of the signers we met were class acts, and fortunately, they all gave me very nice autographs too! Take a look:

Kaat is the second autograph below Mantle's right knee, and the other three are on the
top right corner. Up to 36 total autographs on the picture now!

Close up on Kaat

Rivers, Randolph, Smith

Bonus Smith autograph

Beautifully signed Fingers custom! But, not so sure how the signature
resembles Rollie, especially the 'R'... Help?

Got McGriff on a ball with a killer "Crime Dog" inscription! Sweet!

Well, I appreciate everyone who stuck it through to the end of my journey, and I'm curious to know how you think I made out! Thank you to everyone I met for the great experiences and especially to my Dad once again for sticking out even though you weren't feeling 100%!

See Ya!

2012 ECN Recap! (Pt.3) Gypsy Queen Break!

Hey everyone, Drew back here! At last weekend's show, Dad and I needed an alternate plan for pictures, because I accidentally left home without my camera. We ended up stopping at a grocery store along the way to pick up a disposable Fujifilm camera to use for meeting players. My mom just got the pictures done and is at work for now, so we're going to skip that until tomorrow, and continue on with our recap.

It has certainly been a while, but Dad, rather than buying singles for me at the show, decided to buy a box of 2012 Topps Gypsy Queen for us to open together! As I've mentioned, Gypsy Queen is definitely my favorite product of the year, due to several factors that I'll explain as I go through the recap. Every box contains the standard 24 packs, with 10 cards per pack, one being a mini card. Rather than having a box topper, every box contains a little 10 card exclusive mini pack featuring assorted minis you wouldn't find in the regular packs. To go along with all of this, there are 2 relics and 2 autographs per box on average. So, without further delay, let me proceed to reveal what we pulled out of our box!

We'll start with what came out of the mini pack, which we actually pulled 11 cards in. I was wondering why all of the cards didn't fit into the holder, and then I realized we were given one more than the average pack! All of the players were fairly big names; the biggest probably being Roy Halladay, Mark Teixeira, and Ryan Braun. We also pulled mini inserts of some, ya know, solid names- Josh Hamilton, Derek Jeter, and Dustin Pedroia. Not too bad!

The base cards feature a very elegant, yet intense design. The photos of the players are edited to have more of an artsy look, and I think they came out fantastic for the most part! Since I really enjoy a nice autographed card, I always look at how well the cards would come out signed, and well, a lot of these would look beyond awesome with an autograph across them!

Like I said when I opened a couple loose packs of GQ at the show, I absolutely love the variety as well. Many older players got themselves a card in the checklist, guys who are much more deserving of a card of this caliber than some lower level rookies Topps may have included a few years ago. I honestly can't see myself getting rid of any of these cards, they're just too nice!

Unfortunately, Topps had to throw in one of their relentless gimmicks to knock the set down a level, by including short printed cards featuring different photos than the regular base card has. I pulled six from what I could tell: Sabathia, Boggs, Weaver, DiMaggio, Strasburg, and Granderson; all being players I like. I also realized that the difference in the two DiMaggio cards is that the base card is zoomed in on him a little more. That's it. 

As stated earlier, every pack also comes with a mini, to go along with the box topper pack. I think Topps could've done better with this product if they didn't include the minis in the packs, and just had them as box toppers. They would be more limited, therefore increasing its value. All of these minis above are just the regular minis, but don't worry, Topps didn't forget to make things more complicated to set collectors.

What did I tell you. To go along with the exclusive box topper pack and the regular minis, Topps also threw in 4 red "Gypsy back" minis as well as 4 "Straight Cut" minis. Each are one in six packs, and while we pulled some solid names, I really don't see why these subsets are all that necessary. People may say Topps is trying to preserve the nostalgia; well, if they really wanted to do that, all the cards would be minis. Beautiful cards, yes, but with a lack of importance, they knock the set down a bit. 

Sorry everyone, but I'm not done with minis. We now have: the exclusive box topper pack, regular minis, Gypsy back minis, Straight Cut minis, black minis, AND green minis of every player in the set. And we wonder why this hobby has been dying down of late. One big chase for collectors is for all of a certain player or team's cards, but with the amount of cards of each of them out there today; those collectors will go broke on JUST the base and inserts. Topps, please, take notes, I'm preaching to a choir over here. 

Our final mini was this sepia toned mini of Aramis Ramirez, numbered 94 of 99. I like Ramirez, and this is kind of a cool idea, however, wouldn't they be so much cooler as rare throw ins in the exclusive mini pack? Personally, while the pack on top was cool, if they featured some semi-rare things like these, I would have enjoyed opening it a little more. 

