Kershaw #walletcard Contest Blog Specific Point Earning Opportunity # 2

Another week of reading and I continue to breeze though this book which the highly popular Netflix show is based on. I am almost done with it and all I can say that the term "loosely based" is the perfect description for how the show should be described when compared to the book.

The Kershaw #walletcard makes another blog specific point earning appearance here. In the comments below inform me who the young lady here plays in the show. It is worth one point, if you don't know the answer just enjoy the picture.

=)

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

Card of the Day - 2014 Bowman Chrome : Dan Haren Base Blue Refractor Parallel (20/250)

Another pretty cheap purchase for my blue parallel project of the 2014 Bowman Chrome brand.

Dan's cards can be had a pretty low amount but this being a limited parallel did bump up the price a tad. All the way to $1.50. I know, the horror.

I have so many blues to collect and with the higher priced ones still on the horizon me picking up any of these for less than $2 is a check in the win column for me. Another step towards the finish line with this purchase. Woo Hoo.

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2015 Select A Seat Day

What has become an annual event for me and multitude of season ticket holders, this past week had the opportunity for any of us to upgrade our seats or move to another section if there was something available. I expected going in that the choices would be minimal at best and I was not wrong in that thinking. With a waiting list to buy season tickets approaching 4,000 and the renewal rate at over 95% most people are not giving up their seats. The wife and I moved over to the 1st base side last year as we had to get away from the "drip line" in which our row was a part of on the 3rd base side. The view is fine on the 1st base side but I missed being on the 3rd base side. Also even with the knowledge of possible sun issues with moving to the 1st base side I thought being in the 3rd from the last row of the section and under the overhang that we would be shielded from the sun. I was wrong. Games with start times at 5 we were subjected to the glare for a few innings. With that I for sure wanted to head back to my beloved 3rd base side. We arrived at the stadium with that intention in mind but first it was time to have our first Dodger dogs of the year.

We headed to the Stadium Club and had a few dogs and I had the view I wanted to have to see what was available if anything in the area that I wanted to move us to. Sadly there was but one pair I saw from the restaurant and I had to hope that no one else would get them before we ventured over. Finished our dogs and went to our current seats for a picture.

I know its hard to see but if you are looking at Loge level and from the last "skinny" section count over two big sections you will notice that there are two seats under the overhang that had been deemed available to acquire. Nothing else to be had so that was target. Took this last picture from my current seats hoping that I will swap it out for the same view from the other side of the stadium. Off we went.

Making our way to our "future" seats the wife came across a foul ball in the stands. She officially is on the board for the year and leads the Penguin, 1-0. I still believe I will acquire more stadium balls during baseball season.
= )

I noticed a couple making their way towards my deserved seats but moving at a slower pace and stopping and taking the occasional picture. Well I informed the wife I would be stepping it up and walking faster and would meet her there. I passed the couple and noticed a few seconds later that they were following me. I made it to the seats first and sat down and waited for my wife. The guy of the couple looked at me with a slight stink eye and walked away. Hey, first come first serve. You take your time you lose your opportunity. Forgot to take a picture but the new seats are two rows further down and just across the aisle compared to the 1st base side seats we had. Still under the overhang and not in the drip line. We were back on my desired side and I couldn't be happier. With new seats in hand we headed back to the Stadium Club area to do the official swap but we noticed some people down by the Dodger's dugout.

Got down there and noticed that Orel, Stever Yeager and Ron Cey were around the area and unlike last year I came prepared with markers and pictures for potential autographs. Me and a couple of other fans couldn't get Steve or Orel to come over to us but we were able to grab Ron's attention and he was kind enough to come over and sign for all of us. This old school picture is my new project that will take quite awhile to complete as there are 10 needed signatures. This should be fun. I already have a Cey autograph ticket for tomorrow's Fan Fest so now I can get different picture for him to sign. Woo Hoo. Thank you to Ron for always being accommodating to fans.

As we approaced the Stadium Club I wanted another Dodger dog for the road but they moved them to one of the club suites and in it was this cool looking pool table. The only thing I would do is swap out the green for a Dodger blue surface. Just my opinion.

Sat down with a Dodger rep and finished up switching to our new seats and was informed by her that she recognized the seat location as she had talked to another couple that were going down to the seats to claim them. Was it the couple that I passed earlier or someone else? Don't know but what I do know is I have new seats and couldn't be happier. With upgradeable seats becoming more and more scarce and with my thinking that next year there will not be any in the price range I want to pay I am relieved that I was able to change my seats this year as next I don't think it will be possible.

