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February 2023 - New Arrivals

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nevermore

Well-known member
Aug 7, 2008
3,387
582
New York
The 1992 Bowman is Mo's only RC so tough to avoid it.

Yes, unfortunately you are correct, but I have tried my best to avoid getting one after 20 years of collecting him!

I have personally considered the 1993 Bowman as his rookie card, it is my favorite Rivera release of all-time:

Picked this up 10 years ago now, overpaid then due to the early signature (circa 1993-1994). Non-smudged and signed in fine tip marker which brings out the details.
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I was thinking of getting something like this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/363439804142
Not a true rookie, or as valuable, but appeals to me much more although just worth a few dollars.


And a recent pickup....

1999 Skybox Autographics Michael Strahan -- Newest Giant addition. Blue background works well on this card. Not too hard to find, but was holding out for a cleaner signature. This is less hurried than other copies I've seen and leagues better than signatures on his 2022 Panini releases.

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mrmopar

Member
Jan 19, 2010
6,503
4,951
Pretty decent haul today, including (3) Bobby Doerr cards, numbered /5, /5 & /15
5 BD.jpg5.jpg15.jpg

Kent Tekulve. I really like this set. Too bad the autos seem to be somewhat scarce in quantity and the prices are up there most of the time. I would assume that means the issue was not mass produced. Some of these are numbered, this one doesn't appear to be. KT.jpg

Manny Trillo /5. Some may recall my story with tntnorthnj, where that ____ sent my card to someone else and sent me the base Trillo auto. I don't recall if it was even the same version, but it might have been. I don't think this is my card, but I would be pissed to learn I had to buy it back (if it was) at several times what I paid originally.
MT5.jpg

Ben "There's a care of Miller Lite missing" Davidson. BD.jpg

Amani Toomer Redemption. I'll take that for a buck! AT.jpg

Then there is this Cris carter Auto that appears to have been missed. i guess it's possible it faded off too. Still thought it was cool. CC.jpg

Finally, another Old School, Sean Elliott. I love the various designs of this set. SE.jpg
 

mrmopar

Member
Jan 19, 2010
6,503
4,951
Bert was an impulse buy. Decent action shot on the 91T from Archives. /20. s-l1600.jpg

Cedric Mullins. Have tried to fin this card a dozen times and always got outbid. I guess demand finally died out. s-l1600-1.jpg

Ray Guy. s-l1600-3.jpg

Larry Nance Old School. s-l1600-2.jpg
 

theplasticman

Well-known member
Nov 21, 2008
4,150
266
All duplicates but got a decent price on everything:

1999 Upper Deck Gold Darin Erstad /100
2000 Pacific Paramount Blue Darin Erstad /99
2000 Pacific Paramount Premiere Date Darin Erstad /50
2000 Pacific Revolution Darin Erstad /63
2000 Pacific Revolution Premiere Date Darin Erstad /99
2000 Pacific Revolution Shadow Series Darin Erstad /99
2000 Upper Deck Legends Darin Erstad /100
2001 Pacific Private Stock Premiere Date Darin Erstad /90
2001 Upper Deck Exclusives Silver Darin Erstad /100
2002 Topps Finest Xfractor Darin Erstad /99
2005 Topps Finest Gold Refractor Darin Erstad /49

Inbound:

1999 Crown Royale Limited #2 Darin Erstad /99
2000 Pacific Ruby #6 Darin Erstad POR Darin Erstad
 

Dilferules

Well-known member
Aug 10, 2012
2,003
1,897
Auburn, WA
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1997 Pacific Prism Gate Attractions McGwire, 1999 UD 10th Anniversary Team Double 0522/4000 Henderson, and 2005 Topps Retired Signature Tony LaRussa. The 2003-05 Retired sig cards can be kind of hard to find nowadays at a decent price.

