Card of the Day - 2016 Topps Tribute : Mike Trout Ageless Accolades Autograph (48/50) BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5 and eBay eBucks Quarterly Purchase

With this card's acquisition this becomes Mike Trout autograph #10 in my collection (though #9 has yet to be posted/showed off) but the only reason I picked this up now is because of a major life event that rocked my world so this card is kind of bittersweet.

Any day a Trout autograph is picked up should be a good day but even though I am happy I now have this in my collection it is only because I had a massive amount of eBucks earned from this past quarter due to the fact that my life being turned upside down and with me having to acquire stuff to move forward I turned to eBay to purchase items which earned me all the eBucks. Some of you know what has transpired and some that don't but those sending well wishes at the time they were and are still appreciated as it has been a hard transition period for me. That said I guess I can consider this a present to myself for what has been happening in my life.

This cards books for $200-$400 in raw form but what is becoming the norm for me each eBay quarter is that I want a BGS 9.5 with the eBucks that I earn and when I saw this card and the auction end date being just 4 days prior to eBucks being available to be used I knew this was the card I wanted. Being sold by a seller I have used multiple times made the transaction easier as they trusted me not to pay them right away as they knew I was good for it. Lots of action on this card's auction and I ended up using all of my eBucks on this card as the final bid literally was a few cents less than my high bid but I was the winner at the end of the day so that is all that matter. With that Trout autograph #10 is now in my collection.

.5 from Pristine

Forty-Eight

of

Fifty

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2016 Topps Chrome : Corey Seager Base Gold Refractor Parallel (32/50) BGS Graded Pristine 10 and Quarterly eBay eBucks Purchase Number 4

We come to the 4th and final eBay eBucks acquisition from this past Christmas quarter and it's a biggie though I did not know if I would end up with it or another card until I received an email from eBay.

The past 3 days have been great with all the stuff I was able to acquire and from the Topps Now Kershaw post I stated that it helped finish off "paying" for the final card and this is that card. It could have been 1 of another handful but this was the 1st one that a seller on eBay took my best offer. On January 1st I knew what I could afford but wanted it to be 1 big card and not multiple little ones. I sent out 5 offers for this and 4 other cards for roughly the same amount (and another Pristine Topps Chrome Gold Seager as well) and whichever seller accepted I would happily take that one and try for the other 4 at some later date. With less than 3 hours till my offer expired the seller of this card accepted and I promptly canceled the other 4.

While I would have loved any of the other 4 I am immensely happy that I have this card. One of the other ones I didn't get was a sticker autograph rookie of Kershaw. Yeah I know, it's a sticker and I hate them but it was/is a BGS gem and a rookie so I was going to look past that. In the grander scheme of things this gold (and limited, only 50 copies) is the better option for my collection at the present moment. It now becomes the lowest print run parallel from the Topps Chrome brand that I have in my collection and wanting to do the whole rainbow that's big since this cost zero dollars to acquire. Other than the Orange (I believe the red is a pipe dream) parallel I have all the hard ones in my possession.

With this no officially in hand I finish off yet another eBay quarter and might have to say this was my most successful one to date. Picked up 4 tops notch cards and with 2 being gem mint and a 3rd (Topps Now Kershaw) a good candidate to make it 3 so I think I did quite well. As always thank you to friends and family for having me do your purchases through my eBay account so I could accumulate that more eBucks for me to use to acquire these great cards. No way this current quarter will be this well but I look forward to Christmas of 2017 to see if I can best this 2016.

Whole lot of 10's there

Thirty-Two

of

Fifty

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2016 Topps Strata : Clayton Kershaw Base Clearly Authentic Autograph Black Parallel (#/50) and Quarterly eBay eBucks Purchase Number 3

Yesterday's eBucks post was all about gift cards being used to acquire a card but now we are to the "offical" part of the eBucks acquisitions for this past quarter as this and tomorrow's posts were both picked up at ZERO, NADA, ZIP out of pocket costs. A beautiful thing.

Since tomorrow's card price was locked in I knew what I had left over that I could use to hopefully snag one last great piece and I decided to search for a Kershaw autograph knowing that I did not have enough for another Trout autograph. I noticed that the 2016 Strata Kershaw autographs were "live" and being sold on eBay so I directed myself to this redemption card as people are not that patient and knowing I could "save" $15 if I just could just wait an extra few weeks so why not?