Another year and another successful Select-a-Seat event for us. Thank you again to Ron for the autograph and can't wait for April to roll around to seat in my new/old section.

New Contest Over At Bob Walk The Plank

Matt over at Bob Walk The Plank is hosting a one year of blogging anniversary contest. Simple enough rules to gain entry into it. Comment on the post and name your favorite team and player. Pimping of said contest is always appreciated but not necessary to win.

He runs a very enjoyable blog. So drop on by for the contest but stay for the daily posts. Good luck to all.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day
-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2014 Bowman Chrome : Kenley Jansen Base Refractor Parallel (378/500)

I debated on collecting the base refractor parallels from last year's Bowman Chrome issue and up till my acquisition of this card I was still on the fence about it. But when you pick up a card at what you believe is a very good deal it can sway your thinking for future purchases. I came across this card where the seller was asking only 50 cents for it. Will all my refractor purchases be this cheap? No, but this is a good start and I think I can pick the rest up in that ballpark of a price excluding Puig and Kershaw.

This may or may not be my last year getting these base refractor cards but for at least one more year I will strive to collect them all to accompany my blue parallels. Kenley is the first in a long journey as there are a lot of Dodgers to acquire.

378 / 500

Card of the Day - 2013 Topps Mini : Hanley Ramirez Base Autograph

This card is probably going to just be a place holder but it's a nice one for being just that.

Up to this moment I only had one Hanley autograph in my collection with him in a Dodger uniform but the problem was it was a relic card and the relic's color was black. That means it was from his days as a Marlin. If it was a white swatch I could "pretend" it was from a Dodger uniform but I would know it wasn't either way. So the hunt was always on for me to acquire one with him in Dodger blue. Problem is that there is not much to pick from. From my research there are 3 cards that don't have his autograph accompanied by a Marlin relic and only one is an on card autograph. That card also has Adrian Gonzalez's autograph and it goes for $70+ due to its limited nature. It's numbered out of just 10. So I had to go to plan B and this is it.

The other card that I could have pursued but didn't is from the Bowman Platinum brand but like this one that is a sticker autograph as well. I really don't like these but the relic bothered me more than the sticker. I prefer this picture to the Platinum one so I had to hunt down this card. It comes from the limited 2013 Topps Mini set and when it was 1st released I saw it going for north of $40 with a book of $50. It fell off my radar for months but then I remembered I wanted it and found it once again on the bay. Asking price was over 60% off of book so I put it on my watch list. Last day of the auction came and no one had bid on it yet so I put mine in with a few seconds left and came out the winner. Love the picture and the fact that I finally have a autograph of Hanley in Dodger blue but when and if another one comes up with an on card autograph I will be getting that one and selling this one. Till then, this is a very nice place holder.

Card of the Day - 2014 Bowman Chrome : Josh Beckett Base Blue Refractor Parallel (57/250)

I have been focusing on Topps Chrome parallels for the past couple of months as I waited for the Bowman Chrome varieties to come down in price as they are the "newer" of the two the going rates were higher.

The first one to hit my doorstop is the recent retiree Josh Beckett. Even though he had a bad reputation prior to him arriving in Los Angeles the few times I met him he was nothing less than polite and cordial. When on the mound for the Dodgers he performed better than expected. It's too bad he retired as even at his age he would have been a good 4/5 pitcher for this team.

Book on this card sits at $4 which is too much in my eyes but the one dollar I threw down for it was not. Parallel cards can be pricey but a dollar is a sweet spot everyday of the week. One down and many more to go for the Bowman Chrome brand.

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Vote For Penguin In The BIP (Blogger) Awards

With all the drama from this past weekend about a blogger who was "deceiving" people I kept hearing about some "BIP Awards" which I found out is the celebration of bloggers. I didn't get a chance to look into it until this afternoon. I wanted to see who I would vote for but low and behold, I have been nominated in the best Instagram category. How you ask? I have no idea but I made the cut somehow. I spent the weekend watching Oscar nominated films not knowing I am also a honored nominee in my own "field" of blogging.

