Tiki Off The List

Piece by Piece, I have been taking down needs from my NY Giants autograph needs list. My goal in the end is to at least own one autograph of every NY Giants player to wear blue. Even if it was only for the preseason or one game.

The player today played for more than one game with the Giants. Tiki Barber was a legend who came out in 1997 in the second round from Virginia. He played his whole career with the Giants from 1997-2006. Was a three time Pro Bowler, made the NFL First Team All Pro in 2005 and rushed for over 10,000 yards in his career.

 

I don't know what brand this is, if you can help please let me know, but it's from a company and that was key for me when adding these cards to my project. I would like a NY Giants autograph of him still but this will do for now.

Thoughts on my new addition welcomed below!

Ken Griffey Jr Update

Two weekends ago, I spent countless hours taking Ken Griffey Jr cards out of toploaders and a binder. Then spent another countless hours on sorting those by year which wasn't that easy I found out. My eyes and those years on the back of the cards don't match up as well as they used to ten years ago.

But, I got two thirds of my job done in one weekend with one more binder to go. That one however will take awhile on it's own.

 

Here I show some of the progress in the beginning on the start. Piles of toploaders off to the side, believe me the stack is much bigger than that, and the Griffeys sorted by year on the front. I didn't turn them around by back side on the tray as I wanted to actually see the fronts.

And here is the progress thus far put by year on my desk. Notice something a tad odd, well, I did as I sorted through the first binder and those toploaders. Not ONE SINGLE, card from 2011 in the mix which is the empty gap in the second to last row.

From some of my research, there wasn't really any Ken Griffey Jr in 2011 other than a few Panini, very few Topps and mostly Tri-Star cards. I wonder why. I didn't realize that there were no Griffey cards in a year. Now I need to see in this final binder if I have any in general. How do you not have one of the All-Time greats in your product???

More updates to come on this big sorting project. I have so, so much to go with this Griffey project.

Shocke(y)d By A Surprise

On a week I wasn't expecting a single mail day, one showed up.

This time it was a surprise from reader Chris who has become a good friend of mine along the way.

First up he sent this Bowman's Best rookie relic of Jeremy Shockey. I don't have this card and have never seen it. I tried to capture the blue beauty of it the best I could as the card looks so much better in person than on here.

The other card was this Catching Fire relic of Odell Beckham Jr. Despite being injured this year, he still managed over 1,000 yards and probably would have made the Pro Bowl had he not gotten hurt. I really like the design of this relic. It's also numbered to 199.

Thanks Chris for the mail day and the note along with it. Maybe I will have to find something Dolphins to pass your way as well.

Have any of you received a surprise in the mail box recently?

One Down, One To Go

I have been working really hard on my 90's sets and trying to complete them. I have been seeking out some minor trades just to fill in some spots.

My recent trade with @jmswyo landed me another key piece to a set.

 

Steve Young was one of the two cards left I needed for my Broadways' Review set from 1996 Topps football. This brought me down to one card, which was card #1 ironically enough, which was Kerry Collins. But, I may or may not have made a move to fill this set.....

Anyways, thanks to @jmswyo for the trade and set help!

I was also only two short of my 1995 Pinnacle Clear Shots set but with some work of magic, I was able to find the last two cards cheap and grabbed them while I could.

 

Troy Aikman was a guy I never liked but that was because of the star on the side of his helmet. But this is a pretty sharp card.

 

Dan Marino is a guy I always rooted for to win a ring, but sadly he never did. But, still was one of the NFL's greats no matter. This card was the most expensive card I had to buy in the set and most of them go for double what I did for it. Like I said, found a deal.

So now my Pinnacle Clear Shots set is complete! I will show it off on here some day. Now I just need to get the final piece for the Brodway's Review in hand and then my focus turns on trying to complete the gigantic 1995 Summit Ground Zero parallel set.

Commons4Kids Sends More Than Just Commons

@Commons4Kids who has donated millions of cards to to kids over the years, recently held a contest for the most iconic card in trading card history. Yes, most iconic. What other card can you say made such an impression on the hobby than the 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey jr rookie? And what other card can you say made a cameo in a music video? (Macklemore)

This card is iconic folks. The most iconic card in history so don't as the new kids call it today, "don't @ me."

I was the fortunate soul who won the contest from @Commons4Kids and I was pretty excited about the score. I have always wanted another one of these for my PC. I mean who wouldn't? I would probably take another ten more of these.

 

Here the beauty is...

