Wednesday, September 30, 2009

2008 UD Masterpieces

I know, its been a while but we had inventory at work and it has been a crazy couple of weeks! Anyways, I went to my local hobby shop that I swore off being I have never pulled anything worth a darn from that place. I had it set in my mind that they were searching the cases somehow and only selling crap boxes, not to mention he buys from a third party and not straight from the manufacture. This time however I watched a guy pull a Ripken /10 auto jersey from a box and I pulled a great Youkilis auto/jersey redemption that I was very very happy with. I love the base set and the short prints with the framing are just awesome in this set. If I were to ever collect a set this would be the one for sure. So it seems I have been sucked back in when I told myself this would be that shops last shot at keeping my business. Now for scans, enjoy!
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My wife also opened a box of American Heritage, a couple of nice and interesting hits. I really love the history in this product. I have a feeling it is going to cost me a fortune being she is a set collector!
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Bay Liner from Discovery

Tomorrow I will be busting 9 Tristar Prospect baseballs, 1 bat, 1 box of 06 UD series 2, and a few misc. blasters. I can not wait. I keep checking the UPS tracking to see where it is. From what they say it just left Jacksonville and is headed down I-4 towards Lakeland. I wonder if they would be mad if I were to stop the big rig on the interstate and steal my packages?

Saturday, September 12, 2009

4 Boxes and a lot of disappointment

Hobby box Legendary Cuts
Hobby box UD Icons
Hobby box Topps American Heroes Heritage
Retail box Allen & Ginter
Two Retail packs Celebrity something another

Lets start with the Legendary cuts. The last time I was in the local hobby shop I noticed they had one box left. I was going to buy it but I had a hard time making myself spend over a $100 on something that does not guarantee any autographs, because after all I am a fan of autographs, not relics. Dont get me wrong, patch cards are great, but the average swatch is just lame to me after the first 1000 Ive pulled the have lost their luster to me. I should have listened to my instincts. I love the design of the cards, kind of have a heritage/Ginter feel to them which will be great for IP graphing. The hits, well I ended up with my 4 game used cards and no autographs with a sale value of a whopping $8. I usually never sell my items, so in a way it really means nothing but I do like to somewhat get my moneys worth out of a box and it seems lately I have been struggling to even get close to 25% which I kind of have a problem with. I know it is all about the chase of that one card, which ever one it may be but the one that is just an awesome awesome pull. I just think the card company's should help the collector get a little value out of the boxes hit wise when they are spending that amount of money. Ok, Iknow, enough whining. Did I mention I like the look of the base cards? One highlight, ok two, I did pull a Bo Jackson relic and a short print JD over at JD's Wild cards needs. Bo, well to me, Bo was one of the greatest players to ever play baseball and I wish he would have played exclusively baseball. I feel he would have broken all kinds of records but in the end he will be a forgotten great.
Tony Gwynn / Jake Peavy
Ozzie Smith / Khalil Greene
David Ortiz
Bo Jackson 40/100

Next up was UD Icons. I was also a little disappointed in this $100 box as well. Same complaints as the Legendary cuts so I will not waste your time repeating myself. One of my biggest complaints about he product itself is the letterman cards. To me if you are going to go through the trouble of making a great looking card, which they really are, you should have them autographed as well. The base cards are also not the greatest, they look really generic to me. Good thing I am not a set collector. They autograph, well it is none other then the 26 year old rookie Brett Gardner 500/600. Again, high end product, no need for a autograph numbered to 600. To me there should never be an autograph numbered above 100 in a high end product! The relics however are flashy and look very nice to me. The tinier then usual swatches are a turn off, but hey a swatch is a swatch is a swatch so they could make them cover the entire card and it still would not be a turn on to me.
Chris Carpenter
Bill Hall
Brett Gardner 500/600
Jed Lowrie 36/50
Nate McClouth 5/40

American Heritage, I can not lie I bought these for my wife. She is a huge fan of Americana so I figured these may have an appeal to her. I love the base cards, it is like they took variations from numerous years of Topps baseball products and used them to design the base cards. This product guarantees two relics, stamps, or auto's er box. We were lucky enough not to get stamps, haha. The WW1 relic she pulled by far was my favorite pull of the day. It is a part of a military uniform, very cool. It kind of gave me chill bumps, being my family is very military oriented and having a grandfather who served in WW1 made it even more special. The other relic, well we/I could have done with out it. It was one of those ????? who is this???? Apparently Dennis smith who is a firefighter / author. Apparently though he is a pretty good author. Over all I would and probably will give this another shot.
Dennis Smith
WW1 Uniform

The retail box of Ginter, well was nothing but base with a crack the code card thrown in there. I did however finally get a Hamilton Country card, I love these and last years state cards.

