Saying farewell to a collection.....

I come to you this evening, in a semi-sad mood. The man above has left my personal collection.

For those of you who do not recognize him, that is New York Yankees Starting Pitcher, Javier Vazquez. Through eBay, I met a fellow JV collector who, it seems, has much deeper pockets and a MUCH better and larger JV collection than I do. I soon realized we had been hurting each other, by affecting the outcome of many eBay auctions, in turn costing each other money in the long run.

Just about an hour ago, I agreed with my fellow collector on a paypal amount, to send all of my Vazquez cards his way.

I am going to use the funds to further enhance my Hidalgo collection (have a white whale ending in under two hours), my RC collection and other aspects (such as my Astros Team Collection).

You will be missed, Javier.

Mail Post #3: The Start of an NBA Player Personal Collection

The last year or so, the NBA has slowly, but surely, been pulling me back into enjoying the game.

Though it still has plenty of egotistical, me first players, other, team first, unselfish stars were beginning to shine and bring a fresh face to the game (or refreshen the face they had).

From Kevin Durant in OKC, Dirk Nowitzki revamping himself in Dallas, Chris Paul in New Orleans or David Lee in NY, you had guys playing for the team first, themselves second.

That's why I decided to start a David Lee PC: tough nosed rebounder, active on the offensive side of the ball, has improved every year he has been in the league, works on his weaknesses and never worries about personal stats.

I started this collection off with a bang, focusing primarily on patches, autographs and low numbered game used and parallel cards.

09/10 Absolute Memorabilia Spectrum 22/25 

09/10 Panini Limited Jersey 05/10

09/10 Panini Timeless Treasures Jersey Prime 05/10

08/09 Topps T-51 Murad Autograph

05/06 Upper Deck Trilogy Signs of Stardom

05/06 SP Signature Edition Authentic Signatures

09/10 Bowman 48A Auto & Base Card

 

07/08 SP Rookie Threads SL Multi Marks 2 David Lee/Rudy Gay 29/50

09/10 Classics Dress Code Prime Patch/Auto 01/25

Pretty nice start and I have more on the way, that can really build a collection up in a nice way. I plan on adding more base cards soon, but figure with so many of his nice cards hitting eBay, I am going to see how many I can land before going after the smaller fish.

Mail Post #2: The Beginning-ish of a new corner of my PC

This beginning, is something I had been wanting to start for a while and recently decided, hey, what the heck, why not, let's hop right in and get it going.

What is this, you ask? Collecting modern and vintage hall of fame rookies (including those who will become hall of famers a la Griffey Jr., Jeter, etc. and those who I think SHOULD be in the hall of fame, like Dale Murphy), primarily of the Topps corporation (though, some will be of the company they are none for, like the Upper Deck Griffey).

I already had a few of these in stock, originally as trade bait:
1983 Topps Wade Boggs
1985 Topps Kirby Puckett
1985 Topps Roger Clemens
1985 Topps Mark McGwire
1984 Topps Don Mattingly
1982 Topps Cal Ripken, Jr.
2001 Topps Ichiro

Here are my most recent additions (with a handful more on the way from eBay):

1977 Topps Dale Murphy #476

1976 Topps Dennis Eckersley #98

1979 Topps Ozzie Smith #116

1993 Topps Derek Jeter #98

As you can see, already some of the bigger names from 1975 on, but still a ton missing. I do have Paul Molitor, Rickey Henderson, Andrew Dawson, Gary Carter and Eddie Murray rookies on the way and I will be sure to share them when received!!

Mail Post #1: Newest Additions to the Javier Vazquez Collection

In what has easily been the largest addition to my personal collections in the recent month, is the additions to my Javier Vazquez collection.

I received a large mix of Vazquez and Richard Hidalgo cards from Sportlots recently (all base cards) and I did not keep track of that, but believe I did add about 30 or so Vazquez's to my ever growing collection.

The cards I will be showing, though, make me very happy. They include five new autographed cards, four low numbered parallel cards and one very sweet triple patch card.

