Damn I'm Gonna Miss These Cards

It's all about sacrificing for what you really want and since I'm trying to acquire what would be the holy grail of my entire collection (an MJ Game Used Jersey) I know I just can't plunk down thousands of dollars to get it. So every week I've been slowly but surely selling off a lot of my card collection. It means getting rid of some real gems. It's tough...really tough, but hey you do what you gotta do. If anyone's interested in these or any other cards I have up for auction here's the link

My Auctions

Auctions end on Sunday. Here are some of the higher profile cards that I will miss being part of my collection.

02-03 SPX Winning Combos Kobe Bryant/Wilt Chamberlain

My first Wilt game used card, it's hard to give this baby up, but I have another dual Kobe/Wilt that I plan on keeping plus I have a Wilt Dual Patch.

2003 Topps Tribute Babe Ruth Game Used Bat

This actually made my Top 100 list, and I never thought I'd see the day I would sell it, but with 5 total Babe Ruth Game Used Memorabilia cards, I think I can afford to let this one go.

2003 Topps Tribute Ty Cobb Game Used Bat

Another hard one to get rid of, but I'll still have his autographed check and a game used pants card.

2003 Legendary Lumberjacks Lou Gehrig Game Used Bat

Again tough to get rid of Gehrig memorabilia cards, but I still have a jersey card and two pants cards.

2001 Upper Deck Pinstripes Exclusives Joe Dimaggio Bat Card

Ugh, yup getting rid of this too! Sooooo many hall of fame memorabilia cars! I have to keep telling myself it's for the greater good. Still have two jersey cards of Joltin Joe.

2001 Upper Deck 1971 All Star Game Salute Roberto Clemente

Having another jersey card of Clemente takes the sting out a little..very little, lol.

02-03 UD Generations All Time Authentics Bob Cousy Game Used Shorts

I think this card is severely underrated because I believe it's the only Cousy Game Used Card out there. I was torn on this one big time, but decided to go ahead and put it out there.

2001 Playoff Honors Alma Mater Materials Earl Campbell Game Worn Jersey

An early issue memorabilia card of Earl Campbell? And it happens to have a swatch of a college game used jersey?! Yes and yes, definitely a card I will miss.

These are the cards that stand out this week. Every week I'll post some other goodies that have to go. The journey to MJ continues!

Game Used Greatness: 2004 Jason Taylor Miami Dolphins Game Used Jersey

 Jason Taylor decided to retire after the 2011 season and what a career he had. Definitely one of the best defensive players the game has seen. I think he should definitely be a hall of famer. I came across a game used Dolphins jersey of his on Ebay and had to jump on it. It's from the 2004 season and it's PSA/DNA Certified. Here are the pics!

EBay Auctions Ending Tonight Including A Kobe/Nash Dual Auto

Got some Ebay auctions ending tonight including this baby right here

Please click here to see everything I have ending tonight including some Hall of Fame Bat Cards, and A Lebron James Gold McFarlane Chase Piece

My Auctions

How do you screw up a MJ Figure?? Ask Mattel!!

In my last post, I stated how upset I was that Mattel took over licensing sports figures from Kenner/Hasbro. I also mentioned that the one shining light was that Mattel had secured a license with none other than MJ himself so it should have been the beginning of something great right?? Eh, not so much. Mattel created numerous MJ figures ( I have a lot of them) and also a couple MJ Tribute Sets like this one here

Great piece huh? A 4 piece career highlight set highlighting Jordan's College, Pros, and All Star moments. Definitely cool....but wait there is ONE thing that stands out and bugs the hell outta me. It's that...that last MJ figure on the right..

The Bulls NEVER wore those jerseys in the 94-95. The pinstripe jerseys were introduced the following season so it was impossible for MJ to ever wear a black pinstriped Bulls 45 jersey! I know it's nitpicky, but it really bothers me that you can't get the uniform style right especially since MJ coming back in the 45 in the 94-95 season was such a huge story, you'd think Mattel could get the proper style match right! I was biased against Mattel from the get go but this was a mistake that just set me off for some reason. I'm sure Starting Lineup made some mistakes as well, but for some reason this one really caught my eye and "grinded my gears" so to speak, lol.

