Vacation!!!

Well the daily grind of New York has finally got to me and I need to take a quick trip to Florida. Actually that’s a lie I am just lucky to have a father who hates the winter in New York and wanted to go to Florida so I am tagging along. I will be gone for a few days so I won’t be able to update the blog as much as I would like since my blog is still pretty new but who can pass up a trip to Florida! I am hoping to get a chance to go to some spring training games; of course the year I go to Florida for some spring baseball the Dodgers no longer have spring training there, after training in Florida for about 50 years. That pretty much gives you a great summery on the type of luck I have.

I Will Not Collect Razor

I won’t say never, because never is a long time, but I defiantly will not be collecting any Razor products in the near future. It’s not because I don’t like their product, I thought the Signature Series was a good release for a companies first product; I won’t collect razors because of Brain Gray (head of Razor).

Every time I hear him on The Card Podcast over at Superfractor.com I dislike him even more. I know he is a business man and is proud of his product but he make is sound like everything Razor does is the greatest thing in world and that he is revolutionizing collecting. Through out his interviews he talks about how his company will never use sticker auto and if his company can do it, then all companies can do it. Well now it turns out that Razor will have to use stickers for one of its products and you know why they are going to use stickers????? It’s because Razor is going to included signature of 8th graders in one of its new products. Razor has decided to enter into the football market with a deal with the US Army All American High School Football Game (I do believe that is a good business decision). The product will be released in a factory set with the current players and some alumni who include, Tim Tebow, Beanie Well, Terrell Prior and Mark Sanchez.

At first I thought this was going to be a good idea until I found out how Razor was going to drive sale of this product. What they decided to do was introduce autograph football card of 8th GRADERS!!! Does Brain Gray really think that people will buy a product because they are going to be guaranteed an auto of an 8th grade football player? What are the chances these kids will even make into the NFL? The reason why he wants to makes these cards is so he can say Razor has the first card of this player. I was shocked on how thrilled and happy he was about this idea.

Maybe I am wrong and maybe there are a lot more prospectors out there then I think but personally I think this is a horrible idea and to steal a line from someone during the podcast “When is Razor going to introduce autos from the Little League World Series players?” Since I’m not in the hobby from prospecting is probably one reason why I am turned off by Razor products but I still feel this is a bad idea even for prospectors. How do you feel about this product, is this something you would purchase or is it just another crazy idea in the collecting world?

HAVE/WANT

Want Any:
James Loney
Russell Martin
Clayton Kershaw
Steve Young

2007 UD Masterpieces Baseball
Have: 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 21, 23, 25, 27, 30, 39, 42, 561, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 62, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 75, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 86, 88, 90

2007 Ultra Baseball
Want: 24, 113, 116, 120, 124,125, 202, 204, 205, 207, 208, 209, 210. 211, 213, 216, 217, 218, 220, 222, 223, 226, 228, 229, 223, 233, 234, 235, 236, 237, 239, 240, 241, 242, 244, 246, 250

2008 Topps Chrome
Have: 1, 7, 11, 12, 17, 20, 21, 29, 43, 51, 52, 55, 57, 69, 73, 79, 83, 91, 93, 102, 110, 112, 114, 127, 132, 135, 136, 137, 143, 144, 145, 150, 155, 156, 158, 159, 165, 166, 167, 168, 175, 177, 187, 188, 191, 192, 194, 197, 198, 201, 206, 207, 208, 216, 217

2008 UD Masterpieces Baseball
Want: 106
Have: 6, 10, 12, 20, 24, 27, 34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 44, 46, 47, 48, 52, 53, 54, 55, 60, 61, 62, 64, 67, 68, 69, 73, 75, 76, 82, 83, 87, 88, 89, 90, 98

2008 UD Timeline
Want: 378

2008 UD Sweet Spot
Want: 133 – Kershaw Auto

2008 Ultimate Collection
Want: 48

2008 Bowman Sterling
Want: BS-CK

2008 SP Authentic
Want: RE-CW, MM-37

2008 Topps Stadium Club
Want: 5 First Day, 91 First Day, 82 First Day, 107B First Day, 127B

2008 Upper Deck Documentary
Want: Any Dodgers game

2008 Upper Deck Football
Want: 253, 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 307, 309, 310, 312, 314, 316, 317, 319, 321, 322, 323, 324, 325

