Monday, March 28, 2011
Groups Break Pimp
Dimwit is holding a group break of two boxes of the upcoming Topps Gypsy Queen. Click here to see the remaining teams. If all teams are taken he is adding an extra box of something. These last few teams are also discounted to $10.00 each. Join the fun and help us check out this new product!
Sunday, March 27, 2011
A New Opportunity
As some of you may have noticed my banner as changed recently. This is due to a recent opportunity given to me by the web site and design company Build a Sign. Since I don't get the chance to open free boxes for review I took the offer and made three different designs sponsoring the blog in different ways. I was able to create a 3'x6' banner, a regular bumper sticker and a magnetic bumper "sticker" that will allow me to give some away.
The design process was really fun. I just had to remember that when layering pictures and text to start from the bottom up! For the banner I wanted something that I could possibly use a local card shows as I've been thinking about setting up to try and get rid of some of the thousands of singles I have. I wanted to show what types of cards I collect the most and think I accomplished this in the different pictures on either side of the picture of Iowa. The blog name and the web address are, of course, at the top and bottom and the star in the middle of the state show approximately where I'm located. You'll see this on one of the other designs as well. I think the banner looks great. It's heavy duty and has metal rings on the corners to help with the displaying.
The bumper sticker I did was partially taken from a design that was already on the site as a template. The only things I changed were the colors and what I'd rather be doing. It's a simple saying that has SOOO much truth to it! I have several of these to give away so if you're interested let me know.
The last item is the bumper magnet that once again features my home location but also gives you an idea on how long I've been collecting. These magnets are really nice. Thick and strong magnet makes them perfect for the back of your car and the printing is easy to read. I didn't get too many of these but have a couple to give out if you like this design better, so give me a shout.
Build a Sign is a great company to work with. Looking at their prices they seem very reasonable and I may have to go back and see what else I can mock up for future use. The design template is fun to work with and you can use clip art that they have on site or you can import your own pictures for use. If you have questions I worked with Megan and she is great. I had her look at all me ideas and she made one change but that was to conform the design to a different template. Thanks again to Build a Sign for their sponsorship!
The design process was really fun. I just had to remember that when layering pictures and text to start from the bottom up! For the banner I wanted something that I could possibly use a local card shows as I've been thinking about setting up to try and get rid of some of the thousands of singles I have. I wanted to show what types of cards I collect the most and think I accomplished this in the different pictures on either side of the picture of Iowa. The blog name and the web address are, of course, at the top and bottom and the star in the middle of the state show approximately where I'm located. You'll see this on one of the other designs as well. I think the banner looks great. It's heavy duty and has metal rings on the corners to help with the displaying.
The bumper sticker I did was partially taken from a design that was already on the site as a template. The only things I changed were the colors and what I'd rather be doing. It's a simple saying that has SOOO much truth to it! I have several of these to give away so if you're interested let me know.
The last item is the bumper magnet that once again features my home location but also gives you an idea on how long I've been collecting. These magnets are really nice. Thick and strong magnet makes them perfect for the back of your car and the printing is easy to read. I didn't get too many of these but have a couple to give out if you like this design better, so give me a shout.
Build a Sign is a great company to work with. Looking at their prices they seem very reasonable and I may have to go back and see what else I can mock up for future use. The design template is fun to work with and you can use clip art that they have on site or you can import your own pictures for use. If you have questions I worked with Megan and she is great. I had her look at all me ideas and she made one change but that was to conform the design to a different template. Thanks again to Build a Sign for their sponsorship!
Friday, March 18, 2011
Pick-Ups Off A Tip-Off
While reading Dennis' blog recently he mentiond that one of his favorite sellers on the Blowout Forums was having a great sale on his game used and autographed cards in his $2.50 folders. This sounded like it might be promising and I proceeded to see what I could find. There wasn't much in those two folders that interested me but I did see he had some really nice breakdowns of higher end cards. I dove into the folder containing the Vikings and went broke. Well maybe not broke but it would have been really easy!! I limited myself this time to some nice PC stuff. I started with the 1st round draft pick from 2006 who is quickly becoming one of the best linebackers in the NFL Chad Greenway. And for those who don't know Chad attended the University of Iowa so that makes him a great home state player to collect. I picked up three rookie autographs for my collection.
Playoff Contenders Rookie Ticket
SPX #32/1299
Bowman Sterling #1/900
Playoff Contenders Rookie Ticket
SPX #32/1299
Bowman Sterling #1/900All three great cards. My favorite is probably the Contenders as it's the best picture but the Sterling is a close second. It's kinda fun to own the very first autograph in the series and the gold card looks great with the Vikings uniform.
The last card I picked up is a 2009 Certified of Percy Harvin. It's a bit of a gimmick and I won't deny that one bit but I really like it and got it at a great price.
#22/25
The last card I picked up is a 2009 Certified of Percy Harvin. It's a bit of a gimmick and I won't deny that one bit but I really like it and got it at a great price.
#22/25I have a couple of the stamp/patch/autographs in my collection but this makes my first Percy Harvin jersey or patch card. The Vikings stamp is a nice touch as well. So there you have it, short and sweet. I'll post the link to the Blowout Forum for those who would like to try and make a deal as well. For now enjoy March Madness..... ciao!
