PC87

I know some bloggers have mixed feelings about Youtube boxbreakers.  I get it, but I do like them for the most part.  I mean, they must all be obscenely rich judging by the amount of product they break, but yeah, I think it's a worthwhile service and there are several pretty good ones.

The only Packers card welcome in my collection..

Packer Cards 87 is one of the more popular and easygoing breakers on the platform, so even though I question his taste in teams and don't even really collect all that much football these days, I still rarely miss an upload.  So when he mentioned these signed customs a few months back for the price of just a couple bucks for shipping, I jumped at the chance to pick one up.

The back..

I wasn't lucky enough to hit one of the chase parallels (I believe there were a few glossy variants and some signed in different colors of ink), but it's cool.  He seems to be doing a lot of good work in the community and bringing people back to the hobby though, so I'm just glad to add his signature to my collection.  Hopefully I'll be able to add some more blogger and Youtuber signatures in the future.

That's it for this one.  Just a short post today.  Thanks for stopping by!

Jordy, what up dude?!

A New Raven Appears!

So this is super cool.  I am very poor, so it's rare and usually only when I'm getting something in return, but I do like to donate to good people & good causes on occasion when I have the money at the beginning of months.  So for a little donation to her ACLU fundraiser, I was able to commission a painting by an actual celebrity.

Raven!!

You may not know the name, but Bridget McManus is an actress/comedian/writer/producer/director/all-around talent, and she can also kinda paint a little bit.  So yeah, this is rad.  I think this is only the second Raven addition I've had the chance to add all year.  It's 8x11" and I freakin' love it!

There was also this little note paperclipped to the painting.  This is cool because after... noting *ahem* how many people keep the notes that frequently come in packages, I realized I was a total dummy for not doing so myself.  So starting with July's arrivals, they will be safely filed away in a box when I get them.

I guess that about wraps it up for today.  It was a pretty short post, but a mighty fun one!  As ever, thanks for stopping by.  Here's the sign-off, which I finally get to use on a post it's relevant to for once.

Until our next...

COMC Odds & Ends- A&G Non-Sport Autos & Buyback Frankenset "Inserts"

I don't really have anything specific to post or show today, so you get a little sampling from my June & July COMC shipments that have been scanned so far.  As the title says, I picked up three new A&G non-sport autos & a few cards for my Buyback Repurposed Sketch Card Frankenset, and here they are.

2008 Todd Clever autograph..

Starting off with American rugby legend Todd Clever. Never expected to find this card so cheap because it was from the early days of Topps' Allen & Ginter line, but I'm very happy to have it.  All three were in the $5.50-$7 range, and this was the one in the middle.

1990 Bowman Buybacks..

We'll circle back to the Gintery goodness at the end, but before that, the buybacks.  I've mentioned I'm putting together a monster frankenset for artin' on in the past, and these are for the insert and hit pages.

Indeed, in addition to a 792 card base set, my set will also feature nine cards each of Bowman, A&G, miscellaneous football, non-sport, and autographed buybacks that are on stock that can be drawn on.  I'd do basketball, Donruss baseball, Topps Traded, & hockey too if I could, but I don't think there's enough of any of them out in the wild at cheap enough prices to worry about it (though my latest package from Jon from A Penny Sleeve... did include an '87 Traded card, so that page could end up being in play after all).

1989 Topps John Elway buyback..

It's hard to make out the stamping on this, but according to COMC, this is a 2003 Topps Fan Favorites Vintage Buyback.  Vintage used in the loosest possible terms, especially all the way back in 2003.  Seriously, 2003 is closer to 1989 than it is to 2018, and now we all get to feel old and miserable together.

The back..

It doesn't show up great on the back either, but yeah.  Obscure Hall of Fame buyback for under a buck.  I'll take it.

Topps Archives Autograph Buyback?!

Here is my first one for the autograph page.  Another oddity.  It seems to just be like any other stamped buyback randomly inserted into packs in 2016, even though it's an autograph you might pull from a box of the previous year's Archives.  Weird, but there are actually at least a half dozen other autos from various recent sets floating around the COMC ether, so it clearly wasn't a mistake on Topps' part.  None of the others are on drawable stock, unfortunately.  Nor are they near as cheap as this one was.  I only paid $1.20 for it.

Cheap Seats!

Getting into the home stretch of this post and back to the Allen & Ginter autos!  Both Sklar brothers signed for this set, but Randy was the only one in my price range at the time.  I must track down Jason someday though, because Cheap Seats is one of my favorite shows of all-time.  They also starred in the web series Back on Topps, which was also quite amusing and featured numerous cameos.

