Contest # 7 - Paco Rodriguez Signed 2013 Bowman Home and State Parallel

With contest #6 behind us I move onto the second of four autograph giveways in a row. This one is for a 2013 Bowman Base Home and State Parallel that I got signed last week at the Dodgers Fan Fest.

I already had a ball signed by Paco and didn't really have anything else for him to sign so I thought I would pass on some love to my readers. Paco as always was cordial and I said thank you for the autograph but right when he handed it back to me his thumb was on the autograph part of the card and he smeared his name a little. Not on me guys but I am sure someone will still want this card. Right? Anyways, the next contest I will be bringing back some questions but for this one it will go with the traditional entries of you can earn on per day for each comment left on this post and one entry for each RT on twitter.

As a bonus for this and any future blog contests if you share aka pimp this contest on your own blog I will appoint at least 2 extra entries and up to 5. It will all depend on the item. I will give you a heads up and say that contest #9 you can earn 5 extra for a blog post. This one though will be just two. Good luck to all.

Paco signing

Finished product with a little smear

Movie Review : The Lego Movie

Everybody's favorite miniature figures have finally made it to the big screen. Even with my age creeping towards 40 I looked forward to seeing this movie. Even though I don't play with the actual toys anymore I still love playing the video games that are based on them.

The story is about a "common" faced Lego named Emmet who is nothing "special" and is easily forgotten by his co-workers and so called friends. He lives day by day by the manual that was given to him and every other Lego in the city by President Business. On one particular day he comes across a young lady named Wlydestyle who is searching for something that we find out is called the Piece of Resistance. Emmet is informed by Wyldestyle and her mentor Vitruvius the wizard that President Business is really a bad guy trying to control everything Lego. Emmet joins up with the two and their fellow cohorts including all your favorite characters such as Batman, Superman and even Milhouse from the Simpsons to take down the President and his plans.

Bad Cop, who is the President's right hand man, is in close pursuit of Emmet and the gang as they have the Piece of Resistance and mean to use it against the President. Bad Cop chases them across various Lego lands trying to stop them but Emmet and friends take the fight all the way to President Business's front door. As things become bleak and the President has pushed back and is in control and Emmet is thought to be lost the film turns into something else completely that I didn't see happening.

Being a "kids" movie there could be no other ending but a happy one and that is what we are given with the movie twist being the reason behind it. Wrapped in a bow the movie ends with the inevitable sequel already being planned on and off screen.

VERDICT : With 20 minutes in or so I was slowly thinking that the movie was going to be a letdown but then Batman shows up. The movie does a complete 180 and all the inside adult jokes mixed with the kid jokes and visual ones brings my hope back. While Emmet is the focal character it is the supporting ones with their own "quirks" that make the movie. You have to be part geek to understand a lot of the understated jokes that you see or hear as if you don't know the source material you will probably not get some of it.

The ending while unexpected was a pleasant swerve that I didn't see coming in a kid's film but from my point of view it worked and I liked what they were trying to say there which were a few different things. If you like Legos, Batman and friends, cartoons or a combination of all of them then you will probably come out of the movie like me and give it a THUMBS UP to a viewing. While not one to own or see over and over again, for sure it is one to see at least once or at least that is what the kid in you probably thinks as mine did.

Card of the Day - 2014 Topps : Mike Trout Rookie Class Ring Insert ( 51 / 99 )

Slowly but surely I intend to get my only non Dodger player collection up to speed.

Trout is the only player not in blue I will be collecting but since I just made that decision in the past month or so his part in my collection is lacking in cards. His cards do command the most on the secondary/eBay market so I have to pick and chose which ones I go after but I for sure wanted to get all the cards in the newly released 2014 Topps set and what better place to start than one of the big thick inserts.

This card is part of an insert set showing off star players with the year they were a rookie. All the cards come in three forms. The base silver one which is unnumbered, a gold version that is numbered to 99 and then a gold version with gems that are numbered to 25. The gem ones were and are still too pricey but I didn't want to just get the base so I zeroed in on this gold parallel.