The celebrity pack/box thingy, it was one of those guaranteed autograph thing a ma bobs. Being my wife is a collector of celebs, I figured we would give it a shot at $14.99 a pop why not? Well I see why. The two auto's were from the now defunct inkworks company. The cards are not bad looking but I think if they could have nailed down some decent names instead of junk they may of had a decent chance to give Americana a run, but not with these auto's. Kuan Smith / Agent Garrity has a dog named Lucy and is from Canada, just what I needed to know! Gldart, who names heir kid Gildart? Anyways Gildart was killed off of of Chamed after he killed a baby, all in his one and only season on Charmed.......
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Kauan Smith

Thursday, September 10, 2009

The Building of a Police Car

Since I have not made any deals or had mail days or even opened any wax the past couple of days I decided I would take my camera to work with me. I want this blog to be about what I have fun doing in my life and this is one of my enjoyments, I just am lucky enough to get paid to do it. For the next few days, or until the project is completed I will take pictures as the car progresses. This is the final car of 13 my partner Jimmy and myself have built this year. To me this is a blast. It makes my job fun even after hours when I see a police car or fire truck rolling down the road knowing those are my babies and I built them, well the cruisers that is. I am not good enough to build a fire truck, haha. This car was already started yesterday so I do not have any pics of the raw car, but trust me when we get them they are just a plain ole street car you can buy at any dealership. Enjoy the pics and if you have any questions I will answer them the best I can.


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Wiring up the rear of the car
Getting dash ready for gun lock
getting ready to run wires
Deck lights installed
Light bar installed
New back seat ready for comfort
Putting the tail lights back in
Strobing!
Who needs instructions when you wrote them?
Front of car ready for the install
Putting strobes into a headlight
Console ready to be installed

Finally the best part of the day, getting ready to go home.

End of the day

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

HOF Baseballs

The List First
Fergie Jenkins-IP
Goose Gossage-Tide Water Sports Halo
Brooks Robinson
-Tide Water Sports Halo
Gaylord Perry-IP
Monte Irvin-PSA/DNA
I have these balls for trade and as you can see from the pics they are in great shape. I am wanting to trade these for other HOF balls. So if anyone out there in the blog world wants to do some trading give me a shout please.
Monte Irvin
Brooks Robinson
Gaylord Perry
Goose Gossage
Fergie Jenkins

Hey IP Graphers

I need your help. I have been moderator on this site for a little over a year. We have had no problems getting people to sign up, but no one seems to want to post on a daily basis. Joe, the owner of the site, has done an incredible job with the mother site http://mla.gosportscards.com keeping up with every player in the minor leagues cards, set by set. If you are a minor league grapher, this site is a must, and while you are there make a little post on the forum.
http://gosportscards.com/forums/index.php

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Is Nascar a sport?

A lot of people seem to think Nascar is not a sport. I would like to state my case on why it is. I have raced in the past so I have a little insight on how physically demanding it is. According to Webster's Dictionary, the term "sport," as a noun, is described as "physical activity engaged in for pleasure." Now just because the only balls involved are the ones in between your legs does not make it any less of a sport. Here are my reasons.....
1. It takes team work
2. No Restroom breaks
3. No half Time
4. you have more of a chance to get killed or seriously maimed than any stick and ball sport
5. The temperatures inside the car can reach 150 degrees, and no one is there to replace you or run a water bottle out to you
6. The pit crews, most of which came from other sports, will tell you that during their stops it is the most demanding 15 seconds ever
7. They wear helmets
8. 200 MPH is not the same as driving 55 down the highway
9. It is a competition, you vs. 42 other idiots
10. there are grandstands
11. They have coaches, crew chief, pit coach, car chief, owner
12. They like other sports depend on sponsorships
13. If dancing is a sport, Racing is the ultimate dance
14. The drivers and crews spend just as much time doing weight lifting and cardio
15. You get hit so hard your Grand Mama can feel it for a week
15. They have numbers to identify them selves
16. It takes pure talent to drive that fast on the edge of out of control

