Mailbag!

I have been away and working a lot lately and haven't been able to post. While I have been away, I have received plenty of mail...let's all take a look!

The first pieces of mail were quite a few SPx Spectrum Rookie Cards. I love SPx. I have loved them ever since they first hit card stores. I still remember ripping open those foil packs staring at those die cut cards and being so excited every year for it's release thereafter. I still have the first SPx card I ever pulled (1996/97 SPx Brett Hull Gold). The first 2 cards are of Joseph Addai and Marcus Vick. I got the Addai at an amazing price, but the Vick...well, I remember when this card was out there and being at a card shop when a guy pulled a Vick Spectrum RC. He bought a screw down for it. I figured the guy was crazy, but that memory is embedded in my mind. Marcus Vick was on my mind when my hometown Steelers signed his brother Michael which made me look this card up. I found one and obtained it that day. I'm actually going to put this in my PC for the time being.

2006 SPx Spectrum Joseph Addai Auto RC 24/25 & 2006 SPx Spectrum Marcus Vick RC 17/25

Next up, I will be keeping it going with the SPx Spectrum theme. 

2007/08 SPx Spectrum Jonathan Bernier Dual Jersey Auto RC 5/25 & 2008/09 SPx Spectrum Josh Bailey RC 7/25

I think the 2008/09 SPx set is probably one of the ugliest out there. The design is very "busy". I still like the Bailey (who always kills my Penguins). 

I belong to a few trade boards and I had struck up a large deal for a huge chunk of rookie cards. The main rookie cards I wanted in this lot were Bobby Ryan and Erik Johnson SPx RC's. I used to be a huge fan of Bobby Ryan when he was with Anaheim. As for the Erik Johnson, who doesn't like picking up a SPx RC of a former #1 overall pick? I can tell you I LOVE THOSE. The 2007/08 SPx set was always one of my favorites, but the jersey windows are extremely sensitive (just like the 2005/06 SPx set). Anytime these are being shipped I am always worrying about the condition once I receive them. In the lot I received, 2 of the cards came damaged. I was upset, but I was glad to see the Bobby Ryan and Erik Johnson were fine...as you can see below

2007/08 SPx Bobby Ryan & Erik Johnson Dual Jersey RC's /999

Back in 2003, there was a craze in the City I live in because our hometown Penguins had the #1 overall pick in the draft. With that pick we selected Marc-Andre Fleury. I had been in a collecting hiatus for 2-3 years then, but the excitement of NHL hockey drew me back in again. The 2003/04 SP Authentic set was the first set I tried to put together since 1997. I busted multiple boxes, pulled off trades and months went by, but finally I finished the set. In 2005, I had become bored with collecting and had sold off the set piece by piece along with many other cards. I had been more interested in girls, going out with my friends and such, but lately I have looked through old photobuckets that I had and wished I had held onto those cards and sets I had completed. I found a few of the SP Limited parallel RC's from that set, so I decided to deal for them. This is still one of my favorite sets of all time. Such a simple design, but also a familiar design to me.

2003/04 SP Authentic Future Watch Tuomo Ruutu SP Limited Auto RC 2/50

2003/04 SP Authentic Future Watch Alexander Semin SP Limited Auto RC 43/50

2003/04 SP Authentic Future Watch Nikolai Zherdev SP Limited RC 17/50

The next card is just a card because I love the design/color scheme. I could care less about the player (who is a bust - Jiri Novotny). The SP Authentic Future Watch Limited's from 2005/06 were probably some of the nicest around. They had a black shadow background and the SP Authentic and Future Watch logo's are holofoil. I had pulled a Petr Taticek back in the day and remember how pleasing the card was to the eye. That card is long gone from my collection. I scanned the internet recently to grab another of anyone and found this one...just check out it's awesomeness!

