Mail Day #7 - Friday, July 22nd, 2011

Just one card in the mail today...

Player: Patrick Chung
Set: 2009 Threads Gold Holofoil
Brand: Threads
Team: New England Patriots
Card Number:  178
Serial Number:  39/50
Attributes: #'ed, Holofoil
Manufacturer: Donruss
Acquired Via: eBay.com

My Thoughts: A nice pickup of one of my favorite NFL players and former Oregon Duck, Patrick Chung. Like Ed Dickson, Patrick Chung had very little cards produced during his rookie year so any time I'm able to add anything new to the collection, its a huge bonus. The threads holofoils are great looking cards and I think I already have a few different variations of this card but I'll have to check on that later. 

Mail Day Grade: D
Only got one card in the mail today which makes it hard to give a strong grade. Although it was just a parallel version of Patrick Chung's rookie card, it was still a very nice add to my collection. 

As Always, feel free to share your grade for today's mail along with any other comments or questions.

- Tom

Mail Day #6 - Thursday, July 21st, 2011

In the mail today I received a total of 2 cards, a personal collection item and one prospect autograph which I found on eBay and decided to pick up as a gamble in what many people call 'prospecting'. Here's a look at today's pickups!

Card #1

Player: Fautino De Los Santos
Set: 2008 Bowman Chrome Orange Refractor Autograph
Brand: Bowman Chrome
Team: Oakland Athletics
Card Number:  BCP245
Serial Number:  19/25
Attributes: Auto, #'ed, Refractor, 1st Year Card
Manufacturer: Topps
Acquired Via: eBay.com


My Thoughts: Fautino De Los Santos has seen some time with the big league club this year and has been moved up and down between Oakland and Triple-A ball. This is one of the first prospecting items I have picked up, it's a nice low #'ed refractor on card autograph card that will hopefully bring in more than I paid for it if Fautino makes it in the Majors. I managed to pick this card up for a grand total of $6.66 ($4.25 + $2.41 shipping).


Card #2

Player: Aaron Brooks
Set: 2007 Topps Chrome Autograph
Brand: Topps Chrome
Team: Houston Rockets
Card Number:  157
Serial Number:  310/539
Attributes: Auto, #'ed
Manufacturer: Topps
Acquired Via: eBay.com


My Thoughts: I can't wait to see Aaron Brooks play a full season in Phoenix, I think he needs a fresh new start in order to regain the momentum he built in 2009-10 when he won the award for most improved player. Added this one to my collection for $0.99 + shipping.






Mail Day Grade: C-
Nothing extremely exciting in the mail today, a minor gamble with the purchase of my first 'prospecting' autograph in Fautino De Los Santos, I hope it works out. Added one personal collection item in the Aaron Brooks Chrome Autograph, finishing a pretty uneventful two card mail day.


As Always, feel free to share your grade for today's mail along with any other comments or questions.

- Tom 

Mail Day #5 - Wednesday, July 20th, 2011

In the mail today I received a total of 4 cards once again 3 autograph cards and an insert. Here's the scans and details of the cards.


CARD #1

Player: Jonathan Stewart
Set: 2011 Donruss Elite Down and Distance Jersey Autograph
Brand: Elite
Team: Carolina Panthers
Card Number:  19
Serial Number:  11/25
Attributes: Jersey, Auto, #'ed
Manufacturer: Panini
Acquired Via: eBay.com

My Thoughts:
One of my first autograph pickups of Jonathan Stewart as far as 2011 products go. This one features a small circular jersey swatch as well as a nicely signed autograph in black ink. J. Stew's auto seems to be all of the place in regards to positioning on the sticker, but I think he got it smack dab in the center for this one which is great. The card design is okay, nothing groundbreaking or amazing.  

 

CARD #2

Player: Tyler Anderson & Scott McGough
Set: 2010 Bowman Sterling Team USA Dual Autograph
Brand: Bowman Sterling
Team: Team USA Collegiate National Team
Card Number:  BSDA-19
Serial Number:  57/99
Attributes: Dual Auto, #'ed, Refractor
Manufacturer: Topps
Acquired Via: eBay.com


My Thoughts: Another Bowman Sterling dual autograph of Anderson and McGough, a great card and I figured I'd add another since the prices are low. McGough just started his career in the minors and I believe Anderson has yet to sign a deal with the Rockies.