There are other categories which I have been picking my favorites but here is the screen shot of my category. I feel special. = )
Well, if none of you have any special attachment to the other 4 nominees I would love to have your vote. All of us are worthy though and I am just happy to be acknowledged considering where I started just a few short years ago in the blog and Instagram world. Thank you again to all that follow and read up on my adventures and thoughts. It is always appreciated.

Here is the link for further information and where you can vote for me and any of the other categories.

BIP Award Nominees

Have a blessed day
-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2013 Bowman Sterling : Joc Pederson Base Autograph

I must have done something right recently as karma favored me on acquiring this card.

I recently purchased an autograph Dodger card on the bay and when it arrived the card was taped to another card in their semi rigid holders. Nothing new as that is standard practice. I flipped it over to detach the two cards and saw that the other card was this one. Again, nothing new since I bought a Dodger card the seller probably thought I would enjoy another Dodger as well. I then noticed (the back of the card was showing) that it was a Bowman Sterling card. Well, Sterling cards are only autograph cards. I thought to myself, no way did the seller throw in an autograph card that books at $25 and constantly sells on eBay for $12-$15. Well I was wrong as the seller did just that. So on top of my purchased Dodger autograph card I received an additional autograph card of one of the top 3 Dodger prospects.

I was never going to go out and buy this card for my collection as I already have my crown jewel of Joc autograph cards and of the 3 top prospects he is number 3 in my like list. Nonetheless I will gladly take a free card any day of the week. Thank you again to the seller for including this in the package.

Photo of the Day - Clem Labine 8 x 10 PSA Autograph

I have never owned a Labine autograph but this eBay auction was the perfect one to final fix that mistake.

There were a few cards that perked my interest but nothing that was what I found to be an acceptable price to make me pull the trigger on the transaction. Along came this nice black and white photo that has already been authenticated by PSA and the seller only wanted $7 for it and that included shipping. Uh, yeah I'll do that any day of the week.

Clicked the button on the screen and sent over the necessary funds and within 10 days (tad long but at that cost I wasn't going to complain as I was in no hurry) I finally was able to add Clem to my collection. He was part of the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1950 through 1960. Being on the only championship team that Brooklyn had meant at sometime I would acquire his autograph and the time was finally right.

Kershaw #walletcard Contest Blog Specific Point Earning Opportunity # 1

Kershaw and I took time out of our busy schedule to catch up on our weekly comic book reading. My life is a cake walk compared to what Spidey is going through right now in his books.

So for the first of what I plan to be many posts where you only earn points for the contest by commenting here on the blog and not on Instagram or Twitter who dies in this issue and what is his/her relationship to Spider-Man? Good luck to all.

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

Card of the Day - 2014 Bowman Chrome : Yimi Garcia Base Autograph

Even though I have stated before that I would not be acquiring any more non parallel autographs of Dodger players I couldn't pass up such a great deal once it was presented to me.

I thought I was done with Yimi as I purchased the blue autograph parallel on eBay and made a trade with Judson of My Cardboard Habit for the base refactor version. I was content with my Yimi collection but when I was able to pick this up for a just a little over a dollar how can you pass that up? Card books for $8 which seems a few dollars too high but there was no way I was going to pass it up when I could have it for that low amount.

So I have added a card I had no intention to. I welcome it to my collection but if anyone is interested in it, it could be had in a trade for something else I might need.

Card of the Day - 2011 Bowman Chrome : Jose Fernandez Base Refractor Autograph (454/500) BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5

edit : I forgot to post this entry mid last year and just saw it in my que. I decided I am not going to re-write it so as it would have me redoing the whole post hence the references to his performance prior to his injury. Still a great pick up in my eyes.

Just cruising along on eBay one day and thought I would see what the past sales were on this card. I have Jose on an on card autograph from the 2013 Five Star issue and I also ended up picking up a black signed baseball but when it comes down to it I always come back to Bowman Chrome.

Jose is dominating right now and at his young age I wanted to pick up this card if I could at a reasonable price. Still had funds left over from the sale of my baseball collection and if I was going to pull the trigger on this card I had to have it graded by BGS as a gem mint and it would have to be at least a numbered refractor. Looked at the blue refractor which is numbered to 150 and it was way out of price range so back to the regular refractors that come in numbered to 500.

I had a feeling this card would skyrocket soon so I had to figure what I could do in a short manner of time. Found this card on a BIN with best offer auction and sent in a low amount to see what he would counter with. Came back with a reasonable amount but thought maybe I could do a little better. I countered his counter and he accepted in a few short hours. Woo hoo. 

