A Great Unexpected Surprise From Dad!

Hey guys, Drew back here. Wow, has it been a while or what. I haven't even posted once yet this month until now, due to an enormously packed schedule, you know, my same old excuses. Anyway, I can't really promise to stick around a whole lot over the next three months, due to school ending and baseball heating up. My JV team is now 2-0, and we mercied our opponent 15-0 yesterday, so it's looking like it's going to be a great season for us! I'm having a great time with it, and hopefully we can keep up the run we're on.

Anyways, I don't think a whole lot happened around here while I was away, but I've still been able to add quite a few nice cards to my collection during my absence. Some of which were long overdue on here, like all of this for example. Before the card show, Dad came home one day from work with a bit of a gift for me. Why? I have no idea, I guess just because he's awesome. While I continue thinking about why he did all this for me, you guys can take a look at what he came home with this time around:

We start with a few solid cards from the 1970's and 80's, most featuring at least one Yankee on it. He told me he got all of this from a local store with collectibles that we haven't been to before. Speaking for the Active Career RBI Leaders card; I find it pretty darn hard to see Reggie in an Angels uniform. A's? Yes. But besides that, it just looks weird. PS, there's more of Reggie coming. 

Next is out of 2008 UD SPx, from the Ken Griffey American Hero numbered insert set, which was probably one of the weaker insert sets from the past decade. I mean, Griffey was awesome, but I don't think any of these large insert sets of the same player ever seem to do well (see: Mantle Home Run History; DiMaggio Home Run History; A-Rod Home Run History; all of those 2007 Topps inserts). This card is about his 450th career home run against the Giants, which is pretty cool. 

Following up is this 1993 Fleer Ultra rookie card of Mike Piazza. Piazza was a little out of my time frame, but he definitely showed that catchers sure did know how to smack a baseball into the stands. He certainly went down as one of the top catchers of history, although I'm not necessarily a big fan by any means. Still a good card to have.

Following that were these two 1961 Topps cards going towards my set! I believe I didn't own the Harvey Kuenn card yet, but I know I had the leaders card, because I already knocked all of those off the list! Still I can put my doubles to good use, either by trading them or maybe even use them as fillers if they're nicer than my original. 

This 2009 UD Piece of History Derrek Lee starts off an awesome slew of relic cards to add to the collection. Lee certainly had a few monster seasons in his career, and I always thought he was a pretty solid player. This card is for trade, if anybody is interested in the card. 

However, this 2009 Upper Deck Dan Haren triple relic numbered to 99 is not for trade! Instead, this sweet relic happened to finish off my Haren trifecta, which can be seen on my trifecta collection page! I've always liked him a lot, although not many people ever give him the credit he deserves. That Angels pitching staff sure is scary this season. 

Speaking of scary teams, how about those Tigers? A lot of analysts are jumping all over Detroit's hot start to the season, some even taking them to win the Pennant. If their pitching holds up besides Verlander, and their big hitters stay healthy, they'll be a scary team to face in October, for sure. Here is a 2008 Upper Deck Miguel Cabrera relic! Cabrera has been perhaps the most consistent player in baseball for a few years, and now with Prince Fielder batting behind him; watch Miggy take home the MVP trophy this season. Coming from a Yankee fan. 

How about a relic of perhaps the classiest person in baseball these days, Chipper Jones. It's out of 2007 UD Masterpieces, which as I've said is one of my favorite sets from the past decade. I hardly get to watch Chipper play, but all I know is he's a certified Hall of Famer one day, and I doubt many hits I'll pull in the future will top the one I hit of his a few years back. 

Getting back to Piazza, here's a nice relic of his, out of 2005 UD Reflections! Like I stated before, I really don't own much of Piazza's cards, and I'm not a diehard fan, but it's a neat card to own, for sure. I don't see any catcher in baseball today who hit with the power this guy hit with. Certainly a once in a blue moon kind of player. 

How about a bat card of one of the best pitchers to ever step on the field, Steve Carlton? Certainly a different idea by Upper Deck, although I've seen it before. National League pitchers do bat, remember. Sure, they're almost always an automatic out, but their bats still play a part in the result of the game. Most collectors I know would prefer a nice jersey with a Phillies pinstripe, but I like it. To go along with it, the it's very colorful and all around a good looking relic card.

Iw. It's a Red Sox (sock?). But, fortunately, it's one of a player I actually like a lot, Wade Boggs! If you follow this blog well enough, I recently got the pleasure to meet Wade at a card show, which was really special for me. The photo he signed for me will soon be hung up on my wall in my room, and it will always be one of my favorites in my collection. This card here is out of 2005 SP Legendary Cuts, and numbered out of 75. Even though he's in that ugly Red Sox uniform, I guess I can deal with having it in the collection!

Finally, Dad was also able to pick up two awesome Yankees autographs. The first of the two was this slick looking Ken Griffey Sr. auto out of the Upper Deck Yankees Classics series! This isn't the first Griffey auto I've gotten before, but I definitely don't mind adding another! He certainly has great penmanship, which adds even more to how truly great this autographed set looks. 