Classing up this joint with a lil legit A-List starpower..

And we'll close it out on a high with the autograph of a legitimate star for just $7!  From Hang Time to Kangaroo Jack to the self parody years of Law & Order to the present day and the wildly successful sitcom Black-ish, Anthony Anderson has been appearing on both the big and small screens on a pretty regular basis since the mid-'90s.  Absolutely stoked to have this card.

That's all for this one.  Thanks for stopping by!

Until our next...

The Trading Post: Breakdown Cards

It took a long time, but I finally managed to get a few long overdue trade packages out this month.  Gavin was the first one to hit me back with something and here (almost all of) it is!

2017 Diamond Kings Artist Proof #'ed 85/99.. 

Starting off with one of the cards I knew was coming.  I love Panini's current run of Diamond Kings, but aside from a couple blue frames from 2015 and three discount blasters worth of 2016 (where I scored that sick Corey Seager auto/patch /10 from my All-Autograph Team post), I don't have very much of it.  Money has only gotten tighter since those discount blasters, and they were hard to justify even then.  So it's nice to get a little taste like this once in awhile.

2005 Absolute Memorabilia Absolute Heroes #'ed 205/250..

These first two cards nicely highlight what I said about keeping my Fergie Jenkins collection in the Pick Five Blog Bat Around post the other day.  While the career run collection can feel like a futile, endless grind, he has tons of fun modern stuff to collect that keeps it interesting.  Though his post-career stuff is probably at least 95% Cubs & Rangers (Donruss absolutely loved him in a Rangers uni), playing for four different teams in his career helps vary it up just that much more.

2017-18 Panini Status D-Rose "Red" #'ed 190/299..

The checklist over on Cardboard Connection says this is a red parallel, but it looks way more pink or magenta to me.  But anyway, I love Status & still needed a couple more cards to complete my Rose page, so this a great addition.  I don't remember if I claimed at some point or not, but it's a really nice addition.  Seen approximately a pretty good number of people say this reminded them of early Skybox and I am 100% on board with that assessment.  These are on foilboard and all have the same background design, but the computer generated graphics on a stark white void (when the bottom half isn't mostly colored in reddish-pink) does feel noticeably nostalgic to me.

2008-09 Topps Tip-off Gold #'ed 66/99..

This is another one I'm unsure how I ended up with, but it's a worthy inclusion on the Laker page if I ever decide to go through with my idea of making binders of team pages out as a way to organize the nicer random baseball, basketball, & football cards I'm not too attached too but can't seem to and/or don't really want to get rid of.

Kris Bryant sketch card!

Of course I can't let a single post go by without sneaking a sketch card in there.  But seriously though, getting back to the baseball with this sweet Gavin original of Kris Bryant!

Prizm Draft Schwarber..

I think I have at least a couple of these already, but extra early Schwarbers are never a bad thing to have.

2006 Topps Rookie of the Week..

I have no recollection of this program at all, how hard they were to come by, or who the rest of the checklist consists of (this is card 24 of 25), but Ryno on the '83 Topps design is all I really need.

2011 BowChro Trey McNutt Prospect Auto..

I've never been much for prospecting, but even in the most meh designs with the most forgotten failed prospects, Bowman Chrome autos are always nice & clean.  McNutt topped out at AA and is currently trying to keep his career alive on the indies.

2015 BowChro Prospect Purple Refractor #'ed 225/250..

Here's a nice purple refractor. I'm not sure yet, because it's mighty tempting to keep it for myself, but I might add it to my mom's pink & purple parallel binder whenever I'm next over there.  Sands was a fairly high draft pick in 2014 and started strong, but injuries, ineffectiveness, and an influx of newer, much readier draftees lead him to being released this spring.  As far as I can tell, nobody has picked him up since.  He's only 23 though, so the clock on his career hasn't ticked down nearly as far as some of the other names in this post.

2015 BowChro Bruno Prospect Refractor Auto #'ed 199/499..

Another nice Cubs prospect auto, this one a numbered refractor version.  Bruno is closing in on 28 and seems to be struggling mightily at AAA this season, so unless he comes on strong and can catch on elsewhere, he might be independent league bound as well.

2014 BowPlat Green #'ed 128/399..

This might be another dupe, but I'm not sure.  This is from the last Platinum set before the brand went on a short hiatus, returning a couple years later as an only slightly retooled Walmart exclusive.  Alcantara made the show with the Cubs but couldn't hit enough to stick on a team that was suddenly about to start contending.

