Card of the Day - 2016 Topps Transcendent : Vin Scully Gold Framed Autograph (22/52) BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5

There are a few friends out there *cough* Greg *cough* (lol) that believed I was crazy when I sold off my other Vin Scully autograph but when it came back from Beckett with an 8 slapped on it I just couldn't keep it as it would have bothered me knowing that it was in my collection with that poor grade. I sold the card and made my money back on it but I knew at some point I would reacquire Mr. Scully's auto at some point and now was the time and of course I made SURE it would be a gem mint copy this time around.

With not that many Scully autographs in general I knew that it would take some time to find one that would be in certified gem mint condition from BGS. This one popped up on the bay with a price that was too much for me as I wanted to use funds that I had accumulated over time. I decided to bide my time and also revisit this one when eBay ran another one of their eBucks promotions. They finally did so I reached out to the seller of this card who is based in Asia and wanted to see if there was any wiggle room to work with that would be beneficial to both of us. We finally agreed to a price and with not too much out of pocket I finally own a Vin Scully autograph that is good enough to have in my collection.

Normally I prefer silver or gold framed autographs but this gold one really goes well with the gold banner it earned from Beckett. So the gold standard in broadcasting is framed in beautiful gold with a banner of gold above him. I think this is perfect and happy to call it mine.

Twenty-Two

of

Fifty-Two

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2016 Topps Five Star : Vin Scully Base Autograph Gold Parallel (26/50)

Merry Christmas indeed for me.

The final Friday before the holiday weekend and I just received the actual card of the immortal Vin Scully from the redemption I sent into Topps just a little time ago. Honestly I expected this to show up sometime next year as I looked at Mr. Scully's age and even though he is retired I didn't think he would pump these out so quickly. Once again this shows Vin's on top of his game as he signed the cards pretty damn quick and now I have this beautiful replacement autograph for my collection.

Vin was the last signed ball I had in my possession after the ball purge and though it hurt to part with it I knew it was the right decision and it was confirmed with this now officially in hand. As with most of my cards I will be submitting this to BGS in a couple months for grading but I will go the raw grade review route as if it does not earn a 9.5 then I will just have it encased without a grade attached to it. 9.5, 9 whatever it earns it will not be leaving my possession as this is a prized piece and I can't see me ever letting it go unless for some reason I "upgrade" to another Vin autograph.

Thank you again to Vin for getting these signed so quickly and Merry Christmas to all and may you have a very Happy New Year as well.

Twenty-Six

of

Fifty

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2016 Topps Five Star : Vin Scully Base Autograph Gold Parallel (#/50)

Let's see how many of you will call me crazy for doing this even though I have proven I will take risks to "better" my collection as I see fit. I know most of you probably wouldn't do this but it had to be done in my eyes and in the end I will be happier.

As most of you know I sold off my whole collection of signed balls when I decided to get back into card collecting. The toning of more than a handful of balls irritated me and using the funds from the sales made it easy to move back into the card hobby. Every single ball was sold/traded except for one, Mr. Vin Scully. I scored that ball years ago and was the only one to survive the ball purge but that changed back in Sept. I dragged it out of storage to take a picture to share it on Instagram and though still beautiful I saw the start of a toning spot and noticed that the auto was starting to bleed. UGH. Well I know that Vin had signed a Topps contract and was going to have on card signatures in 2016 products and even though I wasn't interested in Topps Mint when I heard he was going to be in the Five Star brand that made my mind up for me. Yup, I would sell the last signed ball I owned and would acquire an on card autograph in its place.

As expected the ball sold with ease and all I had to do is lock down one of these redemption cards for the Five Star card which was pretty easy as this was on a BIN auction and once I lost out on 2 other auctions I came back to this one and claimed it. Now I wait for Vin to have time to sign the cards. I am sure it will be one of my favorite pieces in my collection when it does arrive.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Signed Ball of the Day - Vin Scully PSA Authenticated

Today is Opening Day for the Dodgers as they play the Padres in San Diego and behind the mike and announcing his final Opening Day will be the immortal Vin Scully. While Clayton Kershaw is the "face" of the Dodgers not many would argue that Vin is the voice and soul of the franchise.

I have never been lucky enough to meet Vin face to face. I have been in the general vicinity of the man but never close enough to say thank you for his decades of dedication to his craft. When the 2017 season rolls around we the fans will have to accept a new voice coming through our radio stations as Vin is retiring at the end of this baseball season. I know we all are on a "day to day" basis and we should win one for Clayton before he his loses his stuff but Mr. Kershaw has years ahead for himself while this is the final one for Vin. So I hope the team can win it all this year so Mr. Scully can call one last World Series and hopefully witness the 7th in Dodgers franchise history. So win for Vin Dodgers, win for Vin.

