Blogosphere Kindness, Pt. 2

When I started reading sports card blogs, I was amazed that not only were there more people out there that actually still collected sports cards, but these people were also willing to trade and give cards away to other collectors. By the time I had found the blogs, about 15 years had passed since I had last traded cards with my childhood best friend and neighbor. I assumed that once you grew up, you could only acquire new cards by visiting a local hobby shop or perusing eBay and you could only unload cards at a yard sale (selling on eBay still seemed like a foreign and intimidating concept at that time). The blogosphere helped me to change that antiquated paradigm completely.

One of those first blogs I began reading was Wax Heaven. People were always sending Mario their nearly forgotten Jose Canseco and Andrew Miller cards, and in turn, Mario seemed to be shipping out packages by the truck load for both trades and contest giveaways. When I got into blogging myself, I continued to enter Mario’s contests religiously and even co-sponsored a contest with Mario. Just when I was starting to lose faith that I would ever win cards from Mario (I have no Andrew Miller cards and very few overproduced Cansecos of which I’m sure he already has tons), I got an email from him that simply said, “Do you want to send a bubble mailer for some football cards?”

HECK YEAH, MARIO!

I asked if he wanted a big or small bubble mailer and if I should include any supplies. He said supplies were not necessary and that any mailer I had laying around would suffice, so off I went to the printer and PayPal to purchase two mailing labels and the (empty) package went out in the following day’s mail. Occassionally I checked the tracking code to see if I should be expecting the return package soon. It seemed to take forever, but finally one day, instead of just saying that the post office had been notified to expect my package, I read that it was at the sort facility and was on the way. WOOT!

When the package arrived, I furiously ripped it open, having no clue what to expect. I figured that Mario had given away all of the good stuff from his sponsorship boxes and that this would just be a handful of commons for which he had no other use. Boy, was I wrong. I was pleasantly surprised when I pulled out these beauts:

Click image for a full-sized scan

That's a total of 4 autographs and 3 jersey patches. While I'm not a UFC guy, any autographed card is cool. And the Dan Fouts card? VERY cool. I realize that Mario doesn't know much about the NFL, but I have a feeling he would have included the autographed jersey card of a HOFer regardless. What's really cool is that this pure generousity never went mentioned on Wax Heaven. I have to wonder just how many packages Mario sent out that were completely under the radar…

In hindsight, this may have been a way for Mario to unload some cards he had laying around as he geared up to make his grand finale in the blogosphere. Hopefully Mario makes a comeback some day soon, but until he does, I know I will surely not forget this act of blogosphere kindness anytime soon.

Mario, I don’t know if you’ll ever stumble across this post, but if you do, thank you. Thank you for all of your time and effort with Wax Heaven. Thank you for giving so many collectors a voice, be it through comments to your often controversial posts or by inspiring plenty of new blogs (First and Goal included). It’s a shame all the blogosphere karma you amassed by your countless kind acts couldn’t pay dividends in your personal life, but hopefully we will see you again soon. Thank you…

Blogosphere Kindess, Pt. 1

I need to start this post with a disclaimer that I realize this post is excessively delayed. For that, I apologize.

When I started this blog, I didn’t really know what to expect. Yet, given my complete lack of expectations, I have not ceased to be amazed by various aspects of blogging. I am amazed that I am still posting. I am amazed that people are actually reading this blog. I am amazed that people are reading this blog more than once (as evidenced by the readers who have left many comments over a long time span). But of all the amazing things, the one that has amazed me the most is the kindness found in the card collecting hobby, especially within the blogosphere.

I admit that I don’t engage in many trades. It’s not because I’m a smug and bitter old man, but rather because I just don’t put forth the effort to gather cards other bloggers would enjoy, ask for mailing addresses, and then ship out the packages. What can I say, I’m lazy. Perhaps that is why the few packages I have received have been such a great surprise. Why would other people bother to take the time to send me cards when I may not ever return the favor? Again, not out of selfishness or a lack of gratitude, just a plain abundance of laziness.

One recent (and I use the term “recent” VERY loosely) such package came from Tim over at Enough Already!. A while ago, he mysteriously asked for my address because he “had something” for me. Hmmm. Kinda creepy. Kinda intriquing. Kinda awesome. A week or so later, I got a box in the mail from Tim. After I ripped off the 8 layers of bubble wrap (that man will never get bad packaging comments if he sells stuff on eBay), I pulled this out:

That’s right. He sent me an autographed picture of Troy Aikman, framed and all! Not only did he send this, he also sent me a stack of Emmitt Smith cards, many of which I did not previously have. When I thanked him for his kindness and said I had some Rodney Hampton and other various Giants cards I could send his way, he simply said, “Nothing to it Dave. I’m glad you liked it.” He explained he had sent off a TTM card and got this picture in return, so it wasn’t like he spent $150 for the autograph and then gave it away. But even with the free autograph and stack of Emmitts, he still didn’t want anything in return.

That is amazing.

Thanks again so much, Tim! I don’t know when I’ll ever get around to it, but I’ve still got some Giants cards to send your way!

Brief Thoughts

Deep Thoughts would be far more entertaining, I realize, but for now, you just get brief thoughts. While I was between tasks, I quick checked my facebook home page and saw this update image:

Click image for a slightly larger view

This is a new image released for the highly anticipated 2009 SP Authentic. I have two “brief thoughts” on this image:

1) A new Emmitt card. Autographed. Cool.

