Video Unboxing: 258 West Authentic Autograph of the Month Club

I joined 258 West Authentic's Autograph of the Month Club in its third month - missing out on Hayley Atwell, who was the first autograph sent to subscribers. I've been happy with the 8x10 autos I've received so far and created a video for the September edition of the club.

Watch the video to see the autograph I received ... Hint: It was a Game of Thrones actor.


Check out the Autograph of the Month Club here.

Past signers for the Autograph of the Month Club include:

February 2016: Hayley Atwell
March 2016: Liam McIntyre
April 2016: Pedro Pascal
May 2016: Adrienne Wilkinson
June 2016: Patrick Gallagher
July 2016: Alan Tudyk
August 2016: Manu Bennett

2 Reasons I'm Over Parallels

I posted a blog a couple of days ago about not bothering with inserts and parallels until I'm at a show or I already found a way to get all the better/harder to find later cards. I thought I would share a couple of my mail days to show you why I stopped bothering.

Mail Day #1

2011 Topps Finest Robinson Cano Finest Moments Auto /274


Mail Day #2

2011 Topps Finest Robinson Cano Finest Moments Auto /20


While writing this I realized something ironic. While I may be done chasing base card parallels it seems as though they still have me sucked in. I'm still buying parallels, they are just autographed now. Yay. The difference to me is that when I get an autograph it thrills me to no end but when I win a refractor version of something the only thing I'm thinking when it arrives is, "oh good I can fill one more pocket on the page of these exact same cards in my binder." Then I'm over it. I am more likely to flip through all my plastic snap cases of autographs then I am to flip pages in my binder unless I am putting the cards away.

Eventually I will try and find the Finest parallels and inserts, or maybe one of you guys have some to trade. In the meantime if anyone has the purple refractor auto of Cano /5 to trade, let me know. One was already sold on eBay and there is one currently for sale in this auction. I want this card pretty badly to complete the Finest set of them, but unless one of you guys feel like buying me a birthday present it may be out of my price range for the time being considering the other one on eBay ended around $108.

I'm going on an eBay break until after Christmas because any money I have from now til then will be saved for shopping. I have one more mail day to show you guys, and one more I've been waiting about 10 days for it to arrive. I don't want you guys to think I lied.

P.S. Please keep me in mind for any 2011 Finest, 2011 Bowman Chrome, and 2011 Topps Chrome cards of my guys you come across. I am definitely interested in trading and have plenty of cards to flip.

Mail Day from Topps....

Yesterday the doorbell rings and I see the mail truck outside. Naturally I am suspicious of this considering the mailbox is outside. I open the door and the mailman tells me that I need to sign for a certified and registered letter. I ask where it is from before signing because who knows what the hell I could be signing for, and he tells me, "Tri-Star Fulfillment". Oh, that's oddly intriguing.

Now I'm thinking there is going to be some sweet ridiculous card inside if they need double signature and delivery confirmation on this envelope.... I even told the mailman, "there better be a Derek Jeter or Albert Pujols autograph in here." He chuckled, kind of in a ha-ha who? kind of laugh but whatever.

I shut the door, tear open the envelope, and......



I see this:



Sigh. eBay or trade bait is all I saw. I actually got good stuff in the mail recently for my PC which I'll show off when I have a chance to scan that stuff. Pretty sweet stuff unlike this junk.

Who had 6 RBI in an ALDS Game?

Ohhh Robbie Cano, Don't Ya Know?!!!

I know you all don't need to hear me go on and on and on about Cano and how great he is, but I was on the train home last night and was diddling on my eBay app and noticed something (aside from the addiction to eBay that is).

Prior to last night's game this card was at $61.00, and I know this for a fact because I got a notice on the train that I was outbid (yes, addict). While I was upset, it's really ok considering I don't have $60.00 to spend on that plus it would have never ended that low in my opinion. On the train ride home, more eBay monitoring showed that the card spiked to $80.80. This is what an RBI double (that probably should have been a homerun), a grand slam, and another RBI double will do to a cards value.

The other thing I realized while on the train and looking at cards was that Topps essentially made the same Cano Triple Threads card twice. Here is what I'm talking about, card #1 looks like this:

My 2009 Topps Triple Threads Robbie Cano "Robbie" card (one of my favorite cards ever.
(Click on the link for the 2009 card and look at what's available-- pretty sick that there's not ONE solo sig, huh?)

