Awesomeness for Awesomeness's sake

I snatched this card up on eBay a few weeks ago. I insured the shipping because I didn't want anything to happen to such a valuable card. I'm not sure I needed the insurance because it came with its own bomb blast suit. The seller actually sent the card in this armored hulking shell. I think this thing could survive a nuclear attack.



I have never seen a screw down this thick for a relic card but it's so impressive and majestic that I'll just have to keep it this way. It even came in a jumbo-sized team bag for that added protection.


I was so impressed I had to email the seller and express my gratitude and utter amazement.

Awesome, just plain awesome.

2007 Masterpieces Set COMPLETED

Todd left me a comment saying he had the final card I needed to complete my 2007 Masterpieces Set. I sent him an email with my address and ask if he needed anything. He politely said no, no needs. And this little guy showed up in the mail:



I completed this set by trading, donation and $1.59 packs from Target. I don't have any inserts from the packs but this is such a great set by itself.

Big thanks to Todd and anyone else who sent me cards to help complete this set.

The sacrifice

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday for us Catholics. I must admit that I'm not a devout Catholic and I hold views and lived a life that would be seen as blasphemous in the churches eyes. That aside, I do practice Lent every year.

For Lent, it's tradition to give up something as a gesture of sacrifice. You figure Jesus went 40 days in that desert without food or water, you can give up some aspect of your comfortable life. So my usual choice for sacrifice has been chocolate and soda. While chocolate I can do without, avoiding soda is a bit of a lifestyle change.

Now with Lent 2009 approaching Kim made a suggestion. While it may have been jokingly, it was a poignant suggestion. I've gone a bit overboard with eBay these past two months. I've certainly added to my Mattingly and YSL collection along the way. But I've dropped quite a bit of cash along the way. So she suggested I'd give up eBay for Lent. As I looked at the auctions today, I realized I've become quite addicted and this would certainly be a challenge. It would kill me if a card came on eBay that I've been looking for and I wasn't able to go after it.

So it's my decision in the end. I've been debating on how to approach this. Obviously, I'll have to handle any auctions I'm already bidding on which is a handful. I'm struggling with this one. I'll still be able to buy boxes online but the majority of my purchases have been Mattingly cards. The last box I bought was in December or January and was a 2008 Timeline box.

So, I think I'll be negotiating this one with Kim. But the goal is to get me to break this addiction that is eBay.

I don't think I can do it but I'll at least give it a try.

I love the 90's

This is one of my favorite cards. I was a big fan of Pinnacle and all their products in the 90's. I have tons of Score cards. I was a big fan of Select Certified's thick card stock and foil finish. I like the shininess of the Mirror Gold Parallel. I already had the base from this set but it took me some time to track this card down on eBay but I finally was able to find it.

Another thing I love about this card is that Mattingly is sporting a goatee. You may ask, "But Peter, don't the Yankees have a strict policy against facial hair below the upper lip?" Why yes reader, they indeed do. But back in 1995 (1996 Donruss also has a goatee wearing Mattingly photo), when Jack McDowell joined the Yankees he begged Steinbrenner to let him wear his goatee. So Steinbrenner allowed him to wear his goatee but soon after that others on the team began growing goatees including the Captain. Well after going 1-8 on road trip the no facial hair policy was reinstated as punishment (although the Boss denied that). Here's the story.

2009 YSL Update 7/5/2008

This game is very significant to me. I was actually at this game with Kim. This was the last game I saw in the old Stadium (both Kim's first and last at that stadium as well). I think Upper Deck may have got it right here. It pictures Melky Cabrera who actually scored the Yankees first run of the game in this very game. So Upper Deck put a player on a card that actually had an impact in the game. Even though it never mentions that on the card and references Melky's solid April which was probably his only productive month all year.

Brett Gardner (the left fielder that game) hit a sacrifice fly to give Yankees a 2 - 0 lead which was the deciding run. Rivera came into the 9th and quickly got the bases loaded with nobody out. Then got 3 outs while only surrendering 1 run. I must say he gave us all heart attacks that day but eventually closed the door on our bitter rivals.

This card will hold a special meaning to me because of what it signifies.

Here are a few more pictures from that day:

Today is the day we do our box breaks

William of Foul Bunt, PA from Player to be Named Later and myself are busting a case of Topps 2009 Jumbo. We each get 2 boxes and we hope to get some really good stuff. I enjoyed Marie and Sooz's break and hopefully we can get a variety of cool stuff.