Some people (and to be fair sometimes I am like it) need that instant gratification but knowing that this card was produced and just waiting to be shipped out of a Topps warehouse I negotiated this down to the amount of eBucks that I had left and with it I added yet another Kershaw autograph to the collection and the cost was only me having to have a little extra patience and wait for this to make it to me. Can't wait to see the real McCoy in a couple weeks.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2016 Bowman Chrome : Corey Seager Base Autograph Gold Refractor Parallel (35/50) BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5 and Quarterly eBay eBucks Purchase Number 2

Man did I do well for the 2016 4th quarter (aka Christmas time) eBucks acquisitions in comparison to the 2015. That year I snagged 2 Trout cards with one being an autograph. Nothing to sneeze at but I think I really scored this year but it could only happen due to my generous family and great timing for extra eBucks during the quarter.

When looking at all 3, yes 3 (woo hoo), that I picked up this quarter (yesterday's Kershaw is included in this run of 4 but more because it helped on the last one) I would say this is probably the "biggest" valued card in the long run. Of course some of you might think that Thursday's has a better outlook but you be the judge.

This Seager beauty actually did not have a single eBuck used in acquiring it BUT help in snagging the next 2 and was paid in most part with Christmas gift cards which I always combine for this quarter. This card popped up in the waning days of December and low and behold eBay was running another eBucks promotion. With my gift cards in hand I hit the BIN button and scored this limited rookie autograph of Corey in gem mint grade. On top of that this "purchase" earned me even more eBucks for the other 2 cards I picked up.

I was staying away from the Bowman Chrome brand this year as I was concentrating on Topps Chrome instead but with this being the off season I am always looking for deals/steals and I haven't seen another one of these in this condition go for so low. When I conferred with friends they told me they couldn't believe the low price. So with minimal cost out of pocket (which you can barely say considering it came from my own eBay sales) I "won" this for my growing Corey autograph collection AND helped "pay" for the next 2 days worth of cards. Man I love the Christmas quarter on eBay.

Everywhere I look I see gold.

Thirty-Five

of

Fifty

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2016 Topps Now : Clayton Kershaw Base Relic (From 10.13.16) Autograph (35/99) and Quarterly eBay eBucks Purchase Number 1

Oh happy days are here again as it is that big time of the year also known as the final quarter of the calendar year which happens to be Christmas time and that means the biggest eBucks quarter as they are coupled with Christmas gift cards. With that said this card is not "techinically" part of the purchases BUT I am including it because of how it was acquired and what it helped get down the road which was all eBucks related.

I love Kershaw autographs and while I am not the biggest fan of relics this is the 2nd one in the past 6 months I specifically went after even though originally I had no interest in it. Clayton Kershaw is an out of this world starting pitcher but on 10-13-16 he became the closer for the ages when he closed out the Division Series against the Nationals. It was his first ever MLB save in his career for a game that has become an instant classic in Dodger lore. Anyone that knows me knows that I called it almost to a "T". I said that we would see Clayton at sometime during the game and probably late even though he just threw 110 pitches 2 days prior. I didn't expect him to come in to close though. When Topps announced they would do a card commemorating the feat I didn't really think too much about it. One because of its price and two it was a relic. Meh. But then I saw the actual card and I fell in love with it and the moment again. On top of that I noticed the autograph is flawless while a lot of other copies seemed to have streaking issues. If I was to acquire one this would be that one.

While I did not acquire this by using eBucks I did earn the money to pick it because eBay was running an eBucks promotion. I had a load of cards and books that were scheduled to end on the last day of the promotion which I believed helped make the sales happen. With all of them finished I turned to this beauty and negotiated the price down and locked in the deal. By doing that I also earned even more eBucks for my own use which went to pay off the final card which I will show off in 3 days. Yes, I was able to acquire 4 cards this quarter because of the eBucks program. Woo freaking hoo.

Thirty-Five

of

Ninety-Nine

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2016 Topps Chrome : Corey Seager Base Autograph Blue Refractor Parallel (92/150) BGS Graded Gem Mint and Quarterly eBay Bucks Purchase

As stated with yesterday's "purchase" one eBay it helped finishing financing the card I am showing off today. Yup, it's that time of the year once again aka eBay eBucks redemption time and this quarter I had my mind set on one card and one card only so much that I locked it in with the seller in the beginning of September,

I knew I was going to have a huge total for my eBucks this period as eBay ran a special this time around where you earned for selling as well which was a first. Well since I am intent on trying for an autograph rainbow of Corey Seager from this year's Topps Chrome set I decided I wanted to pick up a blue copy at zero cost to me and that is what I did.

