Sometimes it pays off to bow down to the Cardboard Gods. That's what I did and now I'm the proud owner of this glorious Gwynn:
If you're not familiar with this card, it's part of the 1999 Century Legends Epic Signatures set and it has been a card I have been trying to track down off and on since its release in June of 1999.
Why the obsession? Well it's pretty simple... Tony Gwynn is my favorite baseball player of all-time and this is one of my favorite autograph sets. Upper Deck's ingenious decision to use a light, black and white photo of Tiger Stadium as a background allowed the athlete's on-card autograph to stand out and be the focal point of the card right next to the portrait shot of the player.
Why the obsession? Well it's pretty simple... Tony Gwynn is my favorite baseball player of all-time and this is one of my favorite autograph sets. Upper Deck's ingenious decision to use a light, black and white photo of Tiger Stadium as a background allowed the athlete's on-card autograph to stand out and be the focal point of the card right next to the portrait shot of the player.
Anyways... getting back to the higher beings. Back in December, Eric over at The Snorting Bull posted his copy of this card and intense feelings of envy overcame me (exaggeration is totally underrated). The Cardboard Gods must have been reading my thoughts, because sixteen days later a copy popped up on eBay. A week after that, I won the auction with a bid of $42.01 (free shipping).
But it gets better... I had $22.22 in eBay Bucks, so I ended up paying only $19.79 for this amazing addition to my San Diego Padres PC.
Okay... it's time to get back into my old ways and submit a question of the day. Here is today's:
Okay... it's time to get back into my old ways and submit a question of the day. Here is today's:
What are some of your favorite autographed card sets?
Happy Monday and sayonara!
2004 Upper Deck Timeless Legends or Teams or whatever the ones with autographs were. I have Mike Cuellar, Boog Powell and Ellie Hendricks and a few others. The set had lots of guys that were not really 'legends' but the pictures are ones that you don't see very day and the sigs are on card. I like them.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the Gwynn, by the way. Mighty nice card.
DeleteThanks. Another cool thing about that set is that it featured guys not found in a lot of other sets. I recently grabbed a Gene Tenace for my A's PC from that set.
DeleteI'm not much of an autograph collector and I don't think I've paid more than $2 - $3 for an autographed card... which is why 1996 Leaf Signature Series is my favorite autograph set. I think I have 4 or 5 cards from this set, all to fill out player collections and all very cheap.
ReplyDelete...But just because I don't actively collect them doesn't mean I can't appreciate them, and that's a damn fine Gwynn. Congratulations!
Ditto to this one. I'll also hunt around for the occasional cheap auto, and there are players in that Leaf set that you don't see in many places; Bruce Ruffin, Chris Gomez, Archi Cianfrocco, Luis Lopez, etc.
DeleteThere's a part of me who wishes I wasn't an autograph collector, since most of my higher end purchases are autographs for my collection. I totally see where you two are coming from on the 96L Signature Series set. Good design and large checklist.
DeleteI love the current Leaf Valiant auto cards.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I own any... but whenever I see them, I think of those amazing Donruss Crusades inserts from the 90's. Great looking set.
DeleteI'm a big fan of UD's 2005 Signature Decades. It has a stellar checklist and they're all on card. Here's a sample of the ones I have in my collection:
ReplyDeletehttp://canthavetoomanycards.blogspot.com/2010/03/2005-signature-decades-1970s-hitters.html
Wow. Those are some amazing autographs you have. I think I have the Palmer from that set. I might need to pick up a few more though... especially that Carlton.
DeleteMy favorite autograph set is the Upper Deck Sweet Spot Classics Signatures Yankees Greats. I am still trying to put that set together, but I'm afraid It will be a while before I can. There are autographs like Mickey Mantle and Joe Dimaggio that are too expensive for me to pick up. I have been picking the cheaper signatures and I hope to complete it by the time I'm 80.
ReplyDeleteCan only imagine the names on that checklist. Best of luck on completing your set... it sounds like it's going to be challenge and fun at the same time.
DeleteAlways liked the 1998 SP Authentic Chirography design. Only have the Mussina.
ReplyDeletehttp://march11.hugginsandscott.com/cgi-bin/showitem.pl?itemid=31241
I only have one Mussina in the collection... and it's that card. I think I still own the Kotsay from that set too. Those were the two guys I pulled when I busted boxes of this stuff at my LCS back in the day.
DeleteEpic Signatures - Hockey Royalty. Full of Hall of Famers !
ReplyDeleteGreat set. I thought about building the hockey set too. Not sure my budget is going to agree with me though.
DeleteFantastic card for you Fuji - I'm always elated when someone gets an auto of his or her favorite player, even if you may already have plenty other ones!
ReplyDeleteFor me, the best Autographed Card Set is one of the oldest and the smallest - the 1994 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr & Mickey Mantle set. Man I'd love to pull the dual auto one of these days!
Nick J
Thanks. That Griffey/Mantle card is one of the coolest autographs ever created. I can't even imagine the feeling of pulling a copy from a pack. It might send me to the hospital.
DeleteCongratulations Fuji! I am glad you landed this card!
ReplyDeleteSomehow I think I owe you a thank you or two.
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