Saturday, December 31, 2011

New Year's Resolution

First off, I don't make New Year's Resolutions.

But I'll make an exception this year.

It's collection related. Which is why I'm making this post.

I resolve to get my collection under control.

I have too many cards. And while some of them are sorted properly, too many are not. I plan to put vintage with vintage, jersey cards with jersey cards, autograph cards with autograph cards, and so on and so forth. I plan to focus my collection on the teams I collect, the players I collect, and the untouchables. I plan to reduce my collection with extensive eBaying, posting on hobby forums, and giving away more commons to local kids and during Hallowe'en.

It's time that I get it under control and 2012 is the year!

When December 31st, 2012 hits, I'll feel like a weight has been lifted. The weight of thousands of cards that I have but don't need in my collection.

It'll be a great day and it will make me enjoy the hobby so much more.


Monday, November 28, 2011

Awesome Card of the Week

At the 2011 Fall Sports Card Expo in Toronto, Ontario, I had some good luck at the Panini booth with redemption products.

But no hits were better than this...


A massive 8X10 hard-signed photo/card of the hottest NFL rookie in a long time.

Cam Newton is my new best friend!

Monday, November 7, 2011

Topps Diamond Giveaway - Order #3

Another day, another bubble envelope from Topps in the mail.

With only about 6 or 7 weeks left in the promotion, I'll be curious to see if I can score some more goodies.

This package contained more Hall of Fame players, more personal favourites, and a few more Toronto Blue Jays.





Not only did I add another 1952 card to my collection (Harry Simpson), I was able to acquire some big names like Al Kaline, Roy Face, Rickey Henderson, Jim Kaat, Sandy Alomar, and a League Leaders card containing Juan Marichal and Sandy Koufax!

Some other trades allowed me to get some 'late in the career' cards of Tom Seaver, Felipe Alou, and Pete Rose. In addition, Birdie Tebbetts, Walt Alston, and Gene Mauch will be added to my Manager collection.

Last but not least, some of my favourite Blue Jays from the ealry 1980's, Damaso Garcia and Willie Upshaw.

Time to place another order.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

2010-11 UD Ultimate Hockey Break

I'm one of the many collectors who are not fans of the new Upper Deck distribution policy. In my opinion, Upper Deck is taking on the internet... and that's a war that no company will win in the long run.

The policy has resulted in fewer Upper Deck purchases on my end. However, since I was already committed to a few packs of 2010-11 UD Ultimate Collection Hockey before the policy came into effect, I'm not the type of person to turn my back on some busting.


The first pack was uneventful until the final card. A Jason Spezza base card /399, a Jamie Arniel RC /399, a Chris Stewart Ultimate Signature, all fine but not worthy of a big smile... and then, my favourite goalie of them all.  A Patrick Roy dual jersey/autograph /25!!!

There's no way I could match that with Pack #2, right?

Wrong.


Again, it was an uneventful beginning. A Ron Hextall base card /399, a Brandon Pirri RC /399, a redemption which I didn't look at closely, and a Debut Threads jersey of Ian Cole /200. When I took a closer look at the redemption card, the interest turned to a grin turned to a smile. An Ultimate Signatures Sidney Crosby autograph redemption card!  My first SC87 auto!

Two great hits. Yes!
Will it make me buy more Upper Deck. No!

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Awesome Card of the Week

From 2007-08 In The Game Ultimate Memorabilia 8th Edition comes this Retro Teammates jersey card of legends Vladislav Tretiak and Valeri Kharlamov.


Both thorns in the side of many Canadian hockey fans during the 1970's and 1980's, these veterans of the Soviet Union hockey team are important additions to any collection. The bonus of this card is the inclusion of seams and stitching from the Kharlamov jersey.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Awesome Card of the Week

In The Game has a great VIP Program.

It's pretty simple...
1. Open In The Game products.
2. Save the box-tops.
3. Send the box-tops to In The Game.
4. In The Game sends you a jersey card.


Today, I received my In The Game VIP Program memorabilia card in the mail. It was a Jeremy Roenick three-colour patch with thick seams and stitching from his days as a Chicago Blackhawk.

One cool feature is that my name is printed on the back of the card. Some collectors may not like being joined that closely to a card but I think it's a great idea.

It also means... I'll probably never try to move it!

Monday, October 10, 2011

Topps Diamond Giveaway - Order #2

My second order from the Topps Diamond Giveaway focused more on memories than value.