I have locked in cards before but at most is has been 2 weeks prior to the eBucks being available but this time around it was a tad over 3 weeks and the seller was antsy and didn't really want to do but I basically stated do you want a sure sale or one that just stays on eBay for weeks and sweat it out? Well he sided with me and in the end it was a win win for the both of us as the price we agreed to was higher than another copy that popped up and sold a week for about $35 more prior to me finishing this transaction. So in the end he netted an extra $35 but on the other hand it wasn't out of my pocket as this card was free and clear for me. Now to work on the rest of the rainbow.

Ninety-Two

of

One Hundred and Fifty

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2016 Stadium Club : Clayton Kershaw Base Autograph Gold Parallel (8/25) and Quarterly eBay Bucks Purchase Number TWO

... and now for the 2nd of 2 eBay eBucks "purchases" and how can you go wrong when you get to pick up a Clayton Kershaw autograph for free? Yeah, you can't.

When I decided to use my eBucks for a Kershaw card I knew it had to either be a rare graded one or an autograph so I can add to my quest of having a 100 signatures from the Dodger great. Didn't find a graded card to my liking so I turned my attention to the newly released Stadium Club as I knew there was an autograph of Kershaw that I wanted to get my hands on at some point and what better time than now when it would be "free" to me.

The 2015 release of Stadium Club has an autograph of Kershaw that celebrates his no hitter and I am still waiting to receive that from Topps as I acquired it in redemption form. Other bloggers have stated it might be a very long wait as the black parallel hasn't been produced yet and that is the one I am waiting for. Well this year's release again celebrates that special moment but from a different view and I knew I wanted this card as it was NOT in redemption form and is live and ready to purchase. A few copies have popped up here and there but I could see that their were chipping problems on some corners. This one popped up on the bay one day on a BIN for $200 but thankfully with a best offer option. The seller and I went back and forth for a couple of hours but at the end of the day I snagged it for 35% less than what he originally wanted for it.

Now that it is in hand I can say it will probably earn a 9 from BGS when I submit it. The autograph is flawless but there is a corner issue but even though it is minor I think that sub grade earns a 9. There is always an outside chance of a gem mint return but I'll shoot low and hope for a high.

Eight

of

Twenty-Five

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2016 Stadium Club : Clayton Kershaw Base Photo Variation and Quarterly eBay Bucks Purchase Number ONE

The only thing that is same this time around is that this most recent quarter is finished which means more eBay eBucks for me to pursue a card or two. Recently I had been focusing on Mike Trout cards every quarter as his are pricier but this time around I acquired not 1 but 2 Clayton Kershaw cards which is another difference as the last few quarters it has only been 1 card that I have acquired. Another difference is that I did not have a card lined up and agreed to acquire prior the eBucks becoming available as I couldn't find anything I really wanted. This card and Thursday's were both "purchased" within 72 hours of their release which should give you a hint on what Thursday's subject matter is.

First up though is this beautiful photo variation of Clayton which was the 1st one to hit eBay. Nowadays I normally wait a week or so to see where the market takes a new product but with eBucks in hand and a reasonable asking BIN price I had to pull the trigger. To this day this "purchase" is the lowest cost one that has sold on eBay so not only did I get a deal I also picked it up for free. Always a plus.

I was halfway expecting some condition issue with this card but other than 1 corner on the back that has a tad flaking issue there is no problem. I believe this will receive a 9.5 from Beckett and I will put that to the test in 2 months when they are back in town.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2012 Bowman Sterling : Mike Trout Base Autograph Refractor Parallel (101/199) BGS Graded Gem Mint and eBay Bucks Quarterly Purchase

Wife's birthday.
New computer.
Unexpected car repairs.
Daily expenses.
All these things add up but I was able to get most of those items and more on eBay and after all was said and done I had my biggest quarter ever (other than the quarter with Christmas cards being included) for eBay bucks and I knew I wanted a nice piece that was going to have ZERO out of pocket costs. I knew what I was tracking and what I probably would end up at the end of March so for the earliest time ever I locked in a card for acquisition on the 7th of March. Almost a whole month prior to the bucks being available.