Now, we go on to the concept subsets: Sliding Stars; Moonshots; and Glove Stories. I have a feeling the sliding stars idea wasn't really an idea, just Topps employees having fun with the program they use to edit the cards and making a fairly pointless set of it. I mean, these won't sell for much more than the base, considering I pulled 8 of them in my box. Again, great looking cards, but seriously, is this needed?

I think all of you know what I'll say here, and on the next insert, so I'll just show you what I pulled between Moonshots and Glove Stories.

Okay cool, now onto the good stuff! We pulled two of the blue framed parallels, Ian Kennedy and Josh Hamilton; both numbered out of 599! Hamilton is one of my favorite players, so I was so pumped to pull his insert out of a pack. I think Topps did a really good job with these parallels, because you only get a few a box, and they remain relatively rare. I think after years and years of parallel experience, Topps should have a good idea of how to get their cards to sell or not. This is one way that works. Oh, and by the way, these are the nicest looking cards we pulled in the box.

Finally, our 4 hits. First and foremost, we pulled this gray relic of Tim Hudson. Normally, I'd complain, as a swatch of Tim Hudson isn't a whole lot to write home about. However, the card looks sweet, and if I were a Braves fan, I'd be picking this up in a heartbeat. It is for trade, since I don't really have a use for it, but it wasn't too bad of a pull.

Also for trade is our second and final relic of the box, this framed one of Yovani Gallardo. I like the variety in the relics; how you get one framed and one basic relic per box.  Gallardo isn't a terrible pull either, and the relic has a cool feel to it, however I don't have much of a need for it either.

We didn't do too poorly in the autograph department either, the first being of Rangers first baseman Mitch Moreland. Any chance you get to pull a Ranger is a good chance, since it's almost a given that they'll still be around come October. It'd be cool to have pulled this and then watch Mitch come through in a clutch spot this fall. As for the card itself, well, besides for the sticky note yellow card back; it's awesome. Moreland has a solid autograph compared to most others, and the white fade look really makes the auto stick out well. 

The final autograph pull was a pretty nice one, being of Reds ace Johnny Cueto! I've always liked Cueto, as I mentioned a few weeks ago when I picked up an auto of his from the new Tier One set. He doesn't have as nice of an auto as Moreland- in fact, he only signs his first name, but it is an upgrade from when he was a rookie back in 2008. For now, I think I'm going to hang onto both, as he's currently looking like a major Cy Young candidate. However, if you make an offer I can't resist, I'll consider!

Overall, I'm a big fan of Gypsy Queen, no matter how many gimmicks try to knock it off its throne. I think the minis can be blended into one more universal set, with the sepia parallels coming one per box as a mini. The insert subsets I can live with, but they don't really seem to fit with the set idea very well. I'll give it an A- as a final grade, only because the minis tend to be a tad bit confusing to understand. Then again, after years of dealing with it in Allen & Ginter, most collectors are used to Topps' weird ways.

Thanks Dad for getting me the box again; I really enjoyed opening it up with you! Part 4, dedicated to all 6 players I met, coming right up!

See Ya!

2012 East Coast National Recap! (Pt. 2)

Hey everyone, Drew back here. It is now that time where I'll try to show you how I blew a good portion of my birthday money! Aren't you excited? Here goes.

First and foremost, there was a local dealer at our show that had a lot of football pictures for sale, all for fairly low prices. He was a nice guy, and although his stuff didn't have COA's, I trusted him because he told me each and every signing he got the pictures signed at. I remember Santonio Holmes having a local appearance at a Gold's Gym nearby, and sure enough, this picture I bought signed off of him was from that signing! I had a baseball game that day and missed out, but from what I've heard I didn't miss too much, as he's a bit of a jerk. However, I can't discredit him for helping the Jets big time throughout the past couple of years.

Second, we have a beautiful 2012 Topps Museum Collection jumbo relic of Curtis Granderson! It has one very visible pinstripe, as well as 2 others that are a bit cut off, oh, and it's numbered out of 35! I've loved Museum Collection from the start, and I've been meaning to acquire one of the large relics they feature. Finally, I did.

Say what you want about the ugly looking sticker autograph, but Raul Ibanez has been beyond clutch for the Yankees this year! There aren't a lot of great autographs of his out there, and for the price, I couldn't go wrong. I didn't like the signing at the beginning of the year (I wanted Damon), but the Yankees ended up making myself, as well as many other critical fans, look stupid. 

