giovedì 30 luglio 2015

What's in my mailbox? part 3

Recently I've been very active on ebay, and my COMC.com mailbox is loaded with cards...
Already shown what should be soon delivered to my doorstep, the Tier One waiting for shipping...let's see if there's something more to show!

Obviously there's more!

First, is a 2014 Panini Immaculate featuring a beautiful patch of Taijuan Walker, numbered to 99 and
featuring 2 or 3 colors (not sure)...
This is also the most expensive card for the post, since it costed an astronomical 5 dollars...

 
From now on, only dollar card, I promise...
 
I made a nice pairing for the next player, since I won a nice dual bat relic, and an auto relic of him..
Here's Albert Belle, first is a 2013 Tribute Famous Four Baggers (numbered to 99) and the second from 2014 Triple Threads Jumbo Unity (numbered to 99 as well).


 
 
 
 
Next is another 2014 Panini Immaculate, this time featuring both patch and autograph, this time the depicted player is Matt Davidson (it's numbered to 99, in case you're wondering).

Some more Topps Tribute before I end this post..
From 2013, Hanley Ramirez, numbered to 25
 
2013 again, but this time numbered to 99, featuring Yu Darvish

And to fill in the space between 25 and 99, what's better than a card numbered to 50? Here's Ryan Zimmerman
 
Frankly, the previous 3 cards could be from the same Jersey, since none of them has any particular detail, but who cares?!

There're so many more cards in the mailbox, and many others that are still in the processing phase, and others that haven't been delivered to COMC yet...but I'll show more in the coming posts...

CIAO!



 
 

giovedì 23 luglio 2015

What's in my mailbox? part 2!


Here's the second part of what I bought recently (mainly in June), and is currently on its way to Italy...

I already showed the Dontrelle Willis lot, the Panini and the Topps Tribute cards..so I guess it's time for the "random other brands mixed stuff" part of the June buying spree...

Let's start with a card that was originally part of a lot of 7, and constituted the main reason I bid on the lot, it's a 2003 Donruss Classic Dresscode numbered to 500, featuring a nice 3 color patch of Bobby Abreu


Then a 2006 Sweet spot card with 4 jersey pieces of Matt Cain

A unique, bigger and pistriped jersey piece is featured in the next card...is from this year Topps Museum, and numbered to only 35, here's my first Carlos Gonzalez relic!


At first, the next card was a bit weird, because it was listed as a "patch card", but from the ebay picture I didn't see any trace of fabric in it...but luckily enough the patch was there, and here it is, directly from 2003 Fleer Showcase, an A-Rod patch from when it was a Ranger!

 
In my previous post I showed a CJ Wilson auto, but this time I'm presenting you a patch, from 2013 Topps Museum...
I really like the contrast between the 3 plain white jersey pieces and the 3 color patch in the upper left spot...btw the card is numbered to 99
 
 
I save some more cards for an upcoming post, but for now I'm signing out....hope you liked the cards (of course I did)
 
CIAO!

What's in my mailbox?

Thanks to Jeroen at the dutch card guy, I started using a mailbox at COMC.com, it is extremely useful when buying from eBay as much as I do (especially recently)...

So in June and early July, as said in the previous posts, I bought a lot of singles, some of them I already showed in previous posts, and in this one I'm about ot show some more, that are currently travelling from US to Italy...

Also, the COMC mailbox service is very useful because once the card is processed you get a front and back scan of it with full details, and  this comes particularly helpful for my purposes, since this could be my first post with decent pictures...

So, I tried to add some new cards to my 2013 Tribute WBC set, which is pretty hard since the cards are a little pricey (for my 99cents standard, obviously), but I've been able to pick up something nevertheless...here's an Andre Rienzo patch numbered to 95, which is pretty strange to me because it seems a bit greenish background, that usually indicates a card numbered to 35..but still...here it is


A manufacturer that I'm really appreciating recently ( and not only because it is Italian) is Panini, that with sets like Immaculate and National Treasures puts out very cool cards, especially when it comes to patches, and I really don't care much if the cards don't show a team logo, as long as I can get cards like this for a buck...

This nice Yovani Gallardo is numbered to 99, and comes with a very nice and decently big chunk of Jersey, in an unusual color...
There will be more from Panini in next posts since I'm still waiting for cards to be processed and I have no pictures of them.

