You too could've been the next Houdini

It's a good thing I wasn't around in 1976, otherwise I probably would've been suckered (pun intended) in by this ad.


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Black Friday boxes

I told myself that I wasn't going to do it again this year, but once Black Friday rolled around and I saw this year's sale prices were lower than last year's...

... I wasn't able to resist buying some more boxes of Golden Age from Steel City Collectibles. With this being the third year in a row that I have done so, it's starting to feel like a yearly tradition.

This year the prices on the 2012 and 2014 edition was $22.95 each, and the 2013 was $24.95. In retrospect, I probably should have just gotten one of each, as I don't need a ton from the 2012 edition, but with the draw of finding one of the case hit original Goudey's, I ended up getting two of the 2012's. And besides, this is the only time of the year I ever open boxes of anything, so why not splurge on some cheap fun?

I told myself I was only going to open one box a week over the next four weeks, apparently I'm a self liar, as I already opened two last night, and I suspect the other two won't remain sealed much past the day (Tuesday) of this writing.

I will start posting the box results sometime soon, but in the meantime, Steel City advertises that every purchase during their sale comes with a free gift:

I got a pack of 2016 Leaf Draft football, and a pack 2017 Panini player of the Day, plus the usual scratch-off. Neither of these packs excited me all that much, but their free, so I really can't complain.

Before getting to the contents of the packs, the scratch-off, just like last year, yielded a $5 gift card. It expires in June of next year, and since I don't plan on ordering anything before then, if somebody thinks they might be buying something from SCC before then (their sale runs all this week), just let me know in the comments that you're interested and I will email you the code.

On to the packs, starting first with the Player of the Day:

The good news is that I actually know who both of these guy's are, the bad news though, is that neither card does anything for me. So if either of them floats your boat, just let me know, and their yours.

And finally, the Leaf Draft:

I wasn't expecting much out of this pack, so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised with the uninteresting contents. After seeing these, I can't imagine anyone that would intentionally buy this product, it's just so blah! I nave no idea who any of these kids are, so again, if anyone is interested in any of them, just let me know.


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Golden Redhead

Piggybacking on my second to last post with regards to trying to get better about showing my Golden Age acquisitions, is this recently gotten Bill Walton from the 2012 edition:

"The Big Redhead" brings me up to now having 18 of the 50 autos in the 2012 set. As I near the  halfway point, the possibility of actually completing the set is starting to feel a lot more doable.


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Mutants versus monsters!

For a little over a $1 (with free shipping), I was able to pick up this wonderfully taglined copy of X-men Vs. Dracula #1, on eBay last week:

Released in 1993, this book is a reprint of Uncanny X-men Annual #6 from 1982, which is part 2 of the X-Men vs. Dracula story created by Chris Claremont, Part 1 was featured in Uncanny X-men #159 (also from 1982).

It doesn't surprise me that they would have been reprinting anything X-men related in 1993, what with X-Men: The Animated Series taking over the world and all (at least if you were a kid at the time), but I can't really figure out why they would have only reprinted the second part of a two-part story (and made it issue #1).

I also can't figure out how I could have possibly missed this book in 1993 (or the original's), especially considering that at time I would have been fully immersed in comic book collecting. I would have been attending multiple different shops on a fairly regular basis, plus I was working at my Uncle's twice a year comic book shows, so I'm at a loss to explain how this two-part series could have remained unknown to me until all these years later. Now all I gotta do is find a cheap copy of Uncanny X-men #159.


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A bionic relic

Even though I'm slowly trying to complete the autograph and memorabilia sets from all three years worth of Panini Golden Age, but for whatever reason, I almost never show any of my acquisitions here on the blog.

I do the exact same thing with all of the Prizm basketball parallels I get too, with those though, I just assume no one else will be interested so why show them.

The problem of not showing any of the Golden Age purchases will probably be rectified once I get my COMC hoard, as this has been a really good year for finding cheap needs on the site, probably 1/8 of my stash is made up of Golden Age cards.

In the meantime though, I thought might share this nifty, albeit almost forgotten about 2014 Museum Age Lindsay Wagner that I won on eBay a couple of months ago:

Lindsay is of course best known for her portrayal of Jaime Summers on The Bionic Woman, a show that I watched quite a bit of when it was being shown in syndication on the Sci-Fi channel during the mid 90's.

It wasn't until this particular card came up for auction, that I learned it's one of the short printed relic cards, and that they almost never come up for sale. Because of that, there were quite a few bidders, which not surprisingly, sent the price upwards in a hurry. I ended up winning it for I believe $34, which is much higher than I wanted to go, but I figured this might be my only chance to get one, so bit the bullet and bid just high enough to get it (I think my high bid was $35 something).

I was struck with buyer's remorse almost immediately after the auction ended, but now that a couple of months have passed, that feeling has mostly subsided, mostly...


