JV Earning His Stacks of Cash with a First

The Tigers won their opening day game, and Justin Verlander had a first. Of all his accomplishments, he had never won an opening day start. Well, yesterday changed that when he pitched a beauty. Only 5 innings, but no earned runs and 7 Ks. He's already earning his new ridiculous contract, and if anyone deserves such an absurd amount of money, it's my guy.

Hey, cheer up, JV. Things are going great for you.

This is one of my most recent acquisitions for the Verlander player collection, scored off of eBay for under $3. I love the design of this card, the background sky, JV's stoic, contemplative countenance, all the fancy junk swarming the blah-gray jersey swatch. Great card.

Justin had a first yesterday, and so did we. Evy Jo and I watched our first real baseball game together, took a nap through a few of those middle innings. Babies should come with a warning: when held to chest, may cause drowsiness.

Biggio Got Screwed, but Don't Deny Pudge

I'm still kind of reeling by Biggio and Piazza not being first-ballot Hall-of-Famers. It all makes me get a little worried about what other great players might get snubbed. 

But then I think about this guy.

If any one's getting in first-ballot, it's gotta be Pudge Rodriguez, right? One of the best catchers of all time, and most certainly the best of my generation. But after this year's voting, a tinge of doubt creeps in. What a travesty it would be if Ivan didn't get in immediately. He will though, right? The voters will be done punishing steroid suspicions by then, right?

To celebrate my confidence, I'm posting a few of my recent Pudge acquisitions from eBay. Above is one of my favorites. I love the design of that card, the double swatches, the full-gear picture, all the shiny symmetry. 

As opposed to this terribly designed card. Could it be more boring, white swatch with white background and Pudge running rather than hitting or behind the mask? This is where an attempt at classy turned into a yawn.

Here's a much more interesting design. I dig the ticket theme Authentix pulled off on these GU cards, right down to the perforated and torn end that makes the card surprisingly shorter. Sure, the picture is poorly chosen, but the rest of this card is great.

One blue swatch deserves another. And here we have a completely ridiculous design with 2003 Ultra's Moonshots insert set. This card was just so stupid, I had to add it to the player collection. Stupid beats the hell out of SP boring.

Let's end on a high note. Diamond Kings just knew how to do a classy yet interesting design, and I love their double bat/jersey GU materials. Great art, nice frame, foil insignia, Pudge is getting the royal treatment he deserves on this card.

My rule when shopping for GUs on eBay is to try to stay under $2 shipped, and each of these cards were. Let's hope those bargains don't influence the Hall of Fame voters to pull a Biggio on Pudge.

Acquiring Iconic Rookies: The Toddfather

I'm always looking for them, those iconic rookies of hall of famers or future hall-of-famers or near-missers like the unfairly ignored Sweet Lou Whitaker.

Well, here's one of those rookies every collection needs:

It's a very awkward Mr. Helton from 1993 Topps Traded with his aluminum bat and his USA uniform. What's not to love about this? Sometimes a rookie card is like looking at embarrassing pictures of someone posing for their freshman year Chess Team photo.

I snagged this off of eBay for $1.50 shipped, which is a pretty decent deal. This card has definitely become more affordable lately, it seems.

Helton's gearing up for his 17th year with the Rockies. He's also reaching his 40th birthday. He's likely looking at his last season or close to it. It'll be the end of an era for Rockies fans, I'm sure. I doubt there's a player that's more of a posterboy for that team. Without a doubt, though, this is what I'd call an iconic rookie card of the '90s.

Bob Bonner's eBay Store, or El Cheapo Ripken Rookie

A while back, I was trolling eBay, searching for deals, when I came upon a listing for a 1982 Topps card, number 21. The dealer listed this information and some random names of guys I didn't recognize: Bonner and Schneider. I don't even know why I clicked. But probably a lot of you already know what card is being described.

 

 

Ripken must have been listed somewhere in the posting, but it wasn't obvious that his was his rookie card, one I'd been trying to find a good deal on for a long time. And a deal I got. I bid 5 bucks and I got the card shipped for less than that. Now, of course the seller must have known this was a sweet card, or he wouldn't have put it in a screwdown, which was a nice bonus. My theory is that the seller had me in mind and knew I wanted this card and am a poor teacher. That or Bob Bonner himself was the seller and was sick of Ripken getting all the recognition for his rookie card.

