Card of the Day - 1961 Topps : Duke Snider Base BVG Graded Excellent Plus 5.5

Unlike with Koufax most Dodgers from yesteryear I am only looking for 1 card in my collection to represent them (unless something really catches my eye) and Duke here is finally in the collection as I played cat and mouse with this card's auction.

When I first saw this card, which happened to be on a very reasonable priced BIN auction, I had my sight set on a different card's auction which was due to end in 5 days. Both had a similar book value but I wanted to wait the other one out to see if I could score a better deal than this one. Until the last 20 minutes it looked like I was going to land the other card but then it jumped $10 in price and with that I went back to this one and clicked the BIN button and added The Duke to my vintage collection.

Thank you for reading have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Trade with Fellow Blogger : Tony of Off Hiatus Baseball

It must be baseball season as it seems I am doing more trades and/or being contacted about potentially doing one. Fellow blogger, Tony of Off Hiatus Baseball recently reached out to me and asked if I would be interested in some unique items. While not technically a trade as Tony did not ask for anything in return as he just wanted the items to go to a loving home I am presently looking at my collection to see if there is anything he might like. While I work on that he sent the items my way and here they are.

Front

Back

This is an advertisement card by US Cellular which features Dodger and baseball legend Jackie Robinson. It's size will make it a bit difficult to find a safe place in my collection but I am sure I will be able to work that out.

Furillo, Snider and Jackie

Erskine, Gil and Pee Wee

Now for the cool part of the "trade". All six of these admission tickets are from the 1984 National aka Sports Collectors Convention. I have gone to one of these, though I forget which one as it was sometime in the 1990's, so seeing these brought back memories of those care free days. The $3 charge for this event shows you how much prices have changed in 3 decades. Seeing all of them adorned with Dodgers just brings a smile to my face and I suspect that is what Tony wanted to hear.

There is no profit to be made with having these as that is not what this trade was about. Just having a little bit of sports card collecting history in hand is good enough for me. Obviously with the Dodger flavor it makes it just that much better.

Thank you again to Tony for contacting me and offering up these unique items. It is much appreciated and soon, I promise, I will find a little something to send your way. Till the next trade.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.
-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2003 Sweet Spot : Duke Snider Blue Ink Autograph

Man do I love these Sweet Spot cards and my collection of them is starting to pick up some steam. This card has a lot going for it as first it is a Sweet Spot card, second it showcases an old timer in the form of Duke Snider and thirdly it shows him in Brooklyn gear which I always love.

This is my first Duke signed card as I have lost many of auctions pertaining to him as he is still popular and I didn't want to overspend on the card. Saw this beauty come up on eBay one day and it was in the familiar 7 day auction mode so I added it to my watch list. The seller had a starting bid of just $10. With the card booking at $40 I expected it to close at least somewhere in the $20 range. I was wrong and couldn't be happier. Last day of the auction had arrived and not a single bid on it which I found very surprising. Minute left and still nothing going and with time winding down I put my bid in and expected to be sniped at the last minute but instead I won the card for the original asking price of $10. A great find and buy. Looks great and even came with an acrylic case to boot.

Card(s) of the Day - 2013 Topps Museum : Sandy Koufax / Matt Kemp / Andre Ethier / Steve Garvey Game Used Memorabilia ( 38 / 75 ) AND then some

It was time for me to acquire a card with some Koufax memorabilia. Knowing that his autographs go for hundreds of dollars I knew I was not going to land an on card auto version but I sure as hell could land a memorabilia one. As stated before I don't normally go for those type of cards but Koufax is not your normal former player.

I looked at this year's Topps Museum set as he is on multiple copies with multiple and different players. I did not want the ones with him showcased with Giants players even though Kershaw was also on the card so I set my sights on this one which also had my favorite current player Kemp along with Ethier and old timer Steve Garvey. But the main draw this time for me was Koufax. Book value of this card is $50 and has fetched over $40 since the set's release but I didn't want to pay that price so I waited for the right auction to come along and finally this one did. A little back and forth bidding ensued but in the end I won the card for 50% of book. Never a bad deal when it's that much of a discount. So I now own a Koufax memorabilia card with the bonus of some other current and former Dodgers.

38 of 75

But that is not the end of the story. There was a bonus in the package when it came. As stated in previous blog entries I had no intention of acquiring the base cards from the set as I was focused on the blue variants instead. I would get the set it if someone low balled it but I was not about to go look for it. Well this seller took that situation off the table as he sent me the whole base set including Ryu which has a book value of $6 by itself and to top it off he sent me the copper variant of Kershaw. Now that is a great seller. If all sellers were like that they probably would be out of business but I for sure will buy from him again just on good faith and appreciation from this transaction. Definitely got bang for my buck on this deal.

Complete base set and copper variant of Kershaw 355 / 424



Card of the Day - 2013 Topps Museum : Duke Snider Blue Bordered Variant ( 42 / 99 )

Still trying to complete my blue bordered variant set from this year's Museum edition and have been able to only get Koufax so far. That is up until this past week when I scored this little gem.

Duke Snider was our best center fielder in the organization til Matt Kemp came along and will always be loved in Brooklyn. A class act all around. It is unfortunate that I never got to meet the man before he passed away.

These blue cards are numbered out of only 99 so there are only so many chances I get to buy it one. Even with Duke's star power he is probably the least desired of the Dodger bunch within the set. Wasn't going to stop me from acquiring my copy and probably made it easier to get as the demand was lower. Had my eye on a few auctions and this one seller had his auction starting at just 1 penny. With less than 10 minutes left no one had bidded on the item so I put my bid in and won the card. At just one cent. Ha Ha. Never won an auction at that price. Granted the shipping was a $1.50 but even with that I received a low numbered card for under $3. You just can't beat that.

42 of only 99.

Card(s) of the Day - 2013 Topps : Johnny Podres Chasing History Autograph Plus Two Bonus Cards

So another slow spot at work so I went onto eBay. Wanted to look for some old school Dodger autographs and I am always looking for Brooklyn players. I scored on both fronts on this purchase. A seller had this Johnny autographed card up and had an option for best offer. Submitted an offer of $6 and the seller accepted it. Old timer Dodger while wearing the classic Brooklyn uniform and autographed on card. Can't beat that.

1955 Game 7 Winner Johnny Podres

But I guess I did just a tad. Looked at what else he had for sale and he had these two Kemp and Duke Snider mini Gypsy Queen cards from this year's set at a buck a piece. I do not know much about these except that they depict two great Dodger center fielders. Couldn't pass it up so I pick up both of them. $8 total for the three.