Not too much of a dent in my Paypal account and within a few days I acquired my first 2014 Trout card with many more to come.

51 of 99

Contest Over At Chavez Ravining

Alex over at Chavez Ravining is starting up a new contest this week since his last one which helped me get up to 50 followers ( thank you again to Alex and all that joined and read my blog ) has ended.

The prize this time is a spiffy new 2014 Topps relic card seen here :

Even if you are not into this particular card you should head over there to read all things Dodgers and possibly make a trade with the guy as I have done a few times already and each time it has been problem free.

If you are a gambling man a F R E E fantasy baseball tournament is starting up as well and he needs 3 more players to complete the ten.

All this can be found HERE

Contest # 6 Results : Pepe Yniguez Autograph

. . . and the sixth contest of this blog comes to an end.

Not as many people joined in the fun this time around but to be quite honest I expected that as the autograph is not a player nor is it on a traditional item that we all get autographed. Still there were entries with Alex topping the list with 8 and Jesse coming in second with half as many with 4. Everyone else decided to just try their luck with one. It's like eBay, throw in the complimentary one bid and if you win cool and if not no big deal. Onto the results :

Not surprisingly, Alex comes out on top once again. What was interesting though was that this was only the second spin of the 6 that he was on top as Greg, Valaruko and Evan with their one and only entry were on top once each. 

Anyways, thank you to all that joined in and I will be sending you the autograph soon enough. Alex. Congrats again.

Next contest will be up today or tomorrow and I am sure their will be a few more entries this time.

Signed Ball of the Day - Brian Wilson ( ROMLB Sweet Spot )

The Beard...

Down to the big 2 of the day and it was Brian's turn. He is the other one year contract ( Haren being the other ) that is on the team that I needed to make sure I got a signed ball sooner rather than later. The day I saw that Brian was going to sign at Fan Fest I made sure he was one of the first two sessions I would buy ( the other being tomorrow's post ). When tickets went live Brian's session was the first one I bought.

Got in Brian's line and I was one of the first 10-15 and waited for him to sit down.

Took this picture as I found a man looking at his cuticles prior to a signing for fans was interesting

Brian talking to Dee and Jerry across session lines.

Arrived at the table and I was getting a ball signed by Brian's session mate Al Ferrara and I over heard Brian talking to a young lady in front of me being told by him that his name is Brian not "The Beard" and he took the name plate in front of him and lifted to the young lady's eyes and said, see? Brian is an interesting cat. To say the least I didn't call him "The Beard" once it was my turn. I told him welcome back for one more season and hope he does well and thank you for signing which he said your welcome. 

With Haren and now Brian both acquired I no longer have to worry about getting either pitchers during their contract year and maybe missing out. 

3 Jumbo Boxes of 2014 Topps Dodgers Break Number One

I reentered the hobby last year and as I was getting my feet wet I saw that there were auctions for team breaks within each product that was released. The problem was that it was mostly high end material and with Puig lighting up the hobby all the breaks were way too pricey for me to enter. Some reached over $100. I told myself someday. Well 2014 rolls around and the new Topps set was just released and I wanted to get in on the action. Right out the gate the auctions were too pricey for my taste but I bid my time and finally I found a seller that had a great history and for a reasonable price I landed a place in a half case break for my beloved Dodgers.

As a foot note I ended up buying another case break entry from the same seller for the Dodgers as this shipment was coming to me. Can you say a little addicted? For the cost of my entry and the eBay sale of the cards I won I surely came out on top if I ever need to recoup my money. On to the cards.

Well with 1500ish cards within the 3 boxes it was to be expected that I should have a few team sets when all was said and done. 

Surprisingly with only one copy of the League Leaders card on the right I only have one complete team set of the Dodgers. Go figure. All extra cards are up for trade.

First insert. Nice thickish card of Sandy before he was great.

Both The Future is Now inserts of Puig.