 

 

This deal just goes to show how obsessive eBaying can pay off. Or maybe this shows that I'm wasting far too much time. But I don't know if a better deal than this can be found for a 1982 Topps Ripken.

Prospecting Catchers Because Their Gear Is Cool

Some of my impulse bargain buys on eBay tend to be of the prospecting type. But my prospecting is a little biased in the direction of catchers. Why? Because who doesn't like a catcher in gear? I find the gear and the careers of catchers--the hardest working dudes on the diamond--most interesting to watch. So where have those careers gone since I snagged random prospect cards?

This is certainly a beautiful card, and we have a catcher in full gear. Not much to dislike. But what's Kyle Skipworth up to these days? He was drafted in the first round by the Marlins in 2008. Since then, he's been batting below .250 with some power, 16 homers so far this year in the Marlins AA club. He's still an everyday catcher and has a 35% caught stealing rate. At 22, he probably has a decent chance at the majors. It looks like the Marlins could use a power-hitting catcher.

A much less interesting card here, of the blah Bowman USA scrap-o-jersey variety. But the price was right, and Chris Chinea is a catcher. So what's Chris been up to since 2010? He's as of yet undrafted, but it looks like he might be a pick in the upcoming draft, as one a top catching prospect, according to random Googling which hardly seems reliable. That makes this card a little more exciting, as it will be interesting to see if Chris' name pops up in the draft this year.

More scrap-o-jersey blah from Bowman, but this time it's Sterling, and we get a little catcher's gear. So what are you doing Blake Swihart? Another first round draft pick, this time for the Red Sox, in 2011. According to Baseball-reference.com, Blake's rated the #72 top prospect in 2012. He's currently playing A-ball and batting .255 with 6 home runs in 286 ABs. Nothing amazing, but not too shabby. At 20, I'm thinking it'll be a few years before we see what Blake can really do. The Sox gave him a 2.5 million dollar signing bonus, which is a hell of a wad to give to a high school kid, so I suppose they see a lot in him.

Yet more Bowman Sterling USA GU here. Ficociello is not a catcher, but he's worth including in this post since I snagged the card off eBay cheap, and it turns out he was drafted by the Tigers in 2010. Not sure if he actually signed with the Tigers since he was selected in the 23rd round, but he's worth watching since he may or may not be playing with my team.

Now this is a bit cooler of a card than the Bowman USA GUs. It's a great action shot, and the gear is in full effect. Even without an MLB license, Tristar puts together a really smooth looking card here. I love the black and white fade, too. Josh was a first-round pick of the White Sox in 2009, and he got bumped up to AAA last year, where he's stayed, and is batting .257 in 2012. He has a solid caught stealing rate of 45%, which should get him a call up soon, I'm thinking. But Pierzynski is still going strong.


Prospecting can be an absurd pastime, but I find I enjoy it much more when I buy at a bargain and keep my purchases centered on Tigers and catchers. Do you play the cardboard prospecting game, too? Do you go for the hot talk-of-the-town fellas or fumble around for bargains or stuff you dig?

An Accidental Baker: Cards You Don't Need and then Do

In my many hours spent eBaying, I end up picking up cards that I don't really need or that don't really fit into my collection, just because they're interesting and cheap. For example, I can't seem to stop my mouse from clicking a bid for framed Diamond Kings cards from the 2000s sets, especially if they have a hunk of bat or shred of jersey mushed into them. They're just cool-looking cards. Case in point:

I got this for about a buck shipped. It's from the 2004 Diamond Kings set, and it's numbered out of 50. The black frame looks awesome, as do all the details: the foil DK insignia, the amorphous blob of green behind Baker, even the interestingly hexagonal windows used to showcase the bat chunks. It's a sweet-looking card, but I had no idea what to do with it, no real place for it in my collection. I was thinking it would become trade bait someday, and poor old Jeff Baker and his cool black frame would be just so much trade fodder.

But then I found out he just got traded to the Tigers. Well, happy accident! Now he has a place in the collection. I don't really collect random Tigers, am more of a player collector, but I can certainly make an exception here. And Baker's not doing terribly so far. He adds a little more depth to the bench. Also, he's from West Germany, and I can't think of another baseball player from that country. So, Baker's birthplace anomaly adds another element of collectibility to this card.