I had my eye on a couple of cards but my focus always came back to this particular one. A seller had this on a BIN auction with a best offer option and thankfully this was early March and not mid season as I am sure I would not have been able to score such a deal. The only kicker and what might have driven people away from this card was that the case has a chip on it. I could care less as it does not affect the integrity of the card and if and when I want to change it out I can send it back to Dallas with one of my future grading submissions.

I reached out to the seller and did my quarterly routine of asking if I could lock in the card and take it off the market if we could come to an agreement on price. He said sure and I sent him an offer which I expected him to reject which he did but thankfully his counter was right in the area of what I expected my eBay eBucks total would be by the end of March. I accepted his offer and so the wait began. As I have written before I have done this numerous times in the past but this is the 1st time I've done it weeks before the quarter was to end. Most times it was a week at most but this was a big card for me and I believe the price would and will skyrocket as time goes on. My main fear was that after a while the seller might think he could make more from another buyer and back out of our agreement and considering I was a "non-paying" buyer mid month he could have had eBay cancel the transaction. Thankfully non of that transpired and on the 2nd of April I sent him the full amount paid with eBay bucks and had this in hand 3 days later.

Unlike Kershaw I can only get my hands on so many Trout autographs as his prices are too high but ever quarter I can help subsidize a purchase with eBay bucks and with this one the whole cost was paid with said bucks. I don't foresee another big eBucks total next quarter but whatever I do earn I hope I can score another great card.

One Hundred and One

of

One Hundred and Ninety-Nine

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2015 Topps Tribute : Mike Trout Base Autograph Black Parallel (43/50) and eBay Bucks Quarterly Purchase Number Two

While yesterday's Topps High Tek Trout card was nice that to me was the appetizer while this card is the main course and then some. I wanted a nice big hit of Trout for my quarterly eBay eBucks "purchase" and this card fit the bill and damn if it isn't prettier in person.

When I finally decided I wanted to use my eBucks to pick up another Mike Trout autograph for the collection I still had a cap of what I could "purchase" as I was not going to spend a single penny out of pocket to pick one up. At the same time I wanted a copy that would probably grade out as a gem mint 9.5 from BGS when I submit my next batch in March. And of course it had to be an on card autograph as well.

So the search began and not surprisingly there were not may copies that fit my criteria as most were cost prohibitive. Couple weeks passed and this one popped up on the bay with a very high BIN price. Thankfully it had a best offer option but still, the starting point was high. This card hails from the re release of the 2015 Tribute brand which was notoriously recalled due to quality problems. As you can see they were re released in non circulated cases which supposedly preserves the card's condition. This is the black parallel which is numbered out of 50 and with the signature looking perfect and non streaky I decided this was the one I wanted. It was now negotiating time.

It was mid December when this came up for sale and all I can say was that it was perfect timing (luck) once again on my part when I contacted the seller. First off I had to ask if he would let me lock in the card at an agreed price so I could use my eBucks 3 weeks later when they became available. Once he agreed to that I crossed my fingers he would accept a very "low" offer. What I didn't know till after we agreed on everything is that he was basically leaving eBay as he was getting his internet service cut off so I think he was trying to unload his inventory at any reasonable cost and I popped in at the right time. He took my offer and was a man of his word and honored our price and when my eBucks became available on the 3rd of this month he promptly shipped out the card to me and I couldn't be happier. Card looks to be at the very worst a mint 9 card but I think there is a 50/50 chance that it could gem which is obviously what I am hoping for.

Another quarter done and I picked up 2 great cards at no cost to me. Already working towards the next quarter but as always the Christmas one is always the one that bares the biggest "purchase" but I am sure I can find something I will like in April.

Forty-Three

of

Fifty

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2015 Topps High Tek : Mike Trout Base Pyramids Parallel BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5 and eBay Bucks Quarterly Purchase Number One

It's that wonderful time of the year again aka eBay eBucks freebie "purchases". On top of that I get to add my Christmas gift cards to that total which makes it even bigger than the other 3 quarters of the year. What to "buy"? Decisions, decisions. Would I just pick up 1 really nice card which I do most quarters or would I try to pick up multiples? On top of that which player would I focus on or did I want multiple players in my haul? Well after much debate in mind and after looking on eBay to see what I could pick up for "free" I decided to make it a Mike Trout quarter. I thought I would only be able to score 1 real nice card but I ended up being able to pick up another on the lower end of the scale and this is that one.