2) Emmitt himself is almost completely hidden by some fake patch. Interesting.

That is all.

What? I said it would be brief.

Pull of a Lifetime

I have written in several posts about my return to the hobby in mid-2008 and the subsequent buying binge I went on, which reached an expensive climax right around Christmas. As my first run through the Hobby resulted in me buying lots of mid-to-late 90s retail wax and a few singles from my local hobby shops, I was blown away with the vast quantity of game used swatch cards and autographed cards available in every box. When I left the Hobby, jersey cards were just beginning to be inserted and autographs were extremely rare parallels. Every hobby box I ripped through contained more and more hits and I became more and more excited. The ultimate (pun intended) was the two boxes of 2007 Ultimate Collection football I purchased. Each box only contained 16 cards (4 per pack), but almost every card featured pieces of jersey and/or autographs. While opening my second box, carefully examining each card, I was completely dumbfounded when I flipped over this beauty:

Click image for a full sized scan

This gem is an autographed Adrian Peterson Ultimate Collection rookie card gold parallel #20/25. As a guy who once got really excited to pull a basic insert card of Michael Jordan or Emmitt Smith (like UD Choice Starquest), you can imagine the level of excitement this pull created. I immediatly dug out the 1″ Lucite screw down holder I had purchased years ago in case I ever pulled a really valuable card. I figured this card fit that bill. At the time, I still depended on Beckett’s online price guides. When I looked this card up, the excitement level kicked up a notch when I saw a $1,000 book value attached to the card. In my current knowledge, I realize how trivial book values are and know I probably could not actually get $1,000 for the card, but it is still an amazing pull.

So now, just like a lot of the other cards occupying space in my home office, I have to ask myself what I should do with it. Should I list it on eBay to capitalize on Peterson’s currently very high popularity and to help recapture a good chunk of change I dropped on wax last year? Do I try to track down a die-hard Peterson collector and negotiate a sales price or high profile trade? Or do I simply hold onto it and either hope his stock only continues to soar higher or tuck it away to always remind myself of the greatest pull of my life (so far)?

If you had pulled this card, what would you do with it? If you wanted this card, how much would you pay for it?

Topps Not Dead Yet

On the heels of the Players, Inc. announcement that it would not be renewing Topps’ football card licensing contract after its February 2010 expiration, Topps has made an announcement of it own: product information for 2009 Topps Platinum.

Either Topps saw the downfall of their football releases coming and planned ahead, or they are quickly throwing together a last ditch effort to show everyone what a tragic mistake Players, Inc. has made. In a nut shell, 2009 Topps Platinum looks sweet. Each 24-pack box essentially guarantees 2 autographed refractor rookie cards and 1 autographed refractor patch card. Proving they dominated card inserts with refractor technology, every autograph card will be a refractor and will include the usual list of parallels we have come to expect from Topps. I have uploaded the official (and preliminary) sell sheet and checklist for you to review. I apologize for the last few items of each page of the checklist being weird, my pdf converter is acting up tonight. Topps has also released some preliminary card images, which you can see below (hover over image to see details):

 

Each tiny thumbnail leads to a full sized image

On obvious rookie-focused set, 2009 Topps Platinum is scheduled for release the first week in February, just weeks before its NFL license expires, and could be the final Topps football product for quite a while. The price per 24-pack box (each packs contains 5 cards) will run in the $80 range, obviously depending where you buy it.

What do you guys think? Is this a sorry attempt to dump the entire NFL sticker auto and jersey patch inventory Topps currently has, or is this a valiant effort to go out with a bang?

h/t to Mario for passing this information on to someone who is not important enough to receive these sort of emails directly.

HOF Spotlight: Dan Fortmann

Name: Dan Fortmann
Position: Guard
Pro Career: 1936 – 1943
Team Affiliation(s): Chicago Bears
College: Colgate
Induction Class: 1965

Brief Bio: From young whipper-snapper to all-time great, Dan Fortmann was determination personified. Selected by the Chicago Bears in the very first NFL draft in 1936, Fortmann became the youngest starter in professional football at just 20 years old. Also considered too small for the NFL, many wrote him off as a bad pick from legendary owner George Halas. Fortmann proved them wrong. He helped to anchor a dominant Bears line that won three league championships and two other divisional titles during Fortmann’s 8 year career. An outstanding blocker on offense and tenacious tackler on defense, Fortmann was selected first- or second-team All NFL in every year of his career.

Career Stats: 86 games played; 8 interceptions, 1 fumble recovery TD

Featured Card: 1975 Fleer Hall of Fame #20. As a lineman, Fortmann did not receive much attention in the collectibles world, despite his brilliant career. Like many early football stars, he has been included in many HOF themed sets, like this 1975 offering from Fleer. Most similar cards will run in the $1-$2 range while autographs will fall into a $75-$100 range on eBay. Certain people are willing to make a quick dollar at any sacrifice of character possible, so always be aware of forged autographs. If the seller looks reputable, has great feedback ratings, and the autograph does not look “off”, you should feel safe to pull the trigger.

NOTE: You can find all of my Hall Of Fame Spotlight Features by clicking the HOF Spotlight banner above.