eBay Loot!

I got the top 3 Goudey 4-in-1's for my Ichiro collection, but I guess if I ever wanted to build a Sizemore collection they could go in that too. Weird.

The Eddie George comes from the Photo Engravings insert set in Pacific's 1997 Philadelphia effort. I got it simply because I liked the idea behind the design. I'm a fan of old-time photographs. Now that I've actually got one in my hands, it could have been done a lot better if the cards were super thick instead of almost paper thin, and an all sepia front instead of all the color.

The Colts card is my first white refractor. It was super cheap and will go into my serial numbered collection. These are #'d to 869. Any significance behind that number?

The Honus Wagner comes from an insert set in 2007 Upper Deck. I was completely unaware of these inserts back on '07. I found out about them recently and I want to eventually collect them all. This is my first.

As for the Zach Randolph, I've never been a big fan of the Turkey Red sets for some reason, but the parallels have become some of my favorites!

The Clyde Parris mini is a very welcome addiction to my collection. Back in January I decided that the Parris Allen & Ginter was my favorite base card of 2009, so over time I'll be picking up as many parallels as I can.

And another shiny Elite card that caught my eye, this one with 3 legendary Dodgers on it. These are #'d to 1500 and will go into my serial numbered collection.

These Pinini Threads jersey cards are so freakin' cool!

The Brooks Robinson is from the 2001 Topps Archives Reserve set. I'm slowly putting together the set. I just ripped a pack of these and will post the results pretty soon.

I liked the design of the Yaz with the sepia photo and I'm glad they kept the Red Sox logo full color. It looks great. These are #'d to 1989 and will also go into my serial #'d collection.

Another Ichiro, this one from the Upper Deck 20th Anniversary Hobby Preview set.

The card design on this Brandon Roy jersey card triggered something in me that made me have to own it! I love how it looks like a playing card. The jersey was used in a T-Mobile Rookie Challenge.

I used the Roy card to show just how big these 1976-77 Topps cards really are! I always thought they were a little tall but these are huge! Very cool.

And finally we have the Japanese variation of Ichiro's '07 Topps Chrome. This might be my favorite Ichiro.

eBay Selling Success

I recently purchased a Panini Adrenalyn XL NBA starter kit, 1 for me and 1 for my wife. I have a thing for sports related collectible card games, and she likes to play me. We played a ton of games of MLB Showdown years ago when we first started dating. I think she just likes to spend time with me. Anyways, the kits come with 4 packs, a playing mat and an album to put the cards in. Its funny how 23 years after I bought my last album from panini, a baseball sticker album, they've come around and now sold me another. So, I opened my 4 packs and I pulled the rarest version of the Lebron James card. I was curious and tried looking it up on eBay. They had none for sale and none previously sold. And the less rare varieties were selling very well. So I threw it on eBay for $.99 knowing it would get tons of bids, hoping to net 20 bucks. Check out how much it sold for:

LeBron James Panini Adrenalyn XL ELITE

I was stunned! And I feel very lucky to have pulled it out of a 99 cent pack! Woohoo!

By the way, the game is pretty fun, if you have someone to enjoy it with of course.

My First Crazy eBayer Post

I tend to shy away from most of the crazy eBayer blog posts. Simply because I find them irritating and the first thing that comes to mind is, "who cares!". If they're asking too much or whatnot, then they'll be out the listing fee. If they make the sale then props to them! Also, if there's an insane asking price plus an "or best offer", than obviously they just want to hear some offers and are probably not expecting to sell the card for 10 grand. I present to you this heinousness:

(100) 2006 Score Vince Young RC #340 PSA 10 Gem Mint

Now don't get me wrong, this is not a rip on this seller in any way. In fact, this seller is one of my favorites. I've gotten some really great stuff from their store. But, really.. how does this happen?! There are people out there that bust that much 2006 Score and then spend $500+ to slab them?

eBay Lot: Strawberry, Sergio and a Star Spangled Banner

Here's a few quick pickups that came in the mail today from eBay. I've become addicted to serial numbered cards and I'm not sure why.

Sergio was really exciting to watch for the Trail Blazers, and just as I started focusing on sports again and was becoming more familiar with the team members, he was dealt to Sacramento.


This red parallel is numbered to 150 and I have the base card on its way from Sportlots.com.


I think I might start a collection of cards featuring flags. I've always been fascinated with them since I was a kid. This one is tied with a Darryl Strawberry card for the smallest serial numbered card that I own. The smallest I've actually pulled from a pack is an Andy Pettitte numbered to 65.

Also, one last reminder to enter my contest! Entries must be recieved by 12:01 AM PST tonight!

Card of the Day: 1999-00 Omni CBA Basketball #32 Yao Ming

I was strolling through eBay the other day when I spotted this Yao Ming Shanghai Sharks card and couldn't pass it up for only 99 cents and free shipping! I love international cards and this one's got a good story to it too.

This is Yao's 1999-00 Omni CBA (Chinese Basketball Association) card. This was his third year with the Shanghai Sharks which he joined at the age of 17. He had been playing for their junior team since he was 13. 1999 was the first of three years the Sharks made it to the CBA finals with Yao. They lost to the Bayi Rockets in their first 2 tries. That gave the Rockets 6 championships in a row, but for the 2001 season, the Sharks finally deafeated the Rockets for their first championship.

I now own baseball cards from Japan and Australia, and a basketball card from and China.

Card of the Day: 2005 Donruss Elite Passing the Torch #PT-20 Mark Prior 0341/1000

I know Mark Prior probably isn't in a lot of people's player collection anymore, but when it comes to blue shininess at this magnitude, I probably still would have bought it if there was cloned sheep or even Obama on it! Is it blue because it's a Cubs card? Are there shiny yellow A's cards and shiny teal Marlins cards too?! I must find out..


Last I heard was that he's a free agent after he played minor league ball for the Padres all last year without getting called up. Is he done for?

Card of the Day: 1985 Drake's #30 Darryl Strawberry

It had been awhile since I had added any cards to my Darryl Strawberry collection, so while browsing on eBay I decided on this oddball. I was the only bidder and won it for only 1¢ + 99¢ shipping. 4 days later, it arrived from the seller in a Christmas card! Merry Christmas to me! I've seen a Strawberry card from a 1983 set but didn't know there were others. Turns out they released sets annually from 1980 to 1988, plus one in the 50's, I think. The back of this one is the same as the Topps base set from the same year, except for the Drake's logo.

Sportlots Success! Part 1

First off, can anyone tell me if these images are sized ok on this page? I'm trying to blog from my phone and I'm not sure how they really look.

Last week I finally placed my first order on Sportlots.com and I was able to complete 3 sets, 2008 Upper Deck X, 2000 Skybox Metal and 1995 Pinnacle Series 1. These 3 were just a few of the 10 or so I needed to complete the set. It took 3 half-price blasters and a handful of 99¢ packs from the supermarket. The last blaster I bought only gave me two base cards I needed, I was pissed.



A few months ago, I busted a cheap hobby box of these I found on eBay and only needed two more to finish the base set.



Oh wow. Almost two years ago, when I just got back into collecting, I was checking Craigslist daily for listings of free cards, and found this guy 15 miles away with a huge stack of 5000 count boxes to give away and I came away with 3! They were full of cards from the mid 90's like Pinnacle, Score and Upper Deck. This was the only one missing from this set.

Soon, I'll post the Ichiro and Drexler cards I picked up along with these.