The card on the left I already had thanks to Nathan of Big 44 Sports Cards trading it to me just prior to these box breaks as seen HERE so it also is available for trade.

One of the two Ryu The Future is Now inserts

Sandy Upper Class insert

The first box hit is a relic card of the newly retired Michael Young. 

Considering it's gray I'm curious if it really is a Dodger uniform and not a Ranger or Phillie one.

I'm going with its not a Dodger one.

Second box hit is an autograph of Bill Buckner

Third box hit is of new Twin Nolasco.

I purchased this card a couple weeks prior so this card will be contested out next week.

My one and only SP of the boxes and it's a great photo variation of Hanley Ramirez.

Fourth box hit.

Rookie Class Ring insert of Jackie Robinson.

It's the none numbered version but still. A great, thick card of the former Dodger

... and to finish it off the fifth box hit in the form of another Rookie Class Ring insert.

This one is of the original great Dodger southpaw Sandy Koufax.

So that completes my first ever box break and in my eyes I scored big time. Out of 3 boxes there are 9 hits and I scored more than half of them. Granted they were not the ultra limited ones but great cards none the less. I have one more package of box break cards coming this week but it was not as good as this one. For my first experience in the eBay box break auctions it was fun to watch and see what I won. A new addicting hobby.

Card of the Day - 2013 Finest : Hanley Ramirez 1993 Retro Insert

Finally completed.

It's always a great feeling to complete a project and with this Hanley card in house now I can check off one project from my long list.

As with most of the other Dodgers in this set I had lost out on my fair share of auctions trying to finish this set. Hanley being the most difficult as there just never seemed to be that many up for sale and when they were they sold for a higher price than I was willing to fork out. One day to my surprise I finally won a copy of Hanley and it was at the very low cost of just under $3. With me losing out on multiple auctions at over $6 I was happy to get this at that low price.

Card(s) of the Day - 2013 Bowman Chrome : Yasiel Puig Base and Blue Refractor Parallel ( 123 / 250 )

A major hit on my Puig list and at a very very big discount when compared at book price at the time of originally writing this.

I had already acquired the base Bowman Chrome Puig card in another auction but as always I'm on the lookout for blue parallels of any set that they are offered in. Bowman Chrome never fails on that front and with it always being my favorite set to collect as I am always trying to complete the blue set. Puig's base card in the set is valued at $12 and the blue numbered card is set at $100. I waited till the off season to really put my focus on acquiring it so it could be had at a more reasonable price. With the combined total being $112 I set out to see what I could get these for. I don't know what other people were doing when this auction ended but when I came out the highest bidder at a tick over 80% off of book I was beyond happy. More so when days after I saw the same blue card sold on the bay from $40-$50 and that was without a base card included. Card came in a week or so later and it looks to be in great condition. I am leaning towards having this graded. The base chrome is available for trade if anyone is looking for a copy.

Twin Puigs. Base (right) is available for trade

One, Two, Three of 2 5 0

Signed Ball of the Day - Alex Guerrero ( ROMLB Sweet Spot )

We are now down to the main three Dodgers that I went to Fan Fest for. First up is the newest international signing for the team, Alex Guerrero.

Alex will probably be our Opening Day second baseman but he still has to prove he can handle the position. He, like Puig, is a Cuban defector and speaks almost no English. From all the reports he will be a very good player. Maybe not as dynamic like Puig but still better than most second basemen in the majors.

I wanted to get Alex on a ball now as if he explodes he may or may not be easy to acquire at the stadium. Also I wanted to get him on the sweet spot. As with Puig if Alex does real good he may not sweet spot in the future unless it is a paid a event so it was imperative for me to get him now. Got up to his station and said "hola" and handed him a ball. I had the ball jacket on to ensure a sweet spot signature and he didn't attempt to move it and signed where I wanted. I said gracias and moved over. Thank yous again go out to Alex for signing and may you have a good career with the Dodgers.