2008 UD Masterpieces Football
Want: 91, 92, 93, 94, 96, 103, 105, 106, 107, 110
Have: 1, 3, 5, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 31, 33, 34, 35, 37, 38, 40, 42, 43, 44, 47, 48, 49, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 62, 63, 67, 68, 69, 71, 72, 76, 77, 79, 81, 82, 83, 84, 86, 88, 89, 90

2008 Upper Deck Basketball
Want: 8, 9, 10, 12, 13

2009 Topps
Want: 5, 19, 28, 36, 37, 42, 56, 67, 91, 103, 113, 123, 129, 134, 136, 154, 168, 173, 185, 187, 193, 197, 203, 208, 211, 212, 2196, 217, 231, 233, 247, 248, 251, 253, 267, 268, 269, 283, 300, 310, 320, 324
Have: 88, 93, 102, 135, 143, 142, 150, 201, 206, 221, 274, 284, 293, 321, 327
Turkey Red: Josh Johnson, Shane Victorino, Conor Jackson, Brain McCann, George Sisler, Jimmie Foxx, Fukudome, Kevin Kouzmanoff, Joe Mauer
Ring Of Honor: Clemens, Pettitte, Pujols, Gary Carter, Luis Gonzo, Jim Leyland

2009 Upper Deck
Want: 191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199, 201, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 210, 211, 457, 465, 484, SQ-21, OPC-38, OPC-41, R9, R13, R14
Have: 10, 35, 76, 77, 87, 98, 107, 120, 127, 135, 149, 155, 170, 190, 203, 226, 243, 271, 276, 288, 293, 306, 320, 323, 330, 337, 340, 371, 392, 405, 423, 429, 444, 451, 488, 490

If you have something I have listed but you don’t see anything you need let me know who are what you collect and I will see what I can find for you.

Sticker Vs On-Card Auto's

One of the biggest debated in the hobby today is the sticker or on card autographs. Personally I do enjoy on card auto’s more then the stickers but I don’t mind a clear sticker auto. From a business stand point, I understand why companies use stickers. It is much more convenient to have an athletes sign twenty stickers in a row rather then sign card after card. As a collector I would rather have sticker auto then a redemption card because who knows what you might end up with
Having said that, there are some things about sticker autos that do bother me. First, when a sticker auto is used and you can clearly tell the players autograph is cut off because they can’t fit it on the sticker. (Can you tell what one is one card and what one is a sticker??)

If a player can’t fit there auto onto the stick give them a bigger sticker. The Second thing that really bothers me about sticker autos is when the company uses silver stickers. Whenever I look at a card in my collection that has a silver sticker it is the only thing I can see, it just stares right at me. They stick out on the card like a sore thumb. If a company knows they are going to need to use a sticker for a product why don’t they use the clear stickers? I bet collectors wouldn’t mind sticker autos if they just used clear ones, it seems like a simple solution but Topps still hasn’t figured it. They still use silver stickers in their 09 set! As a collector do you consider all stickers horrible or do you only hate silver stickers?

Trading

One of my favorite things about blogging is TRADING!!! Blogging brings people from all over together and allows them to trade cards with fellow collectors. Trading is a great way to grow your collection without the hassle and cost of eBay or a card show. I truly enjoy helping another collectors build a set or sending them a card they didn’t have of the player they collect. In my short time in the blogosphere, I have complete trades with Treasures Never Buried, Box Busters, Player to be Named Later, Fields Choice and Night Owl Cards all of who I would highly recommend. Trading is one of my favorite things about collecting.

2009 Topps Box Break Result

I don’t own a video camera so I can’t film a live box break but I’m pretty sure everyone know what the Topps cards look like so I wanted to give a recap of what I got. After opening this box I have to say this is one of the better boxes I have opened (my girlfriend picked it out she has the luck in the relationship).

Base Set
288 out of 330 No doubles but I did get a Jeff Francoeur card that was damaged. I do have some double no because of the packs I bought earlier. Check out my Have/Want list to see if I have any double you need.

Inserts
Topps Town
31 – Regular card, I know have a set and a few double. 4 - Gold Johan Santana, Hanley Ramirez, Jake Peavey and Ryan Howard. Does anyone even care about these cards?

