Thurman or Thruman Munson?

I was checking out my trio of 1977 Topps, 1977 Topps Burger King, and 1977 Topps Cloth Thurman Munsons when I noticed something interesting about Munson's autograph. See if you can spot anything suspicious among his three signatures:

Need some help? Check out how Mr. Munson spelled his first name on his Burger King card (middle signature). Notice he swapped the "r" and "u" and spelled it "Thruman". Now I may not be the best speller on the planet, but I definitely know how to spell my own name.

In fact after closer inspection, it's fairly obvious that all three facsimile signatures are different... which is completely understandable. However, Munson misspelling his name stirred my curiosity.

But that's what's cool baseball cards... or cardboard in general. I love looking at them and finding "errors" and "variations".

Have a great week... and sayonara!

Flea Market Finds #18: DVD & SLU

When: Sunday, May 20th

Where: Capitol Flea Market

What: a 1991 Kenner Starting Lineup & a DVD

How Much: $17

Allergies have been kicking my butt lately and my medicine makes me sleepy and lazy. So this morning, I decided to get out of bed and walk around the local flea market. It's the kind of flea market where vendors sell barrels upon barrels of garbage.

Do any of you watch Storage Wars? If so, it's the type of flea market you'd find Darrell Sheets at. You can find everything from headless Barbie's to brand new iPhone cases. And if you're lucky, there'll be three or four guys out there selling sports memorabilia.

Purchase #1: Disney's National Treasure DVD $2

There are tons of vendors with DVD's at this flea market. I'd say 95% of them are used, but they're affordable. That's why I'll rarely buy DVD's from the store, unless they're on clearance or hard to find.

I wasn't really looking around for DVD's, but I've been wanting to buy a copy of this movie for my classroom. And after closer inspection, I discovered it was still sealed. At two bucks, I couldn't pass it up.

Purchase #2: 1991 Michael Jordan Kenner Starting Lineup $15

My second and final purchase came towards the end of my stroll. I came across a guy who had a ton of collectibles (everything from 70's lunch boxes to Star Trek cards. He also had a box full of SLU's. The two that caught my eye were a 1995 Grant Hill and the Jordan you see above. He was asking $30 for the Hill, which seemed a little steep. On the other hand, I felt the Jordan was well worth the $15 he was asking. It's in almost perfect condition.

In fact, it looks like it was taken from the case and inserted right into the protective holder.

Most of the ones on eBay sell in the $20 to $40 range, but there have been a couple that sold for $10 (free shipping). Regardless, I'm willing to pay the extra $5 to know that mine is in amazing condition.

Sunday's question...

Do you watch Storage Wars? If so, who's your favorite character?

I'm a huge fan of this show. Although, I've been told a lot of the stuff on it is far from real. Usually, I'll pull for Barry since he's a fellow collector. But I also enjoy watching Brandi & Jarrod take down Dave. Damn... I hate Dave.

Happy Sunday everyone... and sayonara!

Saturday Night Five: Bob Feller Autographs

I know... I know. Bob Feller signed more autographs than any other baseball player in the history of the game. But besides his tremendous hall of fame career, isn't that one of the reasons he's so awesome?

It's impossible to calculate how much time he spent during his lifetime signing balls, baseball cards, photos, and other memorabilia items... but one thing is for sure... it wasn't for naught. There are thousands of baseball fans out there who cherish their Feller autographs and hold them dear to their heart.

It's unfortunate, but I never had the pleasure of meeting him in person. In fact, I didn't own an autograph of his until two years ago when I purchased a signed baseball (which I seem to have misplaced) from Steiner Sports.

But that's okay. I've picked up these autographed 8x10 photos to take the place of the ball:

The top two photos were purchased for $13.72 (tax & shipping included). Neither have a certificate of authenticity, but they look legit and came from the same online dealer where I purchased the next three autographed photos:

These three were a little more expensive. I paid $38.97 (tax & shipping included) for the trio.

However when you consider that PSA/DNA charges $20 to authenticate each Feller autograph, then $12.99 per photo isn't too bad of a deal. So what about you...