Alex and Pepe

Looks very GQ to me. If he does well I can see a lot of endorsements in the future for him

The finished product

Card of the Day - 2013 Finest : Adrian Gonzalez Base Green Refractor Parallel ( 106 / 199 )

Here is a card I wasn't really looking to acquire as I am not the biggest fan of this year's Finest set and the parells aren't all that attractive.

On the same day I picked up the 1993 retro of Adrian the same seller had this green parallel up for sale as well and even though I had no intention to buy it, he was only asking for one crisp dollar bill. I decided I would throw my hat in for that amount but no more. If I won, cool, if I didn't no water off my back. As with the retro card at the end of the day I won this card for the low amount of just $1. Adding another Adrian card to the collection is never a bad thing.

106 of 199

Trade with Fellow Blogger : Big 44 Sports Cards ( Trade Number Two )

I, or more specifically Nathan of Big 44 Sports Cards has completed his part of our second trade together. One day I was on his blog and rummaged through his trade inventory and noticed that he had a 2013 blue Bowman Chrome card ( Justin Upton ) that I needed for my set. So I approached him about it and he gladly said it was mine to have. That same day he posted about a pack of 2014 Topps that he had opened up and in his words a rant about Yasiel Puig. Let's just say he is not a fan of the Dodgers right fielder. To each their own I say. There are players that I am not the biggest fan of and I am sure that same player is the greatest to someone else. To those non Dodger fans, I can see your P.O.V. and understand it but at the same time he is not A-Rod or Bonds or any other of the real pricks of baseball. I would boo them if they were on my team.

Well with that said I asked him about the availability of the Puig card and he more than happily said I could have it. What a shock. Ha Ha. This is the first 2014 Puig card to hit my doorstep but more are on the way from a case break I was in. More on those next week once they reach me. In good faith Nathan sent the cards my way even though I/we haven't figured out what he gets in return. I am going through my Pirates stuff now to make sure he is taken care of.

Another successful trade with Big 44 and I look forward to more. Thank you again Nathan.

Another blue hit coupled with Dodger blue Puig

Signed Ball of the Day - Ned Colletti ( ROMLB Sweet Spot )

Next on the hit list at Fan Fest was the GM of the Dodgers, Ned Colletti

At last year's fest I ran into Ned in the parking lot and had him sign a team bat for me (again, the bat the someday will be featured here) as back then any none star players I didn't want to use a ball for. Times have changed and I am back to single signed balls for everyone.

Ned was coupled with my main goal of the day (featured in a few days) so this was a perfect opportunity to get Ned finally on a ball. Ned was in his usual normal talkative self and as I approached his station he was smiling like usual. Handed him a ball and after he gave it back I told him great job so far but more to do still. He agreed and I wished him and the team a great year. Thank you for signing for me and the fans Ned.

Card of the Day - 2009 Upper Deck : Matt Kemp Signature Stars Impressions Insert Autograph

1 Card
1 Bid
1 Winner
1 More Matt Kemp autograph card for the collection
1 More smile for me

Signed Ball of the Day - Dan Haren ( ROMLB Sweet Spot )

As stated yesterday in Mickey's post, Dan was a main focus for me to acquire at the Dodgers Fan Fest. Dan is on a one year contract with the Dodgers so he may or may not be here in 2015. With that said if I could get his autograph early in the year I wouldn't have to worry about hustling for it at the stadiums. Even though I have heard that Dan is one of the nicer signers it would still be nice to just mark it off the checklist now and be done with it.

After I saw Mickey I slide over to Dan's station and handed him a ball. Told him welcome to the team and welcome to the REAL Los Angeles team and not that one down the 5 fwy that claims to be. He got a good chuckle out of that. Said my thanks and shook his hand. One of the 4 main guys that I came to Fan Fest for had been added to the collection. Dan being one of the 2 on a one year contract was even more important. Thank you again Dan.

Card of the Day - 2013 Bowman Inception : Corey Seager Silver Signings Autograph ( # / 25 )

I've been wanting to get more of Seager's autograph for the collection as I only have a ball signed by him when I met him in Rancho Cucamonga awhile back as seen HERE and a card from this year's Inception set that I am still waiting for as seen HERE .