Yet, this year we have this card that not only has his nickname misspelled, but looks horrible by comparison. (I tried to copy the image but I'm a spaz and couldn't figure it out.) Once I realized that I had the much nicer version of the card to begin with, it basically turned me off to chasing it right now. It has become one of those cards that when I get around to it or for the right price later I'll pick it up, not worth spending money on it as far as I'm concerned.

As a fan and a collector I am absolutely happy about Cano hitting and playing the way he has been even if it means possibly being out-priced on most autographs from here on out. I'll stick to the basic auto's and maybe try and snag some of the low serial numbered ones over the winter or beyond.

The best part of Topps Marquee

Searching through eBay listings of Topps Marquee, my eyes fall onto the same types of card - no matter who the player.

The Topps Marquee Museum Collection autographs are some of the nicest autograph cards I have seen in a while. I love the autograph matching the color of the background in many of the pictures or sometimes the different color auto makes it pop.

This Pablo Sandoval auto /10 ended today for $210.06. It's Pablo Sandoval. He missed a number of games last year and this card still went for a good price.

The not so fifty dollar card

A week ago I challenged everyone to find me a 2008 Bowman Chrome Jesus Montero RC AU for $50 and only one person came close. The only problem I had with the one close to $50 was that I wasn't crazy about the centering on the card (oh and I was sleeping when it ended).

I started clicking on the people selling raw Montero cards on eBay to see what else they were selling and the majority also had graded ones for sale. Some sellers even had words eluding to them collecting or selling mint cards or graded cards. This made me fairly certain of one thing- they were all selling sub-par quality cards raw to flip quick. I'm all for that, but I just don't want a card that the centering is 70/30 for example.

I decided to badger my pal Wes who has a very, very, very vast collection of Montero cards to sell me one of his for a fair price. I made an offer- he accepted and here is the card:

Blog Case Break Results Part 3 - THE MOJO!

Here is the blog you have all been waiting for- the hits. I am going to reserve my comments on the Series 2 product until I am done scanning everything, but most of you already know my feelings on the Leather Name Plates and the like. Feel free to sound off and let us know what you think of them, and the selection of players pulled in the autographs or game used cards.


Leather Name Plates



Black Leather Name Plates /99



Game Used Relics (actual game used, not manufactured junk)



Autographs


There you have it. That concludes the posts for the blog case break results. I will be posting the Facebook case results later on, and then I will begin sorting. I think most of you that participated like seeing the results scanned in case you missed a hit or missed the live break.

Sell Sell Sell

How many of us thought that at the end of May beginning of June that Matt Joyce would be leading the American League in batting average? I will tell you that I definitely didn't think so. He has a higher batting average than Albert Pujols.... Seriously.

Joyce is fairly new to the big leagues, his rookie cards are all 2008 and fairly inexpensive. Not that I am considering a new player to collect, but I thought it would be interesting to see how his cards were doing considering he has been on fire. Time will tell what kind of hitter he will be on a consistent basis, but he's a young guy so anything is possible.

There are plenty of rookie autographs on eBay, most of them are pretty cheap if you are looking for a young guy to collect. Take a look at a some of the ones I saw.

Matt Joyce Rookie Cards

Gypsy Queen Autograph Replacements

Today the UPS guy came with a bubble mailer that I needed to sign for from Topps. I knew what it was and was immediately excited. We got our 10 autograph replacements from our case of 2011 Topps Gypsy Queen.

Here is what we were sent and I am going to need everyone who got an autograph to please send me a self addressed stamped envelope to mail them out.

I will give Topps credit for getting them out to us quickly, but I am kind of disappointed to receive duplicate autographs of 2 players. Kind of ruined the fun of more people getting to walk away with something. Then again, at least we didn't end up with a friggin' Gypsy auto.





Al Kaline auto = pure awesomeness.

Please e-mail me for the address to send them to. I would suggest you send a bubble mailer for an auto but that is up to you. I would also be happy to send them in a bubble mailer if you send me $2.50 as a gift thru PayPal. Whatever is easier for you to do is fine with me.

What do you guys think about how this turned out?

Card Show Loot (MOJO!)

So I caved and went to the show because, well because why the hell not? Sure, I had other things that I could have done today that would have cost me nothing but...... this was way funner.

What I would like to note for the people that said they may go on Sunday is you really shouldn't bother. Over the last year or two that show has gotten significantly smaller, and this show was even worse than usual. If you don't want old newspapers or old junk, there really wasn't much. The few usual suspects that I deal with were there, along with the one table who overvalues everything on earth (i.e. $3 for a Jeter ToppsTown from 2011). I also noticed there were a few people who are there at every show were missing or half the size.