Once I secured my other Mike Trout purchase (which see its own post tomorrow) I had $ 25 left over to snag another Trout card. I wanted to secure a colored parallels from Topps Chrome but what I saw didn't meet my standards so I looked for what I could get on the cheap when it came to some graded Trout cards. Almost all were higher than the $25 but this pyramids card which has a book value of $12-30 was on a traditional auction and with it being already graded I hope to snag it on the cheap.

I wouldn't normally go that high on this card as it is not a numbered parallel but with it still being limited I was drawn to it and at the end of the day I came out on top with no room to spare.

Another gem for the Trout collection

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2013 Topps Archives : Clayton Kershaw Mini Tall Boys Autograph (2/25) BGS Graded PRISTINE 10 and eBay Bucks Quarterly Purchase

Sadly this post is being written up a day after the Dodgers were eliminated from this year's playoffs and would have been perfect for my #kershawday card post for yesterday as he would have pitched game 2 in the NLCS but it wasn't meant to be. Instead it will just start off a new week with a bang.

The past 3 months went by like a blur which meant another quarter of eBay bucks had been earned by me. Thank yous go out again to my friends and family that have me buy them their stuff on the bay so I can earn even more bucks for me to use every 3 months. The last quarter saw me acquire 2 cards with one being another Clayton Kershaw graded autograph so this time around I wasn't really looking to add yet another Kid K John Hancock to the collection but as the quarter was ending (late September) I wasn't seeing anything I really wanted that was non Trout or Kershaw so I circled back around to my favorite pitcher to see if there was something really unique that would perk my interest. After a couple of days of searching I found this bad boy on a BIN auction with best offer :

A perfect 10. Pristine baby!

A pristine graded Kershaw autograph which also happens to be limited to just 25 copies. With all my graded Kershaw cards, autograph or not, I had yet to acquire a pristine 10 for my collection whether it was one I submitted to BGS myself or one like this that was already graded. Now with this card being my focus for the bucks I wanted to see how low I could get it for. With that I sent over what became multiple offers and when I exhausted that route the seller and I communicated in emails. Back and forth it went for almost a week until we finally agreed on a price to both our liking. With the agreed amount settled between us we also agreed that I would send payment payment once the bucks became available.

Finally 3 weeks after I first discovered this card I had it in hands and even though it doesn't sparkle or it being a 1 of 1 it is a beautiful "mini" of the best pitcher in baseball. Nothing out of pocket and I finally have my first pristine Kershaw card in my collection. Maybe I will acquire another in the future or maybe I won't and even if the latter is the case this is a fine one to be the only 10 in my collection. Another quarter done and the next one is already being worked on and with it being the Christmas quarter that means I will have some gift cards to add to the eBay bucks total. Can't wait to see what I "win" in January.

Two

of

Twenty-Five

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2012 Gypsy Queen : Clayton Kershaw Base Autograph BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5 AND eBay Bucks Quarterly Purchase Number Two

As stated in my post from 2 days ago showcasing the Adrian/Hanley duel autograph from Topps Museum there was one more acquisition to show off from my eBay bucks "purchase". While that Topps Museum is a nice little addition to the collection this was the bigger of the 2 from this past eBay quarter. Yup, yet another Kershaw autograph and in graded form to boot.

I can't get enough of Kershaw autographs and with hundreds to choose from there should never be a shortage for me to hunt after. While the Adrian/Hanley card was on a BIN auction this card was a traditional auction with a somewhat high starting asking price. The good thing though was even with that price it was exactly what I had left in my eBay bucks bank. Now to win this bad boy.

I was hoping with the high asking price that it would scare off people but as the last day approached there were 5 people that had the card on their watch list but no one had put a bid in as of yet. As the last minute approached I put in my bid and shortly later I received the email stating I had won the card. Send over my "payment" and a few days later my autograph collection of Mr. Kershaw had grown by 1 with this sweet addition.

Another eBay quarter with 2 great limited additions at zero cost to me is always music to my ears and this time is no different. Nearing 20 Kershaw autographs and I have no intention of stopping. Now it's time to start working on earning more bucks for the quarter that ends in September.

Another gem minty addition for the collection.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2013 Topps Museum : Adrian Gonzalez / Hanley Ramirez Dual Autograph (5/15) AND eBay Bucks Quarterly Purchase Number One

Like a broken record, it's that time of the year again, eBay bucks "purchases" aka FREE autograph cards. Woo hoo!!!

