Card of the Day - 2008 SP : Matt Kemp By The Letter Autograph "E" (16/25)

Though it won't see the light of day for a couple of months this is my first post about Kemp since he was traded to the San Diego Padres. While he remains my 3rd favorite player I understand why the front office did what they did. I personally think they should have kept him one more year at the very least but they were against the wall on this one as Ethier and Crawford are near impossible to trade and Kemp held the most value. I will miss Matt and watching him man right field and I wish him the best. With that said, I will not stop collecting his autographs and while I won't be looking for that many more I still have one major project I dream of finishing. The 2008 SP autograph patch set.

Honestly, prior to me getting this card I thought I would never finish this project but with it in hand I have some renewed faith that I might actually get this done. This is by far the hardest project I have under took since I began to collect cards again and with only 25 copies of this card in existence and the need for 4 of them I didn't think I would finish it. Also prior to this "E" card I haven't even seen one for sale in almost a year. The only one I did see was part of a bulk sale and I couldn't convince the seller to break it up and sell me just the "E".

Well when this card showed up I was all over it and put in my bid and then contacted the seller to ask if he would end the auction and sell it to me outright. He said no so I had to play the bidding war.I had to figure out how high I was willing to go to acquire this elusive letter. To make matters worse I was going to be in a movie at the time of the auction's end. Oh boy. So with two hours left and before the movie started I put in a larger than normal amount and crossed my fingers it didn't get too high or worse I got outbid. Happy to say when I checked my eBay that I won the card for a minimal amount and I was now the proud owner of the 1st of 4 needed "E's".

Can I do it?
Not sure but I am going to continue to try.
22 down.
3 to go.

16 of 25

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2008 SP : Matt Kemp By The Letter Autograph " L " (43/50)

... and I have now reached a point in this project that I didn't think would be happen but it has.

With this letter "L" now acquired and it being the second of two needed for the phrase, I need just one letter left. The problem is that I need 4 of them. Ugh.

The phrase has 25 letters in it and I now have 21 of them. The last 4 needed all happen to be "E's". I can not believe I have been on this project for over 18 months and yet I have not come across a single "E" and I still need 4 of them. Oh boy, this will be fun. This "L" was had pretty cheaply and considering I needed two and the print run is 50 I am happy to be done with it.

So hopefully this post is not the last one for awhile on this project and I am able to get the "E's" in a decent amount of time but I am also being realistic and know that it could and probably be a very long time till I get them all. Anybody have a spare "E"? Anyone? Hello?

43 of 50 and second one in the collection

Card of the Day - 2008 SP : Matt Kemp By The Letter Autograph " D " (17/50)

Another letter bites the dust.

I am working on two big projects and this Matt Kemp one inches its way along with another letter knocked off the to hit list.

Out of the 25 letters needed to spell out the phrase I needed 2 "D's". Already picked up one but still needed the other. Found this one on the bay with a best offer attached by its seller. I tried the low ball technique but he wasn't biting. Tried another semi low ball offer but once again the automatic reject email came back to me. Sigh.... If I wasn't so close I probably would have just cut bait and wait it out for another seller but with this letter in my hands I would by only 7 away from finishing this. Sent him one more offer which was the highest I would go and he ended up accepting it.

With this acquisition it is now 18 down with 7 more to go. Maybe I can really do this. Only problem is that I need 4 "E's". = (

17 of 50

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2008 SP : Matt Kemp By The Letter Autograph " O " ( 45 / 50 )

My first post of this project was way back in November of 2013. With the addition of this card I have now reached 20 letters of the 25 needed to complete the phrase. For a recap the phrase is :

MATT
KEMP
LOS
ANGELES
DODGERS

A most daring project that I intend to complete. As you can see I need two "O"'s to complete the set and with this one in hand I now have both. With a print run of only 50 only 25 different people at any given time can have both. Thankfully I am one of those now.

Seller had this up for sale with a reasonable asking price but I tried to just grab it from him right after his posted the listing as I contacted him with an offer. He wasn't having it so I had to wait out the 7 days and hope I was the top bidder at the end of the auction. I ended up being the only one to bid and within a week had yet another letter in my hands. Getting close...so close

45 of 50

Card of the Day - 2008 SP : Matt Kemp By The Letter Autograph " K " ( 88 / 99 )

K is for Kemp.

