321/342

And a little bit closer!

With an additional 11 cards, I am now 93.9% complete of my 1956 Topps Baseball set.

To get from 310 to 321, I made my first purchase from the Check Out My Cards website.

Although I had known of this site for years, it was my first order from the site. A place where you can acquire many items from many different sellers yet pay only one shipping price, it was a simple way to acquire more of the low-grade 1956 Topps Baseball cards that I needed.

With only 21 cards remaining, it feels pretty darn cool getting this close. Although there are some commons remaining, there are also some important cards remaining too, including Jackie Robinson, Sandy Koufax, Yogi Berra, and Warren Spahn.

Hit of the Year!

I purchased a box of ITG Ultimate Hockey recently and opened it as an early Xmas present. Luckily for me, Santa Claus must have put me on the nice list this year.

I'll let the picture do the talking...

From 2012-13 In The Game Ultimate:

It's hard to top a pull like this any year!

Thanks Santa!

310/342

With the acquisition of 9 more 1956 Topps Baseball cards, I've now completed 90.6% of the set (including two checklist cards)

Although none of the 9 cards which I acquired are high-end players, they had eluded me nonetheless until now. Most of the cards are in quite good shape (as shown in four of the cards below) and would grade quite well except for being off-centre.

With only 32 cards remaining, I've decided to test my luck with the Check Out My Cards website. I've selected some cards that I need and we'll see what I end up with. The cost of the cards were quite reasonable and it's handy to be able to get cards from different sellers in one single shipment.

I'll update my set progression in the next few weeks when the package arrives.

It's exciting that I'm getting so close and it's fun to try to build an older set.

Trading Up.... (By Selling and Buying)

When collecting trading cards, trading is a great way to get rid of cards that you don't want and acquire cards that you need. Unfortunately, trading isn't always as easy as it seems. Some collectors are difficult to trade with, it's not always possible to find you need, and you may not have what other collectors need. While the internet has given rise to the number of possible traders out there, trust can also be an issue with someone that you've never met.

To upgrade my collection, I sell on eBay. When buyers pay me through PayPal, I use that cash (and only that cash) to acquire new cards for my collection. By only using that money, it's as if I've traded my sold cards for the purchased cards.

With eBay's 50 free listings per month, it's a great opportunity to list some cards which have no place in my collection. It's surprising to see what you can sell and then buy at virtually the same price.

My past 10 sales on eBay have been:
2011 Paini Prime Cuts Kevin Matthew Auto - $2.79
12-13 Fleer Retro Chet Pickard Autograph - $2.29
2009 Panini Contenders Kory Sheets Auto - $11.83
08-09 ITG BTP Brian Elliot Autograph - $1.99
07-08 UD McDonald's Joe Sakic Insert - $1.69
06-07 UD SPA Ryan Shannon FW Auto - $1.49
09-10 UD SPA SOTT Andrew Cogliano Auto - $1.89
12-13 ITG H&P Daniel Altshuller Jersey - $1.89
09-10 UD Young Guns RC Lot (7) - $3.99
07-08 ITG H&P Cody Franson Auto - $1.79

Total sales - $31.64

My past 10 purchases on eBay have been:
11-12 Parkhurst Champions Pat Stapleton Auto - $3.13
11-12 Parkhurst Champions Doug Wilson Auto - $3.03
11-12 Parkhurst Champions Steve Larmer Auto - $3.55
11-12 Parkhurst Champions Rick MacLeish Auto - $2.53
00-01 UD Retro Epic Signatures Pat Verbeek Auto - $3.01
00-01 UD Retro Epic Signatures Keith Tkachuk Auto - $1.85
00-01 UD Retro Epic Signatures Denis Potvin Auto - $2.30
10-11 Donruss Tough Times Ron Hextall Auto - $3.50
04-05 UD Legendary Signatures Ted Lindsay Auto - $6.59
11-12 Panini Prime Signatures Mark Scheifele Auto - $4.03

Total Purchases - $33.52

There's always a little give and take on shipping charges but, on this occasion, I was on the good side of about two dollars.