CARD #3

Player: Tyler Anderson
Set: 2010 Bowman Platinum Jersey Autograph Refractor
Brand: Bowman Platinum
Team: Team USA Collegiate National Team
Card Number:  PAR-TA
Serial Number: 094/740
Attributes: Jersey, Auto, #'ed, Refractor
Manufacturer: Topps
Acquired Via: eBay.com

My Thoughts: Just like yesterdays mail, here's another Tyler Anderson Bowman Platinum Base Refractor Jersey Autograph. Nothing new to add about this card besides the fact that I picked up multiples.



 
CARD #4

Player: Ed Dickson
Set: 2010 Panini Gridiron Gear Silver X's
Brand: Gridiron Gear
Team: Baltimore Ravens
Card Number:  189
Serial Number: 202/250
Attributes: #'ed, RC
Manufacturer: Panini
Acquired Via: eBay.com

My Thoughts: Always good to find a new Ed Dickson to add to the collection since he didn't have a whole lot of cards produced last year. There are X and O variations for these gridiron gear rookie parallels, hopefully I can get one of each version.






Mail Day Grade: B
In the mail today I received a nice Jonathan Stewart autograph as well as some multiples of cards I already own of Tyler Anderson and Scott McGough. Perhaps, if they ever spike in prices and make it to the show I'll have to consider selling them since I have purchased quite a few already. The addition of the Ed Dickson card was cool due to the limited amount of cards he has. I'd have to go with a overall grade on today's mail of a B, mostly because I got a very nice 2011 Jonathan Stewart Auto, first one of the year I believe.


As Always, feel free to share your grade for today's mail along with any other comments or questions.

- Tom 

Mail Day #4 - Tuesday, July 19th, 2011

In the mail today I received 4 total cards, 2 being autographs, 1 insert #'ed /5, and a 1/1 printing plate! Now onto the scans and card details.


CARD #1

Player: Aaron Brooks
Set: 2007 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection Patch Autograph
Brand: Exquisite Collection
Team: Houston Rockets
Card Number:  64
Serial Number: 183/225
Attributes: 3 Color Patch, Auto, #'ed, RC
Manufacturer: Upper Deck
Acquired Via: eBay.com


My Thoughts: This is Aaron Brooks best true rookie card coming from the high-end Exquisite Collection product. Although the patches are event-worn from the rookie photo shoot, I received a nice patch on this particular card and it fills the jersey slot nicely. Another great feature about this card is the full on card autograph as well as a thick card stock. I believe this is my 3rd or 4th Exquisite Rookie of Aaron Brooks and hopefully I'll be able to pick up a few more before he starts to tear it up for the Phoenix Suns.



CARD #2

Player: Jonathan Stewart
Set: 2010 Certified Emerald 
Brand: Certified
Team: Carolina Panthers
Card Number:  20
Serial Number: 5/5
Attributes: #'ed
Manufacturer: Panini
Acquired Via: eBay.com


My Thoughts: This is one of the low #'ed inserts I'm out to find each year, these mirror emerald cards are extremely rare and usually hold a print run of 5. I managed to get the last card of the run and it arrived in excellent condition. I know it isn't much, but I really enjoy the low #'ed inserts that are extremely rare and hard to come across. I can now check this one off the list!




CARD #3

Player: Jeff Maehl
Set: 2011 Upper Deck Football Yellow Printing Plate
Brand: Upper Deck Football
Team: Oregon Ducks
Card Number:  20A-55
Serial Number: 1/1
Attributes: Printing Plate
Manufacturer: Upper Deck
Acquired Via: eBay.com


My Thoughts: Jeff Maehl still remains an undrafted free agent due to the NFL lockout he continues to await his future in the NFL. I hope he manages to get an invite to a training camp and somehow make a team. Either way this is still a great pickup for my collection because he is featured in his Oregon Ducks uniform, the all white, one of my favorite uniform combos. And in the end, if he makes it in the league or not, he had a great career at Oregon and I can't go wrong with a 1/1 printing plate. Best of luck to Jeff as he tries to battle his way into the NFL.



CARD #4

Player: Tyler Anderson
Set: 2010 Bowman Platinum Collegiate National Team Patch Autograph Refractor
Brand: Bowman Platinum
Team: USA Collegiate National Team
Card Number:  PAR-TA
Serial Number: 678/740
Attributes: Jersey, Auto, #'ed, Refractor
Manufacturer: Topps
Acquired Via: eBay.com   

My Thoughts: Added yet another Tyler Anderson Bowman Platinum Autograph to the collection. These are starting to get boring when they arrive in the mail which probably means I have more then enough of this particular card for now. I think I'll start chasing the green and other colored variations more since they feature multiple colored patches compared to the single colored jersey's on the base autograph versions like this one. It's okay though, I managed to snag this one for at or around $5 which isn't bad for a auto/relic of a player I collect. 