2005/06 SP Authentic Future Watch Jiri Novotny Limited RC 35/100

The next card I picked up is of a team that I should absolutely despise. However, when I was growing up, my cousin actually worked for this team and I received autographed cards, met players, got autographed pucks, sticks, you name it. I feel like I should get a pass if I have somewhat of a soft spot for them (my exception is only when they play the Penguins). This player is someone who I liked to watch anytime the NHL Network would play OHL Games featuring his team, the Oshawa Generals. It always seemed like this guy was either near the puck or hitting someone who had the puck. He was just a joy to watch on the ice. On draft day of 2012, I saw the Philadelphia Flyers draft him and instantly got a bad feeling in my gut. I bought some packs in 2013/14, but hadn't pulled any cards of him. When talking to a buddy of mine the other night who resides in Philadelphia, we talked about the player in question. After our discussion, I decided to finally pick up one of his cards.

2013/14 SP Authentic Future Watch Scott Laughton RC Auto 571/999

Mailbag!

Before posting the loot from my mailbag, I find myself lately gravitating towards cards from the 90's. I have no clue why...maybe nostalgia is getting the best of me? Now that I'm older, I think it's interesting picking up cards I either couldn't afford or could never pull in packs. Part of the mail you will see below falls in that category....well onto the mail!

This first card I have been looking for, for some time. I actually lost 3 auctions for this card within the past 2 years and when I saw another one listed, I wasn't going to let it slip through my hands a 4th time. I used to break a lot of this product back in 1995. A drug store retailer near my house carried this product and at $1.79 a pack back then. It took me a while, but I had pulled a rookie (finally!). Although, it was not the rookie I was looking for...I mean, who the heck is Jimmy Oliver anyway? I was looking for Ki-Jana Carter (I live in Pennsylvania and he was a star at PSU). Anyways, I have always wanted this card, but in parallel form. It was listed and I made sure I won (and at a fantastic price I might add)....below you can see the card in all it's glory:

1995 Sport Flix Ki-Jana Carter Artist's Proof Rookie Card Parallel #119

Next, I'm going to take you back to the same year (1995). My favorite local card shop (which is now closed up), had a new product on it's shelves. The owner told me that the cards were shiny and he showed me a few. I thought "SWEET"...I was in awe of this set back then. The $4.99 price tag per pack was steep (remember this is 1995), but I ended up buying a few. I got the card I wanted in the packs (Terrell Davis RC). There were also some pretty sweet parallels in this set (Mirror Gold) that are actually priced quite reasonably, so I decided to purchase a couple for my nostalgia collection. Of course I had to grab Ki-Jana!

1995 Select Certified Ki-Jana Carter & Joey Galloway Mirror Gold Rookie Card Parallels 

To wrap up the mailbag portion of the blog, I was glancing at my old photobucket from when I was really into hockey card collecting in 2003 and saw some of the rare cards I had pulled, but either traded or sold. One in particular caught my eye and had me wanting to look to see if another one was on eBay. I added the search to my "followed" searches on My eBay and let it ride for a while. Months had passed and still nothing had come up in my followed searches for this card. I thought about giving up to be honest, but let it ride a little bit longer. One night, I was working late in the office and I had finally finished what I was doing and decided to call it day. I was walking to my truck and my phone went off with some weird noise. There it was, someone had listed one. Without hesitation, I hit the Buy It Now button (and the price was less than $10!!). When I received the card, it was the same exact serial # as the card I had traded away years before. How crazy is that? So, the card I pulled back in 2003 is now back in my collection and I believe it's here for good. This set has is near impossible to have a card without chipping, but it doesn't matter to me.

Front

 Back

2003/04 Upper Deck Young Guns Tim Gleason High Gloss HG Rookie Card Parallel 7/10

Bustin' Packs

I abandoned baseball cards early in my life for hockey cards and eventually football cards. The last of my baseball collecting came in 1993. The set that I most enjoyed from 1993 was definitely Bowman. I decided to purchase a 3 pack lot of jumbo packs from 1993 Bowman. I was really excited when they arrived.