As the card was making its way to me through the mail the cards book value went up $50 for a raw copy. The few BGS cards to sell after this one sold for at least $20 more than I spent for mine. I had great timing on this purchase and with Kershaw probably out of the running for Cy Young we might be looking at the 2014 Cy Young winner. NL ROY one year and Cy Young winner the next will only do wonders for the value of this card.  

Card of the Day - 2014 Topps Chrome : Alex Guerrero Base Blue Refractor Parallel (149/199)

The Cuban effect is still in play as for some reason it is still difficult at times to acquire Alex's cards at a reasonable price. While his autograph cards have come down his parallel cards of the black and blue variety never seem to be had as a deal. So when one does pop up I zero in on it.

Book has this card at $6 which to me is too rich so for months I have had to wait for a copy to be available at more than 50% of book as most sales I have seen were coming in at $3 give or take. This one showed up for a mere $1.50 and I hoped with it being officially off season now that no one else would bid on it. Thankfully that small wish came true and I was finally the winner of my own blue Guerrero card.

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A Slight Adjustment / Addition To The #walletcard Contest

My wallet card contest is not even 2 weeks old but I am making a slight adjustment to the contest.

I tend to forget that some people still do not have a smart phones which makes it impossible to see photos on Instagram to earn entry points into the contest. I know Jesse is not going to like this as he has tried (and so far successfully) to corner and hoard all the points he can get but you no longer have to follow me on Instagram. You still have to follow the blog though.

Once a week (give or take) and probably on Friday or the weekend I will post the Kershaw card somewhere and just as it's been on Instagram you must tell me in the comments area where he and I are at or what we might be doing. At times it must be specific and other times not so much. To make it fair to all people I will NOT announce it on Twitter when a blog post goes live so you will have to check in when and if you feel like it. I will not always be by a computer so I might not be able to confirm who is right or wrong in a fast manor but I will do my best.

I will continue to do my Instagram point earning entries but I wanted to give everyone else a chance as again, the social media community has helped me out and worked with me so why shouldn't I? Remember, if you host your own blog you still can earn 5 points by just posting about this contest so don't miss out there.

I am still figuring out all the autographs that I will give out as the Dodger Fan Fest is in 10 days so I don't know what or who I might pick up there. If you have any questions feel free to contact me and if not thank you again for reading and good luck to all.

Have a blessed day.
-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2013 Bowman Sterling : Julio Urias Base Autograph BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5

2 for 1

That was my cost to acquire this Julio autograph card in gem mint form.

For long time readers of this blog you might recognize that I already have this exact same card BUT it earned a 9 on autograph. Irritating to say the least. Well I sold that card and ended up with another one of Julio from the Bowman Inception brand and that ended up being graded a gem mint. Not too shabby.

I still had 2 of these cards in raw (ungraded) form with one I was debating on getting graded and trying my luck again to get a gem mint grade. Well I decided to see what was on eBay and found this card on a BIN auction with a negotiated price to my liking. Well, I had one day to sell my two ungraded cards for roughly the same amount as the negotiated price for the graded one so it would be an even swap.

Thankfully 24 hours later I was able to do just that as the two cards sold and I sent the monies earned from that auction to the seller of this one so I could finally have my own Bowman Sterling Urias autograph card in gem mint condition.

I know some people would never do this transaction as they would prefer to have two autograph cards than one even though that one happens to be gem mint but I am in love with these graded cards and in the long run I rather have that one than one that may or may not grade out to the same grade and the other I knew would not.

Card of the Day - 2014 Topps Chrome : Clayton Kershaw Base Blue Refractor Parallel (130/199)

The third priciest (Trout, Puig) blue parallel has finally found a home in my collection.

I can understand Trout being more expensive but why Puig is still more I can only attribute it to the Latin factor. Kershaw here became my "big" purchase of the non autograph cards from the 2014 Topps Chrome set when I won it on a traditional auction on eBay for a little under $4 delivered to me.

Book has it at $8 but would loved to have acquired it at $3 or less but it is what it is. His cards have gone up in price across the board and this one is no exception.

Only a few more to get of these blue beauts and then I can really concentrate on the black parallels.

