Monday, September 19, 2022

A purchase, a gift, and an anniversary

Has Topps always done parallels for their Fan Favorites Autographs? If so, how come I haven't seen them before? Is this the first year that they've done a purple one? I feel like I would remember having seen a purple autographed card before, but I don't. I guess it doesn't really matter though, I've seen one now.

I had forgotten to delete my saved search emails for Gene's base auto (as seen in my previous post), which is how I came to find out that he had parallel autographs in this years Archives as well. Parallel autographs really are a silly concept, and one that I'm not too keen to participate in, but here I am, the (semi) proud new owner of a parallel autograph.

I had mixed feelings about the purple when I first the listing for this card, now that it's in hand though, I think that I actually kind of like it. I'm not sure if other people don't like the purple border, or if I just lucked out some, as I got this one, after taxes and shipping, for under five bucks -- which is about a dollar cheaper than I got the base version for. One would think that a card numbered to /150 would fetch more than an unnumbered card, but I'm done trying to figure out why things sell for what they do these days, so I'll just say that I'm content with the price that I got it for, and was prepared to go a couple dollars higher if need be.

After finding out there was at least one parallel to Gene's autograph, I did something that I never do, I sought out a checklist for this years Archives set. Turns out there's four versions of this card, the base, purple (#'d to /150), silver (#'d to /99), and of course, what would a modern set be without a 1/1. I can't remember what color the 1/1 is, but that's obviously out, however, I can, and probably will, try to get one of the silvers though. Hopefully the silver version won't cost too much more than the two I've already gotten, because it's ugly as sin, but it would complete a row on one of Gene's pages, so my own personal collecting OCD will force me to get one; despite it's hideousness.

As okay as this card turned out to be, about a month ago, I was sent an even better one...

Dennis Smith doesn't have a lot of "big-time" cards (thankfully), there's really just three, so if someone were to say to me that they had a card of his to send my way, it's only natural for me to assume that they're planning to send a common base card, after all those do make up like 90-something percent of his catalog. Such was the case a few months ago when, Eric, aka The Snorting Bull, said that he had one of Dennis' cards for me. I figured he was talking about something like, I don't know, an early 90's Upper Deck card or something else along those lines, which, if I needed it, would've been great. Little did I know that, Eric, wasn't thinking so small, and proceeded to drop one of the "Big 3" on me...

For non-football card collectors, this is a 1991 Pro Line Portraits autograph, and also just so happens to be Dennis' only certified autograph (the 1994 Pro Mags autograph doesn't exist - it would be nice if someone who has any pull over at the TCDB would remove it from the site). A discerning eye may have noticed a hint of the Certified Autograph stamp in the lower right on the front of the card, but you can see part of it a little more clearly on the back.

Pack inserted autographs were still pretty new back in 1991, as I believe that they had only become a thing the year prior, and at the time of it's release, the Pro Line Portraits autograph checklist was the largest, and most ambitious to date. Looking at everything that's been produced since it's release, I'd argue that it's still one of the most ambitious sets to have ever been created. Probably one of the most difficult to complete as well.

A number of the autographs in the set were signed with pens that weren't ideal for the surface of these particular cards, causing the effect that you see up above. It's a minor drawback for some, but it doesn't bother me too much, especially since all of Dennis' cards seem to have been of this variety. I'm just grateful to have been able to mark this one off of the checklist, and am very thankful to Eric for making it happen. Trying to complete Dennis' entire catalog is one my few real collecting goals, and this was a big step towards doing so!

In other news, today is this blog's seventh anniversary. Time flies.

The blogs have changed quite a bit in just the last seven years, but I'm still here. With three blogs now, I'm down to only posting on this one a couple of times a month, which works well for me, and because of that I don't see myself going anywhere anytime soon. Besides, I pretty much hate all of the other formats that the "cool" kids are flocking to, so there really isn't anywhere else for me to go. I've had my ups and downs, but in the end, I think I'm gonna be a lifer. I know at this point that I'd miss everybody too much to ever be able to walk away. Crazy as it may sound, but for the most part, blog people are the only people that I'm interested in interacting with. Blog writers, and readers, may be a dying breed, at least that's what the non-blog folks keep claiming, but I tend to think that as long as there's blogs, there will be readers. It's not flashy, and it'll probably never reach "trending" status again, but long format collectible talk still has it's place, it just takes a special sort to realize that.

During my first few years doing this, I sometimes felt like I had to get a certain amount of posts in per month, and probably did force more than a few in order to fill that self-imposed quota. This caused much burnout, and many thoughts of giving up. Thankfully, I was able to get past this idea that I had to match the pace of other more prolific bloggers, and have long since found my comfort zone. These days I only post when I feel like it, and only post about the things that I think are interesting; there's no need for me to post about every single purchase.

A lot of bloggers who've left in recent years have cited declining readership as one of their primary reasons for closing up shop. I can't speak for anyone else, but I haven't noticed too much of a decline, although I gave up stat watching a long time ago; so maybe there has been a drop, and I'm just too dense to realize it. Either way, I do appreciate those who come around here and comment where they can, but even if some of those folks were to start going elsewhere, I'm at that point where I don't mind doing posts for myself. Unlike some of the other social media sites, blog posts show up in Google searches, so I figure even if people were to stop caring about what I'm putting out now, there's always the chance that they will do so at some later date.