Corey is projected to be a beast when he comes up to the big leagues and I wanted more autos. His Bowman Chrome rookie is a tad pricey for me at the moment so I thought to look back into the Inception set to see if I could acquire the blue variant but I had forgotten that he also was included in the silver signings insert set. I already had the Puig one and thought why not add Corey if I could. As with all silver signings there are only 25 copies being produced of each card. I had seen that already a hand full had been sold on eBay so while there might be a chance in the future to buy one time was not on my side. At the time this was the only one on eBay and I wanted it. When all was said and done I won this for less than the previous 5 sold for. Couldn't be happier and now like with his base card I redeemed, I sit and wait for that and this card to arrive.

TBD of 25

Signed Ball of the Day - Mickey Hatcher ( ROMLB Sweet Spot w/1988 World Series Inscription )

I have never been able to acquire Mickey's autograph IP. He has attended public signings before but something else was always happening that same day or I just felt that I didn't feel like spending 20-25 dollars on a signature from him. I still wanted it but just waited for the right time. Fan Fest was that time.

The day the schedule was released and I saw that Mickey was paired with one of the new Dodgers of 2014 ( more on that player tomorrow ) I made sure that I would be buying this session ticket. It happened to be one of my priorities.

I happened to be one of the first 5 in line and approached Mickey and handed him a ball and as he was signing he started to put the 88 inscription without me even asking. Score. He must be proud of his accomplishment and I can understand and respect that. I said thank you for adding it and thank you for the autograph and moved on to the other player sitting next to him.

Thank you showing up Mickey and filling a hole in my collection.

88 seems so long ago.

Big 44 Sports Cards Contest

Nathan over at Big 44 Sports Cards is running a contest for a week over on his blog as seen HERE .

This is his first ever contest so go over and enter but stay and read his blog. Good stuff. Nathan and I have done two trades in the past and he is a good and trustworthy guy. So keep that in mind if you see something you want on his site as if you agree to a trade be assured you will receive it. Good luck to all.

Card(s) of the Day - 2008 Upper Deck : Matt Kemp Baseball Heroes Autograph Insert ( 12 / 50 ) and Winning Materials Insert

With all the Matt Kemp autographs in my collection you would think I have had my fill of them. Nope. Saw this card and wanted to add it to the family. The seller also included a Winning Materials aka jersey/relic card in the auction but that was not what I was really after. To me it was an after thought. Only 3 bids for the auction and I was the highest in the end. Received both cards promptly and the Kemp card came in a plastic case which saved me a buck. Another autograph Kemp card and trade bait with the second card has made it home and again I couldn't be happier.

Another Kemp auto. 12 of 50

Trade bait if anyone wants it.

Signed Ball of the Day - Al Ferrara ( ROMLB Sweet Spot w/added mark )

Next up at Fan Fest was Al Ferrara.

I met Al last year and had him sign a team bat for me (someday that will be featured here) but this time I decided to finally get him on a ball. He has always been a fun guy to talk to and always engages the fans. He truly loves talking to them all. If only all players were like this.

Al talking to me prior to the movement of the line.

Every time I've seen him he has a smile on his face.

Al was the only one that I didn't use the sweet spot jacket aka "condom" for an autograph as I assumed that as an old timer he would just naturally sign on the sweet spot. I was wrong. I handed him the ball and Al proceeded to flip it and staredt to sign on a side panel. I had to stop him. Kind of funny as he seems a little hard of hearing but he finally did hear me but that was not before there is the start of the letter "A" on the side. No biggie just funny. 

Al trying to side panel me

= )

After correcting Al the finished product

All and all Al was fun yet again. Thank you for once again for signing and being yourself. 

Upcoming Player Appearance - Jack McDowell @ Harry's Dugout on February 16, 2014

Another month and it's time for another in store autograph signing. I personally love how Harry's brings in players that you normally don't see on the autograph circuit and here is another in the form of former Cy Young winner Jack McDowell. 