Mdskyhawks Buy/Sell/Trade Thread
Mdskyhawks Buy/Sell/Trade Thread
Monday, March 14, 2011
Star Wars Galaxy 6
Topps recently came out with its newest offering in the Galaxy line, number 6. When it was first announced there was a lot of skepticism about what most of the collectors go after, the sketch cards. Some of the cards for Galaxy 5, ESB 30 and the Clone Wars were shall we say less than stellar. This happens with a fair share of releases and not just with Topps but history has shown that buyers can get burned from time to time. However when people started getting their Galaxy 6 cases and boxes and started opening them we quickly realized that Topps wasn't fooling around this time. A normal box has one sketch and case will include one or two die-cuts and maybe a printing plate. What people were finding was two or three sketches a box and as many as 18 or 19 hits a case, WAY more than normal. Prices immediately went through the roof. Boxes went from $50 up to over $100 and cases that pre-ordered at $500 pushed $1000. I wasn't able to pre-order anything but this time wanted to save my money and just buy the cards I wanted, hopefully saving me a little money in the process. The main cards I'm after are by one of my favorite artists Shea Standefer. She continued her depiction of Extended Universe characters for Galaxy 6 and I can't get enough. Here are a couple of my favorites I've picked up so far.
I did find that my card shop owner had ordered a case and this last weekend I bought two boxes from him hoping to get a good card or two. I'll let you guys decide.......
Box 1:
Darth Vader by Bob Stevlic
2-1B die-cut by Martina & Frank
Aurra Sing by Lawrence Reynolds
I did find that my card shop owner had ordered a case and this last weekend I bought two boxes from him hoping to get a good card or two. I'll let you guys decide.......
Box 1:
Darth Vader by Bob Stevlic
2-1B die-cut by Martina & Frank
Aurra Sing by Lawrence ReynoldsBox 2:
Qui-Gon Jinn by Otis Frampton
Qui-Gon Jinn by Otis FramptonMe personally, I'm thrilled. Box one was the killer box as the Vader was in the very first pack I opened! My original goal was to sell any sketches I pulled to buy one I really want but I'm having a hard time as these are some of the best I've pulled from a Star Wars product. I may have to track a few prices and see what I might be able to get, and if someone makes me one of those offers I can't refuse I won't say no. But for now I'm going to hold onto them and see what happens.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
New Stuff
So since I haven't been lucky enough to get any free boxes to review I stopped by the card shop today to pick up a couple boxes. I just got a new computer and don't have my scanner running so no pics but if something strikes you in the description let me know and I'll try to get a pic to you. I wanted something a bit different then my normal fair so I decided on Upper Deck World of Sports, 2010-11 Upper Deck SPX Hockey and 2011 Playoff Contenders Patches.
I'll start with the SPX Hockey and beg for your help as it's one of the sports that I know the least about. I purchased a box that had been opened but still had 18 packs and the Bonus pack included. This means I had no idea how many hits there were going to be. The bonus pack had an Ice rookie card of Jared Cowen #405/999. The box itself actually ended up with five hits! The first was a dual jersey of Sidney Crosby, dual white pieces but still "Sid the Kid," good start. Second a rookie jersey of Marcus Johansson. Third an autographed jersey of the Bruins Zach Hamill #35/799. Forth another autographed jersey this time of Flyers keeper Sergei Bobrovsky #191/799. Fifth a single jersey of rookie Zac Dalpe. I feel really good about this box. A normal box only gets four hits and looking at a breakdown it appears that I got an extra autographed jersey rookie card. I like the base cards but won't be collecting the set or anything. There are a few cards I'll keep of some of my favorite players but if anyone is collecting I can help out.
Upper Deck World of Sports seemed like a good idea when I first heard about it but some of the box breaks have been less than stellar. I took a chance and am very pleased with the results. The box states that there are two autographs in each but most have been producing three, including mine. Autograph one is of pitcher Andrew Liebel who was drafted by the Blue Jays in the 3rd round of the 2008 Amateur Draft and is currently playing A+ ball in the Florida League. The second autograph is staying in the personal collection as it's U.S. National Team member and Colorado Rapids midfielder Pablo Mastroeni. The picture is from his college days as a member of the NC State Wolfpack but what a great pull for a soccer fan. The third autograph followed the same line but as one of the Athletes of the World subset that has an autograph only and no picture of the athlete. Mine is, again, U.S. National Team member and Hannover 96 midfielder DaMarcus Beasley. Beasley has been hampered by injury recently but is an excellent player and will hopefully get the chance to play for the MNT in the coming years. I also pulled a relic card from the box and have to wonder if it could have gotten much better. The swatch itself is solid red but comes from a jersey worn by Team Canada's own "Great One" Wayne Gretzky! Two boxes and jerseys of two of Canada's greatest hockey players...... frak...... Captain Canuck is going to drive down here and steal both of these if I'm not careful!