Just like the 1st quarter of this year I was able to earn enough bucks to acquire 2 great autograph cards. One was "purchased" on a traditional auction which I will showcase in 2 days and then this one that was on a BIN auction and had been on my watch list for over 16 months. Yes, 16.

I had wanted this card since I 1st saw it back in beginning of 2014 but the seller had turned down all my offers which meant I could no longer send another offer (you are allocated 3 per auction on eBay) but I noticed he/she kept changing the asking price every 2-3 weeks. At times the price went under what my offers were. Why didn't they take my offers prior I have no idea but even though I could pick it up at a price I was comfortable with I never pulled the trigger. I normally don't acquire dual autograph cards but I found this one unique.

• Hanley made his name as a Miami Marlin. Adrian started his career in Miami
• Hanley started his career as a Boston Red Sox. Adrian was traded to Boston.
• Hanley and Adrian were both traded to the Dodgers

Adrian I believe is going to make it to the Hall of Fame at some point and Hanley also has an outside chance. They also both should have 2000 hits at the end of their careers. The list goes on for similarities.

Hanley's autograph

As June was approaching its end there were no real stand out cards that I wanted to acquire (other than the one I also picked up that will be shown in 2 days) so I looked at my watch list and saw that this one was still available and the price was even lower now. The seller would only accept immediate payment so I had to wait till my bucks were available but when they did I finally acquired this card and after 16 months it didn't cost me anything.

I have had some issues with grades on these Museum cards but this looks to be in at least mint condition with an outside chance of gem mint. There is no book value due to its scarcity (15 copies) but I think I might just submit this bad boy and cross my fingers for a gold banner. No matter the outcome though I am more than happy to finally have this card in my collection. 1 free card down and 1 to go.

Adrian's autograph

and

Five of fifteen

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 1999 SP Signature : Greg Maddux Base Autograph BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5 AND eBay Bucks Quarterly Purchase Number Two

And now the second and final day of my most recent eBay bucks quarterly "purchases".

While yesterday's Edgar Martinez autograph card was a nice addition at no cost out of pocket he was not the main pursuit for me when it came to using my earned bucks from eBay. While the main get from the Christmas time eBay buck "purchases" was Urias with a look to the future when it came to that acquisition, I wanted this quarter to be a look back to the past with hopefully it being a hall of fame member. Searched and searched and I came up with the immortal Greg Maddux.

Greg had a tremendous career which even included two separate stops with the Dodgers. While I did acquire a signed ball by him it was not in person and said ball was part of the ball purge of last year so Greg has been on my list to reacquire for quite some time. I anticipated that I would only have one autograph of Mr. Maddux in my collection so I had to make it count when I locked in on one.

Even though he played for the Dodgers his hall of fame resume was cemented while playing for the Braves. That meant I wanted/had to have his autograph with him in a Braves uniform. Obviously it also had to be on card as well. What also has become the norm or requirement for any star player that I only have one autograph of is that the card should be graded by BGS as a gem mint or mint 9 at worst. With those 3 "needs" I set about looking for a card that would satisfy those needs. Only a day in and I found what I wanted.

Gem minty

With it being roughly March 20th and the eBay bucks not being available till April 2nd (almost 2 weeks later) I was hoping the seller would accept what I seem to have patented a lot of these eBay buck purchases of late. Lock in the card and pay two weeks later with the trust that I would not back out of the transaction. I contacted the seller and asked if he would do it and he said sure but informed me that no one else has every asked him to do that and not that he didn't trust me it just seemed odd and asked me why I wanted to do this. I explained to him that the reason being was I wanted to take the card "off the market" (as it was on a BIN auction and already had 6 watchers) and didn't want to lose out on it prior to the eBay bucks being available. He said no problem so I locked in the card and told him I would contact him in two weeks and send payment.

Ten baby,,,

The card books from anywhere from $60-$120 in raw form with an obvious bump with a gem mint grade attached to it but when April 2nd rolled around I sent payment to the seller with not a single penny out of pocket or Paypal funds. I so love these "purchases" every 3 months.

Two cards for this quarter but this was the one I truly had to "have" and now I can say I do.

That's it for this quarter and the countdown continues for the next one which ends on June 30th. What autograph can I find at that time?