Jack's best years were with the Chicago White Sox where he won the Cy Young in 1993. He has California roots as the last team he played for were the Angels. It also was just announced that he will be joining the Dodger family as a pitching coach for the Class-A Ogden Raptors. More reason for Los Angeles fans to come down to the signing. Prices are up above and below. See you there.

• Baseball Cards - $15
• Flats up to 11x14 - $25
• Baseballs, Figurines, Caps and Large Flats up to 16x20 - #30
• Jerseys, Bats, Artwork and Equipment $40
• Inscriptions - $10

Signed Ball of the Day : Ron Cey ( ROMLB Sweet Spot w/Penguin Inscription )

Ron was late to the party as stated and seen in yesterday's post about Magill. We all waited and after 15 minutes Ron showed and started signing promptly.

I originally was going to trade this autograph ticket for an Eric Karros autograph but the gentleman I made the deal with was not to be found once signing time rolled around. I debated on getting his signature or not as I have him on multiple things but him being The Penguin and all and me being Dodger Penguin I would almost feel bad by just passing his signing station.

Birds like humans must be hydrated at all times

With that I approached him and asked him if he wouldn't mind putting "Penguin" below his signature he nodded his head in acknowledgement and proceeded to accommodate me. 

Even though he was late he has always been cordial with the fans. Thank you for finally (wink wink) showing up and signing for us fans.

The original Penguin

Card of the Day - 2014 Topps : Ricky Nolasco Trajectory Autograph

This card will have a short lived existence in my collection. 

I wanted to get my hands on some cards from the newly released 2014 Topps set and while I haven't bought a box yet I have been keeping my eye on single cards to acquire. My checklist wasn't complete as I didn't realize that this card existed. The card was selling on eBay close to $10 right out the gate. Yeah, no. Wasn't going to pay that much for a player that no longer was on the team nor had that much of an impact while he was on it. A few days later this particular copy was being offered with no traffic. Final day arrived and I won it for a couple dollars. A decent purchase. 

Now you ask why this card won't be in my possession for long? Because I just won it in my first ever box break on eBay (more on that when I receive the cards). I love autographs but I do not need 2 Ricky's in my collection of the same card. So what to do with it? Well as try to pay it forward a little with various contests I will be putting this one in a contest in a couple of weeks. Good luck to those who participate in the contest.

Card of the Day - 2012 Topps Tier One : Nathan Eovaldi On the Rise Autograph ( 326 / 395 )

The $3 autograph special is back once more.

Adding to my track record of picking up on card autographs of Dodger players for the low price of a few dollars grows once again as I picked up this copy of former Dodger pitcher Nathan Eovaldi. Seller had an asking price that I was not comfortable with but did have a best offer option attached to his auction. I sent him an offer and he accepted just a few minutes later. Within the week I had my hands on another Nathan autograph. His first name looks good but it looks like he got tired on his last name. No biggie and not going to complain. Great picture adorned with a nice non sticker autograph.

326 of 395

Signed Ball of the Day - Matt Magill ( ROMLB Sweet Spot )

Matt Magill

Matt looking bored

Matt twiddling his thumbs.

That is what happens when your autograph partner doesn't show up on time. Matt and the autograph seekers were waiting for Ron Cey to show before starting the session. I actually snuck by security and had Matt sign the ball prior to Ron's arrival. Security didn't like it but I didn't feel like waiting and doing nothing. Matt didn't mind. 

Matt came up last year to the big league team and was below average but I think all he needs is more seasoning in the minors. On most teams he would probably slot into the 5 hole but with our club having such a deep pitching roster he will open the season in AAA with him and Fife being the most likely to be called up first if something goes wrong on the team. 

I missed Matt last year as every time he signed at the stadium I was nowhere around. Well once I saw him on the schedule for these sessions I made sure I acquired a ticket for his autograph. Matt was very nice and we chatted back and forth waiting for Ron to show up. Thank you again to Matt for the autograph and good luck to you this year.