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.

2009 Baseball Card of the Year: 5th Nomination

I would have nominated this one already had I owned it. I picked it up, along with the entire Rangers set off of eBay for a cheap way to knock some cards off of my checklist and also to feed the need to acquire my first Topps Wal-Mart Dark parallels, which I’m glad I got out of my system.

Rangers Ballpark in Arlington really looks like a great ballpark. It’s hard to believe it’s already 15 years old! The stadium in the background plus Murphy and Hamilton celebrating what looks to be a Rangers run.. all put together, this card just might be the best of the year.

Noms thus far:

1. Topps #559 Esteban German
2. Topps # 124 Reed Johnson
3. Topps # 7 Mickey Mantle
4. Topps Allen & Ginter # 18 Clyde Parris
5. Topps #614 David Murphy

My Rules:

1. Base cards only.
2. I will only pick from cards I own. Any cards I do not own are automatically DISqualified!
3. Focus will mostly be on photography. Design only plays a small part since this is base cards only.
4. I’ll pick as many noms as I want.
5. You can suggest noms, but, see rule 2.
6. I don’t know yet how the best card will be selected. (contest?)
7. The card subject must be about baseball and not the Milky Way or something like that.

Action Packed Braille Cards

I just spotted these on eBay and just had to share them here. Apparently, Action Packed released a few braille-backed parallel sets in their early 90’s football releases. I am soooo tempted to pick one up for the oddball lover in me!

Here’s a link to the Jim Plunkett. The seller also has several more ranging from 6 to 9 dollars each or sets of 6 for $25.

Card of the Day: 2007-08 Upper Deck Chronology #63 Lionel Hollins

While searching on eBay for Trail Blazer cards that I must have, this one really hit hard. This has to be one of the best looking autograph cards I have ever seen! A framed black and white vintage photo of Lionel Hollins signed, on card, with a blue fine-tip sharpie! It cost me $1.30 + $2 s&h.

Lionel was a member of the 1976-77 NBA Champion Blazers team, a 1977 All-Star and has recently had his #14 retired by the Trail Blazers. He is currently the head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies.

1992 TNTL 1919 Black Sox Team Set Reprint

Wow. I scanned these in over a month ago and forgot all about ’em. This is a cool little set. I picked it up off of ebay when searching for the cheapest “buy it now” boxes, and someone had a bunch of these for like a buck-fifty! The 2″ by 3″ deck of cards features the historic “Black Socks” team that threw the World Series! Beckett lists these as “1992 Manning 1919 Black Sox Reprints”. On the bottom of the box it says, “TNTL Studios, Toms River, NJ”. Did this company produce any other sets? Nothing more on Beckett…

Most of the cards in the set feature a plain black and white cutout picture with a white, borderless background and a blank back.

The cards with the black border feature the players which were banned from baseball. The backs tell their individual stories.

Buck Weaver tallied a .324 AVG with 11 hits in the series, which supported his claims that he had nothing to do with the fix. He was still banned in the end for knowing about the fix, but failing to tell officials.

Williams went 0-3 with a 6.63 ERA in the series.

This is the only color card in the set which is just like the other Shoeless Joe, but with grass and corn. After he started playing with two shoes again, Joe had a cane fashioned to look just like a bat that he took everywhere with him.