I'm not sure if or how we'll be documenting this break. It probably won't be live because I don't think there's a wireless network at the card shop. I may bring my laptop and use the built-in camera to record video. I still haven't made my mind about it yet.

Hopefully I will have my stuff posted tonight.

It's STUPIDICULOUS!

I don't follow the NBA closely but occasionally they spit out a nugget of entertainment. It appears Mo Willaims from the Cavs has been passed over as an All-Star selection. Someone with talent not being chosen to an All-Star team? I've never heard of that before *cough*MLB*cough*

ESPN Story here

That's not the news though. The news is what the owner said about it. "Ben Wallace was right when he called Mo originally being passed over for the All-Star Game a shamockery," Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert said in a tongue-in-cheek e-mail to The Associated Press. "But not naming him as the natural and obvious replacement for the unfortunately injured Jameer Nelson is stupidiculous, idillogical and preposterageous."

I love the ridiculous nature of stupidiculous. I don't know why but I find that word more hilarious than the others and actually usable. In fact, I think this should replace "MOJO" completely. If you're gonna use a stupid adjective you might as well get creative with it.

OMG JETER AUTO 1/1, that's STUPIDICULOUS!! see also Redonkulous.

Mattingly Heaven

So I got a box in the mail today which is unusual because I rarely get boxes. It was from Steve B who I had been working out a trade with.

Inside this marvelous box was a plastic case which contained 4 of the last 5 cards I need for my 2007 Masterpieces set. I need exactly 1 card to complete that set. That set was built entirely on $1.59 retail packs and a whole bunch of trades.

Behind those 4 cards were pure gold. Euphoric could be a term to describe the next 17 cards.



I can't even describe how thrilled I am at these cards. These are the sets I never had a chance to see. They're all base cards that most people could care less about but I'll never pull them from packs unless I buy a box online. And if I bought each card individually I would most certainly overpay due to shipping.



AWESOMENESS!!!! The elation! OMG! I'm so happy with these cards. Absolutely satisfied. Ya know, the kind of satisfaction you get after eating a good steak (which Kimmy cooked tonight, so doubly happy!).

I still have to get Steve's out to him but I'm going to try to find some more stuff he may be interested in.

Thank you so much Steve, you made my day!

eBay Sellers of Genius

I saw this auction and I had to do something extra special....

*to the tune of Bud Light's Real Men of Genius commercials*

Dropped 3rd Strike presents eBay Sellers of Genius
(eBay Sellers of Genius)

Today we salute you, Mr. Get-Common-Cards-Graded Guy
(Mr. Get-Common-Cards-Graded Guy)

You take the basic common cards that usually go for 99cents and increase its value...twenty-fold
(Buy it now for twenty bucks!)

Sure there are 2 million of that card in the world, but your card is pristine, gem mint 10 all wrapped up in a virtually indestructible hard plastic case
(GET ME PLIERS!)

You dug deep inside yourself and your wallet to have this mediocre card brought to the pinnacle of its existence
(You actually paid to get it graded)

So crack open a cold one Mr. Get-Common-Cards-Graded Guy, while you may never have that relic autograph 1/1 card for your eBay store, you're a perfect 10 to us
(Mr. Get-Common-Cards-Graded Guy)

Group Break Pimpin' - Saints of the Cheap Seats

Dan over at Saints of the Cheap Seats is doing a group break and still has a few spots open.

The product he's busting is a case of
2007 Upper Deck Ultimate: approx. $600 per 4-box case; 8 relic (including 1 patch), 4 autos, per box. 48 "hits" total. Checklist with autos and prospects here. Total cost per person approx. $22.

These are the teams available:
Pirates
Diamondbacks
Padres
Rockies
Nationals/Expos
Marlins
Rays


I'm STILL surprised no one snatched up the Pirates or Padres.
For the Padres there are quite a few Jake Peavy cards, Tony Gwynn and Greg Maddux.
Pirates have Jason Bay (tons), Freddy Sanchez, Adam LaRoche, Bill Mazeroski, even a Stargell.
Rockies have Troy Tulowitzki, Helton, Matt Holliday(tons).
Diamondbacks have Brandon Webb, Randy Johnson(tons), Micah Owings, Stephen Drew.
Marlins have Willis, Miguel Cabrera, and Hanley Ramirez, Willingham.
Nations tons and tons of Zimmerman, and some Kerns and a Tim Raines.
Rays have Kazmir and Carl Crawford, BJ Upton.

So come join in, $22 the first team, $20 each additional team.