Turkey Red - Josh Johnson, Shane Victorino, Conor Jackson, Brain McCann, George Sisler, Jimmie Foxx, Fukudome, Kevin Kouzmanoff, Joe Mauer

Legends of the Game - Cy Young, Carl Yastrzemski, Roberto Clemente, Lou Gehrig, George Sisler and Mantle

Ring of Honor – Clemens, Pettitte, Pujols, Gary Carter, Luis Gonzo, Jim Leyland (why do they have managers in this set)

Gold Bordered # to 2009 - Brain Bixler, Denard Span, Conor Jackson, Emmanuel Burriss, Jerry Manuel and Edgard Gonzalez

Black Bordered # to 58 Zach duke (Who?? Yeah he plays for the Pirates)

My one relic card was a Career Best of Ryan Braun which is that great but it could have been a lot worse. I have happy with that plus it has a nice stripe in the middle of the patch. I also got a World Baseball Classic redemption cards. At first I was pretty happy about that but then I read the odd on the back of the pack and it said they are 1:36. So that means one per box. Not as great as originally thought. I have also heard Topps isn’t that great when it comes to redemptions so I wouldn’t be surpised it I never get it. According to Topps the estimated arrival date is September 12, 2009. (I am taking bets over or under 45 days after that date before I actually get the card) My best pull of the box was a Silk Collection of Mariano Rivera Numbered 5 out of 50. I think these are one of the best inserts offered in the hobby so I was pretty excited when I actually pulled one myself and it was of a good player which for mw is even a bigger surprise.
Overall I am pretty happy with the box and I am glad I got it. I am a little short of a full set I am open for some trades to help finish the set.

Results From My Trip To The Card Show

My recent trip to the card show was somewhat of a success, I got a few Steve Young cards to add to my collection for 10 cents a piece (you can’t beat that price). I also got the team set of Dodgers from Topps 2009 minus Andruw Jones and the insert cards I wanted Turkey Red of Andre Ethier and Jackie Robinson, Legends of the Game Robinson , Munson, Campanella, Pee Wee Reese and the Ring of Honor of Don Zimmer, Johnny Padres and Duke Snider. To my surprise only one table had some UD 09 and it was a very limited and not much I was interested in. A lot of the dealers had some nice auto and game used card but they were from players I wasn’t interested in but it still nice to check out what the cards look like. I got a chance to see come of the cards from the 08 UD Ultimate set and I was impressed with them. I saw a nice bat barrel auto of some Yankee and a nice patch card of John Maine.

There was one table I staid away from completely, he is a regular at the show but he never has anything I’m interested in. I staid away this time because as I was check out his card I noticed they all had price tags on them which isn’t a bad thing. I would much rather see price tags then continuously asking “how much are looking for that card”. The closer I look at the price tags I noticed he had BV at the top of the tag and his price under it for less then the BV to show how much of a deal he was giving you. Just put your price, don’t tell me you are giving me a deal according to a book no one uses any more. Just because Beckett tells you the 08 Upper Deck base McFadden rookie is $25 don’t except anyone to pay near that. To show the collector he was giving you a deal he marked the card for $20. 20 dollars ARE YOU SERIOUS for a card of a guy who didn’t do anything his rookie year. Come on now.

The big pick up for me was a box of 09 Topps. I originally wanted to get a box of UD 09 but only one guy had a box of UD and he is always over priced. I decided to go with a box of Topps instead from a different dealer. My next decision was to go with either the Hobby box or Jumbo box. Before I went to the show I was leaning towards getting the Jumbo because you are guaranteed a set plus you get a lot more insert cards and I thought there would be about a $30 dollar difference between the two. The dealer selling the 09 Topps boxes gave me a price of $100 for the Jumbo and $50 for the hobby so I went with the hobby box. I had already gotten all the inserts I wanted from the other tables and the $50 dollar difference was pretty big, so I went home with the hobby box!

Over all it was a good show. Stay tuned for the results from my box break.

Card Show Tomorrow 2/14/09

Every second Saturday of the month there is a small card show in Manhattan that I like to check out because I live in Brooklyn and it a short train ride away plus admission is only a dollar. For anyone who lives in the NYC area the card show it at Holy Cross School 332 West 43rd St. between 8th and 9th ave. from 10-4. The show for me is really hit or miss because a lot of the dealers have large selections of Yankee cards. If you are a Yankee fan you will find the show great. Every once in a while I do find a good deal on Dodgers cards but I mostly go to the show looking for common cards. I am really looking forward to tomorrow because they will have a lot of singles from the new UD and Topps sets. I want to get the Dodgers team set from both set and the insert cards that I am interested in. If anyone needs some singles to help them complete there set e-mail me at presda44@gmail.com and I see what I can find for you.