I think I've rambled enough for one day, but before I go, I mentioned a few posts back about doing a contest to celebrate this anniversary, and I am going to, your just gonna have to wait about another month for it to drop. I'll be bringing back my old COMC credit giveaway, in which the winner will get X amount of my credit to spend on whatever they want (on the site of course). Since the site runs Black Friday sales for practically the whole month of November now, I figure that'd be the best time to give someone the chance to go on a mini-spending spree. I'll be starting the contest on the last week of October, so that should be something worth coming back for?

34 comments:

  1. First, congrats on the anniversary! I'm not even one year into this, so its tough to imagine blogging for seven years.

    Second, parallels of parallels isn't my thing either. Still that Tenace is a cool card.

    Third, I don't look at stats too often. Even then I wouldn't know what you old bloggers consider 'declining readership'. I do it for myself, and if anyone else joins in then that's a bonus. But I do like looking from where the views are coming from. For instance, there was a week where more views came from Sweden then the US! Go figure.

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    1. It hasn't even been a year yet? Feels like you've been one of the gang for a couple of years now.

      I don't know how anyone keeps up with all of them these days.

      Maybe the Swedes have a thing for crocodiles :)

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  2. 1. Happy lucky 7! I hope you keep going as long as you're having fun
    2. If any team should get a parallel color as weird as purple in those autographs it's Veeck's A's
    3. That Smith auto is very cool, and that was awesome of Eric! Defensive players just don't get enough love. Smith's parents had impeccable taste when they named him at least ;)

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    1. 1. Thanks, Dennis!
      2. Agreed.
      3. I seem to differ from a lot of collectors in that regard, as I collect quite a few defensive guys.

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  3. I think back in the early Fan Favorites days the only parallel was a chrome version but the colored versions have been going on for awhile. Tenace is a player I can appreciate as a '70s fan, but I imagine few autograph collectors would otherwise be interested -- you know how star-struck some of them are.

    Happy 7th! Yeah, blogging is the best place to be, no matter how many people are left.

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    1. Huh, I guess I just haven't been paying attention, because I don't even recall having seen the chrome ones before.

      That's true, but it is tough sometimes when certain people decide to leave.

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  4. Hooray for 7 years! I'm glad you're not planning on going anywhere.

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  5. Happy Anniversary!
    Now I have to put that Tenace base and colors on my player page.
    I'm sure there aren't many other collectors with PCs of his like NO said.

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    1. Thanks, Greg.
      I didn't know that you collected him too.
      The only other two that come to mind are Eric, and Fuji.

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  6. Happy anniversary!! My blogging has dropped off (at least on my card blog), but it's more due to time and other things going on. I don't really watch the stats anymore either, but I do like knowing that there are others that are still plugging along.

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    1. With you having a couple of blogs too (and a life), it's only natural that you'd be spread more thin.

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  7. Cool Dennis Smith, you don't see those often. And I appreciate all the bloggers who are sticking with it, for me it is the most user friendly way to read about cards.

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    1. I never see them anymore, but I now have the most important two to me in Reggie Roby and Dennis, so if need be, I'll be content with just those.

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  8. Happy anniversary! 7 years of blogging is a solid accomplishment. Here's to many more!

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    1. Thanks, John. If possible, I'd like to at least make it to double digits.

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  9. Happy anniversary. Blog for yourself not the readers. Or at least that's what I do.

    And that Tenace is cool. I love how he FanFavorites autos are guys that fans of that team will love and everyone else sort of goes "huh?" about.

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    1. Thanks. Yeah, I just wish that I would've figured that out sooner.

      I like that they've gotten so many guys who weren't the biggest of stars, but even so, I too have found myself wondering about the inclusion of certain players over the years.

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  10. Happy anniversary! I enjoy reading all three of your blogs.

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    1. And I appreciate that support more than you could imagine :)

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  11. Happy anniversary! Parallels especially of inserts usually can be found for less than the base version, although it usually requires some patience. Not having to have something right away can save a lot of money...but you got lucky here!
    That's because there are many people who will try to build an insert set but very few who will try to build a numbered parallel of an insert set, so the costs for the base version is drawn from player and team collectors plus set collectors. That also tend to be the case for base sets with short prints in them.

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    1. Thanks, Billy. I would be very surprised to learn that anyone was building an entire set of these parallel autographs. I know that there are some moneyed collectors out there that could probably afford to do so, but that sort usually isn't interested in set building.

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  12. Happy anniversary! Seven years? Honestly... I would have guessed that you've been around way longer than that. Feels like I've been reading blog posts on here for more than a decade. Keep up the great work.

    As for purple FF parallels... they produced them a few years ago. One of the autographs I've wanted for several years now is the Ted Simmons FF autograph and he has a purple parallel. I've actually had several opportunities to purchase this one, but I'm holding out for the regular issue autograph.

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    1. Seems like I've been around longer sometimes. As it stands though, I'm just a middle of the pack guy as far as time spent blogging among the current crew goes.

      In that case, there must not have been too many showing up on the blogs, because I'm pretty sure that I would remember autographs on purple cards if I had seen a few of them over the years.

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  13. Happy Anniversary, Jon! I am glad that you are enjoying the Dennis Smith card and that it has found a good home.

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    1. Thanks! You would've been hard pressed to find someone who would've appreciated it more :)

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