eBayer's Anonymous

Hi, my name is Marie and I'm an ebay-aholic... (everyone: Hi Marie!)

I am always trolling eBay for cards I need and when I saw this one I submitted two offers...  One was a low ball offer in an attempt to steal it.  The second was $3 less than the seller's counter offer at which point I decided $3 won't make or break me so it was a deal.

Since it is one of his rookie cards I needed to have this one, plus it is absolutely one of the coolest rookie patch cards I've seen and definitely the coolest one I own now.

2010-11 Panini Dominion Mammoth patch /25

As a collector it's one of those cards you just can't pass on with such a low serial numbering and a product that is already a few years old.  Odds are against you finding another one...  Speaking of finding another one, I am watching a card right now that is a low serial numbered card but the guy is asking a crazy price.  The last one (which I know now that there was one other on eBay) sold for half of what they are asking.  I offered slightly more than half and now we wait.... Or we get impatient and buy it now and get ripped off just to make sure we get it... Or we take a nap since it's snowing and I am so tired from the gym today...  Decisions, decisions...  

As always, let me know if you have any McDonagh cards to trade or just send my way if you are feeling generous...

UPDATE:  The seller of the card I'm stalking bought it on Feb 1 and is now selling it for double... That mother forker!

As the cardboard turns...

I have decided to come out of the woodwork after the nudging of Sooz to do so.  I have been meaning to post my latest collection/obsession for quite a while but just haven't gotten around to following through.  I haven't bought any baseball cards in a long time with the exception of a Paul O'Neill autograph because it is cool and it will forever make me laugh.  

I have been working on my McDonagh collection for a while now, buying only autographs and the occasional game used card with and without an autograph.  I don't have much interest in buying base cards on eBay because I know I can trade for those or find them relatively easily later on anywhere.  So lets meet my collection:

2010-11 Panini Luxury Suite Rookie GU/AU /299

2010-11 Panini Luxury Suite Rookie GU/AU /10

2010-11 Panini National Treasures Rookie Autograph /99

2010-11 Panini Phenoms Rookie autograph

2010-11 Panini Zenith Rookie autograph /999

 2010-11 Pinnacle Ice Breakers Rookie autograph /299 (blue ink)

 2010-11 Pinnacle Ice Breakers Rookie autograph /299 (green ink-- no idea how rare this is but I have only seen 2 on eBay including this one)

2010-11 Score Rookies & Traded autograph

2010-11 Panini Dominion Showcase Showdown GU RC /50 (If this was not a rookie card, I would have never bought it.  And... it only cost $5 which is reasonable.)

2010-11 The Cup Rookie patch autograph /249  This card was my holy grail to get my mitts on and i finally pulled the trigger before Christmas because it was listed as an auction and not fixed price so I was able to get it for far less than what it normally is listed for on eBay.

2010-11 The Cup Rookie Draft Boards autograph /25 (on the actual draft board sign)

2011-12 Artifacts Autofacts

2011-12 Black Diamond Gemography

2011-12 Elite - Elite Signings

2011-12 OPC Signatures

2011-12 Panini Contenders NHL Ink dual autograph (some people think this is a $45+ card on eBay- stole this for $7)

2011-12 Panini Titanium Game Worn Gear autograph /100

2011-12 Panini Titanium New Wave autograph

2013-14 Black Diamond Gemography

2013-14 Panini Prime Skates /50 I picked this card up when it was one of the first ones listed and won it for $5 or so.  The reason I bid on this was how often do you see a game used skate card?  There is also one with laces /50 which I will keep an eye out for in the future since it is an odd kind of GU card.

2013-14 Panini Limited Logos GU Patch autograph /50

2014-14 Artifacts dual GU auto /12

2014-15 Artifacts Autofacts

2014-15 Artifacts Treasured Swatches dual GU patch card /36  This one was picked up because it's only /36 so the odds of coming across another one will be slim.

There you have it, folks.  I have base cards and parallels of him but i have no interest in scanning them because they are in a pile of Rangers on my desk.  I'm waiting on two more cards to come in the mail and will post those when they come.  

I love my collection so far.  I have some cool stuff and it brought the fun back to collecting cards for me.  The sad part of collecting hockey cards in the US is that most card shops don't generally sell hockey singles or have hobby boxes for sale because there just isn't enough of a market for it here to keep it in stock.  My card shop can get me whatever boxes I want, but I stick to singles for the most part.  I did go on a tear with 2013-14 Fleer Ultra and only need like 8 cards to complete a set.  I had fun opening hobby boxes of that when it came out.

If anyone has any McDonagh autographs or game used cards they want to trade please let me know.  I opened a ton of Contenders and Select and have some trade bait laying around.  Also willing to trade for inserts and parallels as well.

Perhaps I will blog again someday....

Group Case Break Update

We are still trying to fill the teams to break a case of 2013-14 Panini Contenders Hockey.  If we can fill almost all teams/majority I will place the order but I can't do that unless we get much closer since it's quite an expensive case.

Here is where we stand so far on teams:

Rangers- Marie
Oilers - Suzy
Avalanche - Waxtopia
Penguins- Matt
Leafs -Wayne
Canadiens - Wayne
Red Wings - Dennis
Panthers - David
Blues - David

Please spread the word so we can fill this, and if you want a team just leave it in the comments.  Payment will be due once the order is placed and like previous breaks this will happen live with the video available for viewing later if you can't watch live.

Opening my world to hockey cards

I'm trying to broaden my horizons when it comes to card collecting. For last 15 or so years, once baseball season was over, I usually just stared out the window waiting for the spring. I really just wanted baseball to come back and my interest in baseball cards would be renewed.

But there are other sports out there. One thing I learned from NFL trading cards this season already is that they are so much better than baseball cards are right now.

So, I am looking at everything coming out. Not just baseball.

Most recently, 2010-11 Upper Deck Hockey Series 1.

As I scanned listings of the cards, this one popped right out at me.

Taylor Hall

The action photo is great on this card. It's up close, right in your face. I love the look of concentration on his face. So, it got me to check out more cards. 

Typical type of inserts, but still great photography.

Here's one of the base cards, which is also typical Upper Deck. They used this design with baseball. It's crisp and clean, but I think there were problems viewing the silver lettering - if I remember correctly.

Here are the jersey cards, which to me has always been a bit lacking. What more can you do with jersey cards? I don't know. But plain colored jerseys, no matter what color, or always a little on the boring side to me.

I can't really tell the size of the jersey based on the picture, but I would be surprised if it was bigger than a quarter.

 Another Upper Deck exclusive card

Overall, I like the product. I think hockey fans should be happy with a set like this. I know hockey fans are some of the most passionate out there and I think this should appeal to them.

However, I would like to hear from the hockey fans. What do you guys think?

ITG Hockey so pretty ... yet so far away

In the Game released its 10th anniversary set of Ultimate Memorabilia hockey. When the preliminary pictures came out of the set, many collectors became interested – though you could understand how $600-plus price tag would scare many people off.

However, through the power of eBay and other people’s spending habits, we’re able to check out of some of the cards that have been hit.

There is no way around it. This is a pretty set.

I did a piece for Beckett a while back where I did a Q&A with ITG president Dr. Brian Price. He gave some great answers about the set and why it’s so appealing. Essentially, it comes down to the fact that it’s made by collectors for (rich) collectors.

Here are a few of the highlights on eBay.

Marty Turco 1/1

Bobby Orr stick

Martin Brodeur jersey/auto /10