I have finally been able to get my hands on the "K" that is needed for the phrase of this never ending project. This letter has one of the larger print runs of 99 but for some reason this is the first time I saw it up on eBay for sale. I tend to think that a lot of people that have it plan to keep it as they probably have spelled out KEMP or MATT KEMP and have no intention to break it up. Bad for me.

All my attention zeroed in on this card when the auction neared its close and thankfully the price did not get out of hand and I was able to pick it up way below my ceiling. Price was cheaper than taking the wife and I out for a fast food meal for lunch.

I am getting close. I can feel it. Can I really finish this project? Knock on wood and wish me luck.

Double 8 of Double 9

Card of the Day - 2008 SP : Matt Kemp By the Letter Autograph " M " ( 62 / 99 )

Another letter that I needed multiple copies has been finally acquired.

I picked up the first "M" needed for the set back in January from fellow collector/blogger Josh aka DodgerBobble as seen HERE . One down, one to go. With the first "M" I have been able to spell MATT but still needed the other "M" for his last name. I originally had locked one up on eBay and I waited a few weeks for it but it never arrived so I contacted the seller and he stated he sent it out but didn't have a tracking number. Uh huh. Well with that being a lost cause I had to still look for another "M" and another seller had a copy up for sale but he only had a feedback of 2. Risk another potential bad transaction or pass and wait? Decided to try my luck and within a week of the end of the auction I had my second and final "M" for the project. Deal went smoothly from this new seller.

17 down and 8 more to go.
I never thought I would even get this far but I can't stop now.

My other "M" now has its twin

62 of 99

Card of the Day - 2008 SP : Matt Kemp By the Letter Autograph " T " ( 26 / 50 )

With more letters now in hand than ones needed to complete the set the number of cards seen for sale seem to have dwindled as I don't see too many up for sale anymore. Once in awhile one pops up but it is usually for a letter I no longer need. Not the case on this one. I already had one "T" in hand and still needed a twin. With a print run of just 50 that means only a possible 25 sets cant be completed. 

A seller put this up on eBay with a buy it now auction for over $50. I so want to complete this set but not at a price that is way over book. Thankfully he had a best offer option but since he set his price so high to begin with I didn't know where he was willing to go. Back and forth for a couple of days finally landed me my second and final "T" but at a higher price than I wanted to shell out. Thankfully once again that I am also a seller and have extra books, balls and such to sell to compensate for the costs of these cards. 

Card arrived a week or so later and now sits along side the other "T". I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel for this project but it will be a tough road ahead with so few options left.  

26 / 50

Card of the Day - 2008 SP : Matt Kemp By The Letter " A " ( 39 / 50 ) Autograph

Picked up yet another letter in the ever increasingly hard project that I am still trying to complete. On the flip side I was able to complete a little project within the project as this the second of two " A's " that I needed and with that I am no longer searching for that particular letter anymore.

This is the first letter that I have bought from a buy it now auction. With a print run of 50 and with only one more " A " needed I saw this as my opportunity to mark something off my checklist. Seller had an asking price of north of $40. Yeah...no, so I sent him an offer of more than 50% less of that and see what kind of reaction I would get from that. Surprisingly he was reasonable and actually countered the offer with a more than reasonable amount and shortly the card made its way home to me.

Slowly but surely this project inches closer to completion.

39 of 50 and I have 2 of them.

Card of the Day - 2008 SP : Matt Kemp By The Letter " T " ( 44 / 50 ) Autograph

The project that keeps going and going now sees no bounds country wise as I have crossed the Pacific to get the first of two "T's" that I need to complete the set.

With a print run of 50 and the need for 2 of these letters I had to get the first before worrying about the second. With some people not trying to create the master set and just focusing on his name only it could complicate matters a bit so getting my hands on this was important. This is the first time I have seen a single "T" up for grabs and it originating in the country of the rising sun did not deter me from doing my best to winning the auction. With shipping being reasonable for an international transaction it freed up a little room on my bidding limit. Thankfully I won it and can now concentrate on it's twin.

44 of 50. Now on the lookout for one of the other 49.

Did You Send Me This Card ? - 2008 SP : Matt Kemp By The Letter Autograph " M "

An interesting envelope arrived at my P.O. Box a couple days ago and as normal I just opened up the package and tossed it out as I put the card to aside.