2003 Prime Patches Team Materials Triple Patch 033/150

 

2005 Donruss 25th Anniversary 11/25

 

2005 Donruss Studio Studio Proof 01/25

2003 Donruss Elite Status 07/23

2008 UD Premier 4/5

2006 Ovation Spotlight Signatures

2004 Topps Pristine Personal Endorsements

2004 Flair Autograph Collection 184/187 

 

2004 SP Chirography SP Chirography Duo Tone 60, 72/75

2003 Donruss Champions 38/50

Wow, right? That's a pretty good haul for a few weeks (the past three or so). It's the most autos I have added at one time in quite some time (like, when I first started collecting Javier). It felt great knocking out some much needed lower number parallels as well.

A Random Mish Mash of Sunday Happenings

Well, ever since my wife and son flew back to the states my house has been A) way too quiet, B) way too lonely and C) way too boring.

So what have I used all this extra time for?

Well, cardboard silly.

I spent a decent amount of time yesterday and today getting my 2008 Topps Set in order, to find out what holes need to be filled. I also counted EVERY single one of my Houston Astros cards in my team collection (this does not include my Richard Hidalgo cards) and came to a VERY large number, one that was much larger than I thought it would be.

-- On the 2008 Topps set, these are my needs:

• Series 1 - 150, 220, 298

• Series 2 - 343, 348, 349, 354, 364, 365, 370, 371, 376, 402, 405, 409, 415, 423, 450, 455, 463, 496, 514, 516, 536, 540, 547, 553, 562, 571, 576, 579, 580, 584, 595, 597, 615, 619, 624, 628, 631, 632, 642

-- Total number of Houston Astros cards in my team collection (mind you, this is autos, game used, inserts, parallels, base, etc.) is a whopping four thousand, one hundred and seventeen or, 4,117, for those less inclined to read a number out. Like I said, much larger than I thought, though it is fueled by my excess of doubles on 80's and 90's junk wax.

-- I also worked on my Astros Topps team sets, but have yet to record the ones I need. I plan on doing this over the following week, since I have very little to do then.

-- I will also have many, many new cards to post soon, as I have 17 auctions from eBay I still have not received. One won't arrive until the beginning of July (4 boxes of Allen & Ginter, my first box purchases in about 4 years), while the rest should arrive within the next 7-8 business days.

-- For the rest of tonight (it's already 9:23pm here), I plan on typing up my COMPLETE trade list of all my serial numbered and non-serial numbered inserts, parallels, rookies, the few game used I have and the odd auto or two I didn't sell, so I can post it as it's own separate entity and hopefully work a few trades soon.

-- Finally, within the next three weeks or so, I will FINALLY deploy to Afghanistan. I do not know which day yet, as I have things I am getting done back here in Germany (shipping my household goods back to the states, clearing housing, general Army stuff), but I will give everyone a rough estimate, when I do know. Don't fret, I am sure I will post with the same in frequencies as I do now, but maybe with some odd stories peppered in.

As per usual, if you got any questions, comments, gripes, what have you, feel free to email me (anicolausk at yahoo dot com), leave a comment, or hit me up on Twitter (@BalkFour).

Wait....what's that? That's the Maildays music.....

If you get the reference in the title, you probably have watched wrestling at some point in time from 1988 to now. Ol' JR and his ability to hype up any incoming wrestler into the ring.

The difference between me and him? I am hyping up my 2nd mail day post out of the last 3 posts I have had, but, seriously, the last two times I have hit up the post office, I have had a combined TWENTY bubble mailers/packages waiting for me.

Yeah, I went a little crazy on eBay and COMC, but still, I have been happy with EVERYTHING I have picked up, and that's what it is all about, right?

On to the mail:

Some Hidalgo stuff (including only my 2nd game used card of his):




The game used.



  
Elite gold Status #ed /100


Two cards I bought while drunk tweeting and caught "off guard" by a fellow blogger (i'm sure you guys can figure out who she is):






Two new hobby staples:



Don Mattingly Topps Rookie



   Ken Griffey Jr. Sweet spot auto


My first foray into prospecting since about 2005:

He was a supplemental pick for the Red Sox and has ALREADY signed and I think will be playing short season ball.




The last card of the day, deserves to be bigger than the rest:

2009 Topps Chrome Javier Vazquez Superfractor






Looks even better here, next to one of his Bowman Chrome Cousins:





I have plenty more (by plenty more, I mean 9 more) packages on the way from eBay, plus about 8 things I am currently watching and plan on attempting to win.