Mail Day Grade: A
In the mail today, I received a variety of cards ranging from an autograph patch, low #'ed insert, and a printing plate. Today's mail, although it was only 4 cards packed a lot of cool cards and anytime you receive a high end exquisite rookie patch auto and a printing plate in the mail, it's a pretty good day!

As Always, feel free to share your grade for today's mail along with any other comments or questions.

- Tom 

Mail Day #3 - Monday, July 18th, 2011

In the mail today I received a total of four cards. Monday is always a great day for mail due to the lack of deliveries on Sunday. Anyway, on to the scans and details of the cards in the mail today...

Card #1

Player: Tyler Anderson
Set: 2010 Bowman Platinum Collegiate National Team Patch Autograph Green Refractor
Brand: Bowman Platinum
Team: USA Collegiate National Team
Card Number:  PAR-TA
Serial Number: 155/199
Attributes: 3 Color Patch, Auto, #'ed, Refractor
Manufacturer: Topps
Acquired Via: eBay.com

My Thoughts: This is a very nice looking card and it features a nice 3 color patch from Tyler Anderson's Team USA jersey. These green parallels all seem to feature some pretty nice patches so I'm probably going to try to get my hands on a few more of these because I got a feeling the price will skyrocket if Anderson ever makes it to the show. Bowman Platinum cards are extremely shiny which makes handling an issue at times when transferring into a new holder due to the sensitivity to fingerprints.

CARD #2

Player: Tyler Anderson & Scott McGough
Set: 2010 Bowman Sterling USA Baseball Dual Autograph Refractor
Brand: Bowman Sterling
Team: USA Collegiate National Team
Card Number:  BSDA-19
Serial Number: 30/99
Attributes: Dual Auto, #'ed, Refractor
Manufacturer: Topps
Acquired Via: eBay.com

My Thoughts: This is another card featuring 2010 Team USA members Tyler Anderson and Scott McGough, both played for Oregon and got drafted in 2011. This card looks very similar in comparison to the Bowman Platinum Dual Autograph featured in Mail Day #1. For some reason I think the Bowman Sterling design of this card beats the design of the dual auto of the same duo in Bowman Platinum. Either way, they are both great cards that I'm happy to have in my collection. Even better, I was able to add this card for a grand total of $3.74 delivered... an absolute steal in my opinion!


CARD #3

Player: Scott McGough
Set: 2010 Bowman Sterling USA Baseball Triple Jersey Gold Refractor
Brand: Bowman Sterling
Team: USA Collegiate National Team
Card Number:  USAR-33
Serial Number: 42/50
Attributes: Triple Relic, #'ed, Refractor
Manufacturer: Topps
Acquired Via: eBay.com

My Thoughts: Another Scott McGough card, this time it's a triple relic single colored gold refractor. This card is extremely gold and definitely capable of refracting light. Overall a great card minus the lack of an action shot, not a huge fan of the dugout pose. Anyway, I guess you can't go wrong with a gold refractor so I'd have to say this was a pretty sweet pickup. 


CARD #4

Player: Ben Crane
Set: 2003 SP Authentic Rookies Golf Authentic Signature
Brand: SP Authentic
Team: None
Card Number:  118
Serial Number: 1751/1999
Attributes: Auto, #'ed
Manufacturer: Upper Deck
Acquired Via: eBay.com

My Thoughts: Not a huge follower of golf products and Ben Crane is the first golfer that I've started to get some cards of so I'm assuming SP Authentic Golf should be comparable in quality to its Football, Baseball, and Basketball counterparts. One of the features I enjoy about SP Authentic is the fact that the autographs tend to be on card, this makes SP Authentic autographs more appealing in comparison to the numerous products that seem to feature sticker autographs.


Mail Day Grade: A+
Today was a pretty solid mail day in my opinion, not only due to some great autographs and a three colored patch on the Anderson, but mainly due to the fact that I was able to snag the Anderson/McGough dual autograph for such a bargain price at $3.74 delivered. Any dual autograph card featuring two Ducks, regardless of who they are is definitely a must have for my Oregon collection. Today's mail just featured baseball and golf additions to my Oregon collection which is great because I have just started to collect cards of former Oregon Ducks in these sports and so far I'm off to a great start.

And now the real reason as to why I gave today's mail a grade of A+... I received my University of Oregon Diploma in the mail today after several weeks of waiting it's finally ready to enter the frame I purchased for it!