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Unexpected

Over the last couple of months or so, my interest in comic books -- which had been lying dormant for quite some time -- has begun to stir again.


I don't really know what has caused this renewed interest, and I'm not really in the mood to get introspective, but I do think part of it might just be because everywhere I go lately I seem to be surrounded by boxes of comics. It's like all this temptation awoke that old familiar pull, forcing me to go see what's in all these boxes. Needless to say, I have been digging through a lot of these boxes, seeing if their are any great deals to be had. And of course, like any modern collector of anything, I have been scouring the interwebs trying to see what I've been missing.

Last week I picked up a nine-book lot of DC's Unexpected off of eBay. It was a buy it now/or best offer listing, I made in offer that the seller promptly accepted, and ended up getting the lot for $8 with free shipping.

This was kind of mixed lot condition wise, most would probably just be considered reader's copies, but since that's what I wanted them for, I didn't really care about the condition.

Horror anthologies were always my favorite when I was young, so I guess it's not that surprising that I would be drawn to them even after all these years.

 I can't even begin to explain how much joy the title, "Vampire of the Apes" brings me. By far, my favorite cover of the bunch.

Archaeology and monsters, what else could I possibly ask for in a story?

Overall, I think these nine books for under a $1 each, was a pretty good deal. And it certainly made for some enjoyable reading.

I know some of you won't be happy to hear this, what with all my other non-card posts as of late, but don't be surprised if you start seeing a lot more comic book related content being added to the mix.


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Do you believe in Magic?

Part of my ill advised 1989-90 Hoops autograph project consists of checking eBay on fairly regular basis for new listings featuring players from the set who have either passed away, or those who are still living but who's autograph can't be obtained through the mail.

Other than a bunch of what I feel are overpriced cards, these searches don't usually yield too much. However, sometimes that old saying about persistence paying off, does seem to hold water -- as was the case earlier this year, when I came across these:

This pair of Magic Johnson autos came from a dealer who had attended a well documented private signing with Magic in early 2016. Just in case I ever had to sell them, it was really nice to be able to buy something like this/these, and have so much documentation come with it/them.

The seller had these listed separately (along with a bunch of other signed 80's/90's base cards) for I don't remember how much apiece, but after making an offer on both of them, and using the eBay bucks I had -- the final out of pocket cost ended up being $15 for each, which I thought was pretty reasonable considering Magic has never been one to sign TTM, and I can't imagine a scenario where I would have some of encounter with him in which I would be able to try and get both of these cards signed.


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O.J. Dingo?

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It's Miller Time!

Even though I have yet to attend one, I have been told that there is a guy, who is a longstanding member of one of those alphabet autograph organizations, that occasionally sets up at the monthly Nashville Flea Market.

As I said, I still haven't been, but my mom has... many times. And while there a couple of months ago, she bought a couple of autographs from this dealer, including a Reggie Miller signed 8x10 for me:

During his playing days, Reggie was one of those guys you either loved or hated -- I was among the latter, as I would imagine most non-Pacers were. He could be incredibly frustrating to watch, especially when playing against your team, and as I'm sure any Knicks fan could tell you, his ability to catch fire at any moment of a game, meant that no lead against a Miller led Pacers team was ever enough.

It was only after he retired that I was able to look back and appreciate just how good he was, and after doing so, was fully onboard with his being elected to the Hall of Fame.

This was my first autograph of Reggie in any format, and I always enjoy getting autos of HOF'ers, so this ended up being a gift that I was very thankful to receive.


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So, who won?

Before I announce the winner, I would like to take a second to thank everyone who entered, I really appreciate all of you taking the time to do so.

First off, there were 45 entrants, 11 of whom earned an extra entry by promoting the contest on their blog or via Twitter. So here's how the list looked before being randomized:

Chris
Chris
Tony Burbs
Mike Matson
JediJeff
Stealing Home
Rosenort
Angus
Al Kawamoto
Josh D.
EP
Ketchupman36
Corky
Greg Zakwin
Greg Zakwin
Mark Hoyle
Mark Hoyle
Jason L.
Jason L.
Sports Card Collectors
Sports Card Collectors
Justin S.
Justin S.
Matthew Scott
Fuji
Trevor P
Trevor P
gcrl
Commishbob
Commishbob
Paul's TTM Blog
Paul's TTM Blog
defgav
The Angels In Order
Tim B.
Tim B.
arpsmith
SingleDaddyof2
Julie Owens
Adam Kaningher
Daniel Wilson
The Lost Collector
mr haverkamp
Nick
Billy Kingsley
DMA
Jeff S.
TSHenson
Nachos Grande
Jeff Laws
Jeff Laws
Richard
Richard Nebe Jr.
Collecting Cutch
Bru
B Man

