The hobby is still hot and it's pretty darn cool to see. As a collector who has been around the hobby the past four decades, I don't collect for financial reasons... but I'm not against it either. People collect for different reasons and as long as you're not hurting anyone else... I say collect the way that makes it fun for you... and enjoy.
I missed out on picking up Trout rookie cards, which kinda sucks since I can't use the excuse that I wasn't collecting at the time. I just completely whiffed and didn't chase any down before he exploded and went nuts. Oh well.
At least I didn't completely miss the boat on The Black Mamba. His cards soared back in January after he passed away and they've continue to rise. Today I'm just going to focus on his 1996-97 Topps rookie card. I'm not sure when these exploded in value, but they've been selling in the $250 to $350 price range the past week or so.
To put things into perspective... back in June... my buddy offered to sell me the entire 1996-97 Topps set for $80 and I passed. That was right about the same time I wrote about how his PSA 10 graded rookie card was selling for over $1000.
1996-97 Topps #138
This card has been selling for over $5,000 the last two weeks. Holy cow!
Okay enough chit chat about money and cards. Let's shift the focus to care packages. I received a pair of padded envelopes and a mystery PWE.
Let's start with a padded envelope from the Blogfather... Greg... also known as... Night Owl. He sent me twelve more cards for my 2017 Stadium Club set build:
He is the fifth blogger to contribute to this project that I completely forgot about until a month ago.
Night Owl joins Bob (The Best Bubble), Alex (Chavez Ravining), Chris (Trouble With The Curve), and Tom (Waiting 'til Next Year...) in lowering my set wantlist from 160 cards needed to less than 40. Holy cow.
Plus he hooked me up with a pair of Oakland A's for my collection:
2019 Stadium Club Sepia #174
2019 Stadium Club Black Foil #151
Thanks Night Owl for helping me take twelve steps closer to completing that Stadium Club set. I'm actually even more excited to add one of the business cards your daughter designed to my Blogger PC.
Next up is the mystery PWE I received that contained a stack of Oakland A's cards:
There was a return address on the envelope, but no name. Inside the words Ten on the Tenth and Athletics were written on a half sheet of copy paper, but that's it.
2020 Topps NBCD #20
I searched my emails to see if the address listed on the envelope popped up. It didn't. Then I looked through emails I recently sent that contained my address and Elliptical Man came up. A quick search on his blog revealed his Ten on the Tenth post.
According to Merrriam-Webster, the word "elliptical" means "relating to deliberate obscurity". Now I think I understand his username. Or maybe he just enjoys working out on an elliptical machine.
Thank you Elliptical Man! I always enjoy a good mystery.
The third and final care package I will be reviewing today was from Eric over at The Snorting Bull. He offered to help me out with my 1975 Kellogg's set build:
1975 Kellogg's #10
Although my goal is to build the set with no or minimal cracks, I'll happily use this copy as a place holder until I can eventually find an upgrade. That probably won't happen any time in the near future, as I have completely stopped looking at any of my eBay saved searches regarding 70's Kellogg's due to the extremely high price tags on individual cards I need.
Eric also included this very cool Durham Bulls minor league card of Hideki Matsui:
2012 Choice Sports Cards Durham Bulls #01
In addition to the Matsui, he also included a few other Durham Bulls...
Super stoked to see the Jake Cronenworth. The guy hit a grand slam on Saturday night... the Padres fifth slam in six games. Holy cow!
That Stephen Vogt is awesome too. He was a fan favorite with the Athletics a few years ago. If you want a chuckle watch this:
Thank you Eric for this awesome care package.
Not exactly sure when I'll hit you three back, but I will eventually. This is by far the busiest time of the year for me... and this year is particularly busy. I'm gonna predict that I'll get some blogger care packages together sometime around the Thanksgiving break... or maybe during the Christmas break. So stay tuned.
By the way, I didn't have time this weekend to open the final care package I received last week, but here's a preview:
This thing was heavy and he gave me a hint of one of the items he was going to send my way, but the rest is a giant mystery. Did I mention I enjoy a good mystery? Not sure when I'll get around to opening this up. I'm thinking it'll probably happen this upcoming Friday afternoon after my final class. Stay tuned.
Happy Monday and sayonara!
Awesome stuff! Blogger buddies are the best.
ReplyDeleteSo the Mamba RC sells for $250-300 unless someone happened to submit it for grading and it happened to be judged a perfect 10. Then it sells for more than $5000. How much different are the two?
ReplyDeleteAnyway. Guess it's good to get on the right side of one of these things every now and then.
You managed to get Holy Cows, Trout, Durham Bulls, and Night Owls into one post. Well done there!
ReplyDeleteZOO CITY.
ReplyDeleteI had two PSA 9 Kobe Topps RCs myself. Sold one earlier this year to fund my Jordan RC, was going to hold the other but good lord prices got SO insane I had to let it go. I paid $35 for it less than a year ago, sold it last Monday for...$1,100 (in about five minutes). Unreal.
ReplyDeleteIsringhausen has a really nice signature.
ReplyDeleteWow, that post traveled all over the place. ... It was nice to be able to contribute a set mission with you. Makes me feel a lot more productive than throwing Oakland A's at you.
ReplyDeleteVegas Dave made bank for sure. What’s in the box?
ReplyDeletethe diamond king - they sure are. even cooler than care packages is getting to meet and hang out with bloggers. i've had the pleasure to me a few over the years
ReplyDeletegca - yeah it does feel good, but the reality is i'm a collector who doesn't really sell anything (except boxes of excess crap that i try to dump super cheap), so $250 to $300 doesn't mean much since these cards are part of my kobe collection.
gregory - lol. i should have come up with an animal title
johnnys trading post - there you go
shoeboxlegends - nice. another solid flip. maybe one day i'll get into the selling mode. hopefully it won't be too late ;D
wax pack wonders - he sure does. maybe one day that card will be featured in its own post
night owl - thanks. i feel the same way about sending you card. i feel like any dodgers i send your way, you already have. i'd rather help you build sets.
sumomenkoman - thanks for the box... and giving me a title for that post ;D
I thought I had a copy or two of that kobe rookie but can't find any. Sad. Maybe I am.just remembering the 90s when I did
ReplyDeleteI am glad you liked the Cronenworth and Matsui cards. Figured they were something you may not run into on the other side of the country. I was disappointed that the Rays traded Cronenworth last off-season. He was a really popular player in Durham, not sure how well liked he is with the Padres fans. Also does not have many cards. Glad the cards found a good home.
ReplyDeletesport card collectors - basketball in general is crazy. i was looking up my duncans, kawhi, and o'neal rookie cards too and they're selling for decent money
ReplyDeletethe snorting bull - cronenworth hit another home run today and is batting over .300. if he continues to do that, padres fans will embrace him ;D