Still at 100%!

This season marks Upper Deck's 30th Anniversary of producing sports cards. To commemorate this occasion, they added 30th Anniversary Buyback 1/1's of every Upper Deck card produced in the past 15 years in Series 1 packs. What did this mean for me? Well, I have a player collection of former Brandon Wheat King Johnathan Aitken that currently sat at 100% of all cards produced from major sets. 

I threw a watch on eBay as Aitken has a Young Guns card from the 2000/01 set. Finally, it got listed 3 weeks ago for a 7-day auction. I sat by and waited it out until the last 3 seconds and threw in a ridiculous $39 bid (it was his jersey #), and I ended up winning it for a cool $20 shipped!

I'm now still the proud owner of 100% of Johnathan Aitken's cards! Someday when I actually get them all together, I will scan and show them, as for now, here is my first Aitken 1/1!

2019/20 Upper Deck Young Guns Buyback Johnathan Aitken RC 1/1

Hockey Card Finds: The $1 Million Dollar Man

In 2005, I started to get the collecting itch again after purging most of my collection in 2002 to assist with the purchase of my first house. With $10 burning a hole in my pocket at a flea market in Ohio, I purchased a lot of 50 hockey rookie cards from an older lady selling mostly knitted dolls.  She wouldn't let me look inside the small box, but she said her son had collected up until a few years ago and these were his "leftovers." I figured most of the cards were commons and I remember when I got back to my house, I had heard of a few of the guys, but some of the cards were from players in the 1970's. Not all are in the best shape, but for $10, what do you want? After a while, I decided just to put the box in the corner of my closet and I simply forgot about it. So, 14 years later, I decided I would take out a card from the box at random and write a small post about the player. I'll count down from 50. Here goes:

50. 1974/75 OPC WHA Dennis Sobchuk Rookie Card #56

The more and more I research Mr. Sobchuk, the more I find out that he was actually a pretty big deal. He was born on January 12, 1954 in Lang, Saskatchewan. During his junior career, he was a superstar. Playing mostly for the Regina Pats (he had a short stint with the Estevan Bruins), he amassed 191 goals and 225 assists in 200 games. Not bad eh? His Regina team was loaded with not only Sobchuk, but also Clark Gillies and former 1st overall selection by the Washington Capitals, Greg Joly. This Pats team ended up being a powerhouse and captured the 1974 Memorial Cup. Sobchuk was even named MVP of the tournament.

Before his junior career ended in 1973, he ended up being the first player to sign a professional contract. Sobchuk signed a 10 year - $1 million dollar contract to play for the World Hockey Association's Cincinnati Stingers. He played out his final year in junior for the Pats, but was then loaned to the Phoenix Roadrunners (as you can see by the photo of the card I have provided above). Dennis would also end up being drafted in the 5th Round of the NHL Draft (89th overall) by the Philadelphia Flyers. However, Sobchuk played in the WHA for 6 seasons (with the Roadrunners, Stingers and Edmonton Oilers) before eventually taking his talents to the NHL. His final numbers in the WHA were impressive (348 games, 145 goals and 186 assists for 331 points). He even played in the 1977 WHA All-Star game.

Shoulder issues and 3 surgeries to correct these issues derailed what could have been a more impressive career at the NHL level. Sobchuk only lasted 35 games in the NHL. Thirty-three of those with the Detroit Red Wings and the other 2 being with the Quebec Nordiques. His career ended in 1982 with the Fredericton Express of the American Hockey League.

From what I've gathered, he did dip his toe into coaching with his former junior team, the Regina Pats. This lasted only for 3 seasons (1986-1989) with 2 of those seasons as an Assistant Coach and his last year as the Head Coach (before being replaced mid-season). 

It seems this Dennis Sobchuk guy was a pretty big deal. It was fun to actually learn about a guy who was making a decent amount of money after his junior hockey career ended in the 1970's. I almost wish that the upper left corner of the card didn't have a minor ding...oh well.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading. I will try to get to the next card in this pile in the next few weeks. 

He has "Aspirations" of being a rap star eh?