As great as that card, as well as the rest of these are, not only can top this one. I told you there was more to come from Mr. October right? Hmmm....

2008 Upper Deck Premier triple relic autograph, numbered 15 out of 25, of Reggie Jackson. THE Reggie Jackson, as in one of the best sluggers the game has ever seen! Dad must not have been completely content after getting me my first Jackson auto for Christmas, so he thought I could use this one as well! I feel so spoiled, but boy is this a heck of a card. It looks sweet in person, as do most of the cards from the Premier set. Besides Thurman Munson, Reggie is my second favorite player from the 1970's Yankees teams, with Goose Gossage and Sparky Lyle in a close tie for third and fourth. I doubt I'll be able to add a Munson autograph anytime soon, if ever, so getting more of Reggie is always cool.

So, for the billionth time since I began collecting, Dad spoiled me with awesomeness once again. I can't begin to describe how speechless I was when I opened this, and as I said before, I don't even know what I did to deserve all this. Thank you Dad, so much.

See Ya!

Some Unexpected Amazing Pickups from Dad!

Hey guys, Drew back here! So, about last week, Dad found a few deals at an antique shop. He came home with 5 cards, and I'll let them do most of the talking, because well, they are some pretty darn good ones to have!

First was this 1988 Topps Willie Randolph autographed card! Of course, this is an IP autograph pickup, and I don't know how legitimate this one is, but it looks good and the autograph looks sweet on the card! I don't have too much of Randolph other than my signed baseball of his, so it's cool to add this one to the collection!

Second was this 2003 Topps "Blue Chips" Brandon Phillips rookie card autograph! Phillips was one of my most wanted autographs of MLB's current second basemen, only behind Rickie Weeks in terms of who I don't have yet. Phillips has definitely been one of the best second basemen in the league for a few years now, and last year he posted a .300 batting average with 18 home runs and 82 RBI. I would take that in a second baseman anyday, but fortunately enough my Yankees have even better with Robinson Cano!

Well, it started off good, which I means it could only go down! From 2007 Bowman Heritage, here's a Carl Crawford black parallel autograph numbered to only 52! Crawford sure did have a disappointing year in Boston, but boy was he good for my fantasy team two years ago when I went on to win the championship! I'll always have a bit of a soft spot for my 2010 2nd round fantasy pick, but I sure wish he never signed with Boston! Regardless of that this card is pretty sweet looking, and while I probably will end up hanging onto it, I'll certainly take offers for it in exchange for any Yankees autos you're willing to lose!

So now we're down to the final two. Let me tell you it sure was difficult to choose which one to write about first, but I guess I had to save the autograph I didn't have yet for last! Both cards book for close to $100 if not more, and are certainly huge additions to my overflowing population of cards in my basement! 

We start with the Ripken boys! Out of the 2005 Donruss Signature Series product, this dual autograph of Cal Ripken Jr. and Billy Ripken is a beautiful card, and it definitely made my day! Cal is one of my favorite players in the Hall of Fame, just because he's just so classy and memorable, and will always be perhaps the biggest class act to ever play the game. The fact that he stayed and signed an autograph for every fan after the Orioles' games was remarkable and unheard of in the sports world filled with money and greed. I do have Ripken's autograph in his children's book I picked up off of Barnes & Noble, but this one is just a really sweet card in general. I didn't have a Bill Ripken autograph, but I'll always know him for his awesome 1989 Fleer card, and not for his mediocre career as a player and analyst on MLB Network. 

The final card, is a very classy card as well, out of the 2006 Upper Deck Reflections product. It's a dual autograph of perhaps the best father-son combo in baseball history, Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr.! I have always wanted to pick up an autograph of Junior Griffey, as he's by far one of the greatest players of our generation. It was great getting to see him play, even though I wasn't really around much during the good times of his career. He retired with 630 home runs, all of which had not been surrounded by the questions of steroid use that majority of the players of his time used to get an edge. Sure, we may never know if or not Griffey did use the roids', but I highly doubt he did. Dad also recently got me an autograph of Griffey Sr. pictured in a Yankees uniform, so it's kind of cool to have one as a Red too. Upper Deck designed this card really well and it just is great looking in person, numbered only 26 of 99!

Thanks so much Dad, seriously I appreciate this so much. High school can really be a drag sometimes but its you and so many of my other great friends that know how to put a smile on my face!

See Ya!

A Big Old Box of Yankees From Dad!

Hey guys, Drew back here. So I've been meaning to post this for a little while now, and feel bad for not having done so sooner. Anyways, recently, Dad contacted someone on Craigslist, who was selling a huge load of Yankees cards. One day he came home with an enormous box full of Yankees, which brightened my day since I was feeling very sick at the time. Check them out!

Yeah, there were a whole lot of pinstripes inside this box, 5 rows to be exact. There were a lot of duplicates but that won't be a problem as I have many big Yankee fans to give them to. Now let's get into the stuff I thought mattered most...

