Epic Mailday : 2 out of my top 3!

When summer break began, I knew I was going to have a little extra free time since we teachers get the summer to ourselves 🙂  It hit me that this was as good of an opportunity as I’d get to try and put my A-Rod collection back together.  While it’s been a little spendy, it’s been a fun ride so far.  I found my way to FreedomCardBoard thanks to Corockies, and ever since then my collection has taken a Huge step forward.

One member suggested I make a wantlist so I decided to make a top 3 most wanted cards.  It’s been a month since I made that list and I’ve been fortunate enough to purchase 2 out of the 3 cards on that original list!

#1 on the list was this beauty:

1999 Ionix HoloGrFx (1:1500 Packs)

If you’ve read my Ionix breaks from this year, you remember that I mentioned that this HoloGrfx insert was my most wanted card, after selling the first one I ever had 4 years ago. They fall at 1:1500 packs which isn’t even one per case!  I wonder how many were produced…my guess is 50 of each player but it may be as many as 100.

A big shout out to gradedeflator on FreedomCardBoard for hooking me up.  He originally posted it in the 90’s Insert Thread that has a huge following after I mentioned how nice his Piazza HoloGrFx was.  We then cut a deal for it and it was waiting for me after my Alaska Cruise.

#2 on the wantlist was this sweet insert from 1997 Donruss:

1997 Donruss Power Alley Die-Cut (#d to 250)

Donruss has some wonderful looking inserts and they, along with Leaf, are knowing for their serial #d inserts in the 90’s.  These also come in a non die-cut version which are #d to 1000.  While this card is #d to 1000, the first 250 were die-cut versions.  I remember seeing Magicpapa’s Griffey and thinking I had to find the A-Rod.  Well 7 years later, I finally have one in my collection.

A big thanks to George Kalfus at freedomcardboard for messaging me about this card.  One just popped up on eBay and I knew it would cost a pretty penny or three for it.  George messaged me the same day 🙂 I absolutely love it man, thank you!!

I bet by now some of you are wondering what #3 was right? Well just to get it out there that I’m looking for it, it’s this card.

The owner at the time was a user by the name of cubuffs13 who is on sportscardforum.  I remember seeing this card for sale many years ago and passing on it.  Let’s hope on shows up one of these days.

Before I sign off for a few days I have a couple of things to look forward to in the future.

First off, I have two 2000’s boxes coming in after I get back from my trip to Arizona.  A box of 2000 Showcase, and 2000 Ovation.  There’s a slim chance to find something spectacular but they should be fun breaks for me regardless.

Secondly, I will be in Arizona and should have some time to swing by some card shops while I’m there and also pick up my 1996 and 1997 Fleer Metal sets my buddy has been holding onto for me.  I’ll be sharing those and the story behind them next week.  Until then, thanks for the read and thank you to everyone who keeps me excited about collecting still, especially all of you are FreedomCardBoard.

~Matthew

Random Night Owl Awesomeness

A little while ago, I responded to a Night Owl post, expressing interest in a certain Mickey Mantle X-Fractor he had. I don’t do a whole lot of trading, but once in a while, Greg and I usually end up making a pretty hefty Dodgers/Yankees exchange. With that said, I had yet to put together a Dodger package together for the Mantle (and what was sure to be a whole lot of other goodies) so it came as a quite a surprise when I found a package in my PO Box with his return address yesterday.

Greg had sent me nearly 90 cards, many of which were Yankee Team Set cards from 2009 and 2010 Topps. There were also cards from Topps Heritage, OPC, Topps Chrome, Opening Day, and Stadium Club. The package also contained a number of Mickey Mantle inserts that I know none of you are sick of seeing (*cough*) so I tried to limit the Mantles in this scan:

The Wang and Pettitte are Topps Chrome refractors if you couldn’t tell by the scan. It’s also a rarity when I am sent a card I’m not familiar with, but that was exactly the case with the New York, New York insert of Hideki Matsui (I also received a Wang NYNY insert). That’s what I get for not touching that OPC set I suppose. Anyway, thanks a lot Greg for another deal! Your package will be sent out early next week, when I’ll hopefully find time to actually write up a box review.

(UD) Retro Mailday: Eddie Mathews

Alright, so maybe a single-card acquisition shouldn’t be labeled as a “mailday,” but this new addition to my autograph PC surely deserves its own post!