If you didn't know who I was talking about based off the title, I am talking about Antonio Brown. I could go down a rabbit hole and talk about Antonio Brown, but I'll refrain. I actually threw a watch on this card because it showed Brown in a Raiders uni. As we all know, he didn't actually play a regular season game for them and I was interested in it. Some time had gone by and I actually received an offer from the seller on both of the auctions they had listed that I was watching. I ended up accepting the offer and got both for about $7 and some change shipped to my residence.

On Friday, I received the shipment of the two cards below. Then, on Saturday, I saw on the Twitter that Mr. Brown was shooting a video for his new single from his rap album. How fun and perfect that it coincided with my purchase. Anyways, enjoy the Elite card from this former NFL star turned rap artist and a patch card of a former minor league baseball player turned NFL Tight End:

2019 Panini Elite Aspirations Red Antonio Brown Parallel /16  
2018 Panini Rookies & Stars Hayden Hurst Cross Training Dual Patch /25

If anyone has interest in the Hurst patch, it's available for trade.

Thanks for reading.

Spectrums!

I was a little under the weather this week, so after using a few sick days to recuperate, I went through some of my cards from my PC. It shocked me that I had so many SPx Spectrum cards. Most of them are cards that I have pulled myself or traded for.

With that in mind, I figured I would pick my top 5 favorites and post them. Do you have any SPx Spectrum cards that you really like from your collection? If so, what are your favorites?

5. 2015/16 SPx Slater Koekkoek Spectrum Green 3 Color Patch Autograph Rookie /10

4. 2006/07 SPx Dustin Byfuglien Spectrum Dual Jersey RC /25

3. 2010/11 SPx Nazem Kadri Spectrum 2 Color Patch Auto RC /25

2. 2006/07 SPx Kristopher Letang Spectrum Dual Jersey Auto RC /25

1. 2003/04 SPx Marc-Andre Fleury Spectrum Jersey Auto RC /10

Of course my favorites would be Penguins! MAF is still my all-time favorite goalie. I wish his cards were more affordable, but this is one of his better ones out there and it's not going anywhere.

Thanks for reading!

It's cold out, glad I have a Heater

My buddy Tim from Vancouver and I had been trying to pull off a trade for a while now. He had a Dany Heatley card that has been on my wantlist for the past 10+ years. He beat me to the Buy It Now auction on eBay for the last reasonably priced one and has held it hostage from me. Honestly, these cards rarely ever pop up anymore and when they do, they're gone almost instantly.

About a month ago, Tim sent me an email trying to get a trade going again. I have to admit, I was just sick and tired of going back and forth with him on this card every few months, so I bit the bullet. I ended up coughing up a Markus Naslund buyback autograph, a Rick Rypien SP Authentic SP Limited RC /100, a Jake Virtanen Young Guns, a Topps Tough Materials Darren Langdon Jersey, an Alex Mogilny Zenith Artist's Proof and a Mattias Ohlund Gold Label /100.

It was the price I had to pay to knock this one off my list. Have you ever taken the raw end of a trade just to get a card from your wantlist? Well, after 10+ years and Heater now being out of the league, I finally have the card I have been wanting and it arrived today in a screw down (thanks Tim - if you ever read this):

2000/01 Black Diamond Precious Gems Dany Heatley Gold RC /100

Tuefel Shuffle...TTM Success!

I was pleasantly surprised today after returning home from work to see one of my SASE's laying on the kitchen table. I ripped open the envelope to see who had sent something back to me. To my delight, it was Tim Tuefel. I had sent Mr. Tuefel his 1984 Donruss Rated Rookie to sign sometime back in May. So, give or take 7 months, but it still arrived. Honestly, I had given up on this one and figured it was a lost cause. After having a rough day, it was great to see this come in the mail today. Now if only I could get the other 10 or 12 that I sent with no response to come back in. Anyways, here is the Tuefel auto:

1984 Donruss Rated Rookie Tim Tuefel TTM Auto

COMC Black Friday Purchases

I apologize in advance for all the photos, but I wanted to show all of my COMC Black Friday purchases. I had made a ton of sales on COMC and I had a bunch of funds to spend, so I went wild. I think I got a lot of cool stuff and I even grabbed a shield card! On with the show... First card I picked up was a non-sports card of comedian Matt Besser. Besser is on a lot of podcasts and made appearances in shows I like and am hoping to get this one signed some day: 

2014 Topps Allen & Ginter Matt Besser

Next up is a whole bunch of SPx rookies...I love me some SPx!