Growing up in Canada, the Blue Jays were my team. A distant second were the Montreal Expos.

My favourite player was Dave Stieb and he ended up being one of the best pitchers of the 1980's


Although none of these cards are high value cards, they're great additions to my collection. Players who had some great years with the Blue Jays such as Buck Martinez, Lloyd Moseby, Rance Mulliniks, and Cliff Johnson. Some other great Expos like Warren Cromartie and Tim Wallach.

It's fun to see their stats. When you cheer for them so long ago, sometimes you can forget how good (or bad) they actually were until you check out the stats on the back of the cards.

A great trip down memory lane.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Topps Diamond Giveaway - Order #1

I received my first order from the Topps Diamond Giveaway today.

The Topps Diamond Giveaway is a great Topps promotion which allows collectors to find codes within packs, enter the codes online, trade the virtual cards with other collectors, and then, when you're finished, get the actual cards shipped directly to you.

It's a great way for Topps to introduce collectors to sets from previous years, all the way back to 1952. It educates collectors, promotes interaction and trading, and creates awareness of sets and the Topps brand name.

In general, my cards came in very good shape. A few hard soft corners and/or a few creases... and a few were somewhat off-centre. But that's okay. After all, some of these cards are over 50 years old.


Lots of goodies added to my baseball collection, as you can see.

I picked up some of the 2011 die-cut cards of past and current Blue Jays, those being Roy Halladay and Colby Rasmus.

I traded to acquire various Leader Leader cards, Highlights, and combo/trio cards from the 50's, 60's, and 70's. While I learned that many Hall of Famers cards were difficult to acquire in trades, it seemed that people were a little more willing to trade cards which featured them with other players or cards which weren't their regular issue from the season. It allowed me to get cards featuring George Brett, Warren Spahn, Casey Stengel, Jim Lemon, Roy Sievers, Gil Hodges, Rocky Colavito, Bert Campaneris, Mike Schmidt, and Nolan Ryan.

I also picked up some rookie cards of players I grew up watching. Steve Rogers of the Montreal Expos, Doyle Alexander who became a great Toronto Blue Jay, Jeff Reardon who played with the Expos too, and Dave Righetti who pitched against my beloved Jays. In addition, I grabbed a Rick 'Big Daddy' Reuschel rookie card too.

And most impressively, my first order included a 1952 Topps Ken Raffensberger. While he might not be a big name, the 1952 set is... being mostly famous for the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle. Raffensberger might not be famous but it's great to have a card from the set.

Now I'm looking forward to Order #2

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Topps Diamond Card Giveaway

Trading cards is a dying art.

These days, if you're not part of a web forum or if you don't live in a large city, it's hard to find a group to trade with. That was one of the main draws to me of the Topps Million Card Giveaway and the Topps Diamond Card Giveaway. A site where collectors can insert codes, add cards to their collection, and offer trades to a massive group of collectors online.

I'm currently knee-deep in the Topps Diamond Card Giveaway and have made over 300 trades so far. It's a little more difficult to manage my cards this year than last as this time I am dealing with about 190 cards and last year I rarely had more than 30 or 40 cards to trade with. But I love the trading aspect and attempting to make the 80's, 90's, and 00's cards disappear as I add more pre-80's and try to grab some older HOF'ers.



Although my codes resulted in nothing terribly memorable other than a few 2011 die-cuts, I've been able to make many trades and over time acquire two 1952 Topps cards as well as some HOF'ers, vintage, and lots of Montreal Expos and Toronto Blue Jays.

With all of the annoyances in the hockey card hobby lately (Upper Deck trying to battle the internet and Panini using far too many redemptions), it's nice to get back to the simpler days and have some fun.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Awesome Card of the Week

A marvelous Montreal Maroon!

Although Earle Robinson was not Hall of Fame worthy, he had a notable career in the NHL and in other leagues in the 1920's and 1930's. It culminated with a great season in 1934-35 and a Stanley Cup Championship.



Having died in 1986, this cut signature from In The Game Ultimate 8th Edition, is a piece of history worth keeping. It will also result in an additional player collection as I'll be attempting to acquire some other cards and Beehive photos, etc. from Robinson's playing days.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Awesome Card of the Week

The early 1990's were all about these two players. To get both Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr on the same card, sporting their signatures and some memorabilia from the Pittsburgh Penguins, is just plain awesome.



With Lemieux in the Hall of Fame and Jagr headed there once his playing days are done, this card is definitely a keeper.