2009 BowChro Prospect X-Fractor #'ed 179/250..

I'm typically not a fan of X-Fractors, but this version from 2009 is legitimately amazing.  I wouldn't be nearly as dismissive if they all looked more like this one.  Despite putting up generally respectable numbers, Rosa has bounced around the minors, independent, and international leagues for over a decade without ever being all that close to making the show.

Inception Magenta #'ed 80/99

I've owned maybe a half-dozen (counting football) Inception cards ever because it's typically a higher end prospect product with barely any cards per box and is frequently quite hideous to boot.  But the 2017 version looks decent, at least in magenta parallel form, and I'm happy to add any new #'ed Javy regardless, especially now that he's starting to fully realize his potential.

2005 Benchwarmer AJ Almasi/Laura Davis dual auto..

Finally, closing it out with some pretty ladies in very little clothing.  This sweet dual auto is arguably the centerpiece of the package, and I am excited to finally have it my possession.  And remember what I always say about Benchwarmer cards...

Backside..

Always scan the backs, because they are the gift that keeps on giving!

Haha, anyway, thank you Gavin!  As of my June shipments, I finally have all the trade bait I picked up for you & others last year on COMC in-hand (so many Christmas cards!), so I expect we'll be trading again soon.  Hopefully it won't take me 18 months to get send stuff your way this time.

That's all for now.  Thanks for stopping by!

Until our next...

Blog Bat Around: Pick 5

This month's Blog Bat Around topic comes courtesy of It's Like Having My Own Card Shop, and sense of general malaise effecting many-a-card-blogger these days.  So the question is, if I can only keep five specific card collections, what would they be?

The first four were actually fairly easy for me, because I've thought seriously about downsizing frequently in recent years.  Five was a tricky one though, and I am admittedly cheating all over the list.  My sketch card collection is made of numerous specific sub-collections therein, I could convert small parts of certain collections that don't make the list to fit the second pick, and picks three and five are multiple, related collections under a single banner.  But eh, it's my list.  So let's get on with it then.

Supergirl by JC Fabul..

1.) Sketch Cards- Probably the one and only virtually untouchable collection I own.  The 12 or 13 keepers amongst 15 I currently have waiting to be bailed out of COMC lockdown might put me over the 400 mark.  This is my one true (and truly expensive, even though I rarely break the bank for any one sketch) cardboard addiction.  I'm an artist, I love (primarily comic) original art, and I don't have enough space or money to own nearly as much as I'd like.  So sketch cards are basically the most perfect possible thing for me.  I think I found out about them in 2007 or 2008 and I almost instantly fell in love.  If I had to drop all but one collection, this is what I'd keep.  No question.

Pop Century Kristen Renton/Emilio Rivera dual auto..

2.) Random Non-Sport/Other Sport Autographs- I think maybe it's just the thrill of the hunt with these.  You can get some pretty decent names for surprisingly little coin sometimes, and every new score tickles the back of my brain.  It's just pure fun, untamed, lead with your Id collecting.  No real plan.  Just see a cool addition for a good price and buy it.  I quite like that.

Eve Torres gold parallel #'ed /10..

3.) Main Wresting PCs (Booker T, Eve Torres, Sarita/"Dark Angel" Sarah Stock)- As one of my earliest loves, not collecting more wrestling cards will likely go down as one of my great collecting regrets.  These are the only collections I've been able to put considerable time and effort into, and I have no desire to give them up.  Dakota Kai may be on this list someday as well (I saw a whole mess of signed stickers on her Instagram story the other day, and I am PSYCHED), but yeah.

Vault Metals #'ed /135..

4.) Fergie Jenkins PC- I wouldn't necessarily say this is my most favorite major sports collection, but it's the one where I feel like I have something to prove.  To own a copy of every card released of Fergie during his playing career is one of my only real completionist collection goals, and I can't part with it.  At least not until I've succeeded.  Plus, he has a ton of fun modern stuff like the gorgeous Vault Metals above (and his autos are often very affordable) to chase to distract from the relative monotony of hunting for vintage & oddballs & such.

She-Hulk PMG #'ed /100..

5.) Comic Card PCs (She-Hulk and Rogue)- This was the tough one.  Nothing else was quite jumping out at me like the first four.  I thought just maybe higher end Marvel in general, but that's too loose and a tad difficult to define.  But there's a good sized crossover between my She-Hulk (non-sketch) collection and higher end products.  I have the above Precious Metal Gem from 2015 Fleer Retro Marvel and a few other items from higher end sets.  As for Rogue, it's just a weird nostalgia thing.  A lot of my stuff of her is from the '90s, and I've always regretted never being able to afford all those sweet early & mid-'90s comic packs they had at the grocery store back in the day.