When I look at what I sold on eBay, I see some autographs of rookies who never made it, some rookie cards of average players, an insert of a star, and some sticker autographs. Nothing which really fits into my collection.

When I look at what I purchased on eBay for basically the same amount of money, I see 10 hard-signed autographs of stars and minor stars from the past few decades, multiple 1,000 point scorers, multiple Hall of Famers, and an autographed rookie card of a highly-rated young player.

If I placed my ten (sold) cards in front of another collector do you think I'd be able to acquire the ten (purchased) cards. In my opinion, I think I'd be lucky to acquire 2 or 3 of the cards which I bought.

I still enjoy trading. It's nice to make a deal. However, by selling my cards for $30+ dollars and then buying the others for $30+ dollars, it's a way to upgrade my collection with a little more ease.

Hockey Hall of Fame - Collector's Corner

The Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, Ontario has a Collector's Corner sponsored by Upper Deck. The walls in the back corner showcase a wide array of tickets, coins, games, dolls, apparel, pennants, and food items from around the world. In addition, there is an Island of Cards.

Although it's great to see a tribute to hockey cards and collectibles in the Hockey Hall of Fame, it was somewhat disjointed and without much detailed information. On the Island of Cards, hockey cards seemed mostly just randomly dropped into slots. There was no description of what or why these particular cards were chosen.

As a fan of the hobby, it would be nice to see the whole area revamped. I'd love to get to Cooperstown and see how it compares to the baseball card collection there.

301/342

With a few pick-ups at the Sports Card Expo in Toronto this weekend, I was able to pass the 300 mark in my quest to complete a low-grade version of the Topps 1956 Baseball set.

Picking up Minnie Minoso, Bob Feller, Bill Skowron, and Elston Howard, I now have put together 88% of the set.

Obviously, it will be harder and harder to finish this set off at a reasonable cost but I'm quite proud to only need 40 more base cards and 1 of the 2 checklists.

500 NHL Goal Scorers - Project Complete!

One of the bonuses of completing the 1,000 NHL Point Project is that the list contains most of the NHL's 500 Goal Scorers. It definitely reduced the need for finding a lot more hard-signed hockey cards.

In the history of the NHL, 42 players have scored 500 goals in their career. Luckily for me, 40 of those players finished their careers with over 1,000 points.

The only two players to score 500 goals but not reach 1,000 points are Maurice 'The Rocket' Richard and Peter Bondra.

Peter Bondra scored 503 goals and 892 points in his career. Long remembered as a Washington Capital, he holds many team records. A five-time NHL All-Star, Bondra twice won the Fastest Skater Competition on All-Star weekend. Although he never scored 90 points in an NHL season, he twice scored 50 goals.

From 1995-96 Upper Deck Be A Player comes this Global Training hard-signed autograph of Peter Bondra. Pulled from a pack years ago by myself, this card is easily available for only about $5.

Maurice 'The Rocket' Richard was the first NHL player to score 50 goals in one season, doing so in 50 games, and the first to score 500 goals in a career. He finished his career with 544 goals and 965 points. He added another 82 goals in 133 playoff games. Inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1961, Richard won 8 Stanley Cups as a player.

A legend in Montreal, Maurice Richard was famous as a member of the 'Punch Line' with Elmer Lach and Toe Blake. He is also remembered for the Richard Riot in 1955 and the classic story 'The Hockey Sweater' by Roch Carrier.

From 1994-95 Signatures Rookies comes this hard-signed autograph of Maurice Richard from the Cool 5 subset /1050. Although quite plentiful, the card often sells between $50-$100 and I was lucky enough to win an auction for one on eBay in the $60 range.

And Project Complete!

With the Bondra and Rocket autographs, I now have hard signed autographed hockey cards of all forty-two 500 goal scorers and, as mentioned previously, all seventy-nine 1,000 point scorers.

On to the next project...