Game Used Greatness:Andrew Bynum 11-12 Game Used Noche Latina Jersey

 Game that Andrew Bynum wore the Jersey I have

Attitude Problems or not, Andrew Bynum has developed into one of the best centers in the NBA today. His emergence this year is one of the reasons the Lakers have been on a roll even without Kobe during the last few games. Bynum made his first of what will more than likely be several all star games. I jumped at the chance to obtain his Los Lakers Game Used Jersey on Meigrey's recent auction. The Lakers won 93-83 against the Heat and Bynum had 16 and 13 in the game. This is definitely one of my favorite jerseys in my collection! Enjoy!!

Sports Cards and Memories Presents: My History With Starting Lineups Part 3: Kenner loses it's NBA License To Mattel

One of the most devastating and critical events that first put a dent in my enthusiasm for starting lineups was when Kenner lost its NBA license. I couldn't believe that after the 1998 series, there would be no more NBA SLU's.  The 98 wasn't even anything special. It seemed like a hastily rushed set and there were no new players. There was a Kobe 2nd piece and a Magic Johnson as well, but for the most part the set wasn't too hot. I still bought em up like hot cakes (including Terrell Brandon and Vin Baker, lol) because it would be the last ever NBA Licensed Starting lineup set.

The Marbury piece from the final 98 NBA SLU Set

Basketball has always been my wheelhouse when it comes to collecting anything and that included Starting Lineup Figures. When Starting Lineups were taken away, I was crushed. Kenner tried to still make Basketball SLU's but in college uniforms (kinda like Upper Deck with cards) but it just wasn't the same. I didn't want Jason Kidd or Allen Iverson in college threads, I wanted them in the NBA uniforms.

 Just couldn't get excited about these College Basketball SLU's

 

Needing my NBA Basketball figure fix I had to try and rally behind the company that took over producing figures...Mattel. I wasn't really happy about it, but decided that I had no choice. The one thing Mattel had going for it? A Michael Jordan license. Now that was SOMETHING to get behind and it was very intriguing. MJ hadn't had a figure made since 1993 so sure it would be a hot figure to own right?? Ehhh, the product was lukewarm at best. I thought the figures looked cheaply made and though I bought some, it wasn't with the same enthusiasm as it was with SLU's. I know the Vince Carter rookie figure ended up being really hot, and there was some hard to find figures like Steve Francis and Larry Bird, but for the most part, I don't think Mattel's versions of SLU's were received that well. They overproduced MJ figures, churning out figure after figure and like I said, the figures themselves were just so underwhelming. Mattel would basically put out two series one in 98-99 and one in 99-00. I think it was mistake for the NBA to go with Mattel and not keep Kenner as the figure producer of the league. I mean in the long run, it wouldn't really matter because SLU's would be phased out in the early 2000's, but it definitely would've been sweet to see SLU rookie pieces of Vince Carter, Paul Pierce, and Dirk. This was definitely the beginning of the end for me and SLU's.

 

The Mattel NBA Superstars Line....Yawn...never got into it, not even with the greatest basketball player of all time in the set 

Easter Memories: My favorite Easter Story

Hope everyone has a great Easter today! I figure I'd re-post my favorite Easter Story that involves Sports Cards. It involves this card right here

I will never forget Easter Sunday 2000. Not only did I have a great time at my grandma's with all my family but that night I got the best Easter gift I could ever get. As an only child, I was indeed a little spoiled so I got a little something for each holiday. For Easter, I received 3 packs of 99-00 Fleer Metal and 2 packs of 99-00 UD Encore. I never expected anything huge, just to add some cool cards, maybe pull a Steve Francis rookie or a cool Vince Carter insert. Remember, this was right in the MIDDLE of Vinsanity. Everything and anything of Vince was INSANELY in demand, as Vince was having just an unbelievable sophomore season including the unforgettable 2000 Slam Dunk Contest which is probably still regarded as the best dunk contest of all time. Anyways, that night I started ripping the packs, and didn't get anything too exciting out of the first two packs. If I recall the best thing I pulled was an Antonio McDyess Heavy Metal insert. The 3rd pack though..the 3rd pack was magical. It's like it was yesterday that it happened. First card off the bat was a Vince Carter base card, followed by another base and then followed by what was the time the MOTHER LODE of all pulls. An actual VINCE CARTER GAME USED CARD. My reaction was priceless, I screamed like I was dying and ran around the house just full of so much joy and happiness. I had never in a million years dreamed I would pull a card like this! It trumped my friend Kenny's Terrell Davis Jersey Card and for once I was the one with the jealous friends! It's funny cause even then, this was just a warm up card, not