Thanks again to @Commons4Kids for their contest generosity and for their generosity to the hobby in general. What you do for kids is amazing and they are the future of the hobby and you are helping keep that foundation going. If any of have any cards laying around that need a new home, I suggest sending them to these guys.  You can find out more information on their project and contact info on commons4kids.org.

Oh and while we are at it...which card do you think is the most iconic card in the trading card industry (this Griffey Jr is the answer I expect by the way)

The Plummer And His Blue Crew

My good buddy @StephenJFurlong and I pulled off a massive trade back in 2018 helping both of us add to our PC's. I assumed at some point my fellow Giants fan would get the itch to trade again and that's what we did.

This time my end of the deal was very NY Giants heavy with a couple exceptions. He used to go to training camp and get a lot of In-Person autographs, usually I only take company authenticated ones, but coming from him I knew I was good with these. Most were signed in-person but there are some that weren't and came from companies.

Let's check out the goods shall we?

 

Antrel Rolle who played a major roll(e) in the secondary when he was signed from the Cardinals.

 

Charles "show me the" Way. Dude was a beast fullback in the 90's.

 

Justin Tuck! I miss his domination on the Giants dline. It's too bad he couldn't have finished as a Giant and had to end his career in torturous Oakland.

 

Antonio Pierce was probably the last best Giants Linebacker they have had in some time. He played big time rolls in their Super Bowl runs and was a great leader of the defense. I keep hoping that the Gmen will find their next Pierce.

 

David Carr made a name for himself by being the first draft pick by the Houston Texans but failed to live up to potential. He did however serve as a solid backup to Eli Manning and finished his career with a ring because of it.

 

Jernigan is one of my biggest Giants PC's and this just adds another to it.

 

The once DE turned LB played better for the Giants than he signed this card. Still a nice looking card and a solid player for the Giants at both positions. This is my first autograph of him.

 

Terrell Thomas was on okay corner for the Giants. They don't seem to have the best of luck with drafting those but he had his moments in helping the Giants make their playoff runs.

 

Another Giant that should have finished his career in Giants blue, he finished in Colts blue, Bradshaw has many moments with the Giants but the most iconic moment is in the Super Bowl when he should have down the ball at the goal line but momentum shifted him in the endzone for the TD. That left time on the clock for Tom Brady who almost pulled off the epic comeback on the Hail Mary.

 

Will Allen was a solid defensive back for the Giants but I can't recall too many moments with him right now.

 

Osi was apart of the Giants scary defensive line with Tuck, Strahan, and Kiwanuka. I miss those days, I truly do. Defense wins games as I saw four times at least this season when the Giants lost because of their defense. That's how I play Madden as well.

 

Joe Montgomery had a short career with the Giants, but was a guy I needed an autograph of for my Giants product. Now I can cross him off.

 

Eli! I still think this guy has one more season left and I am hoping to see it. If not, hope he retires as a Giant. Don't go elsewhere Eli. Please!

 

This serves as my first relic of Ottis but also has been signed IP.

 

A new Brandon Jacobs relic for my PC. Love the red jersey swatch.

(note:missing my picture of a Bowmans Best Autograph of Danny Kanell)

The next two Giants autographs I took an outside the box look at them. Not players but unique pieces to their Super Bowl wins. These are signed on large magnets.

 

Kevin Gilbride was the offensive coordinator

 

Jerry Reece was the Giants GM. He was recently fired for his role in the Giants recently downhill tumbles.

The next two cards have nothing to do with the Giants and have more to do with my 90's PC.

 

Paul Konerko rookie autograph. I do have one other autograph of him but nowhere near as nice as this one.

Jake Plummer who I loved to watch in the 90's. I enjoyed his time more with the Cardinals than the Broncos after he switched teams later on in his career.

A big thanks to @StephenJFurlong for another great trade and some great cards once again. Can't wait til our next one!

Which Do You Prefer?

When I broke a box of 2018 Panini Contenders football last week I found one of those dreaded Panini Rewards point cards in my box and began to argue with myself, "what is better? Pulling these points or pulling a redemption card?"

Well that's when I had to do a lot of deep thinking and couldn't come up happy either way.

I know some collectors actually like finding the point cards and saving them up for some decent cards, but not myself. I find these so far and few in-between that it would take me a long time. Especially since 95% of the ones I have pulled are 250 points which is the lowest of the group. I usually end up trading these away to a buddy of mine who enjoys them and I get a card I want in return. Guess it's sort of like this program but I get a better card. I can't find didly on the website for 250 points and I have to pay $4 for shipping. Pay for shipping for something I already spent money for a box on. That part doesn't seem right to me. That's double dipping.