Sorry about having two mail day posts so close together, but they were both phenomenal to me, so they deserved the posts.

Bob Bonner: An Orioles Future Star

You didn't think I was seriously going to do an entire post about Bob Bonner, did you?

I'm sure one of my fellow bloggers would truly enjoy this rookie (i'm looking at you Beardy) and I am glad to have picked this up relatively cheap off of eBay recently.

I was always a huge fan of Ripken growing up. Not just because of the Streak, but just because he played the game the right way. From running out ground balls, willing to move from SS to 3B to help out the team and always giving his all, he was quite the role model for a budding young little league star.

Oddly enough, even though I am an Astros fan, he influenced my decision to pick my playing decision moreso then any other player (SS) and also influenced the way I played and practiced. I was (and still am not) the biggest of guys, so I played to my strengths, which has been as an exceptional slap hitter, speed, solid defense and an immeasurable amount of hustle. Not to mention, my ability to play through injuries (including getting hit in the head TWICE in the same game by throws or pitches).

With the poor play in Orioles land recently, I think a good shake up at the top should result in Cal as coach. Imagine him instilling the Ripken way from the top of the big league team to the bottom. Imagine Adam Jones, Nick Markakis, Matt Wieters and all that young pitching garnering his advice and putting it to good use.

The youth of the O's depends on them having a leader who has experience on the field and the ability to hold ones self to a higher standard off of it (not that they have any off the field problems, but it never hurts).

C'mon Beardy, join me in my fight to get a TRUE Oriole as the leader in that clubhouse.

Small highlights in a rather poor day.....

So, I missed going to the post office Friday, which resulted in me having TEN, yes, TEN, total envelopes/packages waiting for me, all eBay purchases.

The poor part of the day? My wife and son flew back to the states earlier today (about 8 hours ago) and I won't be seeing them in person again until around the end of January/beginning of February. I knew this day would come, but still, it is tough being in what is now a basically empty full house, ya know?

I guess I could post some of the highlights of the mail day (ok, some of these are from last week, but I didn't scan them in until today):

Some pretty awesome Javier Vazquez personal collection stuff:

2007 Topps Series 1 Yellow Printing Plate

2001 Donruss Class of 2001 Diamond Aces 3 Color Logo Patch #ed 3/3

2002 Donruss Best of Fan Club League Leaders Auto #ed 85/300

2004 Playball "Green" Parallel #ed 07/15

2009 Bowman Chrome Red Refractor #ed 1/5


A few Richard Hidalgo things (thanks to some good deals from Syndicate Sports Cards on eBay and COMC):

2004 Sweet Spot Sweet Gloves Auto #ed 10/15

1996 Fleer Ultra Golden Prospect Gold Medallion - This looks really awesome in person, as it is a see-through "gold". Pretty sweet.

2003 Donruss ReCollection Collection Auto "2001 Donruss" #ed 2/9

2003 Playoff Absolute Memorabilia Auto Plaque #ed 66/135

1998 Pacific Revolution Rookies & Hardball Heroes "Gold" #ed 14/50

2004 Leaf Limited Threads "Russell Laundry Patch" 1/1

1997 Bowman's Best Mirror Image "Atomic Refractor", "Refractor" and Inverted


I also picked up an 82 Topps Ripken RC, a 2001 Topps Ichiro RC and a few Bryce Brentz USA autos.

A great mail day to kind of sweep away the clouds from a rather dreary day (quite true also, as it did/is raining as well).

I did get to watch some soccer though (saw the Japan upset and part of the Italy tie). Now I am just burning time until I have to go up to work and issue out M4's to all the soldiers headed out to Afghanistan soon (I will be there in a few weeks as well).

A Century Old

Of course by century, I mean 100 posts, but you get the gist.

Two posts ago was my 100th post, which actually came at a much slower rate then I would have thought. Then again, I haven't been able to keep a passion for writing in me.

I feel like it has just been a ton of things that have been keeping me back. Stress from my upcoming deployment, stress from my wife not being back in the states yet, stress from the Astros terrible season so far and my overall lack of motivation to write, though I always have something going through my head.

I changed the way the blog looked. That didn't help. I recently came into a little bit of money to help feed my collecting. Hasn't helped much (but maybe the mail days I have will).