So there you have it.  The, err... five-ish collections I'd keep if I had to dramatically shrink my collection.  Thanks for stopping by!  Seeya again whenever I get around to editing scans.

Until our next...

Gearing Back Up

If you follow me on Twitter, you may have noticed I'm getting a strong urge to start blogging again.  I suddenly have a lot of incoming new material, and the desire to talk about it is back as well.  I'll start off light right now though, because not much of the new hotness is here yet and I haven't scanned anything at all in a couple months.

So for today, it's just a couple really cool, very cheap sketch cards I picked up on eBay back in the early spring.  I think it was only around $8 total for the two of them.  They are both by the seller, one Joshua Dyson.

Bayley..

First up is WWE star Bayley.  The wacky wavy inflatable tube men in the background were a brilliant touch on this sketch.  Anyway, WWE has almost completely squandered the unbelievably amazing character work that made her probably the biggest star NXT had ever made to that point on the main roster almost from the jump, but anyone with a functioning brain had to figure that was gonna happen (see Wyatt, Bray).  She's awesome and I still believe in her though.

Ms. Marvel II (Kamala Khan)..

The older I get, the less time I have for angsty, sad sack superheroes with pointlessly tragic backstories.  So Kamala just spoke to me immediately, and I've been squirreling together a little collection of her ever since.  This is my second sketch card (not counting the one I drew myself), and I also have two 3x5" index card sketches (also from eBay, also pretty cheap), and a couple inserts and a magenta printing plate from various Upper Deck products.  Also I think I might have a button of her?

Anyway, as you can see, these are relatively simple sketches.  But there is a lot to like about them.  The large variance in thickness of the lines shows some very clear confidence in inking that I don't even have myself after more than a decade of being back at my drawing board.  That the lines are still rather bold even at their thinnest gives the artist's style a fairly unique voice and makes the mostly flat colors really pop.  It gives them a very cool, cartoony vibe.

I also appreciate the relative rarity of the subjects.  There's plenty of stuff of Bayley out there to collect now, but her autographs & relic cards & action figures & such often aren't often in my price range, and the opportunity to own original art of wrestlers is much, much harder to come by, especially cheap.

Kamala's been around long enough now for her to show up in a few licensed sets & on the sketch cards therein occasionally (she also has one of the very best Marvel Legends figures in recent memory, which I also own), but there's still just not that much stuff available.  There doesn't seem to be much in the way of non-licensed original art out there of her either, be it sketch cards or larger work, so I gotta jump on what I can find.

So yeah, these were a couple excellent finds and I'm grateful I was able to pick them up for so little coin.  Thanks, Joshua.  I hope you're out there somewhere still creating art.

That's all for now.  Thanks for stopping by!

Until our next...

Blog Bat Around- All-Autograph Team

Time for another fun new installment of the Blog Bat Around.  This time it's the all-autograph team, as originated by ol' Zippy Zappy.  I wanted to do a full 25 man roster, but the lack of pitchers in my collection & available scans of a couple of the bench bats I do have means I'll have to cut it a little short.  With that said, here we go.

C- Kyle Schwarber

2015 Contenders..

This is a most unfortunate choice, but I don't have any other viable options here.  I think Robinson Chirinos might literally be the only catcher autograph I own, and while he is a good defender with underrated pop, he is still a career backup.  So, Schwarbs it is...

1B- Jose Abreu

2017 Donruss Blue /149..

I have at least a solid half-dozen (Rizzo, Delgado, Grace, Abreu, Thames, & Derrek Lee) good options at first, but Abreu gets the nod because he's the one that I could find a scan of.  This whole post might look very different if I was a more diligent scanner who hadn't lost multiple computers before I could take the important stuff off them.  Anyway, you'll be seeing the other guy who was scanned as my DH choice on down the post.

2B- Robinson Cano

Stadium Club Lone Star Signatures /10..

I picked up an autographed Ryne Sandberg photo for $10 (it was from some signing at a riverboat casino in the early aughts iirc, and the place had a whole stack of them) at our short-lived and awesomely-named (Heroes Never Die) card shop back during the six months it existed, but I don't appear to have a scan of it on-hand anymore, and honestly, Cano has surpassed him at this point, so Robbie gets the nod.

SS- Corey Seager

2016 Diamond Kings Sketches & Swatches auto/patch /10..

Another position I'm sorely lacking in, but fortunately I have this one epic, discount blaster-pulled monster of a young superstar to fall back on (at least until Gavin blows me away with an offer).  I think my only other option at short is Nick Gordon, who is still in the minors in the Twins organization.