Stop Destroying Baseball History

This is call for the people in power to stop destroying baseball history and I’m not talking about steroids. I am talking about the people at Topps, Upper Deck and Donruss who continue to think it’s a great idea to take priceless pieces of baseball history and cut them up to put them into a card.
I will admit when I got back into the hobby a little over a year ago and saw these types of cards I was amazed and I still am. It is a great way for a fan to own there own piece of baseball history but where will it stop. Over the years baseball card companies have been notorious for creating an idea that works and reproducing it so much that with in a few years the market is flooded. As a baseball fan I am nervous they will do this with the historical artifacts they own now.
Every year there are multiple sets released that have uniform patches or bat patches from the likes of Joe Jackson, Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson and Mickey Mantle. Where do they keep getting this stuff from and do they know that once it’s gone its gone forever? There can only be some many uniforms and bats left from these players why are they being destroyed to be put into baseball cards?
I do think it would be great to own one of these cards but I would much rather see the uniform stay intact and be on display at the Hall of Fame. I don’t know if I could ever be in a room with a Ruth Jersey and a pair of scissors and start cutting.
How do you feel about the historical relic cards? Do you want the companies to continue to produce these cards or maybe just limit the amount they release every year?

My First Blog Bat Around

Throughout baseball card history there have been many “must have” cards and sets including the T206 Wagner, the 52 Topps Mantle, 54 Topps Robinson and the 89 Upper Deck Griffey Jr. For my first Blog Bat Around I want to talk about a set that I feel will always be a valued set to collectors.

A set I believe is a must have and hold for collectors is the 2001 Bowman Chrome simply for the fact it has card number 340, the Puljos Auto rookie card. I am not a Puljos or Cardinals fan but as a baseball fan I have to admit Puljos is one of the game greatest players today. As more and more of today’s stars continue to fall from grace due to steroids, it makes Puljos accomplishments even that more impressive. He has been in the league for about 9 years and already has helped the Cardinals win a World Series; how many current great players can say that?? During his short career, Puljos has also won Rookie of the Year, NLCS MVP and 2 MVP awards. Puljos should still have about another 8 or 9 years left in his career and who knows what other accomplishments he will have in that time. I can guarantee he will be in the 500 club which will help him enter the Hall of Fame on the first ballot especially since he did it without the help of steroids.

Every time Puljos reaches another career milestone the value of his 01 Bowman chrome auto will continue to rise in value. There are many more sets in the hobby that have a much stronger checklist but that Puljos card alone will continue to make this set one of the most valuable in the hobby.

A Great Read for Collectors

I first heard about The Card: Collectors, Con Men and the True Story of History’s Most Desired Baseball Card by: Michael O’Keeffe and Teri Thompson from Greg over at Night Owl Cards and decided I should give it a try and I am glad I did. The book gives the history of the famous T206 Honus Wagner card and how it changed collecting forever. The book also informs collectors about the different types of doctoring that go on in the collecting world. The T206 Wagner card is single handedly responsible for why PSA grading was created and why “collecting baseball cards” changed into “investing in baseball cards”. Another great thing about this book especially if you’re cheap (like me) is that you can go to the Washington DC Library Website and download the book for free. All you need to do is sign up for a DC library card and your all set. Even if you don’t live in the DC area anyone can get the library card. The only downside is they only have one copy available to download at a time so get it fast.

One of My Favorite Cards

Now that I have my own blog I get to discuss whatever I like, so I want to talk a little about my one of my favorite cards. This card is from an insert set that didn’t get much attention in the collecting community. One of my favorite cards of all time is not an autograph card or even a relic cards it is 1995 Upper Deck Special Edition Celebration Card.

I still remember the day I bought the card; I was an 11 year old kid who loved nothing but 49ers and I’m not ashamed to admit it (but I did cry time after time when they lost to the Cowboys consecutive times). For this reason I still loath the cowboys and hope one day they will go 0-16. Sorry for the rant, back to the story- I had a friend who was a huge comic book fan so every month his dad would take us to the comic book shop. I wasn’t really into comics, I hated to read no matter what it was but the store had a little card section that kept me entertain while my buddy looked for the newest comics. I was looking through the singles, flipping through card after card when I saw the coolest card I had even seen! The card was a picture of Jerry Rice and Steve Young hugging it out after their victory in Super Bowl 29 over the San Diego Chargers. I bought it for two dollars in 1995 and have cherished ever since. This card is still the center pieces of my collection 14 years later. The reason why this card is one of my favorites is because every time I look at it I remember how great it felt when the game clock struck zero and the San Francisco 49ers finally won a Super Bowl. This card means even more to me now because god only knows when the next time the 49ers will be close to winning another Super Bowl!!! Now I am just hope for a wining record. I believe every collector has a card or two that they consider the center pieces of their collection, what’s yours?