The last time I posted about a signed baseball was 14 months ago and there is good reason for that, I got out of the signed baseball hobby after going through my collection and discovering a handful of balls yellowing. Not old balls mind you but new ones acquired within that past year. I was disappointed and decided to sell the collection and channel the funds from that into autograph cards. All the balls were sold or traded off...except for one....this one.

I have had this ball for almost 2 years but I never found the appropriate time to post about it but since today is the first day of the new baseball season which happens to be Vin's last I think the time is now to show it off. If memory serves me correctly I picked this up after selling off some other items to pay for this. I remember at the time that this was on a traditional eBay auction and I wanted it at all costs and was determined to make sure I won it. I remember that at the time I think I won it at a good price due to Vin's signature runs into the threads of the ball a tad. Made no difference to me then nor does it make a difference to me today. When I sold off the ball collection I just couldn't let this go as unlike players that come and go Vin has been with the organization since its Brooklyn days.

Vin Scully has been a class act his whole career and I am sure his whole life. As a life long fan I share the sorrow with other Dodger fans with the knowledge that this is the last year we will hear and see him calling Dodger games. When we look back on these years at least we can say we were lucky enough to have heard him and I personally can say I am lucky enough to have a certified autograph of the man in my collection. Toning or not this ball is going nowhere.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Trade With Twitter / Autograph Hound Friend - Gabriel

As stated in yesterday's post when I was on my way to acquire Paul Lo Duca's autograph once again I made a quick pit stop in Whittier to start/continue a trade with fellow Dodger friend/autograph seeker Gabriel. We have met each other before as we run in some of the same circles but have yet to do a trade. That changed as I finally got my hands on an item that I have been hunting down for a year.

The Box

Last year the Dodgers had a giveaway at the stadium which was of a replica of Vin Suclly's microphone. I couldn't attend the game nor could any of my friends or family so I ended up selling my tickets. I still wanted the microphone though and had seen it numerous times on eBay but with an attached price of at least $50. Wanted it, just not that bad. I assumed someday I would get my hands on it.

Well, Gabriel posted one day on a Facebook group that specializes in Dodger trading that he had one his was trying to unload for $40. Reasonable but I still had other things I wanted more than this. The following day he posted a question if anyone was selling one of their MVP card's for this upcoming year (they give you access to the stadium one hour prior to general public, discounts etc.). As a season ticket holder I receive four a year and just need one for the wife and I. That means I have two left. Seeing past sales of these cards on eBay I contacted Gabriel to see if he would do the microphone with an additional $40 via Paypal. A discount of the MVP card for him and a discount of the microphone for me. He agreed to the deal and he trusted me (would never screw anyone over on a trade) enough to hand over the microphone prior to getting the card (Dodgers are supposed to release them this week).

The Mic

We met up at a public parking place and completed one part of the trade with the remaining part to hopefully be completed in the next day or two at the latest. No money out of pocket for me and a discounted card for him which should score him more autographs and the such. A win win for the both of us. Thank you once again to Gabriel for the smooth trade and hopefully we can do more in the future.

From 1950 . . .

. . . to 2014 (and beyond)

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Bobblehead of the Day : Vin Scully ( Season Ticket Holder Limited Edition )

... well I started this series last year but I veered off a little and never got back to my last three I wanted to post about so I am back on it for the next three days.

Vin Scully has been asked year in and year out by the Dodgers to have a bobblehead made in his likeness but he always turned them down but in 2012 it finally changed. This was the 50th anniversary of Dodger Stadium and his words were I probably won't be around to celebrate the 100th so he finally allowed a bobblehead to be made. The standard edition was given out in August and unlike the Koufax special edition this one is almost identical to the stadium giveaway with one visual difference. There is a little baseball on the desk where Vin is sitting.

As with the Koufax special edition season ticket holders had to buy 2 or 4 tickets to a game in April or May to acquire one or both of the special editions. I chose to have both in my collection. Though Sandy's is visually more satisfying the Scully one harks back to one of the most famous moments in Dodger baseball. 1988 was the last year the Dodgers were in the World Series and Kirk Gibson delivered one of the most dramatic home runs in baseball history as he had no right to even be at the plate in the pivotal moment of the game. Vin described the scene perfectly and this bobble has the home run call on a sound chip. This is where the little baseball on the desk comes into play. By pressing down on it it plays about a minute of Vin's famous call of Kirk's home run. Still brings chills to the spine and at the same time it is bittersweet as the Dodgers haven't been back to the Fall Classic since then. It has been a long 25 years.

This is a great bobble to own and I love how it is numbered just like the Koufax one. Odds of me ever getting this signed are remote but even if I never accomplish that goal it still has Vinny's essence stored on it. We are nearing the end of the great Vin's career and hopefully with this team assembled he can call at least one more Dodger World Series win.