130 / 199

Card of the Day - 2010 Allen and Ginter : Matt Kemp Mini Frame Autograph

I am doing the mini project of Clayton Kershaw autograph mini frames from Allen and Ginter but I realized that I never collected all of them for Matt Kemp. D'oh. Need to fix that mistake and even though Matt is had a better year than the past two his demand is still near an all time low in the hobby scene. Deals can and are still made regularly on eBay.

I need two different years of Kemp and this was the first one that I found that started at a reasonable price. Typical 7 day auction and on the last day there were 7 bids on it when I put mine in which became the top one which scored me the card. The price? A measly $8+ delivered for yet another Kemp autograph for my collection.

Hate that his value has really soured on the market but love the deals I am getting while it is there. Another project inches closer to it's end.

Player Appearance / Signing Recap : Chan Ho Park @ Frank and Sons On January 17th, 2015

As a lot of you remember back in the 90's the Dodgers had an international pitching staff. A Japanese here, A Mexican there and then you had the winning est Korean pitcher to ever player in the MLB, Chan Ho Park. It being the 90's I was not collecting autographs just yet so I never was in search of his. A couple of years ago I finally did acquire Mr. Park's autograph for my collection in ball form. As with all the rest his got sold last year so he was on my list to reacquire but he doesn't do many in public appearances. He did show up at Dodger Stadium last year but I couldn't attend the game so he remained on my to reacquire list. Thankfully he finally came back to town for a public signing and I made sure that I would be able to attend.

Chan Ho was scheduled to appear at Frank and Sons yesterday and I arrived right at 10 when he was supposed to start signing. Hopped in line which put me as number 20 ish as I pre purchased my ticket so I wasn't in the general group but the VIP. Chan Ho showed up about 20 minutes late so I killed time by talking to familiar faces in line. Once he arrived though the line moved quickly. I had two items to get signed though only one was for me. My friend Austin is in Hawaii on a nice family trip (lucky guy) so I was getting a card signed for him. Though not for me here is the card :

Nice blue sharpie auto. I think it came out pretty good. For my item I went with an 8x10 and thankfully I went with this one and not the one I originally was planning. I wanted to have him sign a photo of him kicking Angel pitcher Tim Belcher in their infamous fight back in 1999. It was announced right before he started signing he would not sign anything depicting that incident. So thankfully I had this one for him to sign.

The wife pointed out that Mr. Park seems to want the focus on his crotch area. I didn't notice it till she mentioned. Good eye Mrs. Javier.

I had heard about Chan Ho not being the friendliest person and he did not disappoint. When I approached the table where he was signing I said hello and asked him to sign on the green area of the photo (which he did not). During the whole time of him signing the two items he never looked up and when he was done I said thank you but received no acknowledgement back. As long time readers know that is a major pet peeve of mine especially when it is a paid signing. A little "you're welcome" and courtesy smile would go a long way with fans. None the less, thank you to Chan Ho for showing up and signing.

Card of the Day - 2014 Topps Chrome : Hanley Ramirez Base Blue Refractor Parallel (123/199)

Ah...Hanley.

By the time this post sees the light of day he may officially no longer be a Dodger.  I have for the most part have enjoyed his stint with the team and I hope if he is no longer on the team that is because he turned down a qualifying offer from them. If they didn't offer him one then I don't know what is going on in their thick skulls.

Hanley has never been a defensive wiz but offensively he is still a major threat and I hope he stays with the team with a move to 3rd in the near future when Corey Seager is called up and inserted at shortstop.

edit - Hanley has moved onto what he thinks is greener pastures in left field for the Red Sox. Good luck to him and thankfully the Dodgers DID in fact offer a contract so they earn a draft pick.

With a so-so year for Hanley this card only put me back $1.50 delivered. Same price as the Crawford card. The blue parallel set is more than half way done now. Woo Hoo.

123 / 199

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". = (

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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

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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.

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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.

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Card of the Day - 2014 Topps Chrome : Carl Crawford Base Blue Refractor Parallel (86/199)

The blue crew pursuit continues and with it I picked up yet another set need.

How many more years will I be pursuing Carl Crawford cards? Don't know but the sooner the better as if I am not looking for them then he must no longer be on the team and if that has come to past the the team I believe is better for it. Till that time I "must" acquire his cards to keep my sets complete.

As with Onleki the demand for Crawford is not very high but this card did cost me a little more than Onleki's which was only $1.33. How much more? 17 cents. I think I can handle that. One more card off the need list with more to come.

86 / 199