So who's going to be the big winner? And who's going to win the runner-up prize for finishing last? After being randomized six times, this is how things shook out:

List Randomizer

There were 56 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

1. Justin S.
2. Greg Zakwin
3. Jason L.
4. TSHenson
5. Jason L.
6. Justin S.
7. Angus
8. Mike Matson
9. Jeff Laws
10. Corky
11. EP
12. Adam Kaningher
13. Richard
14. mr haverkamp
15. Tim B.
16. Billy Kingsley
17. Tim B.
18. Rosenort
19. Jeff Laws
20. JediJeff
21. Commishbob
22. Nick
23. Julie Owens
24. Trevor P
25. Sports Card Collectors
26. DMA
27. Fuji
28. Tony Burbs
29. Chris
30. B Man
31. Chris
32. Al Kawamoto
33. Stealing Home
34. Paul's TTM Blog
35. Collecting Cutch
36. Mark Hoyle
37. Nachos Grande
38. SingleDaddyof2
39. Sports Card Collectors
40. Richard Nebe Jr.
41. Trevor P
42. arpsmith
43. Paul's TTM Blog
44. Josh D.
45. gcrl
46. Mark Hoyle
47. Ketchupman36
48. Commishbob
49. Matthew Scott
50. defgav
51. Daniel Wilson
52. Bru
53. Greg Zakwin
54. Jeff S.
55. The Angels In Order
56. The Lost Collector

IP: 248.146.26.26
Timestamp: 2017-11-15 22:30:33 UTC
Don't use this service for video giveaways! Use Multi-Round Giveaways instead
You have randomized this list 6 times.

Congratulations to Justin S.! Since we have not had any dealings before, please email your mailing address to jtef 82 at g mail dot com, and that way we will also be able to go over any other particulars that may need to be gone over.

Also, congratulations to The Lost Collector for his last place finish! We haven't yet had any interactions either, so if you could please email me your address as well, I can then start trying to come up with something to send you.

Once again, thank you to everyone who participated. Depending on how things work out (i.e. if I get a free shipping voucher from one of the Black Friday scratch-offs), I might do this again in March. And no matter how that goes, I will definitely hold this contest again before the next Black Friday sale.


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One last reminder

If you haven't yet entered for a chance to win a mini COMC shopping spree, don't worry, there's still time to do so, just click here for all the details. The Contest ends tomorrow at 5pm EST.


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Contest reminder

Do you like the idea of possibly winning a mini COMC shopping spree? If so, just click here for the all the details.


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COMC Black Friday Contest

For anyone new, or for those who just don't remember, I ran a contest earlier this year in which I gave away some of my earned COMC credit. After the contest was over, I mentioned that I would be doing it again later in the year for the Black Friday sale.

So now that it's later in the year, and the sale will be starting in less than two weeks, it seems like a good time to get this contest going.

Who's eligible: EVERYONE! It doesn't matter which part of this wonderful planet of ours that you happen to live, you're invited to enter.

How to enter: Just a leave a comment, simple is that. You can also earn an extra entry for promoting the contest on your blog, and for those who don't have a blog, a Twitter plug will be accepted as well --just be sure to leave a link in the comments.

The prize: The winner will get $15 in credit to use on whatever you want during (or before if you want to) the sale, but you will have to let me know what you want sometime before Monday (the 27th) night, that way I can put in my free shipping request. Oh, and that $15 total isn't set in stone, so don't worry if you end up going over by a buck or two. A prize will also be awarded to whoever comes in last place, I don't know exactly what it will be yet, but I will try to come up with something that will be of some interest to you. I should probably mention too that since moving to Tennessee a couple of years ago, I seem to be for whatever reason, just about the last person to receive their post Black Friday shipment. The last two years, I haven't received my shipments until a couple of day before Christmas, so whoever wins the grand prize, probably won't see their item(s) until after Christmas.

The rest of the details: The contest will run from today until 5pm (EST) next Wednesday (the 15th), at which time I will randomize the list of names six times, and announce the winner(s) later that night.

I think that covers everything, so to anyone who decides to enter, I wish you the best of luck.


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Pastels on baseball cards?

Today's post, which features a smattering of '54 Bowman, has been in the works for well over a year now. And that isn't because it's super great or anything, it's just because I started the draft for it... and never came back! I would imagine I'm not alone (I hope), when it comes to doing that sort of thing.

Even though I'm not actively collecting the set, I'm still not going to pass up an opportunity to acquire some singles on the cheap, which is exactly what everything shown here today was:

Paul had the distinction of serving up Frank Robinson's first career home run.

By all accounts, Clint was the first catcher to wear glasses during a game.

"Mandrake the Magician" is one of the coolest nicknames ever!