Well when I went back to the stack to organize it I realized that I already have this card twice as that is what is needed for my Kemp project. I do not need it thrice. Someone had sent me a card and for the life of me I can not think of any unfinished trade with anyone. I am still seeking these letters but the "M's" were completed already so I did not need anymore. So someone out there sent me this and I am now looking for its original owner.

So if this letter/card looks familiar to you please contact me and inform me that you sent it so we can discuss a trade. I probably will just sell it on eBay as I don't need it but whoever did send it thank you for thinking of me in the first place and I appreciate the help in trying to complete my project. If no one steps up at least I tried.

= )

Card of the Day - 2008 SP : Matt Kemp By The Letter " R " ( 28 / 99 ) Autograph

The never ending project adds another piece to the puzzle.

There is only one "R" needed for the phrase and with the higher print run of 99 this would be one of the easier ones to acquire compared to others that have a smaller print run and/or needed more than one copy of a certain letter.

Since I started this project I have yet to see the letter "R" up for bid on eBay and haven't seen it in any stores that I have come across so when I finally saw this one I thought it might be a long time until I see another one so I crossed my fingers and set out to win this auction. Thankfully after a week I was the proud owner of the letter. 12 down 13 more to go.

Only needed one "R" but it had been elusive

28 / 99

Card of the Day - 2008 SP : Matt Kemp By The Letter " A " Autograh ( 10 / 50 )

The project that may never see completion sees the finish line get a little bit closer with another letter purchased. This time it is the letter " A ".

Now with 11 of the 25 letters needed for the phrase in hand I'm thinking it my actually become a reality that I can do this. Getting this one was another big step in doing that. I need two "A's" for the set and though not as rare as the "S's" where there are only 25 in the world and the need of 3 of them to finish the set, the "A's" have a print run of only 50. I have not seen a single "A" on eBay since I started this quest and once I saw this one I knew I had to somehow get my hands on it.

The seller resided in Canada and other than hockey cards I don't normally see anything I need from our neighbors up north. The auction had a surprisingly ( at least I thought so ) high number of bids. I was worried I wouldn't be the high bidder but in the end I managed to squeeze out the win. Thankfully I have added my first "A" to the collection and now looking for its twin that is somewhere out there waiting for me to rescue him.

Card of the Day and Trade with Fellow Blogger - 2008 SP : Matt Kemp By The Letter Autograph " M " ( 61 / 99 )

This past Saturday I was in Anaheim to acquire an in person autograph of Big Daddy Cecil Fielder as seen HERE but I also was there to complete a trade with fellow ex blogger Josh aka DodgerBobble. Josh couldn't make the trip but he informed me that his buddy Franz would also be attending the signing event and he would do the trade with me.

As shown in numerous posts I am still trying to complete the 25 piece Matt Kemp set from the 2008 SP set. I went looking for more letters on the net and saw that Josh had posted about one a couple years ago. I reached out to him to see if he would be willing to trade it to me. Luckily for me Josh informed me that he was getting out of the card aspect of the hobby and that he would gladly trade it to me. We agreed that two blank ROMLB would be sufficient for the card. Franz and I met up after the Cecil signing and made the swap. I acquired a much needed letter ( as I need two M's ) and Josh picked up some inventory backup. Win win for both of us. Thank you again Josh.

1 of the 2 needed M's for the project

61 of 99

Card of the Day - 2008 SP : Matt Kemp By The Letter " G " Autograph ( 42 / 50 )

The beat goes on. I was out of town when this auction was ending so I had to rely on my smart phone to place my bid in as the auction neared its end. Obviously phones can be wishy washy so I had to hold my breath that I would have a reception at the time that I was to put my bid in. The letter " G " is part of my long running project. As with the " D's " the " G's " have a print run of just 50 and I need two of each to complete the project and with one already in hand this was my opportunity to finish of this letter. This was the first time I saw a " G " on eBay in the traditional auction sense. With 2 minutes left I still had reception on my phone but I was getting antsy that I might lose it so I put in my bid in earlier than normal but thankfully it ended well as I picked this up for just $13. Unlike with " D's ", I am now thankfully done with the " G's " and can work on the other letters.

G isn't this nice? 42 / 50

Card of the Day - 2008 SP : Matt Kemp By The Letter " D " ( 31 / 50 ) Autograph

The project that feels like it will take forever takes a small step forward with me acquiring the first " D" needed for the set. Need a total of two " D's " and with a print run of just 50 I would need to pounce if I saw one up for bid and that is what I did on this one.