Now on the the basketball. I choose Contenders Patches because I love the look of the autograph rookie patches. I know that they are manufactured and that there is a "gimmick" of home and away logos and truthfully I don't care! They look even better in person. All four of my autographs were of the rookie persuasion which is ok but it would have been nice to get one of the other autograph types that you can pull. No real big numbered diecut hits except for a Rookie of the Year Contender of Blake Griffin #37/99. As for the Rookie Patches they are as follows: Spurs gaurd Gary Neal with a black patch, Lakers forward Derrick Caracter with a yellow patch, Wizards forward Trevor Booker with a blue patch (Crap wrong Wizard! Oh well) and the hit of the box, Kings center DeMarcus Cousins with a gray patch. The base cards are very similar to the football Contenders so if you like that look, as I do, then you should like these as well.
Recent E-bay pick-ups include two 2008 Razor Letterman cards to finish Royals first round draft pick Aaron Crow's last name. I also received a great package from Eric at Manupatches & Chrome Scratches that had a stack of Royals cards along with Letterman patches of Eric Hosmer #1/5 and a Jeremy Beckham #13/20 that we had agreed to trade. Off E-bay I also now have autograph number six for my Harry Potter art and autos set that I'm working on, Natalia Tena as Nymphadora Tonks is now in hand. Also picked up a 2011 Topps 60th autograph of Alex Gordon cheap. This will make a nice addition to my Royals collection and the blue card with the white and blue Royals jersey looks really nice! Hopefully I'll have some pictures to show you guys soon. Thanks again for reading, ciao!
I'll start with the SPX Hockey and beg for your help as it's one of the sports that I know the least about. I purchased a box that had been opened but still had 18 packs and the Bonus pack included. This means I had no idea how many hits there were going to be. The bonus pack had an Ice rookie card of Jared Cowen #405/999. The box itself actually ended up with five hits! The first was a dual jersey of Sidney Crosby, dual white pieces but still "Sid the Kid," good start. Second a rookie jersey of Marcus Johansson. Third an autographed jersey of the Bruins Zach Hamill #35/799. Forth another autographed jersey this time of Flyers keeper Sergei Bobrovsky #191/799. Fifth a single jersey of rookie Zac Dalpe. I feel really good about this box. A normal box only gets four hits and looking at a breakdown it appears that I got an extra autographed jersey rookie card. I like the base cards but won't be collecting the set or anything. There are a few cards I'll keep of some of my favorite players but if anyone is collecting I can help out.
Upper Deck World of Sports seemed like a good idea when I first heard about it but some of the box breaks have been less than stellar. I took a chance and am very pleased with the results. The box states that there are two autographs in each but most have been producing three, including mine. Autograph one is of pitcher Andrew Liebel who was drafted by the Blue Jays in the 3rd round of the 2008 Amateur Draft and is currently playing A+ ball in the Florida League. The second autograph is staying in the personal collection as it's U.S. National Team member and Colorado Rapids midfielder Pablo Mastroeni. The picture is from his college days as a member of the NC State Wolfpack but what a great pull for a soccer fan. The third autograph followed the same line but as one of the Athletes of the World subset that has an autograph only and no picture of the athlete. Mine is, again, U.S. National Team member and Hannover 96 midfielder DaMarcus Beasley. Beasley has been hampered by injury recently but is an excellent player and will hopefully get the chance to play for the MNT in the coming years. I also pulled a relic card from the box and have to wonder if it could have gotten much better. The swatch itself is solid red but comes from a jersey worn by Team Canada's own "Great One" Wayne Gretzky! Two boxes and jerseys of two of Canada's greatest hockey players...... frak...... Captain Canuck is going to drive down here and steal both of these if I'm not careful!
Now on the the basketball. I choose Contenders Patches because I love the look of the autograph rookie patches. I know that they are manufactured and that there is a "gimmick" of home and away logos and truthfully I don't care! They look even better in person. All four of my autographs were of the rookie persuasion which is ok but it would have been nice to get one of the other autograph types that you can pull. No real big numbered diecut hits except for a Rookie of the Year Contender of Blake Griffin #37/99. As for the Rookie Patches they are as follows: Spurs gaurd Gary Neal with a black patch, Lakers forward Derrick Caracter with a yellow patch, Wizards forward Trevor Booker with a blue patch (Crap wrong Wizard! Oh well) and the hit of the box, Kings center DeMarcus Cousins with a gray patch. The base cards are very similar to the football Contenders so if you like that look, as I do, then you should like these as well.
Recent E-bay pick-ups include two 2008 Razor Letterman cards to finish Royals first round draft pick Aaron Crow's last name. I also received a great package from Eric at Manupatches & Chrome Scratches that had a stack of Royals cards along with Letterman patches of Eric Hosmer #1/5 and a Jeremy Beckham #13/20 that we had agreed to trade. Off E-bay I also now have autograph number six for my Harry Potter art and autos set that I'm working on, Natalia Tena as Nymphadora Tonks is now in hand. Also picked up a 2011 Topps 60th autograph of Alex Gordon cheap. This will make a nice addition to my Royals collection and the blue card with the white and blue Royals jersey looks really nice! Hopefully I'll have some pictures to show you guys soon. Thanks again for reading, ciao!
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