The '54 set contains some really wonderful trivia, this tidbit on the back of Sal Yvars' card is a perfect example.

Billy is among a long list of once great players who's names are rarely, if ever, mentioned in this day and age.

Pitched games one, five, and seven (won the first two) in the 1947 World Series for the champion Yankees.

 Here's another great trivia question. Since the release of set, there have been eight more unassisted triple play's recorded, the last one being by Eric Bruntlett in 2009.

A member of the 1948 championship winning Cleveland team, who is probably best known for the photograph showing his locker room embrace with teammate, Larry Doby, that came after his game 4 World Series victory.

I can't really think of anything to say about Bobby "blue eyes", that hasn't already been said before. So instead I will just return to trivia well, and say that I had no idea that Lon Warneke became an umpire after finishing up his near(?) hall of fame playing days.

All these cards came from a COMC seller that was having a fire sale (the kind that don't happen on the site anymore) in early 2016. I think I got to it about 20 minutes after it started, and even though the port had already been cannibalized by other sellers, I was still able to pick up a few things, including these 54's. The best part of those now non-existent fire sales, was of course... the prices! Eight of the nine cards shown here fell into the 0.90 to $1.20 range, Bobby T. was the only exception, for him I had pay around $2.50 -- which at the time (and still now) seemed like an excellent price.


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35 years too late

Oh well, maybe next time!


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TTM Triumph: Rich Wingo

I sent out a couple of football requests about a month ago, Friday saw the first successful return from that batch:

Rich played his college ball at Alabama, winning two National Title's along the way. In 1979 he was part of the famous "Goal Line Stand" that would lead to a victory over the Nittany Lions in the Sugar Bowl.

After college, Rich played five seasons with the Green Bay Packers before retiring. He is currently serving is first term as a representative in the Alabama House of Legislature.

As always, many thanks go out to Mr. Wingo for taking the time to sign my card.


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Another rare pack?

I took a trip to my favorite antique mall yesterday. I haven't really been going anywhere as of late, so it was kind of nice to get out and go somewhere fun.

As per usual, there was a lot of cheap and interesting stuff to be had, some (or much) of which came home with me. I have like the last five trips worth of purchases currently sitting in scan folders just waiting patiently to get their own series (soon!), so I will eventually get to most of the stuff I got on this visit as well, but for now I just wanted to focus on one particular item.

I don't know if anyone remembers the post I did a while back in which I wondered whether or not I should open a strange repack-esque pack that I found in a booth during my last visit. Well, apparently the owners of that booth decided to try and stump me again with yet another pack that, according to the internet, doesn't exist:

There were a few different packs that been added to the booth since the last time I was there, but this 1994-95 Upper Deck Collector's Choice Preview Pack was the only one that was of interest to me.

I knew right away that this was something different, and when a quick on the spot search via my phone yielded no results, I really knew this might be a bit of a rarity. There is absolutely nothing on the internet about preview packs from this years Collector's Choice, and I know that I had never heard of them either, which is strange, because I opened up a lot of this product way back when.

It's really interesting too that, as mentioned on the front of the pack, there are four Collector's Choice series 2, and two cards from the Upper Deck flagship series 2. Also the pack graphics are horizontal, as opposed to the normal vertical graphics as seen by this image I took from one of Kerry's APTBNL posts:

Even though there isn't much too that can be gleamed from it, here's the back of the preview pack:

This "mystery" pack set me back a whole 50 cents, and until I find out whether or not there are anymore of these floating around, I will not be opening it.

I have never had any intentions of being an unopened pack collector, but thanks to the owners of this booth and all their damn packs that aren't supposed to exist, I now have two in what seems to be a slowly growing unofficial collection


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Simpler times

This 1989 comic book ad is just too darn quaint not to share:

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Face painting

It feels like it's been awhile since I did an all baseball post, so in an effort to rectify that, I've got a sextet of '53 Topps for you today.

A couple of minor injuries, and Casey Stengel being hired to manage the Yankees would, despite his solid play, result in Gus losing his starting position at catcher to Yogi Berra in 1949.

Going into the '53 campaign, Hank was coming off his best season to date, a season in which he had been named the N.L. MVP after having led the league in home runs and runs batted in (37 & 121 respectively).

Gus Bell would have arguably his best season in '53, when he hit .300 with 30 HR's and 105 RBI's, and also making his first all-star appearance.

Awarded a Purple Heart after being wounded by shrapnel in the Battle of the Bulge.

 Best dugout quiz of the bunch?

Jim is the first athlete that I can recall reading about who worked for the FBI prior to playing professional sports.

At some point I would like to focus on this set a little more, but for now I will just stick to what I've been doing, which is to try and pick up singles that are in decent shape, and more importantly... low in price. As usual, all these were gotten with earned credit on COMC, and I believe all but one, were under $1.50 each.


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