From the same vendor, I also took home this 2010 Topps National Chicle autograph of Giants phenom pitcher Madison Bumgarner! I don't follow Bumgarner a whole lot but he has a lot of potential, and I've been meaning to get his autograph off of the checklist. It's a very nice card, even though a majority of this product got a bit sketchy. Surprisingly, with all of the autographs of current players that I own, this is my first of any Giants pitcher. 

As I mentioned earlier, before this season I wished the Yankees would try to sign Johnny Damon again. But after his performance on Cleveland, leading to his release, I can see why they passed on the aging veteran. However, I loved Damon while he was a Yankee, and I needed his autograph pretty badly too. Not out of my favorite product, but it is very nice nonetheless.

I also bought this 2012 Bowman Platinum relic autograph of Rays rookie Matt Moore! Moore technically is in his rookie season, but he impressed big time in the postseason, enough to make the rotation this year. I took a chance with him in fantasy baseball, and while he started off pretty badly, he got it all together and lately he's been beyond solid. The card isn't numbered, but it really is nice for a sticker auto. Well done Bowman Platinum, well done.

The final purchase of the day just so happened to be with my good friends Rich and Hunter, and it was a 2002 SP Legendary Cuts relic of Yogi Berra! After going to his museum, I almost felt like it was necessary to buy at least one card of his at the show. With just under $20 left, and searching for just the right closing card, I came up clutch with a beautiful wool relic swatch. I'm not as big into relics as I once was, but that wool always makes me think twice. 

Stay tuned for Part 3 of 4 of my card show recap!

See Ya!

2012 East Coast National Recap! (Pt.1)

Hey guys, Drew back here! All summer, there are certain events I pinpoint as being the highlights of my summer. Sunday was one of those very days, as Dad and I geared up to make the trip over to White Plains, NY, for the East Coast National! As most of you know, we're common customers to JP's Sports autograph signings and card shows, and with a pretty solid lineup, we couldn't miss out on it. I met 6 players, which will be shown later this week, and bought a couple of nice cards, but for today, you guys will see the results of the few packs I opened at the show (hint: I didn't do too badly!). Here we go!

2012 Topps Archives (1 Pack):

- Nyjer Morgan

- David Ortiz

- Josh Hamilton

- Jon Lester Gold Parallel

- Andy Van Slyke

- Starlin Castro

- Jose Valverde

- Clay Buchholz 

If I didn't get the Hamilton card I wouldn't have been very happy at all with this pack. Every card besides it is for trade.

2011 Bowman Chrome (1 Pack): 

- Chase Utley

- Dillon Gee RC

- Michael Blanke

- Dickie Joe Thon

I'm not quite sure why I bought a $7 pack that only held 4 cards in it. I was feeling good, so I thought maybe a sweet auto would be coming, but well, the results of this pack gave me a pretty solid reality check. 

2011 Allen & Ginter (1 Pack):

- Brandon Belt RC

- Daniel Descalso RC

- Peter Bourjos

- Tim Lincecum

- Miguel Tejada

- CJ Wilson

- Jonathan Sanchez Black Bordered Mini

- Roy Halladay Hometown Heroes

I wasn't paying attention when looking for these packs, and instead of grabbing a pack of the new Ginter, I got some of the old, boring, last year Ginter. I believe I have the set, so these are for trade too. 

2012 Topps Gypsy Queen (2 Packs):

- Casey Kotchman

- Ryan Dempster

- Heath Bell

- Jhoulys Chacin

- Jimmy Rollins

- Ryan Braun

- Troy Tulowitzki

- Roy Halladay

- Willie Mays

- Bob Gibson

- Ty Cobb

- Geovany Soto

- Scott Rolen

- Trevor Cahill

- Jemile Weeks

- Angel Pagan

- Carlos Ruiz Gypsy Back Mini

- Willie Mays Moonshots Insert

- Matt Garza Mini

I love the look of this year's Gypsy Queen, and by far these were my favorites of the packs. The mix of older and newer players makes for a really strong checklist, and it's fun pulling cards of people I actually know (unlike Dickie Joe Thon)! But, I did say earlier that I did pretty well overall, and well, one card in the Gypsy Queen pack just about made up for the cost of the packs....

I saw blue when I opened the pack, and I suddenly thought it could be Griffey or Koufax or Darvish or just something beyond incredible. It wasn't at THAT high of a level, but I'll take a Gypsy Queen Eric Hosmer on card auto any day! Hosmer is having a sophomore slump type season, but I think he's got enough potential to be a star for the next decade or so! I redeemed this when I got home, and unfortunately, the Estimated Shipping date was around the beginning of December. A long wait, but I believe it will be well worth it. 

Stay tuned for Part 2 of the recap! See Ya!