I could go on all night, but for those of you who think Nascar, or auto racing for that matter is not a sport, I dare you to go to a driving school and spend a few days learning what it takes to drive a car, then strap yourself into one and stay out there for 4 hours. You will change your mind.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

For those of you partying for Labor Day

This happened two years ago this weekend. I was on call and got a phone call at 2 A.M. to bring the roll back and pick up a crashed cruiser. I had no idea how bad it was until I got there. Thank go no one was hurt too bad. The officer ended up with a few scratches but it could have been much worse. Just 5 minutes before the accident the officer dropped off a dispatcher who was doing a ride along. It is easy to see she would not have made it through the crash. If you are going to drink, call someone. It is not worth eternity in a casket. You can not fix death. Be smart. have fun, party hard, but please be safe. I do not want to be called to pick up an officer or any of our employees for that matters vehicle after they have been killed.
Crashed Patrol Car
Crashed Patrol Car

FSL Graphing

Another night graphing the FSL where the talent is as thick as the people in the stands. Official attendance 498! I didnt really have anyone to go for so I just went down the list and picked out the first round draft picks and coaches with any type of worthwhile inscriptions. Considering it was raining, pretty hard, I think I done ok for not really wanting anyone there. They also had an autograph session for the kids, maybe 7-8 players opted to participate, the highlight, was Southpaw the Tiger! They even managed to get his autograph!
Keven Ahrens
Darold Knowles
Kevin Ahrens
Darold Knowles
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Thursday, September 3, 2009

Crawford Private Signing

I came home today to find a great package in my mail box from my buddy Larry aka, Kassis10. I knew right away it was my items from this past weekends private signing he held with Carl Crawford. This is the second or third private signing I have been involved with Larry and every time he does not disappoint. I will let the photos do the talking.

Carl Crawford 2008 AL Champs
Carl Crawford
Carl Crawford

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

People that SUCK!!!

So yesterday I was cruising the trade boards as I do everyday when I came across a pretty interesting deal. A guy by the name of brccompany had a Hank Aaron ball for sale for $90, not a bad buy at all. I contact him and offer a sale price for the Aaron and another ball, after all it never hurts to ask. He promptly turns the offer down, which is ok. So I tell him I will take the Aaron, heres what follows......

ME: If you will take cash I will take the Aaron

HIM: Paypal only

ME: Your killing me! haha. I have had issues with getting PayPal to accept my credit card for two weeks now. Are you sure there is no way you will take cash?

HIM: Paypal provides protection for both the buyer and seller. And this deposits right into my checking account.
If you want to do cash the Aaron is $150 cash, $100 paypal.
I hope you get your paypal in order.
-Brent


ME: Does it come with a free jar of Vaseline?

HIM: Dont waste my time.

ME: Was not trying to, D!ck.

Ok, so this guy today starts a new thread asking what other sites he can trade on so obviously he is new to trading and selling. I understand his point about Paypal but he obviously would accept cash, only if he can stick it to you. There are other ways to protect a purchase, that would also be less then PayPal fees, like USPS shipping insurance for one! I do not understand why people have to be rude. All he had to say was, sorry man I need PayPal only. That would have been it....... So if any of you are new to this hobby, take a course on helping the fellow collector and interney etiquit. One day this guy may need me, he may not, but if he does I will leave him standing. It is that easy.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Today I had a mail day I have been waiting on for quite a while. Jordan, a moderator on PN.com, and I made this deal back in July. He as myself are pretty slow shippers with our busy lives. Never the less I received a Signed Jose Lopez Mariners Jersey, three signed Baseballs, and a boat load of 8x10's. I am not much of an 8x10 collector but for the price I could not turn down this deal. Here are some of the notables......

8x10's

Edgar Martinez Steiner cert
Pat Neshek
Jamie Moyer
Jason Bartlett
Jose Contreras

ROMLB's

Bud Seileg
Brandon Morrow
Garret Anderson

Edgar Martinez Steiner

Jose Lopez signed Rookie Year

My First Attempt

I have seen how much fun JD has had on his blog http://jdswildcardz.blogspot.com/ and decided to give it a shot. I am very versatile in my collecting habits. I am all over the board, Baseball, Nascar, and Football are my main interest. I hang out mostly on http://pneshek.proboards.com and www.minorleagueautographs.com If I can have half as much fun as JD, I will be happy with this attempt to "blog."