As for redemption cards, most of the time those are guaranteed to at least be someone good. However, you may wait your whole lifetime to get it back. On the other hand, at least with Panini, you can request a replacement after four months and normally Panini will let you specify team and player and they usually hook you up. Which is good.

So what choice is it? Using the points on a card immediately but having to pay shipping? Or is it better to know a card of some sort is coming for free four months or later?

I Guess for me I give the edge to the redemption just because that shipping is free. Which I still think it should be for the rewards points.

So what's better to you? Pulling a Panini Rewards points card or a redemption card? Let the conversation begin in comments!

The Big Tuna

I don't know if you have noticed or not, but on the right hand side of this blog I have a list of NY Giants players, etc, that I have been wanting to get an autograph of. Ones I have been lacking in my collection. I hope to keep the list updated as they come in or I know of them coming. This list will also be moved soon to a tab when I remodel the blog some.

Over the past few weeks since I have added that list, I have been able to knock some off of it via trades and other deals. None of which is as big as the one I am posting about today.

 

Here is legendary coach Bill Parcells and it's a beaut from Classic. Also numbered 2/25. You know the number 2 the amount of Super Bowls Bill won as head coach of the Gmen. I don't count all of the other teams he coached. Overall in his Head Coaching career Bill was 172-130-1. He was 11-8 in the Post Season including those two Super Bowl trophies. He was UPI NFL Coach Of The Year in 1986 and 1994 and is in the NY Giants Ring Of Honor and also in the NFL Hall Of Fame. How could I not want this card?

One of my stipulations for finding the Parcells card was he had to be in Giants gear and this fit the bill. Get it?

There is much more to go on my list of NY Giants autographs as there are others I will be adding to it soon. At least for now I reeled in the big fish, well, the big tuna.

Big Sort 2019 Update!

And so it begins.

Just last week I finally finished the final touches on putting everything away that was on my floor, desk, shelves, etc, etc, etc and now my Big Sort of 2019 can begin! Not sure I would have finished any of this part without my BCW sorting trays.

 

This was the final pieces I had to take care of. (Also take note of my desk decorations Gavin ;) ) 

The big sort begins with my Ken Griffey Jr collection. Something that has been needing be done since the 90's. Yes it has been that long.

 

I started a little bit on this last night. Very little.

 

I have two binders and the stack in the middle to sort by year. By year, oy! Then these will put into a checklist on my computer then to be uploaded to here. I expect a month at least into this project.

I will continue to post updates as I go along and show off some cool Griffey's as well. My hope is that this part of my collection will be as organized as my Rodney Hampton. I will not be surprised either if I have some dupes to trade as I have been eye balling cards over the years I thought I needed. I will post those as well.

I am kinda of curious how you guys sort your bigger player pc's? Maybe it will change the direction I plan to with this one.

My First Ruth Auto

No sorry, it's not Babe. We both are dreaming if that was the case.

Even though it's not Babe, it's still a Ruth auto and still apart of Babe's bloodline.

I recently won a contest from Babe's Long Ball Licorice who were giving autographs of Babe Ruth's granddaughter Linda Ruth Tosetti signed on Babe's cards. I thought I would throw my hat in for a unique piece for my Yankees collection along with my best shot of ever owning a piece of Babe's history.

Just a few days ago, this arrived,

 

The blue ink looks great on this card. It's also dated and very readable. Athletes take note!

 

Back of the card. It's from the Babe Ruth Collection set.

If your curious about what Babe's granddaughter does, she currently does lectures at many universities about her grandfather and has been a guest speaker at the Hall Of Fame, Babe Ruth Museum and Ted Williams Museum among many other places. I bet she is fun to listen to.

Thanks goes out to Babe's Longball Licorice for this great piece for my collection. Also, if you haven't yet, check out their licorice and soon to come a new Apple flavor by visiting them on their site, HERE.

Is It Real?

Recently my buddy @JGfan24ever sent me a bit of a surprise mail day. He originally messaged me to let me know a couple of cards were on there way, but much more than that showed up.

Let's take a look

 

1989 Action Packed. This year of action packed ranks right up there with one of the best designs the product released. But, for me, 1996 takes tops.

 

Are you seeing double? Nope. Unless you work for Panini. Double the picture, double the fun.