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2001 UD Gold Exclusives Giambi 07/25 with unfortunate edge chipping, 2005 Reflections Super Swatch Red 19/25 Zito with unfortunate foil "bubbling" look (common on these cards), 2005 Leaf Century Postmarks Gold 44/50 Dye, and 2000 Pacific Copper 67/99 Velarde. Not real close on any of these team sets but I'm getting there.
 

mrmopar

Member
Jan 19, 2010
6,503
4,951
A few of these are only being posted because I had the pics pulled (they were running late and that is my reminder to check on receipt).

Mike Lowell. I don't have a lot of the gold versions. Lowell.jpg

Oswalt /25. Os.jpg

OK, this one I am not sure why I bought. It was cheap and I like trophy cards, but he was never a Topps ART member. This set just included a bunch of rookies who were never not ever were they going to be trophy cards. It is a 1/1 and I got it for $6.50. Long shot, but any Cubs fans have a similar scrubby 1/1 Dodger auto that they might want to trade for this one? Paw.jpg

Wayman Tisdale, a decent basketball player and an accomplished Smooth Jazz guitarist before cancer and a ruptured esophagus (Holy crap!) killed him at age 44. Tiz.png

Jeff Mullins. 3 time AS and member of the 64 Olympic Gold Medal winning team. He is still alive and is 80 years old. Mullins.png

Paul Krause /60 (an accidental dupe). Krause 1-28.jpg

Bill Bradley, the FB player, on his AP card. Nice 70s hair and stache! Bradley 1-31.jpg

Michael Bush. Cheap Raider auto. Bush 1-29.jpg
 

mrmopar

Member
Jan 19, 2010
6,503
4,951
I am going to ramble a little bit here. I went through the NFL HOF list several weeks back, wondering who had been enshrined that I was just clueless about. I recognized most names, but some real recent guys (I really stopped following football completely for the most part before Brady came into the league. As with my baseball and basketball autos, I wanted to fill some gaps. I have added a lot in the last several months, but I really think it's time to reevaluate my longterm goals here.

I would love to keep up with the Joneses, but it just isn'y a reality. A lot of the best stuff I have was obtained many years ago or through sometimes exhaustive bargain hunting. I have been in the right place at the right time for a decent amount of stuff, collecting what I liked, but having that line up with what became more and more popular. sadly, as i narrowed focus, I missed out on a lot of stuff along the way as well.

I really have very little of what most would consider big hits for recent players in all of the sports. I don't have autographs of Brady, Manning, Trout, Lebron and the list goes on. I am missing some biggies that have always been premium or guys who died a long time ago as well, like Jordan, Ruth, Cobb, etc. I do have a signed uncertified Jordan card that looks good, but it could be a fake. Beyond those big names, I try to stay as current as i can, but what I am noticing more and more is that newer player signatures are just unusually high when compared to retired legends,, living and often not! We as a hobby have essentially turned into a prospecting, gambling addicted, free spending lunatics.

Case in point is todays pick up. Jason Witten. As I understand it, he is a good candidate for the HOF after he retires. I do like to line myself up future HOFers as often as I can and I had first noticed him when the Vaunted Greats acetate cards hit the market. I kept seeing and ignoring him until I finally looked up his stats. At that point, I decided maybe I should try to win one of his auto cards. I have lost every one I tried for and most were selling for a tidy sum of $. I saw this card pop up with a comparatively modest asking price WITH a BO feature. I figured no loss to try, so I offered $35. Seller accepted and I won my Witten auto. Of course, with tax and shipping, it was damn near $45!

I don't even really know much about the guy. I am not a Cowboys fan. I really don't even collect FB anymore, other than to fill in autographs and some insert sets I have been trying to complete for years. I have gotten numb to the prices, even in the "kids playground" price range, where I spend most of my time. I paid less for a Derek Jeter and probably Griffey Jr, Montana and a bunch of other much bigger players. WHY? I can afford it, but I now sit back and cringe that I am OK spending $35-45 for a guy who might make the HOF in a sport I really don't follow, mainly because I feel like I need to.