Before Wil Myers there was Greg Maddux

(scribble signatures that do not resemble anything near their name)

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2014 Topps Five Star : Edgar Martinez Golden Graphs Autograph (49/50) AND eBay Bucks Quarterly Purchase Number One

Oh yeah, it is that time of the year again. Time for my quarterly eBay bucks purchase and this card is a bonus as I had only expected to acquire one card this quarter but ended up with two with this one being the last minute acquisition.

Tomorrow's post is about the big card that I had my eye on and what I had in the eBay bucks "piggy bank" would cover that card's "cost" to a T. Well towards the end of March I ended up buying some stuff on the bay for friends and family which earned me a little more to look for another autograph card, I so love earning credits on other people's dime.

I had a Jorge Posada card from this same issue that I really wanted but I couldn't lock in for a reasonable price aka FREE so I went to option two which is Mr. Edgar Martinez here. I have never pursued Edgar's autograph in any kind of rush (though I still wanted one at some point) but I knew this great card existed when I first saw the Five Star checklist so when I was to acquire his autograph this would be the card I would want. Well that time was now.

Book value has this pegged at $50 which I wouldn't never pay any type of funds for but I did have a little more than $20 to play with if I wanted to acquire the card for free. This was on a traditional auction and at the end of the day the total price was just the right amount to make it free. Another hit for the collection and it looks beautiful.

49 / 50

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2014 Bowman Chrome : Julio Urias Base Autograph Black Refractor Parallel (64/99) BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5 AND eBay Bucks Quarterly Purchase Number Three

We arrive to the third and final eBay bucks and Christmas gift card purchases and with it my new crown jewel of Urias autographs.

Some of my Twitter and blog friends (Alex, Aus, Greg, Frank and Jesse) probably expected a different card to be my third and final acquisition but circumstances changed on the fly when I was decided which one to acquire. When I asked the group which would they pick they chose the other one but at the same time to not lose out on this potential card I sent in an offer to the seller on eBay. It was a semi low ball offer but it was not immediately rejected so there it stayed in limbo while I contemplated which one to pick. I decided to go with the group's decision and acquire the other card so off I went to eBay to complete that transaction...of course things changed.

While I was about to complete my transaction for that card the seller of this Urias card accepted my offer with no counter. Well okay then. So instead of the other great card I ended up with this great card which I was planning to pick up at some time whether it was now or later.

I actually have had a raw copy of this card twice in my hand in the past few months but each time it came in damaged so I returned it (hence why there has never been a blog post about it). Now I don't have to worry about condition or submitting it to BGS for grading as it already is in a nice gem mint case. I have two other gem mint Urias autographs that I may or may not let loose as I might pick something else up but with this in hand now I no longer need to search for that elusive crown jewel for the Urias section of my collection. The best part of it is that I paid zero dollars out of pocket for this card. All paid with gift cards from Christmas. I am a blessed person and I thank my family for gifting me eBay gift cards each year so I may acquire these great cards. Thank you again.

Now, that other card I was wanting. Well as of right now it is still on eBay for purchase and I am in talks with the seller to see what we can do with price as I do still want it. I hope to do a post up on that acquisition in the near future but we will see what happens.

That does it for yet another batch of quarterly purchase(s) on eBay using their eBucks program. If you are not using it you need to look into it. Free money ya'll. I look forward to each quarter to use the "money" that eBay passes out but the Christmas quarter is always the best as I can couple it with all the gift cards. Thank you again to the family for indulging me in my habit.

As always.... Mmmm gem minty

64 of 99

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2013 Topps Archives : Nolan Ryan Mini Frame Autograph (22/25) BGS Graded Mint 9 AND eBay Bucks Quarterly Purchase Number Two

The second of three eBay bucks purchases and this one also falls under the reacquired autographs banner.

Nolan happened to be the 1st card of the 3 to be "locked" in for purchase as the seller and I were able to agree that I would "purchase" the card in mid December but not pay for it till the eBay bucks became available to use on January 3rd. I have done this numerous times and have been very fortunate to do business with sellers that work with me.

Yesterday's Carlton card was picked up with the remaining bucks and a measly $10 out of my pocket. The bulk of the eBay bucks were used for this card which made this acquisition FREE for me. Man I love this time of the year with "free money" being thrown at you and cards just begging to be purchased.

This card was actually on the bay for quite some time with the price fluctuating on a BIN auction for well over 3 months. It always stayed on my watch list and when the calendar turned to December my eyes were firmly on it to see if I could finally acquire it. Nolan was in my collection at one time but as most players he was included in the ball purge of 2014. Always wanted him back and now was the time. I would have preferred him in an Astros or Rangers jersey but an on card autograph trumped those desires. Most raw cards I saw of Nolan were trending almost at the cost of this card which was already graded as mint. Again, would have preferred a gem mint card but if I could score a guaranteed mint card for free why not?