3B- Aramis Ramirez

2013 Prizm..

This card is almost certainly fugliest Aramis Ramirez auto I own in a walk, but it was the one that was scanned.  He's easily my strongest option at 3B regardless, being a borderline Hall of Famer & all.  Yangervis Solarte, Josh Harrison, and Javy Baez would be my other options here, but I don't have Solarte or Baez scans handy, and they're all better suited as Utility infielder options anyway, which is where you will find Harrison if you keep reading.

LF- Yoenis Cespedes

2014 National Treasures /25..

I have no shortage of corner outfield depth, particularly in left field.  Billy Williams, Alfonso Soriano, and Yoenis Cespedes (and Albert Belle, who, to continue the theme, was scanned but said scan is no longer available) are all mashers, but I'm going with Cespedes, because he's the best defender of the bunch.

CF- Andruw Jones

2001 Fleer Platinum '97 Circa Rack Pack Buyback Autograph /200..

Andruw Jones was another easy choice, due to lack of depth (an Austin Jackson that isn't in my possession yet or playing George Springer or Jason Heyward out of position in center were my only other options here).  You can't go wrong with one of the greatest defensive centerfielders of all-time, and this new arrival is a fantastic centerpiece for his Single Page Sensation collection.

RF- George Springer

2015 High Tek Tidal Diffractor /99..

We're going with Springer in right field, which has been his primary position in the majors, which he defends brilliantly.  I would probably have gone with Frank Robinson here if I still had the scans, but I'm quite content with this pick.  I got this for under $7 juuuust before he started to blew up last year.

DH- Carlos Delgado

High Tek Gold Diffractor /50..

As mentioned above, my only other scanned powerhouse first baseman has to be my DH, and that man is Carlos Delgado.

UT1- Ben Zobrist

Tract... Card?!

The card itself is far weirder than the choice to put him on my team.  Having a super utility player is a fantastic luxury, and Zobrist is the best in the business.  As for the card, COMC called something to the effect of a "Personal Issue Tract God", and that's exactly what it is.  There's a huge wall of religious nonsense on the back, along with a JSA authentication sticker (it also came with a separate COA).  Weird but cool, I guess.  And more importantly, cheap.  I was never much of a fan of organized religion, and I don't know how anyone could be these days with the way conservatives have completely perverted Christianity into a religion of hatred and discrimination.  But I digress...

UT2- Josh Harrison

2015 Topps Supreme..

Josh Harrison is a solid, versatile all-around player. I'd still put Javy here and save either Josh or Yangervis (maybe both) for the end of my bench, but again, no scans... *le sigh*

SP 1- Fergie Jenkins

2013 Topps Supreme /50..

I doubt Fergie Jenkins being the ace of my staff will come as a surprise to anyone.  I have somehow managed to accumulate double digit autographs of him, and that completely blows my mind.

SP 2- Chris Sale

2014 Topps Supreme eBay 1/1..

It's always nice when you can field two legitimate aces.  Sales autos have finally gone up & out of my range in the past couple years, but I think I scored this collection centerpiece for a cool $7.

SP 3- Taijuan Walker

2013 Leaf Memories..

Taijaun seemed to finally be putting it all together in the desert, but he's probably out until the second half of 2019 after undergoing Tommy John surgery in May.  So as I rebuild my photo album & reinsert them into posts in late-August, I hunted up another inconsistent, injury-prone young starter with all-world potential to add to the post.

SP 4- Carlos Rodon

Boom!

Unfortunately, while I can field a full staff and a competent swingman, I still have to cut it off here and jump straight to the end of the bullpen, because both Jerry Koosman and my swingman Matt Shoemaker are lacking a scan, RA Dickey isn't even in my possession yet, and I just don't really have anyone else to fill out my relief corps.

RP 1- Wade Davis

2017 Topps Fire /250..

Davis was only with the Cubs for one season, but he left a great enough impression on me to gleefully grab this foily Fire auto when it dropped to under $5.

RP 2- Bruce Sutter

Topps Retired..

The back end of my bullpen is on lock with Sutter, Davis, & if I had the scan handy, Lee Smith (shame, since it's a somewhat interesting card and I actually it pulled myself).  I'm not even naming a closer amongst those three.  I'm fully confident with any of them, and Sutter & Smith being from a bygone era, can both regularly go multiple innings if need be.  Maybe I don't even need any middle relief!

And that be that.  I think it's a pretty darn good squad, outside of my utterly atrocious catching situation (and literally not being able to field any middle relievers *cough*).  Anyway, thanks, as always, for stopping by!

Until our next...