 

What is Eli really doing on the tablet? Googling his brother? Seeing what to do after his career ends? Trying to read the defense? Looking for a good B&B? We will never know but what I do know is that I like this sidelines shot. Score has had some really unique takes on it's inserts the last few years.

 

A new Davis Webb. This time a shiny The Rookies from Donruss. Donruss doesn't get enough credit in the hobby, Panini did a great revive of the product.

 

Andre Williams appeared like a Prestigious Pick at the time, just a year or two later, not so much. But, still a fun etched insert none-the-less.

 

I remember a time when teams feared the Giants dline. Felt like years ago....oh wait....

 

Carter appears to have a bright future ahead for the Giants. I sure hope so.

 

Finally have one of these in hand!!!! I did just trade for one but that's okay, the more Saquon the better! Especially in Prizm form.

 

Two new Judge pre-rookie cards for my PC.

 

Gleyber is one of my main Yankees PC's so these were two welcomed additions. I especially dig the Crusade.

Now onto the two pieces I knew was coming. Kind of unique additions to my Ken Griffey Jr collection. Michael believes that these were signed IP that his father had.

Check them out,

  

Now let's check out what a Griffey autograph from a company looks like

 

There seems to be quite the difference. But, the Fleer one looks like the more possible between the two.

So either Ken had changed his autograph over the years, which you never know, or they aren't real. Either way, I am keeping them as unique adds to my PC. I like the oddballs that nobody else has.

A big thanks to Michael for this great mail day and the generosity again.

To those of you who recognize autographs better than me, your thoughts on the Griffey's below or any comment on the mail day is appreciated!

Nuttin But The Hits: 2018 Contenders Football Hobby Box (6 Hits!)

During the AFC and NFC divisional games last weekend, Panini hosted it's popular #PaniniWildCard promotion once again with prizes galore!It had been some time since they last did this contest, back in the day it was a lot of fun, so I kept track to see how to enter and the prizes.

To enter you had to shoot a selfie of yourself with your favorite 2018 Panini card. I don't post selfies anywhere, except occasionally Facebook, and decided I wasn't going to do it. Then I found a mask I had lying around and said, why not try it with that on in hopes that my entry would count. Well, it did and I was the very first winner. The prizes, well, 2018 Contenders hobby boxes and one person would win a Drew Brees autograph if they could get the most RT's. I would have been happy with the Brees as he is on my want list, but I really wanted a box of Contenders which is my favorite product year in and year out.

I love the rookie tickets and was hoping I would finally have some luck with Contenders a product that I always hoped for a promising finish that ended up always disappointing. I saw other winners from the contests that lasted both days pull Lamar Jackson auto, Baker Mayfield auto and even a Antonio Brown autograph. So I was hoping that they left a Saquon for me.

Instead I was left hanging with Contenders once again.

 

Box with all of this years rookie studs on it.

 

A damaged base card. Hopefully I wasn't going for the set

 

Need the Saquon version of this.

 

 

Need the NY Giants version of this card. Pretty cool looking.

 

Need the Saquon base version of this. Of course I would take the parallels to. I got Gallup with an eBay 1/1 with 1/49.

Now onto the hits which included a bonus one!

 

Tanner Lee. He is #3 on the Jaguars depth chart. Maybe has a shot next year. I will hold onto this for now just in case.

 

Billy Price. Nice autograph but an offensive lineman which is offensive to this box.However, I do like how Panini includes more athletes autos in this product.

 Braxton Berrios who plays for a good team is also not playing on the IR. ouch. Maybe next year?

Chase Edmonds is another guy I will keep an eye on down the road. He had 208 rushing yards and two TD's in 2018. This 4th round draft pick will find it hard to find a lot of time on the field being behind David Johnson.

 

PANINI POINTS. GRRRRRR.

And my final hit was the best of the box and one I will hold onto for awhile. No plans of trading it off with possible potential here. This is Nyheim Hines who was a 4th round pick of the Colts. This is also a Ticket Stub parallel /49 as you can tell by the top of the card which I think is a pretty lame parallel lol. But, it does fit the theme. He had a decent season both rushing for 314 yards while also pulling in 425 receiving. Could be someone to watch next year especially if he gets more time to play.

Overall this was a sad, sad box for a $200. Luckily I won it and didn't pay for it as that would have blown my top off. The best card was the last one and even that card isn't going for much. Not that cards to me are about money and value.

Thoughts on my box break are welcomed below!