2013 National Sports Collectors Convention Chicago

Ok, where should I start? It was my first "Big Show" and boy was it worth it. If you've ever been to Las Vegas for a couple of days, you'll know what I'm talking about. You can't see everything but you do see a little of everything. Sports Cards old and new, memorabilia, autographs, and more, and more, and then some more. I really enjoyed just walking around checking out all the different types of wares on display, the different types of set ups, and how passionate just about every dealer was about their collections. Chicago is a great city, a great host, and a wonderful place to visit, regardless if it's for the NSCC. I got to meet a lot of people that I only know from online breaks, web casts, and chat rooms. It was kinda funny introducing myself as my screen name, Hi, I'm Streak27!" The only drawback is the amount of money being asked for the autograph guests. I really enjoy meeting athletes, and getting some ink, but the experience is made more personal when I don't have to spend $150. Other than that, I can say that I will make every effort to attend the NCSS in the future because I do love me some sports cards and everything and everyone involved with it.

Macha-Dough



Had to hop into a 5 Case Break of 2013 Bowman Inception Baseball by Boomo and was lucky enough to draw Manny Machado, er, I mean Macha-dough. Snagged these two gems, a base rookie auto and a Auto Jumbo Relic Red Parallel #'d /10, sweet. Not a bad day at the breaks.

Running into a Wall!

Last night I got into a razz for a spot in 2010/11 National Treasures Basketball with Danscardz on Vaughnlive.tv. I won a spot through the razz and through the random got the Washington  Wizards. Knowing both sides of the potential for this team, Wall or nothing, I offered up my team for $140. Offers came in and stopped at $100 but I just assumed keep my spot. I offered again and said no to $100 and that I would take more offers. $105, $110, $115, $115.01, that's where it stalled. I decided to take the first to offer $120, and Pinballz took it! Now I almost tripled up, and he is a John Wall fan, so it worked out for both of us. That was until the break. First box AJ pulled a 3 color Rookie Colossal 3-Color Patch of Wall, very nice. Second box, Ka-Boom, a John Wall Rookie Patch Auto /99, with a book value  of $2K! Ouch! He also got a Wes Unseld auto to boot. Oh well, we both made out, and I'm happy that Pinballz got his card.

Yu know it!

Well after a long wait, Yu can say we got some redemption! We finally got our 2012 Bowman Chrome Yu Darvish Rookie Purple Refractor Autograph 01/10, and boy was it worth the wait. This thing is a beauty, on card, clean, centered, and ready for the right buyer. Not sure what the future holds for this card but this Friday, Beckett will get a look at this one, and maybe Yu will finally see some perfection.

The Bux Stops Here!

 



On Friday night at the Ballpark, Mark and I decided to treat ourselves to a couple of jumbo boxes of 2013 Bowman Baseball. 12 Packs of the future of baseball with 3 Autos and plenty of prospects and parallels. My box had some bonus action in it, yielding a Jesse Winker AFLCA Perfect Game On Card Auto /225, a Matt Olson Chrome Rookie On Card Auto, a Jayson Aquino Chrome Blue Refractor On Card Auto /150, and the gem, a Byron Buxton Chrome Rookie Auto. Whenever you get an auto of the guy on the box, it can't be a bad thing. All these cards and more are available in our store, check them out, and thanks for stopping by.

Predicting the Future

On Saturday, we spent the entire day at the ballpark, and thankfully the weather let us get through it dry. After a week of torrential rains dumping almost 6 inches on the city, it turned out to be a beautiful day and a "golden" day. While we sweated it out at the park, my wife and friends checked out some other cards, Tarot Cards, for a reading. Now I'm not a big fan of fortune telling, palm reading, or horoscopes but my wife tends to like that sort of thing. He gave her some helpful hints on her future and something's were on point, with others being hopefully totally way off, including a possible house fire or something of that sort. I did a little of my own predicting, and boy was I right on the money. We had five packs of 2012 Panini Prizm baseball left in the box at the end of the day. I asked Mark if he wanted to pop them, he declined. I told him that there was a gold card left in that box, he still declined. I even went as far as telling him, that it was in the third pack, that I didn't even need all five packs.  Guess what showed up in pack three? Yep, a gold card. More specifically a Nelson Cruz Texas Rangers 05/10 Gold Card. Just Sick. For my next trick, I will be turning that card into cash!