even a jersey, but this card booked at $400 when it first hit Beckett. I didn't want to tell me my mom because I was afraid she would make me sell the cornerstone of my collection! I took the card to the local card shop where my parents bought the packs and they congratulated me and showed me what they had just pulled a Michael Jordan Auto Game Jersey numbered to 23!! Between those two pulls, it looked like the Dugout was on a little bit of a hot streak! Though Vince Carter and this card have cooled off considerably since then, I still love early era memorabilia cards and I love how big the warm up swatch
is on this card. Also, as you can see on the back, I always like Fleer (and
Donruss as well) showing a picture of the actual memorabilia they used for
the card itself. The card may only book around $20 bucks now, but the memories will be forever priceless. (Oh and btw, the Encore packs were afterthoughts, I forgot about them in the excitement, I opened them later on that night, and the best card I pulled was a Ray Allen Electric Currents insert, not enough to take my attention away from the Vince,lol).

Happy Easter Everyone!

I think it might finally be the end of the road for me

For over 20 years I've collected and enjoyed collecting sports cards. It's been a blast, and I have so many great memories of awesome pack pulls, great steals, trades and all in between. A couple of things though have really changed for me and my overall involvement in this hobby. This is similar to my year end post of 2011, and as I said then, the biggest thing this past year was my evolving game used memorabilia collection. When I say game used memorabilia, i mean full size, not cards. I've really gotten into it, and it is pretty pricey, but it's also real cool to own actual whole game used memorabilia. Unfortunately for me it's changed my perception of cards. I just can't get excited about a tiny little swatch of game used "material" (who knows what it is nowadays, companies refuse to tell us) anymore. I really look back and think the oversaturation of game used cards really hurt this hobby. Sure it's awesome to be able to pick up MJ game used cards for $50 or under, but shouldn't these cards be more desirable than that. I almost feel guilty for owning game used cards of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig etc. I remember a time where even owning just a semistar jersey card was awesome but now, most regular jersey cards are basically worthless. When stars like Chris Paul have dual jersey cards go for .99 it's obvious that jersey cards have worn out there welcome. Even patch cards don't do anything for me, cause even the sickest logoman patch is just a small part of a game used jersey. For example I recently saw a Paul Pierce game used letterman card sell for around 350 bucks. Don't get me wrong, I know game used jerseys are expensive and not everyone can just buy them left and right, hell, i'm not saying I can at all, but I'd much rather save my money for a whole Paul Pierce jersey that I can obtain for around a grand, than spend 350 for a card that has one letter. I guess getting in to game used memorabilia was a double edged sword so to speak. Another reason I've been disconnected is my collection is mainly basketball driven. Baseball is prospect driven, and I don't have the time or energy to deal with that, Football is way to hit or miss, since hobby stars outside of QB's have such small windows of collectability (Larry Johnson, Clinton Portis, Marion Barber, running back list can go on and on). Basketball has always been my wheelhouse, but ever since Panini took over I just could never get into them and their cards. I tried, but I  truly just do not like Panini and their products. I miss Upper Deck, but I don't want college cards, I want guys in their NBA gear. The lockout made it even worse, cause there aren't even true rookie cards in this year's limited product. I look at box breaks and see single colored jersey cards pulled out of boxes that cost over $100, and with the hobby still mainly memorabilia card driven nothing really excites me anymore. I've decided to sell off most of my collection, mainly to get money to enhance my game used collection, but also because I'm just not into it anymore. Now don't get me wrong, it's not a full sellout, I'm keeping my PC of players I collect (Penny, Griffey, Shaq, Cowboys) and I'm keeping all autograph cards and rookie cards. It's mainly the memorabilia cards I'm getting rid of. I've added exactly one new card to my collection since last August and you know what, I haven't even missed it much. A year ago, I could barely go a month without buying something new, now I don't even look for cards on Ebay unless it's vintage or rookie cards. I'm not getting completely out of the hobby, I would still like to collect vintage cards and add some HOF rookies, and I'll still be keeping up with posts on this blog (I know all my recent posts have been all Starting Lineup related) but yep, I think it's safe to say that for the most part my hardcore card collecting days are pretty much over....something I never thought I would contemplate.