I've been able to pick up other letters in the mid to high teens in cost but this seller had the " D " at a buy it now of one Jackson. Bargain hunter I might be but knowing that I need this and another " D " I just went ahead and purchased it and within a few days I received the card and added it to the collection. One " D " down with one more to go.

D is for Dodgers. 31 of 50

Card of the Day - 2008 SP : Matt Kemp By The Letter " N " ( 23 / 99 ) Autograph

To finish out the purchase day I picked up the one letter where I only needed one and has one of the higher print runs.

The letter "N" has a print run of 99 but only one is needed to complete the phrase. For example though the letter "S" has a print run of only 25 but you need 3 to complete the phrase. Very frustrating for a completest to finish the project as there are only so many times you will be able to purchase any given letter. Again, thankfully I have all the "S's" I need but this project its only going to get harder as I pick up more of the letters.

Having acquired 3 letters earlier in the day I wanted to finish it off with this last one and figured out the amount would be the same and I wasn't disappointed as I did pick it up at that same price. With the addition of this one I have now acquired 7 letters for the phrase but with it containing 25 letters I am a long way to finishing it anytime soon. But you do have to start somewhere and I have a good head start. If anyone has spare letters that could help I would love to hear from you on a possible trade/purchase.

23 / 99

Card of the Day - 2008 SP : Matt Kemp By The Letter " O " ( 23 / 50 ) Autograph

Onto another purchase of Matt Kemp SP By the Letter on eBay.

Picked up my first "O" that is needed to complete the project. Thankfully I only need one more. Print run on this letter is 50 so hopefully I can pick up its twin sooner rather than later. With the other 2 purchases won and paid I now focused on this and the other last card of the day and I was confident I would win both as I figured out what the other bidder had set his/her cap at. Once again I won this card at the same price as the others. 3 down with one last one to go for the day.

23 of 50

Card of the Day - 2008 SP : Matt Kemp By The Letter " L " ( 13 / 50 ) Autograph

Another day, another letter.

With the letter "S" in my rear view mirror now and not that I ever stopped, but I could focus on some other letters and once again it was a banner day on eBay for these Matt Kemp cards.

Assuming now that I knew what the other bidder had put as their limit I bid on the remaining letters at a lower price. It paid off as I won this card at the exact same price which meant I probably could lock in the other two at that same price but still had to play it safe. Until then I acquired my first "L" for the project. I still need one more but with a print run of 50 it makes it a little more manageable than the "S's".

13 / 50

Card of the Day - 2008 SP : Matt Kemp By The Letter " S " ( 2 / 25 ) Autograph

Finally finished up a project within a project.

The letter "S" is the hardest part of this project as there are only 25 made of them but I had already acquired two of them so I needed that last one. I accomplished that by scooping this up on a day of 2008 SP purchases.

There were 4 different auctions going and with a day or so left they were all bid on by the same person. As I have experienced this before I wanted to bid a littler higher on the first one to get a feel on how high he or she put their ceiling. With this also being the last piece of my "S" puzzle I for sure would bid even a little more higher. In the end I picked it up for a very reasonable price which helped me figure out the other bidder's cap.

Even if I didn't win those other letters I did pick this one up and now am no longer are in search of "S's".

2 of 25 and I own 3 of them.

Card of the Day - 2008 SP : Matt Kemp By The Letter " S " ( 24 / 25 ) Autograph

Back to letter buying for the Matt Kemp SP project and I got one step closer to probably the most important part of it. The letter "S".

As stated in the previous "S" post there are only 25 of them in existence and needing 3 of them to complete the Matt Kemp phrase that means only 3 people in the world can have a complete set. Well I am almost one of those three as I have 2 of them in my possession while diligently looking for that last one.

The seller had this card up for sale with a starting bid of 99 cents and knew I was going to be in a dog fight for it and was determined to win it as I don't know how many more times I will see a "S" up on eBay for purchase. Only 6 bids in total but the amounts jumped in dollars not cents and with a minute left the high bid sat at $15 or so. Seconds left and I put my bid in and won it for a little over $19 delivered. About 30% less than book. That is now 2 "S's" down with 1 left to get. There are only 23 left in the world and I must have it and somehow I will obtain it without overspending. Until then I have the win "S's" to hold me over.

24 of 25. 2 down 1 to go.