As Always, feel free to share your grade for today's mail along with any other comments or questions.

- Tom

Mail Day #2 - Saturday, July 16th, 2011

In the mail today I received a single card, 2010-11 Certified Totally Red Autograph of Aaron Brooks of the Phoenix Suns.

Player: Aaron Brooks
Set: 2010-11 Certified Totally Red Autograph
Brand: Certified
Team: Phoenix Suns
Card Number:  124
Serial Number: 44/49
Attributes: Auto, #'ed
Manufacturer:  Panini
Acquired Via: eBay.com

My Thoughts: This is the first Aaron Brooks card I have which features him in a Phoenix Suns uniform. I'm not sure how many colored variations are in the 2010-11 certified set but hopefully I'll be able to obtain the other parallels and complete the Aaron Brooks autograph set. The 2010-11 Certified cards feature a unique texture for the background surrounding the players photos. While it is probably a bit difficult to notice the intricate background design in the scan if you're able to get a hold of a 2010-11 Certified card you'll be able to notice and feel the design with ease. Aaron Brooks is one of my favorite NBA players due to his small size and uncanny ability to get around larger defenders and score with his amazing quickness. 


Mail Day Grade: D
In the mail today I received an Aaron Brooks 2010-11 Certified Totally Red Autograph. Overall, I'd have to give this particular mail day a low grade due to the fact that I only received one card. Although the card is a nice low #'ed autograph parallel of one of my favorite players, it's a third year auto and I was able to pick it up for a relatively low price.


As Always, feel free to share your grade for today's mail along with any other comments or questions.

- Tom

Mail Day #1 - Friday, July 15th, 2011

This marks the first mail day posting for my new blog!


Although I'm posting these today (Saturday, July 16th, 2011), these cards came in the mail yesterday and I've decided that I'd use these cards as the first official mail day post!


In the mail today I had a total of six cards waiting for me, here's the breakdown and details for each of the cards...

CARD #1

Player: Dennis Dixon
Set: 2008 SP Rookie Threads Signing Day Autograph
Brand: SP Rookie Threads
Team: Pittsburgh Steelers
Card Number: SD-DD
Serial Number: 109/128
Attributes: Auto, RC, #'ed
Manufacturer: Upper Deck
Acquired Via: eBay.com




My Thoughts: This was an awesome card to add to my growing, but fairly small Dennis Dixon collection. I've never really pursued Dixon's cards to much out of college but have recently decided to try to obtain more of his rookie year autographs, memorabilia, and serial #'ed cards. Anyway, it was a very nice looking card for a decent middle range product in SP Rookie Threads that I couldn't turn down for a few bucks!


CARD #2

Player: Ed Dickson
Set: 2010 Absolute Memorabilia Blue Spectrum Holofoil
Brand: Absolute Memorabilia
Team: Baltimore Ravens
Card Number: 134
Serial Number: 1/5
Attributes: RC, #'ed
Manufacturer: Panini
Acquired Via: eBay.com



 My Thoughts: For some reason I really enjoy getting the low #'ed parallel's from products like Absolute Memorabilia even if its just a change in the border color. This particular pickup is neat because I now own 3 out of the 5 blue spectrum parallel cards produced for Ed Dickson! For a grand total of $7.58 shipped, I could not pass it up. The quest for the remaining two blue spectrum parallels begins...

CARD #3

Player: Scott McGough & Tyler Anderson
Set: 2010 Bowman Platinum USA Collegiate National Team Dual Autograph
Brand: Bowman Platinum
Team: USA Collegiate National Team
Card Number: BPDA-MA
Serial Number: 41/99
Attributes: Auto, pre-RC, #'ed
Manufacturer: Topps
Acquired Via: eBay.com

 My Thoughts: This is the beginning of my Oregon Ducks Baseball collection as Tyler Anderson and Scott McGough both played on the 2010 USA Collegiate National Team, thus the reason why they already have cards produced. Both Anderson and McGough were standouts at Oregon and got drafted in the 1st and 5th rounds respectively. Hopefully they manage to produce in the minors and eventually appear in the Majors. The card itself features a shiny foil front with the autographs both on sticker. Both players are also featured in their Team USA jerseys.

