January 19th White Plains Show Recap, Part Two!

Hey guys, Drew back here! As I said yesterday, last Saturday's card show was one of the best days I've gotten the privilege to enjoy during my time in the hobby! I had the honor of meeting a total of 4 players, and my friend Schuyler met the free signer who I didn't have the time to get in line for. For today, I'll show you the first few guys we met, and to make you anticipate everything more, each of the next two will get their own individual post! This isn't to take away from the guys below though, as they all certainly had their day as a great player, and it was an honor to meet them as well!

Sparky Lyle was first on our agenda this go round! Lyle has always been one of my favorite players from the 1970's Yankees teams, although I didn't get the opportunity to watch them growing up (I got the overrated, money corrupted team). A few years back I read Lyle's book, "The Bronx Zoo", and due in part to that I became a fan. I love Goose Gossage as well, but I feel bad that Steinbrenner kind of pushed Lyle (reigning Cy Young winner by the way) out of the closer role for no reason. 

Lyle was a really funny guy! I told him I read his book, and that I loved every bit of it, and he responded by saying "That isn't something you'd find in a church library! My mom still hates me for some of the things I said in that!" That got a good laugh out of all of us, and made the experience definitely a fun one! 

It's official, I've joined the "Signed Ball Junkie" club! For a long time, I never really cared much for signed baseballs, but they've grown on me. I doubt I'll buy a ball of a player with a terrible autograph though, I think only the nice autographs, such as Sparky's, look good on baseballs. Sparky inscribed "77 AL Cy" below his name, which is what I requested of him. For $25, I don't think I could've made out much better!

Next on our agenda was to meet Harold Baines, the 6 time All Star, and one of the best designated hitters to play the game! I don't think I'll ever forget what Upper Deck put me through when I pulled an expired redemption for an autograph of his, but they ended up coming through and sending me it, along with a Dick Allen autograph! I didn't have a major connection to Baines in any other way, so I passed on getting myself an autograph of his. Instead, I got a ball signed for William in a little trade we did (you'll see it over on his blog in the near future), and I got a photo and the chance to meet him in the process! Baines enjoyed the fact that I was wearing a Yankee hat and my new Andrew McCutchen jersey, calling me an all around baseball fan. He was pretty humble otherwise, but it was cool to get to meet him!

Lastly (for now), Schuyler got the chance to meet the day's free signer, 1967 American League Cy Young winner Jim Lonborg, the former Red Sox hurler! Schuyler didn't have a whole lot to say to him, but I couldn't really blame him since he (along with myself) didn't have much of a connection with him either. Mr. Lonborg seemed real nice though, and he signed his card and inscribed it for no extra charge! It was a pretty kind response to a kid wearing a Yankees sweatshirt, and I gave the man props for signing here in New York!

Thanks everyone for looking, and for the players for the great experiences! See Ya!

Upper Deck Situation Resolved.. FINALLY!

Hey guys, Drew back here. So, the day I received my DeAngelo Williams TTM auto, I received quite a few other things in the mail. One was a surprising package from the folks at Upper Deck. I've been very upset with Upper Deck's Customer Service lately, because for my birthday, IN JULY, my parents got me a tin of 2007 Upper Deck Sweet Spot Classic. In it I received 2 base cards of Gus Zernial and Bob Horner, 2 relics of Dennis Eckersley and Fred McGriff, and an expired redemption for a Harold Baines Sweet Spot autograph. I contacted Upper Deck on the redemption, and they did not have the card, so they said they'd get me a replacement and told me to wait the standard 8-12 weeks. Then, I emailed them 12 weeks later asking where my cards were, and they told me to wait 8-12 MORE weeks. Well, I waited 24 weeks (aka 6 months) and Upper Deck FINALLY came through, when we were about to call and complain. Here is what they sent me:

Nothing like a Harold Baines autograph as a replacement for a Harold Baines autograph. I mean, I can't complain considering this was the card and it's really nice, but I was kinda hoping for a nice Yankees card to add to my collection. Baines was actually better than most think he was, one of the more underrated players of his time. He played for 22 seasons with many teams, had 2866 hits, 384 home runs, and a career batting average of .289. He won a world series as part of the White Sox coaching staff in 2005, after going his entire career without a ring. Had he played for better teams, he may have had more consideration for the Hall of Fame, and would fit with the Jim Rice's and Andre Dawson's of his era.

This card on the other hand is really nice. It's numbered to 75, and the auto is on the glove in blue sharpie, which makes for a nice layout. For now, I'm planning on keeping this, but if you have a similar Yankee autograph I may be willing to trade it.

Thanks Upper Deck, still not a huge fan, but we all do miss you.

See Ya!

2007 Sweet Spot Classic Box Break

Hey guys, Drew back here, with Box 3 of 4 Birthday breaks! First, the product content.

PRODUCT CONTENT
2 Base Cards #ed/575 per box
2 Game Used Memorabilia Cards per box
1 Sweet Spot Signature Card per box
1 Cut Auto Per Case
1 Patch Card Per Case

Ok, so what did I get in this 5 card gamble?

MY BOX BREAK:

Base /575
Gus Zernial
Bob Horner

2 lower level players, yay.

Jersey
Fred McGriff

Nothing spectacular when you look at the checklist.

Jersey
Dennis Eckersley

Well, at least we got a Hall of Famer.

And what's this? No Sweet Spot? Ok, it was a redemption card for a Harold Baines autograph, again, one of the weaker ones on the checklist, and when I typed it into the Upper Deck website it said it was expired. I talked to Upper Deck about it and they're going to send me a replacement, hopefully something worthy, because that box was garbage! I guess not every box has a Ruth auto :(

Ok, time for grading! Should be interesting....

Design: Very nice cards, I've liked them all along. I own many cards from the memorabilia set and they all look nice together. The Sweet Spots always look great, but it looks like I might not be able to even have one, which is ridiculous. If you can tell, I'm extremely tired today, didn't get much sleep at my sleepover party. At least the product has a nice design and the cards look good even if you don't hit anything good. Design Grade: B+

Price: 5 cards for $65-90? What's wrong with our world? I mean, this is just a ridiculous gamble, because if you don't hit, it's very frustrating. I don't think I would really buy this again, it's a fun break as long as you don't hit a downer box like what I had to suffer, but it's taking too much of a chance. Price Grade: C-

Hits: In this semi-high end like product, it's all about the hits, and I guess not the hits, but the hit. Unfortunately, the hit we had couldn't make it to the box in time and expired before I could get it. There is great potential in this set to hit some nice cards, and most of the boxes have a HOF type player as the auto. I'm trying to judge by the 500,000 breaks of it I've seen on YouTube. Again, our box was pretty much garbage, but we did hit an Eckersley jersey, which was the "hit" of the 4 cards. We'll see how worth it this box really is once we get our replacement. Hits Grade: B

Overall: Our box was one of the worst boxes I've ever seen of this product, and considering how much I have seen, that's not good. We've had some great boxes (one is coming), and some tough boxes. And... as far as redemptions go, they're a pain in the neck for collectors to have to anxiously wait to get their card. The companies really think that we enjoy not seeing our cards when we were supposed to. Whatever floats your boat I guess. Judging by the typical box of 2007 Sweet Spot Classic, it's a hit, but for me, it was a complete miss. I'll give my box a D, and the product in general a C. Overall Grade: C

Well, there you have it, not all boxes can be a good. Let's see a nice Yankee replacement soon! See Ya!