2005/06 SPx Thomas Vanek Jersey Auto RC /1499

2005/06 SPx George Parros Jersey Spectrum RC /25

2013/14 SPx Mikael Granlund Dual Jersey Auto RC /499

2000/01 SPx Pavel Brendl Jersey Spectrum RC /50

Then I grabbed more hockey cards. I finally got a Matt Murray rookie. It's not the SP Authentic rookie that I would have liked, but I got it pretty cheap. Also, I was pretty pumped to finally get a Vinny Lecavalier Zenith rookie in my PC and the Etem was SUPER cheap, so I was excited to grab that one:

2013/14 SP Authentic Future Watch Dougie Hamilton Auto RC /999

2007/08 SP Authentic Future Watch Erik Johnson Auto RC /999

2006/07 UD The Cup Clarke MacArthur Patch Auto RC /249

2015/16 UD Ice Premieres Matt Murray RC /999

2005/06 UD Ice Premieres Ryan Whitney RC /1999

2009/10 UD Ice Frozen Fabrics Glenn Anderson Jersey

1997/98 Pinnacle Zenith Vincent Lecavalier RC

2015/16 Upper Deck Michael McCarron Young Guns RC

2013/14 Panini Titanium Emerson Etem Jersey Number Parallel RC /65

Now for something I have never seen on COMC before. I was looking for some 80's rookies and I stumbled across a Ray Sheppard that COMC reported to be in Fair condition. When I looked at the photo, it was autographed by Sheppard. I looked at other Sheppard autographs online and it looks pretty legit, so I bought it and it cost me less than 50 cents. Here is my haul of 80's rookies (all O-Pee-Chee):

1981/82 OPC Dino Ciccarelli RC
1985/86 OPC Kirk Muller RC

1986/87 OPC John MacLean RC
1988/89 OPC Ray Sheppard RC (In Person Auto)

Finally, the last of my hockey pickups that have some officially licensed ink. I grabbed a few parallels and rookies. Rickard Rakell is one of my favorite players and I was pretty surprised to see that I didn't have his SP Authentic Future Watch. I ended up getting it for $1.25! The Chychrun looks like a terrific purchase right now because he is playing lights out in Arizona:

2013/14 SP Authentic Future Watch Rickard Rakell RC /1299

2016/17 SP Authentic Future Watch Jacob Chychrun RC Auto /999

2018/19 SP Authentic Future Watch Juuso Valimaki RC Auto /999

2018/19 SPx Henrik Borgstrom Spectrum RC /95

2018/19 Upper Deck Troy Terry Young Guns RC

2006/07 Upper Deck Patrick O'Sullivan Young Guns UD Exclusives RC /100

Can you believe that even after these purchases that I still had a lot of money left over? Selling over 165 parallels and autos in the past 5 and a half months really gave me a nice cushion to spend on this site, so like I said, I went wild. On to basketball grabs...I didn't pick up that much since I have a limited amount of basketball cards in my collection already, but was still excited for all of these:

1998/99 SP Authentic Michael Olowokandi RC /3500

2002/03 SP Authentic Drew Gooden RC Auto /1500

2009/10 SP Game Used Brandon Wright/Spencer Hawes Gold Dual Patch /99

2009/10 Panini Certified Jonny Flynn Mirror Gold Auto Patch RC /25

2006/07 SPx Hilton Armstrong Spectrum Dual Jersey Auto RC /25

2012/13 Panini Select Derrick Williams Jersey Auto RC /199

2006/07 UD Trilogy Paul Davis Patch /50

2002/03 UD Ovation Karl Malone/Andrei Kirilenko Dual Jersey (warm ups)

1994/95 Topps Finest Bill Curley Refractor

I decided to grab a little bit of all 4 sports, but still trying to grab stuff I have wanted for my PC. Here is my first haul of baseball cards. Some are for my PC, but others are being dedicated strictly for TTM autos:

1981 Topps Mike Scioscia/Fernando Valenzuela/Jack Perconte RC

1979 Topps Willie Wilson RC

1977 Topps Bruce Sutter RC (upper left corner is a  little jacked up)

1978 Topps Jack Morris RC

1975 Topps Steve Swisher

1972 Topps Toby Harrah 

1978 Topps Floyd Bannister

1978 Topps Bob Gorinksi

1972 Topps Gene Hiser RC

Here are some nice PC grabs for me. I have been wanting a Jim Kaat and Ted Simmons RC for a LONG time. Finally nailed those off the old wantlist and it was also nice to see that Simmons value soar after he was selected to the HOF:

1960 Topps Jim Kaat RC

1971 Topps Ted Simmons RC

1976 Topps Dennis Eckerlsey RC

1979 Topps Bob Welch RC

COMC messed up on one of my purchases. In the photo below smack dab in the middle is a Ramses Barden SPx Spectrum Patch Auto Rookie. It was listed as Hakeem Nicks, and I guess it was partly my fault in not looking at the photo. I really should have. COMC did make it right though. I contacted them and they actually got back to me and credited my account. It sucks though because I kinda did want the Nicks. If anyone can use the Barden and wants to make a trade, let me know. I am 100% certain we can probably work something out. Here is the first bunch of football cards (lots of parallels here). Most were cheap and some were under $1:

2004 E-X Reggie Williams Essential Credentials Now RC /50

2007 Playoff Contenders Jamarcus Russell Playoff Ticket RC /99

2005 Topps Chrome Troy Williamson Black Refractor RC /100

2009 Bowman Chrome Beanie Wells Orange Refractor RC /25

2009 SPx Ramses Barden Spectrum Patch Auto RC /25

2006 Fleer Ultra Marcel Shipp Platinum Medallion /99

2011 Panini Plates & Patches Alex Henery Gold RC /50

2002 Playoff Contenders William Green Rookie Ticket Auto RC /317

1996 Pinnacle Jeff George Artist's Proof

More football pickups. The Orlando Pace is a card that I had pulled back in 1997, but I traded it for a Paul Kariya card. It was a bad trade on my part, but I got this one at a great price, so I'm happy to have it back in my collection. The "Smokin" Jay Cutler card is serial #'ed to 32 and was only $2, so that was a decent buy. The Jamaal Charles has some color loss on the bottom right corner. The description didn't list any damage, so maybe I should have paid more attention to the photo. Anyways, here is the 2nd bunch of football cards:

1997 Donruss Preferred Orlando Pace Cut to the Chase Die Cut RC

2002 Bowman Chrome Javon Walker Gold Refractor RC /50

2008 Stadium Club Jamaal Charles Photographers Proof /50 (lower right corner damage)

2006 Score Jay Cutler Artist's Proof RC /32

2002 Score Brian Westbrook Final Score RC /100

2012 Panini Gridiron Morris Claiborne X's Silver RC /250

I promise this is almost over.. I finally grabbed my first Rex Grossman rookie and I got it for less than $3. The Trent Green was the last card I purchased and it was 58 cents (I only had 62 cents left), so I made the most of almost every penny I had:

2003 SP Authentic Rex Grossman RC Patch /850

2004 SPx Trent Green Spectrum /25

2008 SPx Felix Jones Triple Jersey Auto RC Green /199

2009 SPx Jeremy Maclin Jersey Auto RC /275

Hey, do you like rookie cards? Here are 4 more of those...

2002 SPx Jeremy Shockey Jersey RC /999

1999 Playoff Contenders SSD Cade McNown Speed Red Auto RC /100

1989 Score Deion Sanders RC

1989 Score Supplemental Neil Smith RC

I also grabbed some vintage rookies for my PC. A few were off-centered and I probably should have toned it down on the spending on the above stuff, but I didn't. Maybe eventually I will upgrade these, but for now, they are just fine. Also, I grabbed 2 vintage basketball rookies that I had been wanting:

1980 Topps Phil Simms RC

1984 Topps Howie Long RC

1984 Topps Dave Kreig RC

1985 Topps Henry Ellard RC

1986 Topps Al Toon RC

1986 Topps Andre Reed RC

1979/80 Topps Alex English RC

1978/79 Topps Dennis Johnson RC

And the largest purchase I have ever made on COMC is below. He was a WR that won me 2 fantasy championships when I had him in my keeper league. My brother bought me his jersey one year for my birthday. I know he's probably not a favorite of very many people, but he's up there for me. Once again, sorry for the long post. I just wanted to show everyone every single card that I purchased on Black Friday on COMC. Here is the meat and potatoes:

2007 SP Authentic Rookie Authentics Dwayne Bowe Shield Auto RC 1/1

Trade mailday

I have a friend Justin from Texas that I frequently trade with, and he knows I am a sucker for rookie cards. So, every so often I will get an email from him with some scans of his new stuff that he picks up. Last week, he sent me an email with 3 scans. I looked them all over and ended up wanting all 3 cards he was offering. After a few back and forth emails, we finally agreed to a trade. He had been wanting a Tyler Seguin/Jamie Benn patch card I had for some time. I also had to give up 2 Radek Faksa Young Guns cards a Jamie Benn Young Guns card that I had doubles of and a few Dallas Stars commons that I had laying around. Obviously I was pretty thrilled with what I got back. Here was what I received:

1992 Fleer Update Jeff Kent Rookie

2002/03 SP Authentic Future Watch Jay Bouwmeester Rookie Auto /999

1986/87 Fleer Karl Malone Rookie

Let's Try This Again

One card in the mail for me today and it was something I have wanted since 2005. It marked the 2nd time I've tried to purchase this card. The first time I purchased this card was in 2006, and I paid $28 for it. I couldn't wait for the card to arrive. However, the seller I purchased the card from shipped in a white envelope and it arrived in my mailbox absolutely destroyed. 

Fast forward 13 years later, and I finally have the card in great shape because this seller shipped it perfectly. Hell, it even cost me $20 less! Have you ever received a card you were really looking forward to receiving in a white envelope and completely destroyed before? Ugh, it's the worst...

So, finally after his career is over and he's no longer on my fantasy football keeper league team, I am finally the owner of this..

2005 SPx Ronnie Brown Jersey Auto Rookie /250

Golden Draft Bust

For some reason I have always loved goalies. Maybe it's their cool equipment or how they get to express themselves through the paint on their masks. Whatever it is, it always seemed awesome. Through the years, I have collected a few goalies (Mike Dunham, Rick DiPietro and Mike Richter). Yes, all US born goalies (nothing against my Canadian friends, I assure you). In 2010, I broke up a bulk of my goalie collection and pulled off a mega trade to a guy that collected only goalies. We both left the trade extremely satisfied and I only have a few cards left of the mentioned goalies above. 

An old friend of mine text messaged me out of the blue a few weeks back and we talked back and forth about the good times we had. Somehow, Rick DiPietro came up as a topic of conversation. My friend and I played NHL '10 like it was going out of style and DiPietro was our starting goalie. We took our team full of misfits all the way to the Stanley Cup Final (yes, we played ALL 82 games in our season). Our Phoenix Coyotes squad ended up winning the Stanley Cup in 5 games against the Boston Bruins. We would always joke that we took a team full of nobodies and beat that game on the hardest setting!

After our conversation ended, it got me thinking about DiPietro and I checked to see if I had any of his cards left and I had only 1. His SP Authentic Future Watch RC. I figured I would pass some time and check out some auctions for his rookies and I sent a low-ball offer (yeah, I admit it) on a low serial #'ed one and the offer actually was accepted. It actually shocked me. So, here is my $7 draft bust purchase based off of a text conversation I had with an old friend (impulse buy here folks..):

2000/01 Topps Gold Label Rick DiPietro Class 3 Gold RC /33

Front

Back

Out with the old, in with the new!

Have you ever sold certain cards from your collection in order to obtain another card you really had your eye on? Of course you have! That was my exact situation a few weeks back. I had been watching a certain card on eBay for a very long time, but it was way out of my price range, so if I wanted it, I was going to have to make a large purge of stuff. One night while scanning a bunch of my cards, I decided to put a few of my Cup Black 1/1 Rookies on eBay to see if I got a few bites. Well after a few days and some haggling by a buyer, we agreed on a price on 2 of my Cup Black Rookies (David Perron and Boone Jenner to be exact) and I sent them on their way to a nice guy up north in Canada. After those 2 had sold, the very next night I sold another card I had listed for a hefty sum and I felt like I had enough to send an offer to the seller on the card I had my eye on. Hours went by after I sent him the offer and I received no response. The next day while I was at work, I received a response and the seller agreed to the price I offered and I'm proud to say I'm the owner of this gem:

2017/18 UD The Cup Clayton Keller Black Parallel RC Auto 1/1!!!