I end up being more pleased than I thought I'd be to own this card. I guess I shouldn't even be purchasing cards unless I really want them in the first place, but such is the life of an obsessive collector, snagging up every piece of interesting cardboard he sees, and occasionally a random purchase works its way into the collection perfectly. Have you experienced these happy accidents before? Picked up a card you didn't really need and then ended up finding a place for it in the collection?

Collecting Catch-Up and Ghostly Kell

It's been a busy day of updating the blog. I've received a ton of great trade packages lately, just went to a card show, not to mention a slew of eBay packages. Lots to scan, enter into the want lists, and then put away. After a busy summer semester and a week of work in Kentucky that involved grading thousands of papers and drinking dozens of beers, collecting has taken a back seat, and now it's begging for attention. Catching up has been a lot of work today, but I realized, while leaning over the computer and squinting at card numbers, that I love this work. Completely calming, and there's something so nice about the clarity of this task, the instant gratification, and the opportunity to be a kid and play with cardboard.

Anyway, the want lists are now all up-to-date. Go check them out. I'm ready to trade, folks. Of course, quite a few of you know this. I've got a bunch of trade packages going out tomorrow. And those of you who have sent me trade packages in the last month or so, thanks a ton. You guys have made a tough few months better with cardboard. I'll be posting about them soon.

And, so this trade isn't just a bunch of boring words, it's time for a picture:

I picked this one up on eBay for about $3 shipped. This is a great set. I love the design, the way the background weaves in and out of the picture of Kell. There's kind of a ghostly effect happening here. Kell's kind of looking like Marty McFly after he's been messing around with his mom too much.

This is my first relic of George Kell, a legendary Tiger who I've been meaning to collect more. The chunk of bat here is very cool. There's something clearly different about the woodgrain from the older generations. I can't quite put my finger on it: more imperfections in the wood maybe?

Now it's time to get back to rocking out those trade packages.

Some eBay Lemons and a Lemon

So I'm sure plenty of you bloggers out there have done what I'm doing today. I'm looking through my scans file, picking out cards I haven't posted about, and then trying to imagine how they will come together in a post. It's a bit of house-cleaning, and a bit of collage inspiration.

After going through a few unused scans, I thought I'd review a few eBay purchases. Some that are nothing special:

I snagged this off eBay for around a buck shipped. It's not a bad deal. I'm just not a huge fan of Magglio. I mean, I appreciated the great seasons he had with the Tigers, his impressive overall career, and especially how hard he worked to keep trying to come back from injuries. So, I'm pretty happy with picking up a GU of his that's numbered to 75. It's nice, but it's not a card that wows me. It's more of eBay compulsion, a line of thinking that gets into my head and says, Hey, it's a Tiger and it's game-used and it's a dollar so why not? This isn't necessarily buyer's remorse, it's more of buyer's ennui, buyer's blasé. You all know what I'm talking about, right?

Here's another example of what I'm talking about. I picked this up in the off-season, when I was still excited about V-Mart in the 5-spot and before we signed Prince. I needed a V-Mart GU, I thought. And I like this super-shiny card, but now it's just been sitting in the scans folder, and just sitting in a top-loader somewhere. It was around a buck shipped, so I don't really regret the purchase, but I'm left feeling...meh. Now, I could get excited about this card once Victor gets healthy and if he ever catches again, which seems a little doubtful.

This is the last example of my collecting ennui. I mean, why am I posting about cards that kind of bore me? Why the hell would you want to see them? Well, I'm making a point here, I hope. This card has some nice history, since Andrew was another one of those prospects with such high expectations that he could only disappoint, and because he was a big part of the Miguel Cabrera trade. But I'm just not all too sure why I bought it, besides the fact that it was an affordable Tigers auto. Miller looks like he's finding his place in relief with the Red Sox now, and that's nice, but that doesn't change the meh-inducing effect of this eBay purchase.