CARD #4

Player: Ben Crane
Set: 2003 SP Game Used Edition
Brand: SP Game Used
Team: None
Card Number: 70
Serial Number: 1389/1500
Attributes: Auto, #'ed
Manufacturer: Upper Deck
Acquired Via: eBay.com

My Thoughts: I've just recently discovered former University of Oregon golfer Ben Crane through his new YouTube video with his boy band 'Golf Boys' which also features pro golfers Bubba Watson, Hunter Mahan, and Rickie Fowler. This is my first autograph of Ben and I'm thinking about picking up more because his autographs run fairly cheap and do not appear to attract a lot of bids... he also appears to be quite the comedian.




CARD #5

Player: Ben Crane
Set: 2005 SP Signature Golf Authentic Fabrics
Brand: SP Signature
Team: None
Card Number: AF-BC
Serial Number: N/A
Attributes: Shirt Memorabilia
Manufacturer: Upper Deck
Acquired Via: eBay.com





My Thoughts: Here's another Ben Crane card I decided to pick up for a great price on the bay. The back states that the fabric on the card is a tournament-worn shirt worn by Ben Crane in an official tournament.




CARD #6

Player: Ervin Santana
Set: 2011 Topps Baseball Series 2 Yellow Printing Plate
Brand: Topps
Team: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Card Number: 439
Serial Number: 1/1
Attributes: Printing Plate
Manufacturer: Topps
Acquired Via: eBay.com

My Thoughts: It's always nice to add printing plates or any 1/1's to your collection whenever you can  especially at a very fair price. This particular Ervin Santana printing plate from 2011 Topps Series 2 was $10.50 shipped.





Mail Day Grade: A-

In the mail today I received my first Ben Crane Autograph and Jersey Memorabilia cards which made this one of the more interesting mail days I've had in a while. Golf cards are new to me and these are the first two I own. Adding another Ed Dickson Absolute Spectrum Blue card was also another highlight of the mail day, hopefully I can eventually find the last two to complete the print run! And to end it off with an Ervin Santana printing plate 1/1 completes a fairly strong mail day in my opinion. 

Feel free to share your grade for today's mail along with any other comments or questions.

- Tom 

First Post: Introduction!

Welcome to my blog, my name is Tom and I've finally decided to blog about sports cards, a small side hobby that I enjoy during my free time.

Anyone familiar with collecting sports cards or any collectable for that matter knows that the internet is a great resource when it comes to tracking down new additions for your collection. Since many of collectables are now purchased or traded via the internet, opening the mailbox to see it filled with bubble mailers has become pretty exciting! Within the sports card community, people often like to share the new cards they've added to their personal collections through forums, YouTube, and blogs. I've never really been successful with keeping any thread on sportscardforum.com up to date with my mail days so I've decided to give it another shot by creating this blog to track my mail days from this day forward. I really hope I'll be able to stick it out!

While the main purpose for this blog is to keep track of mail days, there will be times when I will discuss other issues within the sports card hobby or perhaps something eventful or worth writing about when it comes to sports in general.

Now a short insight into my background and who, what, and why I collect...
I'm from Honolulu, HI., and I used to collect sports cards and trading cards such as Magic the Gathering, Pokemon, etc. Eventually I grew out of the collecting phase of my life and got into other hobbies such as sports, video games, drawing/painting, model building, etc. I recently got back into the sports card hobby at the end of my senior year of high school in 2007. A friend of mine got me back into collecting when he asked me if I wanted to go check out a card shop near his house. This was the day that started it all... I left the shop that day with a 2006 Topps Finest Basketball Hobby Box... after ripping it open later that night at his house I was hooked! I was completely stoked to pull a Brandon Roy base rookie as well as the refractor version.

Here's a look at the cards that got me into the hobby!

Brandon Roy - 2006 Topps Finest Refractor RC #89 (Left) & Brandon Roy - 2006 Topps Finest RC #89 (Right)

Flash forward a few years now... I've just returned home to Hawaii from college at the University of Oregon where I spent the past four years earning my B.S. in Geography. During my years in Eugene, I've become a die hard duck fan and decided to attempt to collect cards of former ducks across all sports. The main focus of my collection being Football Cards since there are a handful of ducks currently in the NFL. I've also been able to obtain a few NBA cards since there are several ducks in the NBA such as Aaron Brooks and Luke Ridnour. Finding Ducks Baseball cards has been more challenging but I'm glad the school brought back baseball in 2009 so there's a chance Ducks will begin to enter the Majors in a few years. While the majority of my mail days will be focused on adding to my Oregon Duck Collection, I also collect cards of my favorite baseball team, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and my favorite basketball team, the Portland Trailblazers!

Look forward to discussing my mail days and other issues/topics within the sports card hobby with all of you within the near future! Feel free to post comments or questions for me and I will do my best to respond!

- Tom