There wasn't much newer wax around, or maybe that's because there hasn't been much released. There were not many 2011 Heritage singles, chromes or refractors. One guy tried telling me a Phil Hughes 2011 Heritage refractor was $15. I laughed in his face. There was also a Jeter 2011 206 refractor for $15... again, no.

I picked these up from the one guy that always has something I want to buy. He is also the first person I stop at each time I go to this show. Here is what he had for me...

2011 Topps Opening Day Stadium Lights Robinson Cano


2011 Topps Opening Day Stars Albert Pujols


Then I walked around and wasn't really seeing anything and was getting kind of bummed out that I had spent more on gas, tolls, and admission than I found in cards. After about a half hour of milling around I found something that has been on my radar for a while.

2003 Topps 1st Year Robinson Cano


Same dude also had these in a cheap box of singles. Idds are I have one or both of these since I can never go to a show without buying something I already own free and clear. This is why my plan was to stick to 2010 and 2011 cards only and autographs.

2003 Upper Deck Victory Albert Pujols


2003 Baseball Heroes Albert Pujols/Stan Musial /499

Sigh. Well at this point I had spent more than the $7.00 it cost to get in, but was still kind of bummed. Until I found the holy grail of cards. I was asking around for Cano autos and a couple of guys said they were gone already (mind you they opened at 2pm, I walked in around 2:10). Then some random dude overheard me and was like oh, go to that guy he has a ton of Cano autos. OK, I'm in.

This is the part where the clouds parted, the sun began to shine and the birds chirped. Sweet glorious stacks of Cano autographs. Most of which I already had, but then.... there they were. Three of the cards I wanted. One to finish the rainbow, one that I have been chasing around for years, and the other one I have been holding off on until I could get it for a fair price. Here they are in that order.

2010 Bowman Platinum Robinson Cano /199


I have had a thing for this card since I saw it. I love this card so much. I don't know how it took me so long to get one, or why I didn't buy it back when it was less than $10 like everything else of Cano way back when. But now it's mine! All mine! Muahahahahaha...

2006 Turkey Red Robinson Cano


2004 Bowman Sterling Robinson Cano


While it wasn't much in terms of quantity, this was the most quality cards I have picked up at this show in years. I normally end up with a bunch of dollar cards and maybe if I'm lucky, one autograph. I have been excited about the loot since I left the show, I feel like I accomplished something by filling some gaps in my collection. There are only two other autographs of Cano that I want in my earlier cards of him.

2003 Bowman Heritage RC AU

2005 Bowman Signs of the Future

Did anyone else make it to the show Friday? If you go today or Sunday, let me know if you felt the same way about the amount of vendors. Oh, and tell me what you got of course.

Do players change their autograph this dramatically?

Players change their autographs over time. As they sign more and more autographs every day - some for fans, some for money - they find ways to make their autograph easier to write thousands of times. Other parts of their autograph merge with other letters and a new creation is born.

There is a clear transformation in Derek Jeter autographs.

Here is a 1994 Derek Jeter auto when he was just a little boy thinking of making it big.

It's very big and loopy. Sort of like the little whipper snapper was thrilled to get his name on baseball cards.

Here is his auto from 1998, his third full season in the league.

The loops are a little smaller and it doesn't seem as refined as the first autograph. Jeter's autograph stayed mostly within this frame, but has changed slightly over the years.

This is from 2010.

Now his signature looks like a roller coaster ride with all the loops.

This isn't the purpose of the post though. This was an example to show the transformation of someone's signature over the course of 16 years.

On eBay, I found this Kevin Kouzmanoff in-person autograph auction.

This is the first time I have ever seen his full name autographed on anything. Players will changed their in-person or TTM signatures from what they do on authentic pieces to curb resales of their items. But I have never seen his autograph look this way.

It's interesting that the auction states if you get this autograph authenticated by a third party and it's not real, you will get a refund. But who is going to spend the money to get something authenticated when then authentication would cost more than the card.

Then, I found another in-person autograph by Kouz on a bat. This auction even states, check his signature on eBay and bid with confidence. Only, this is just one of two autos I have seen like this and both come with COAs I would wipe my you-know-what with.

Here is Kouz's autograph on his first card from 2004. Notice he just writes 'Kouz' on it, which I happen to like better.

Then, in his rookie year of 2007, he signed a ton of autographs for card companies. I probably have over 100 autos of his because he is one of the filler guys in products.

And now this from supposedly this year's spring training.

Who thinks this is actually his signature?