The seller kept lowering and raising his price until one day I saw it sitting at such a low price that it was finally time to contact the seller and see if I could do my patented purchase now, pay later transaction. Within an hour of contact he responded with a "yes" and with that I hit the purchase now button. Waited a few weeks till the 3rd of January was upon us and once it was I sent over the payment for the card and within literally a couple of days I had the card in hand.

Hall of Fame player
On card autograph
BGS graded
Mint
FREE !!!

Nothing on that checklist is bad.
Thank you again to the seller for working with me.
Two down and one to go.

22

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Card of the Day - 2014 Topps Finest : Steve Carlton Finest Greats Autograph Blue Parallel (122/125) BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5 AND eBay Bucks Quarterly Purchase Number One

Once again it's that time of the year but unlike every 3 months when I get to use earned eBay bucks the last quarter of the year I get to combine them with all the Christmas gift cards that I receive from loved ones. This like every year was a boon for me. Most quarters I usually just focus on one card and get that one but when there is a little more to play with then I see what I can do to spread the wealth among multiple cards. For this quarter I was able to secure 3 cards and today and the next two days I will showcase my acquisitions.

First up is actually the only card that "cost" me some money as I ended having to throw in a little to get this card even though this was the cheapest of the 3. Tomorrow's card was totally paid for with eBay bucks and Wednesday's was paid with gift cards. I locked in on those first and had finished their transactions but I had some bucks left over so I scoured the bay to see what BGS graded autograph I could get my hands on. Took a couple of days but I finally decided to concentrate on this card.

I never have had a Carlton autograph in my collection as the two times I was prepared to go to an in person signing he was scheduled to due he cancelled each time at the last minute. So Steve stayed on my to get list for the past few years and now was the perfect time to see if I could finally acquire one. A seller had this on a BIN auction for way over book but thankfully he had a best offer option attached to it. With what I had left over from the other transaction I calculated what I felt comfortable with paying out of my pocket for this card. I decided it was $10. Using that amount it would be a semi low ball offer that I would send the seller which I did. No automatic rejection but since it was sent at around 10 at night I went to bed with no answer. Woke up the following morning and had an email stating the seller accepted my offer with no counter needed. Woo Hoo.

Ten dollars out of pocket and the remaining of my earned eBay bucks was sent to the seller and I had this gem mint beauty in my hands a week or so later. Not too shabby of a return for a minimal amount of money. Snagged me a Hall of Famer's autograph.

One down two to go.

122 of 125

Card of the Day - 2009 Allen and Ginter : Clayton Kershaw Mini Frame Autograph AND eBay Bucks Quarterly Purchase

It is always nice to complete a project no matter how big or small but it's really nice when it involves the best pitcher in baseball and its an autograph project.

Allen and Ginter has released four autographs of Kershaw through the years (2009, 2010, 2012 and 2014) and so far I have gotten my hands on 3 of the 4 but I was still on the lookout for the last one which is the 2009 version. Not many of these seem to show up on the bay but one day this on did and it happened to be late September which meant the eBay quarter was coming to a close at the end of the month. That meant I would have some eBay bucks to play with in early October. Well it was once again time to talk to a seller to see if he/she would allow me to pay a little later than the 3 day window they expected so I could use my bucks and not pay anything out of pocket. Thankfully as with all previous sellers they were receptive to my request and they said no problem. Now I just had to win the card.

A decent amount of people had already bid on the card and the watch list was growing by the day but considering what I knew I  had to work with money wise I had a lot of leeway. Final day of the auction was here and the price was still reasonable ($40ish) so I knew I had a chance of winning it. Final minute and I put in my bid at a much higher price than normal but it paid off as I won the card. Waited a week to pay the seller and within a week of that I had my final piece of my Allen and Ginter autograph Kershaw set.

As with all my Kershaw autographs this one was already ear marked for grading. Everything looks good but A & G is the one brand I always have an issue with pre-grading. I can't see it getting anything less than a gem mint 9 but it could conceivably get a gem mint as I don't "see" any flaws. We shall see.

No matter what I picked up a great autograph of Kershaw and it cost me nothing. You just can't beat that.