So, I'm being cynical. And that needs to stop. These hum-drum semi-buyer's-remorse cards need a pick-me-up. So let me tell you a story about a risk I took on eBay. A dealer had an auction for a mystery 1952 Bowman card. The listing said something like, "Who knows what you'll get." Now, of course that sounds like the set up to some complete disappointment. But I love 1952 Bowman, and the auction had no bids for a starting price of two dollars. I took a chance and won it at the starting price, and I got this:

Not only did I get Bob Lemon--one of the best hitting pitchers of all-time and a hall-of-famer--this card's also in fantastic shape. I was expecting some random nobody from this auction, some beat-up no-name the dealer couldn't sell on eBay for a buck. Now, this is the mark of an awesome seller, the joys of eBay, and the complete excitement from this collector.

So, what has this Vealtone learned? Go for the mystery auction? Yeah right. Few sellers are saints like this guy was. Stop buying boring cards that barely fit into your collection just because they're a good deal? Nope. I'm sure I'll still do plenty of that; I'm a sucker for a bargain. Maybe the best moral here is to stick with vintage. I don't think I've ever really been disappointed with a vintage purchase, and, you never know: Sometimes life gives you lemons and then it gives you Bob Lemon and then you go drink some lemonade. Yes, I believe a clear point has been made now.

The Virtual Dime Box

I find I waste a ton of time trolling eBay, often just looking for great deals. Sometimes I'm just searching the lowest price baseball cards and snagging stuff to trade or just stuff that looks cool. It's the virtual dime box, and if one puts in the time, there are gems to be found.

This card cost me less than a postage stamp, and it's numbered to 25. I don't know how others missed it. Perhaps because it went up with a massive amount of other Obak cards all selling at the same time. I especially dig the Negro League cards from this set, and this is a cool one. According to Wiki, Babe Ruth thought John Henry "Pop" Lloyd was the best baseball player ever. Others called him the "Black Wagner," and Honus is quoted as saying, "It's an honor to be compared to him." I love that Babe and Honus gave such respect to Lloyd. Sounds like he deserved it.

More from the virtual dime box. I love this 2003 set, which worked so much better than the last 2 throwback Topps 206 sets. These are both great-looking minis, and this is my first true Markakis rookie. And I guess these are Sovereign backs, which is yet another parallel. I have trouble keeping track, but I think these are a little rarer.

Here are the backs. Does anyone know anything about these sovereign minis? The Shoppach and Markakis cards ran me a little under a dollar, which, after shipping, means they were about a dime a piece, so these are genuine virtual dime box gems. Now keep in mind, these took many diligent hours of searching to find. And I think that means I need to get a hobby. Oh wait, I have one, and it rocks.

This one cost me lest than a postage stamp, and this is just a beautiful card, one of my favorites I've seen from the Diamond Kings sets.

So how about you guys. Have you found some gems digging through the virtual dime boxes?

All Work and No Play, Except for a Little eBay

I've been hiding in the library, studying for my upcoming qualifying exams--a test that makes every PhD student cower in fear. So sorry I haven't been posting much. Having 100 books to read in less than a month doesn't leave much time for anything. All reading and no blogging makes Dhoff a dull Vealtone. I'm way behind in trade posts, in everything.

But there's always time to waste away a few minutes shopping on eBay. I recently picked up some Pudge GU cards:

Nothing too amazing: an awkward toothy smile and a big ol' swatch of white. I'm always happy to pick up a Pudge jersey card, but I have to complain about the design here a bit. The scrawling "Honor Roll" text makes this card overly busy. Then again, maybe I'm just sick of words.

On the other side of the spectrum, I love the design of this card. The background is all shiny and refractory and fancy. I like the circling of the bat for the bullseye effect, too. And, of course, we have an action shot of Pudge wearing the right jersey.

This is a set I really admire. Diamond Kings just did it right in 2005, as far as I'm concerned. The double GU is always nice, as well. But there's something very wrong about this card. See the big crease.

Here's a close-up of the back to highlight the crease. That's what you get with free shipping, I suppose. I've won a few cards from this dealer, and I think the crease occurred from trying to jam a GU card into a regular width top loader. I have to actually cut the cards out of the plastic when I get them from this dealer. Still, a cool card for the player collection regardless.

Last but certainly not least: my first vintage Mays card. And it's one of the multi-player subset cards that I dig so much from the early Topps sets. A bit of tape residue, but that hardly bothers me. Not like a creased Cabrera, anyway.

Well, back to the library for me.