QUICK UPDATE- 2008 UpperDeck Masterpieces Football

As you may or may not have seen I had a previous post on the UpperDeck official check list for 2008 UD Masterpieces set, and how there were a few missing cards. I recently check back to see if UD added any new checklist or news about upcoming release. Of course, nothing new, so I decided to check the checklist for Masterpieces set again and to my surprise they have changed it. The official set checklist is now only 86 cards, down from the original 90. Upper Deck has also removed the missing card numbers from the checklist. Still no answer in why or how they missed those numbers but at least I got something from them.

A Site for Any Baseball Fan, Who Has Ever Thought
“Man This Guy Sucks!! How Long Of A Contract Did He Sign??”

http://mlbcontracts.blogspot.com/

MLBContracts.blogspot.com is a great site; it has the contract length and amount for all MLB players and some additional minor league players. Not only does this site inform you about any player’s contracts, it also informs you about when the player was drafted, who there agent is, and how long they have been in “the show” for.

It’s nice to be able check out how much your favorite player makes or how much your favorite team is wasting on bad players. After you check out your favorite team you defiantly need to check out the Red Sox and Yankees payrolls. The site also includes a lot of other great information such as, free agents that are still available and trade transaction during the offseason. Personally I like to check out the section that shows who will be free agents in 2010 and see who the Dodgers should sign. If you’re a baseball fan this is definitely a site you need to check out. Enjoy!

2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces Football

Let me start out by saying Masterpieces is my favorite set to collect for both baseball and football so I was pretty angry when I heard that Upper Deck was not going to bring it back in 09. I guess it was getting in the way of some of Upper Deck better products such as X and Documentary.

I have purchased a few a hobby box of Masterpieces football and not to mention one or two blaster boxes and I have almost complete the set minus the Short Prints and a few regular cards. (I’m still not sure how I feel about SP’s in a set but that’s for another post). The regular cards I am missing are 45, 59, 65 and 70 so I went onto the UD website to check out there official check list just to see who was on the card. To my surprise I was looking over the list and cards number 45, 59, 65 and 70 are not on the checklist. How does something like this happen, were they thinking when they were creating the checklist did they forgot how to count or did I miss something? It blows my mine that a company could let something like this happen, don’t they have quality control to make sure thing like this don’t happen? Has UD every release a statement saying what happened or am I going to have a “complete set” minus those four cards!?!? Can someone please let me know if I missed something or did the people at UD think this would be a great way for collectors to continue to buy this product looking for cards that don’t exist???

A-Rod is A-Fraud!!!

According to a report from SI.com A-Rod tested positive for steroids in the 03 season. 2003 was the season he won the HR Title and the League MVP Award as a member of the Texas Rangers. As if Yankee fans needed another reason to hate A-Rod. He was one of 104 other players that tested positive. How is this going to affect his legacy?

Packs of 09 Topps and Upper Deck

So I finally got a chance to go to my local hobby shop about a week after both products went live but what can you do. I think I am the last person in the blogisphere to actual bust a few packs. I purchased the last 4 packs of Topps the shop had and two packs of UD. Here is was I got!

Pack 1
102 Garrett Atkins
274 Alex Hinshaw
293 Brian Bixler
Topps Town card Johan Santana
Turkey Red Miguel Cabrera
221 AL League Leaders Lee, Halladay and Matsuaka
206 NL League Leaders Santana, Lincecum, Peavy
201 Classic Combos Hamilton, Saltalamacchia
135 Carlos Delgado
88 Fredi Gonzalez

So one pack down and not one Dodgers but I do like the inserts of the Turkey Red. I am hoping that I will pull one Legend of the game card. From what I have scene from other bloggers those cards are great looking. It was a good idea by Topps to actual put players on the Topps Town cards.

Pack 2
306 Javier Vazquez
194 Jeremy Guthrie
294 Brandon Boggs
327 Phil Coke
321 Classic Combos Kazmir and Price
Topps Town CC Sabathia
19 Edgar Gonzalez Gold 422/2009
257 George Kottaras
45 Aubrey Huff
115 Kevin Youkilis

Two packs down and still no Dodgers boy do I have bad luck when it comes to opening packs.