Here are 8 new Nick Swisher cards I got through this. In total, I added 18 new Swisher's to my collection, giving me about 156 unique cards of his. I was surprised I didn't have a few of these, but I'm glad I was finally able to get them out of the way.

On to my 2nd personal collection; I was able to add 22 Robinson Cano cards to my respective Cano collection. It's been difficult for me to collect Cano's cards of late because his stock has finally soared as it should have a long time ago and everything of his is in demand. But I'm glad I was able to knock off a whole lot of 2008 UD Documentary and 2008 Topps Moments & Milestones cards of his. And yes, every card in the scan above is a different card, they're not doubles. Yeah, I'm confused too.

Here I found a lot of decent rookie cards, or at least, rookie cards that were decently valuable at one point or another. The top row of the scan consists of many different Melky Cabrera rookie cards, who is having a great year over in Kansas City, when many people didn't think he could do it again. He's currently sporting a .303 batting average, with 18 home runs and 83 RBI! The bottom consists of many Donruss Chien-Ming Wang rookie cards. Wang is trying to make a comeback with the Nationals this year after several injury filled seasons, but hasn't reached the point of success he had for the Yankees in 2006 and 2007. 

I used to think I had a lot of 1990 Topps Bernie Williams rookie cards. I now feel like I have enough to give one to every person in the entire world. It's definitely a nice card though. 

In this box I was able to add 2 more Dellin Betances rookie cards to my collection! I can't get enough of this guy's rookie cards, as the Lost Collector recently informed me of his MLB debut quickly approaching, as he was called up to the Yankees on  September 9th. He hasn't had an opportunity to pitch yet, but I'm sure he will during his little cup of tea. 

Next were a few of the MANY numbered inserts and parallels we came across while searching through the box. Nothing overly valuable, but I always liked numbered cards and I'm glad to add these to the collection. 

Also, there were plenty of Mark Teixeira insert and parallels, all numbered! I don't have much of anything of Tex, who is putting up another very good season. He seems almost underrated on this Yankees team, because not many people talk about him, but I honestly feel like he deserves to be in MVP talks every year. Despite a typical slow start, he is probably one of the best (if not THE best) 1st basemen in baseball defensively, but also has a great power stroke and has a solid 37 home runs. The batting average this year though? Meh.

One of my favorite parts of the box were all these nice parallels and inserts of former Yankee greats such as Yogi Berra, Phil Rizzuto, Whitey Ford, and Roger Maris. I have to admit the card companies did a great job honoring these players, as these cards are just absolutely beautiful looking. The Rizzuto Topps Archives Chrome Refractor is amazing looking in person and I love the Maris Diamond King card.

Now on to one of my favorite sets of all time; nothing better than some 2008 UD Masterpieces. I found some awesome framed cards mixed in, including a Yogi Berra green /75, a Whitey Ford not numbered black border, and two Joba Chamberlain parallels, one numbered to 50 and the other /25! These are seriously as beautiful as it gets in the card hobby, and may very well be my favorite modern set out there.

An engraved piece of Joe DiMaggio's bat? Holy WOW! Yeah, I know, it's not actually a real bat relic of Joltin Joe's, but it sure does look sweet. The card dedicates a magical DiMaggio performance when a play at the plate initiated by Charlie Keller allowed him to circle the bases and score, eventually leading the Yankees to sweet the 1939 World Series. I don't have much of DiMaggio so its a cool add for sure. 

While this card isn't of Joe DiMaggio, it is at least a real game used jersey card, of former Yankee great Paul O'Neill! The card celebrates his 1994 season when he batted .359, something close to unheard of today, or at least a modern day rarity. I've always had a lot of respect for O'Neill, he truly was a warrior on the field but a gentle giant off of it. I would love to meet him sometime for sure.

We move on to the next relic, which oddly enough is the only non Yankees card in the entire box! However, it does feed another hobby addiction of mine, which is cards of Hall of Famers! Out of 2005 Donruss Champions, here's a nice Joe Morgan bat card! You don't see much of Morgan as a Giant but its pretty cool nonetheless.

Finally, we get to the 3 autographs in the lot. The first 2 were out of the 2003 Upper Deck Yankee Signature Series product, on card autos of Lee Mazzilli and Norm Siebern. I very well may consider building this set one day, as I do have 4 different autographs out of it now, in Sieburn, Mazzilli, Winfield, and Cone! I had to research Sieburn because I literally knew nothing about him, but he was a 3 time All Star who played outfield for the Yankees from 1956-1959.

The final card was one I've wanted to get myself for a while. Out of 2006 UD Artifacts, and numbered out of 699, is an on card autograph of Ken Griffey Sr.! Yeah, Junior would've been a little better, but his daddy wasn't too bad either. A lifetime .296 hitter; Griffey spent 5 seasons with the Yankees, on a few rough teams in the mid 80's. He's got a really nice strong signature, and it fits the card design amazingly!

Anyways, that'll just about do it! Thank you so much as always dad, I'm speechless by the insane amount of things you do for me and I appreciate it so much!

See Ya!