1993 Bowman Baseball 3 Jumbo Packs

Specs:

• 23 Cards per pack
• 2 Foil cards per pack
• Loaded with rookies
• Look for Derek Jeter's Bowman RC

Here is what a base card looks like. I picked this card to show off Gregg Olson's sweet handlebar mustache. He looks boss in this photo. I also remember Olson as being a big deal in 1989 and trading for a few of his cards with my neighbors

Front

Back

Now looking at the cards in 2015, I'm not so keen on the design as I once was as a kid. Below are the foil cards from my packs...sad break to tell you the truth. The rookies I received were not very good. I think the best one was Joe Randa.

Probably the best card overall was the Manny Ramirez foil. The foil cards have sort of a rainbow colored foil border and really didn't impress me like it did in 1993. Overall, it was a fun break, but not something I would do again. Luckily I didn't pay over $8 shipped for the packs.

How I got hooked on cardboard

Have you ever looked back and wondered what exact card or set jump started your sports card collecting? For me, I never really imagined that sports cards were worth anything until I was about 8 years old. My parents friends had 3 boys that were near the age of my brother and I and we would venture over to their house about twice a month. They always had the coolest toys and the oldest son (who was about 12 or 13), had a massive sports card collection. He would show me all the coolest cards and I was enamored by the Action Packed brand. One time, we were over their house for the oldest sons birthday party and he received 2 boxes of 1991 Action Packed Rookie Update. I think this was the first time that I realized you could actually purchase an entire box of sports cards. After the party was over, my parents stayed to hang out with his parents and he asked me if I wanted to help him open the packs. Ummm…..YES! This was the first time I had heard about the player Todd Marinovich (yeah, that guy). When he opened the 2nd or 3rd pack he let out a "YES!!" and he showed me a Todd Marinovich rookie card. He gave me a little info on the player and from his excitement, I figured he was the "next big thing". After opening the 2 boxes, I think he had a complete set and even pulled a Ronnie Lott 24kt Gold card. He told me that it was worth "big money". Some time went by and those Action Packed cards were still on my mind, and when I was with my dad one day at a Dunham's Sporting Goods store, I spotted a box. So, I grabbed a pack out and begged and pleaded for my dad to buy me this 1 pack of football cards. My brother even chimed in and had my back and my dad finally caved. I couldn't wait to rip that pack open to see what was inside. The moment that car door was shut and I was buckled in, it was "go time"! I ripped right into that pack and I am pretty sure it was second card from the end of the pack, there it was....the Todd Marinovich 24kt Gold Rookie Card you see below. I am happy to say even after a purge of most of my collection back in the early 2000's (to assist in the purchase of my first house), I hung on to this card. I still love it. This was the card that got me hooked and also the card that made me realize that cards were worth money. The next week, I remember bringing the card to show my parents friends oldest son and it was met with an instant trade request. He was going to trade me a full set of Donruss cards and a Mark Rypien rookie that I was interested in, but I didn't budge because I remember him saying that his Ronnie Lott was worth "big money" and Marinovich was "the next big thing". Well, as the time passed, Marinovich turned into a complete bust, but somehow this card still remains a special card to me. This card is the one that got me hooked and started My Cardboard Life. Enjoy.

1991 Action Packed 24kt Gold Todd Marinovich Rookie Card #23G

A little introduction..

Hello all, my name is Bryan. I'm from a suburban town in Pennsylvania. I began card collecting in 1986. I always enjoyed opening packs and reading the backs of the cards to know a little bit about each player who's photo was on the front. My parents actually told me they encouraged my card collecting because it was helping me learn to read. Ever since 1987, I have been hooked on cardboard (with a little bit of off and on collecting in my 20's - when girls were more important). Mainly the cards that I collect are certain cards that I have had in the past that just brought me fond memories, cards I wanted as a kid, but could never afford, and also a high end item which is UD The Cup Black 1/1 RC's (when I can afford them). I hope if you stumble across this little blog of mine, you will enjoy each story behind the cards being shown and will stop back for future posts of mine.