Pack3
142 Brad Penney
33 Jose Guillen
29 Jerry Hairston
326 Post Season Highlights Manny
78 Tim Lincecum
Topps Town Tim Lincecum
307 League Leaders AL K’s Burnett, Santana, Halladay
150- Fukudome
284 – Luis Ayala
143 – Matt Joyce

After three packs I got two Dodgers not bad except Penny isn’t even on the team anymore. Last Pack

237 Arron Cunningham
156 Carlos Pena
142 Penney (again aaaahhhh)
93 James Parr
Topps Town Ichiro
89 – Postseason Highlights Lester and Bay
258 Casey Kotchman
143 Matt Joyce (Again)
265 Zambrano
262 Mike Gonzalez

After opening all four packs and am happy with my purchase and I also like how Topps put some interesting facts about the players on the back of the card. Next up Upper Deck

Pack 1
340 – Wladimir Balentien
323- Lincecum
306 Freddy Sanchez
330 Fred Lewis
288 Kurt Suzuki
271 Mike Mussina
203 Brad Penny
405 Jason Pridie
488 A Rod
UD Store Card
USA Retrospective (Why are these even in UD don’t USA cards have there own set)
YSL – Jeter (I bet the guy who put this set together is pissed there are update cards now)
490 Roy Halladay
451 – Team Leaders Mariners
120 – Arron Cook
155 – Michael Bourn
190 Nick Adenhart
127 Placido Polanco
87 Mark Buehrle
10 Chris Young
76 Rich Harden

One Pack down and 1 Dodger card. To bad I’m not a Lincecum fan I pulled a lot of his cards. Last pack

320 – Josh Bard
337 Jose Vidro
371 Rocco Baldelli
392 Elijah Dukes
293 Pedro Feliz
276 Xavier Nady
226 – Carlos Gomez
243 David Wright
423 Alfredo Aceves
UD Store Card
20th Anniversary Mark Messier
USA Retrospective
444 Team Leaders A’s
429 Fernando Perez
135 Dontrelle Willis
170 Mark Grudzielanek
107 Grady Sizmore
149- Josh Jonshon
98 Edinson Volquez
35 Aubrey Huff
77 Alexei Ramirez

I have to say I am impressed with both products but I have to say I like Upper Deck better. The feel and look of the cards just seem classier then the Topps but that’s probably why Topps are 2 dollars a pack while the Upper Deck is 5 dollars. I like the Topps inserts better then the UD. I am sick of the YSL and I have no intrest in USA Baseball cards. I do like the 20th Anniversary card but not a hockey one. Keep the hockey card with the hockey product and the baseball with the baseball products. Is that asking too much? Overall a good trip to the hobby shop.
If anyone is interested in any of the cards please send me an email at presda44@gmail.com and I will send them out to you.

About Me!!

Like most collectors, I was big into the hobby when I was just a kid and heavily influenced by my Uncle. He had the greatest collection of cards and sports memorable I had ever scene! I had the greatest time in the world when I went to his hobby shop on the weekends. I would spend hours just looking through the singles he had for sale and every once in awhile he would let me open a few packs (making sure I didn’t bend the corners) as he busted open a new box.

As I got older, like most collectors, I went away to college and didn’t have the money for cards especially when they started charging more and putting fewer cards in each pack. I returned to the hobby around the end of 2007 when I was organizing my childhood cards and remembering how much fun I had busting open packs. Inspired again, I found a hobby shop in my area and I started collecting again.

I am a big fan of the Dodgers and the 49ers, how I don’t know, considering I have lived in New York my whole life and everyone in my family are Yankee and Giants fans. The one good thing is that most people around here aren’t looking for the same cards as me when I go to card shows. I would considers my self a “player collector” even though I like to try and put together at least one set during the year purely for the enjoyment I get out of opening pack after pack from a box (Plus my girlfriend likes to open the packs too). I collect all Dodgers players except Andrew Jones (Glad he is gone) but I mostly collect James Loney, Russell Martin and Clayton Kershaw. I also collect all 49ers cards with a main focus on Steve Young because he was my favorite player growing up and I know the 49ers won’t lose him to free agency any time soon.

There are tons of great card blogs out there but I wanted to start my own blog for many reasons. I noticed many other collectors enjoy it and I also wanted my own place where I get to rant and throw my two cents in about how I feel about the hobby and where it is going. There are also many topics I would like to bring up that I haven’t seen in other blogs. I don’t expect to break any hobby news; I will leave that up to Mario at Wax Heaven (one of the best blog out there) Hopefully as my blog grows I would like to have the readers give me there opinions. If there is a topic you would like to see discussed, let me know and I would be more then happy to post it. I want this blog to be a place where people can list topics they would like to discuses but don’t have the time or resources to start there own blog.

I hope you enjoy!!!

Fredodap