Supreme Pulls, My first RGIII Auto

 



Today at the Key West Card Show, I decided to bust a box of 2012 Topps Supreme Football. After watching Tom, a collector from Indianapolis bust a box and pull a Jarius Wright Rookie Autograph Printing Plate 1/1, I was hoping for my own big hit, and boy did I get it. The box doesn't have a lot of cards, or hits for that matter, 2 base cards, 1 parallel, and 1 hit. My base cards were decent, Michael Turner and Dwayne Allen RC, buth numbered to 462. My parallel was an Arian Foster numbered to 75, and then the hit. A sweet Robert Griffin III Rookie Autograph 61/85, man is that cool, and it's my first RGIII auto. Thanks for everyone who cae out to the show, and thanks to Tom for stopping in while on vacation and jump starting the day. If you are interested in any of these cards, they are all available for purchase. Just email us with your offer.



Twice in one week!

Andrew Luck Part Two! Less than a week later, at the Key West Card Show, aka The Worlds Smallest Card Show, another Andrew Luck Rookie Autograph. I brought a few boxes of 2012 Panini Contenders Football to the show in hopes that someone would take them off my hands. The night before I busted two boxes of this lackluster product filled with the lesser known rookies as well as some of the bigger names. Touting two on card autos per box, after two boxes, I hadn't seen one, although the Devier Posey redemption might be, but that's a wait and see game. So around noon, with no biters on the at cost price tag, and even after unofficially guaranteeing that a Luck or RGIII was in there I decided to prove myself wrong and bust into the first box.  Two packs in, yep, Andrew Luck Rookie Autograph, on card, and beautiful.  KC, sorry buddy, you didn't believe me, but neither did I. Damn that thing is sweet. Thanks to Gato and JC for buying the other box because I was all out of garauntees.  Now for next weeks predictions, just kidding, i'm taking a break from breaking, for now.

Super Bowl Box Breaks

Sorry it's been so long, but what happened to January.  Spent the month prepping for Jon Crane's 15th Annual Super Bowl Party. Well, we did a couple of box breaks at the party, one before, one after, and both were awesome.  The pre-game break featured all kinds of football product, Prizm, Limited, Black, Momentum, Bowman Sterling, and SP Authentic. Right off the bat, we pulled a Russell Wilson auto from Prizm, sweet, for me at least. We also pulled a nice Nick Foles Patch Auto from Sterling, and fittingly, a Bernard Pierce Patch Gold Auto from Black, another nice hit.  So then we took a break and watched a great Super Bowl, halftime, and power outage and all.  So after the party, we hung out, played cards and then decided to bust a box of Limited and a box of Black.  So earlier you see what we pulled from 7 boxes, let me tell you about these two beasts.  From the Limited box, we start with a Ronnie Lott Jets Jersey, that's a little weird.  The the hits started, and although it's was an Isaiah Pead, the Phenom Rookie Jersey Auto, was actually pretty nasty, because it was a piece of the Ram logo.  And then...TRich, boom, a Trent Richardson Rookie Phenoms Silver Spotlight Redemption /49, awesome, finally JC gets his man.  So we are all geeked, lets bust this Black.  I honestly don't remember any other card than Card #1, in the middle of the pack. Paging Andrew Luck, Rookie Prime Patch Gold Autograph /349, total nastiness.  So that's what I've been up to.  What's next, the Card Show, wait until you see who showed up.

Frankly my dear.....

We recently visited Marty's Sports Card Exchange Superstore in Chattanooga, Tennessee for some pack popping action. After going through and opening some new product Danette asked me to buy her a pack of 2013 Press Pass Platinum Cuts, you get one encapsulated cut signature card per pack. She picked the top pack and busted it open, and Holy Cow, a Clark Gable cut signatiure 1/1. Gone with the Wind, wow, that's a monster hit! Congrats baby!