Do you own a Bob Feller autograph?

If so, did you acquire it in person?

I hope all of you are enjoying your weekend. Sayonara!

Back in the 90's, I actually wanted to pull this redemption card.

Believe it or not... there was a time when I actived chased a redemption card. Seriously... back in 1998 I picked up a few packs of 1998 Skybox E-X2001 and in hopes of pulling this redemption card:

That year a twenty-one year old pitcher had taken the hobby by storm and his name was Kerry Wood. While prospectors may have known his name before, on May 6th, 1998... Wood became a household name.

In just his 5th MLB start, he struck out twenty Houston Astros and pitched a one hit shutout.

His 1997 Bowman's Best, Bowman, and Bowman Chrome rookie cards took off. And although I would have loved to owned these, the card I truly wanted was the above redemption card.

E-X2001 was extremely popular, because of the hobby only distribution and a design that blended a holographic foil background and the increasingly popular acetate technology. The added knowledge of a Wood redemption card made this product impossible to find in my area.

So when I found some at my local card shop, I pulled the trigger and picked up a handful of packs. Unfortunately, I completely struck out.

In fact, I'm not even sure how I acquired that redemption card. My guess is that I found it in a 10¢ bin at a card show.

The same thing goes for this card:

It's the card Skybox sent collectors who redeemed their cards. As you can see, it's a pretty awesome looking card. Too bad it's not his rookie card. But it's a cheap, cool card nonetheless.

Thanks for the memories Kerry. I hope you enjoy your retirement. It's pretty cool that you ended your career striking out the final batter you faced.

Happy Friday everyone and sayonara!

A "Killer" New Product...

Are you a fan of Wacky Packages? Do you like eating cereal and watching horror films? If so, sit back and feast your eyes Joe Simko's latest project.

Simko, who is a freelance artist out of New York is primarily known for his Garbage Pail Kids and Wacky Packages artwork. But last year, he released a trading card set that parodies famous horror films and popular cereal brands called Cereal Killers.

Two months ago, his company Wax Eye released the 1st series of Cereal Killers sticker cards, which parallels last year's product. I fell in love with the product the first time I laid eyes on it and decided to buy an eight box case.

Last week, I busted seven boxes and built several of the 55 card sticker sets.

Here's a look at my five favorite stickers:

The sticker set looks amazing and covers every horror film and cereal product imaginable. Similar to the GPK products, some of the card backs contain puzzle pieces. There are three puzzles you can build in this first series of stickers:

An if that weren't enough, there are three different insert sets to chase:

Silver Spoon Foil Cards (2 per box)

I'm missing card #7 for my set. If anyone out there has an extra for trade, please contact me. I have a couple of doubles and would love to finish this cool looking foil set.

Poster (1 per box)

Gross-ery Aisle Tryptic Magnet Set (1:2 boxes)

According to the website, there were 2,000 hobby boxes produced and half of them contained one of these magnets. I'm glad I was able to complete a set from the boxes I opened.

Joe Simko Sketch Cards (1:2 boxes)

If you've followed my blog long enough, then you probably know I'm a huge fan of sketch cards. And these were without a doubt the main reason I picked up a case of this stuff. I wasn't lucky enough to pull a colored sketch card, but I'm not the least bit disappointed with what I pulled. Simko put an amazing amount of effort and detail into each of these cards. All four of them will be added to my sketch card collection.

The fourth and final sketch card was pulled in my 7th box. So if the stated odds are correct, then the final box will contain another magnet insert. And since I completed the magnet set, there wasn't any need to bust the last box.

I'm planning on taking it to the flea market next month to see if they'll sell. Hopefully I'll be able to recoup some of the money I dropped on this case. If not, I'll be giving some of the packs away in my annual contest that will begin next month. At the very minimum, I'll be giving away a complete 55 card set.

By the way, for those who are interested... I've read online that a second series of trading cards might be released this summer. If so, I'll definitely be in line to pick some up.

Happy Thursday everyone... and sayonara!