The card on the right is a Sign of the Times autograph of Eddie Mathews. This card was just one of thirty different autographs that could be found in packs of 1998 Upper Deck Retro. Inserted at a rate of 1 in 36, the print run on these cards ranged from 100 to 1000 and while none of the cards are serially numbered, this Mathews is limited to 600.

The remainder of the checklist is pretty loaded. Some of the names include:

Al Kaline, Bob Gibson, Brooks Robinson, Carlton Fisk, Ernie Banks, Kirby Puckett, Lou Brock, Nolan Ryan, Tony Gwynn, Tom Seaver, Willie Stargell, Willie McCovey, Warren Spahn, Yogi Berra, and the rarest of them all: Ken Griffey, Jr.

Mathews signed his share of autographs for card companies before he died in 2001. If anyone’s looking to track one down, some sets to consider include 1999 SP Signature, 1999 and 2000 Greats of the Game, 1999 UD Century Legends Epic Signatures, and 1998 Donruss Signature Significant Signatures. None of those should run over the $40-50 mark (unless you’re looking at BIN store prices). In any case, those autographs are twice as cheap but yet twice as attractive as any cut signature of Mathews I’ve seen, and that’s a shame.

A Trade with the Night Owl

Note: An important announcement regarding this blog’s future will be posted shortly.

I haven’t done a whole lot of trading lately, but last week, Greg of Night Owl Cards and I reached a deal that sent several Dodgers his way. You can probably guess what he sent me in return. The great thing about being a Yankee fan is that people are often very willing to give away their (referring to the Yanks, of course) cards to you. Anyway, here’s a look at what Greg had sent me.

The complete list:
2007 Topps Update Gold Jorge Posada /2007
2008 Topps Update Gold Mariano Rivera /2008
2008 Topps Chrome X-Fractor Robinson Cano
2008 UD YSL #6014 Paul O’Neill
2008 UD YSL #6097 Tino Martinez
2009 Topps Chrome X-Fractor Mark Teixeira
2009 Topps Heritage Flashback Mickey Mantle
2009 Topps Career Best LegendsMickey Mantle
2009 Topps WalMart Cereal Box Mickey Mantle
2009 Topps A & G National Pride Hideki Matsui
2009 Topps A & G National Pride Alex Rodriguez
2009 Topps A & G Relic Mark Teixeira
2009 Topps A & G Relic Alex Rodriguez

Overall, I was very impressed with the lot Greg sent over. I always love getting refractors and the Teixeira card gave me my first taste of 2009 Topps Chrome. I really like it. The WalMart card was new to me as well. It’s pretty rare when I can actually trade for a Paul O’Neill card I don’t have so I was pretty happy to add the YSL to my collection (number 667 overall). Thanks a lot for this trade Greg! I’m happy I was able to “rid” you of these cards (and I’m sure you’re even happier about the fact).

Mail From the Bearded One

I have another box ready for review but first, I thought I’d catch up on a mailday that I’m very late in recapping. Recently, Greg of Beardy’s Baseball Blog and I had a team swap of Orioles and Yankees. It started when I emailed him stating that I had a small lot of O’s that I wanted him to have. The lot consisted of about 10 cards, most of which you can view here. Greg more than reciprocated the favor and a bulging bubble mailer from Maryland found its way here, much to my (pleasant) surprise. Here are the contents:

“Beardy” sent me this certified autograph of Chase Wright from 2007 SP Rookie Edition. The wood theme here is inspired by the 1996 SP set. I think you all know how much I love old SP/SP Authentic sets by now. I hate sticker autographs as much as the next guy, especially when they’re placed on the card in a crooked way. However, in the case of this card, the crooked sticker actually makes the signature appear straight so I’ll make an exception this time.

Greg also sent me my first cards from 2007 SP Legendary Cuts. I have never opened any of this stuff before, but I might consider doing so now that the price has come down. I love the look of the base set. It’s black, classy, and actually has legends in it! In my opinion, this is what Legendary Cuts is supposed to look like. Personally, I wish this product would’ve gotten the axe before they made cards LIKE THIS.

Finally, here’s a look at some of the other 42 cards he sent me. There were cards from Sweet Spot Classic, Finest, Turkey Red, Spectrum, Topps ’52, Bowman Chrome, Bowman Heritage, and of course, Allen and Ginter.

Thanks for the trade and the great cards Beardy!