Hell, I didn't even notice my 100th post until BA Benny's Baseball Card Buffet had his 100th post contest (which, by the way, happened at a much quicker rate than mine did) and posted a little link to it, which happened to be my 101st post. And then, not even that encouraged me to post.

Maybe it's the fact it has been tough for me to put my words into action since, well, since I drank my way through two semesters of college? I was a brilliant (well, I thought I was brilliant) writer all throughout high school and even in my two semesters of college, but then I stopped writing. With no assignments (and no blog at the time) I had no reason to write. I spent all of my free time (IE: time not working) wooing girls, playing video games, drinking, experimenting with plants (it was short lived, but still, it happened), playing sports and hanging out with friends. Not to mention, my collecting habits stalled because A) less funds available (it's a lot tougher blowing money when you are no longer living with your parents) and B) busy having a social life, with not much room on the side.

So now, it seems the only time I feel like writing (when I am not tweeting randomness) is when I drink. Since I drink a lot less often then I used to, I blog less often than I used to. Which sucks, because I need a way to get whatever pops into my head out of there.

Ok, enough with the ranting randomness.

I've hit two round numbers recently: 100 posts (which you know) and 40 followers (which you may not know). Yay me, I supposed. More importantly, I am closing in on two big collecting goals for this year: my total number of cards in each of my primary personal collections, Javier Vazquez and Richard Hidalgo. Thanks to Check Out My Cards, Sportlots and a rash of cards on eBay, both of my goals (400 total Hidalgo cards and 300 total Vazquez cards) are within reach and may be surpassed by July 31st.

Which leads me to my next point: I haven't shared much of my recent maildays, but I am scanning more often, so I hope to show them soon. I have new autographs, low numbered parallels, a 1/1 or two (or three, maybe), a little prospecting (which I will talk about soon) and even random rookies and a nice hall of fame autograph or two.

Since I sold off all of my game used and autos from my non-p/c, I have decided everything I buy will either be PC or prospecting, so I haven't strayed from that. Add in that I came into a decent sum of money for collecting purposes only and you have a recipe for success.

Uh, if you have made it this far, thanks for letting me rant and ramble. I try not to do it often on the blog, but it seems to be happening more often than not lately. For your dedication to this post, I leave you with my latest eBay win that brought a super big smile to my face:

Newest Autos to the PC Collection

Well, over the past few months I have been able to pick up auto cards of my two main PC guys (Richard Hidalgo & Javier Vazquez) at pretty considerable amounts, so I felt like showing them off.

Javier Vazquez

First up, I will start with one of the newer auto sets, from 2010 Chicle.

 This is an Artist's Autograph, numbered 6/10. I really like two things about the Chicle set: on card autos and, well, I really like the art work on his cards.

Next up is a hard to find Leaf Certified Material Mirror Gold auto.

 Now, onto the three recent Richard Hidalgo auto pick ups, starting off with something from far south of the border.

 This is a 94-95 Line Up Venezuelan auto, shipped from, well, Venezuela. The seller has two other autos up for sale, but for more than I paid for this one, so I am holding back on buying them. Please note, this isn't a bad scan, just what is on the "top loader", which seems to just be a crazy piece of plastic all around the card.

 2003 Donruss Team Heroes auto, 74/100. I've seen a few here and there, but usually for BINs much higher than I would be willing to hit on, even for a PC card. I hate sticker autos, but it doesn't look TERRIBLE on this card, in my opinion.

 1997 Scoreboard Visions Signings auto. These are generally easy to find, but some of the bigger names in the Scoreboard sets have a tendency to be faked, so a lot of people ignore this set. A great early, on card auto of Hidalgo.

Well, those are all the auto'ed cards I have gotten in recently. I have a few more big mailday packages coming in soon, including 2 from Check Out My Cards, one from sportlots (just a large handful of base, but more to knock off of the ol' checklist) and a decent sized lot from Syndicate Sports Cards, in an off eBay deal, where they were willing to take an offer of less than the total combined price for all of the cards. And, yes, the 3 larger lots include more autos.

Thanks to the sell of all of my game used and auto cards that were not PC, I have been able to work very diligently at my 2010 Collecting goals and should be able to knock out a lot by the end of the year.

Thanks for looking guys.