I love collecting autograph cards, but like everything that changes over time, the fun is starting to rub off as I meet with the new reality of what it will take to keep collecting at the level I am used to. I know there are all kinds of answers" to solve this problem. Collect something different being one of them or collect what you can afford or what you like, etc. I'm just sad that it is quickly turning into a hobby that collecting what you like and can (or want to) afford are becoming mutually exclusive.

So here is my latest addition that brought me down this rambling path...s-l1600.jpg
 

Dilferules

Well-known member
Aug 10, 2012
2,003
1,897
Auburn, WA
021123.jpg
1998 Bowman's Best Atomic Refractor Miguel Tejada 091/100 not only completes the 6-card team set, it completes the entire A's run of Bowman's Best Atomic Refractors, 1996-1999...base card parallels only, not the inserts. Absolutely the best looking "Atomic" set ever. The 1993 Action Packed 24-Karat Gold Rollie Fingers 149/1000 did not scan well but looks good in hand.
 

mrmopar

Member
Jan 19, 2010
6,503
4,951
View attachment 345530
1998 Bowman's Best Atomic Refractor Miguel Tejada 091/100 not only completes the 6-card team set, it completes the entire A's run of Bowman's Best Atomic Refractors, 1996-1999...base card parallels only, not the inserts. Absolutely the best looking "Atomic" set ever. The 1993 Action Packed 24-Karat Gold Rollie Fingers 149/1000 did not scan well but looks good in hand.
I don't recall ever seeing one of those full gold cards in person. Much easier to tell than the ones with the gold logos!
 

mrmopar

Member
Jan 19, 2010
6,503
4,951
As card collectors, who doesn't love giant mail days? New cards are great to get. We can't always get dozens of cards each day, at least those of us who try to maintain some level of budgeted spending. Sometimes the mail days are more modest.

Todays mail day for me was only 3 cards, but provided a nice variety. 1 each Baseball, Football & Basketball. It is also a nice reminder of what i do still love about card collecting. Pretty sure these 3 combined cost me less than the Witten I wrote about yesterday. There are still affordable bargains out there.
@mrmopar Appreciate you sharing your thoughts above. I guess the brighter side of collecting HOF autos is that they are more likely to hold or appreciate in value.
That is typically true and much of what is crazy priced now that won't be HOFers will tumble hard. Someone is always left holding the bag of dung as it is lit on fire!

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Dilferules

Well-known member
Aug 10, 2012
2,003
1,897
Auburn, WA
Never seen one of those 1992 Black Gold silver variations, that's neat.

This weekend's mail:

021223.jpg
2011 Triple Threads Sapphire Gio Gonzalez 10/10, joins my Brett Anderson card from the same set. 1935 Goudey Johnson/Coleman/Marcum/Cramer. Just have one more to go to finish up the all 3 cards featuring A's players from this set. 2022 Stadium Club Autograph Dave Stewart. And a 1997 Collector's Choice Crash the Game Canseco...I believe that gives me all of the regular A's Crash the Game cards from 1995 to 1998. I don't have the Instant Win cards and am still trying to hunt down a 1995 All-Star Game McGwire, though.
 

Dilferules

Well-known member
Aug 10, 2012
2,003
1,897
Auburn, WA
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A neat one, 2014 Topps Update All-Star Stitches Triple 05/25 Yoenis Cespedes/Josh Donaldson/Brandon Moss. Hadn't seen one before so it was nice to grab this one.

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1999 Pacific Prism Holographic Mirror Rickey Henderson 44/160...still need one more to complete that team set. 2008 UD Heroes Red Frank Thomas 185/249 completes that team set. 1999 Pacific Omega Copper Ben Grieve 65/99 leaves me one short of that team set.

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2022 Tier One Miguel tejada Bronze auto 22/25, 2022 Topps '87 All-Star Matt Chapman auto, 2018 Bowman Chrome Prospect Gold Refractor Nick Allen 39/50, and a team set completer: 2017 Topps Chrome Prism Refractor Matt Olson RC.
 

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