A set linked to the first one I mentioned is Topps Tribute, and the coming cards are from 2014 set, very nice set if you ask me...in order are a Pat Corbin to 30, a Tyler Skaggs to 99 and a Tony Cingrani to 99



 
 
At the same time I won a beautiful auto of CJ Wilson on pink background and numbered to 45


I really like winning cards on eBay for a dollar or a little more, and the service provided by COMC is absolutely satisfying...
I hope you like these cards, there are more from the same shipping, but you'll find them in the next post...
CIAO!




mercoledì 22 luglio 2015

Some Tier One stuff


I've recently been very active on eBay, mainly due to the fact that I won't be in this year's White Plains Card show. So in order to mantain a nice inflow of cards for the post summer archiving activities, I bought some lots on ebay, mainly orienting my choice on quantity...

But on the other hand, and in order to have something nice and new to show on my blog and my Instagram account, I've also purchased several nice singles (like those in my previous post)...

In this post I'll focus only on the 2015 Topps Tier One cards, since I just realized I picked up a nice number of them!

So without further adue, let's start!

 The first card is a 2015 Tier One of Shelby Miller, numbered to 399
 
 Same set and numbering, but diffrerent pitcher, this is Stephen Strasburg!
 
The next, still numbered to 399, features A-Gon

Now let's go back to the first player I mentioned, with a card with double the jersey but an eight (more or less) of the numbering..another Shelby Miller numbered to 50

Even more limited is the next card, featuring not one, not two, but three jersey pieces of Zack Greinke...and numbered to only 25!

Now let's go back to a card numbered to 50, it's the first not having a plain white jersey piece, this is Evan Longoria (and since it's numbered 01/50, was listed as an "ebay one of one", which means that there are 49 more out there) (I'll never understand this kind of stuff)...

The next has a very bad picture, but with my current hardware, the only way to feature a picture is taking it from the eBay auction..here's Hanley Ramirez, numbered to 249
New card, new player, and new numbering as well.. the next is numbered to 199, and it's a Matt Kemp jersey card

I also got a game used bat card of Don Mattingly from this set, but unfortunately the auction had no picture so I can't show it...
Now the second most satisfying thing of the whole post (the first is the cards themselves), aka the price I paid for these nice (and I think pretty thick) pieces of cardboard...
99 cents each...
Yes exactly 99 cents, this means that nobody out there cared for these cards, and I know that the majority of the players have in the meantime changed team, but come on!! This is way too easy for me!

Lastly the biggest hit I got from this set, and it's an autograph card...a C J Cron auto to 399, as usual got it for 99 cents, which made the steal even more cool


I have plenty more stuff to show, but in another post ok?
 
Thanks for reading my blog (I'm obviously speaking to myself) and keep Collecting!


martedì 14 luglio 2015

I've been Dontrelled!



Don't worry, it's not a new terrible and exotic desease, but the latest lot of cards I picked up on eBay!
The pictures that follow might not be excellent (are the exact image included in the auction), but can give you an idea of the type of cards I picked up..and at the end of the post you will also know how much this lot cost me... Please consider that despite I'm talking about a lot, every card had an auction for itself, so I won six separate auctions for these beauties! (and there were more, but unfortunately someone else snagged them from me at the very last moment)

First card in order of auction end is this 2004 SPX Young Stars numbered to an astronomical 999 (I know it's impossible to see it, but trust me). It features a nice on card auto and a Jersey piece with a pinstripe as well

 


The second card I got my hands on is still from 2007 Upper Deck Exquisite Signature Materials. Thi time the card is numbered to a more low 85, features a sticker auto, and four Jersey pieces, two of which even have a pinstripe.
I really like this set, despite the chipping that seems to define every card in it, and the fact that these cards are usually pretty pricey, no matter the player depicted or the quality of the patch included.



Next up are two cards from Sweet Spot, so if you know the brand you probably know already the look of those. The first is from 2004 and it's not numbered, while the second comes from 2006 and it's numbered to 125.




Two more cards to go and then I'll finally unveil the total price for the lot.

First in order is a 2007 Upper Deck MLB Artifacts, first I own from this set, and I must say that is pretty cool. The card is numbered to 50, and it is the first of the run, so a true ebay one of one! Despite that additional appeal to it, no noe seemed interested so it is now mine!



And saving the best for last, the card I like the most in this whole lot, it's a 2007 Upper Deck Black featuring two signatures and two game used Jersey chunks (with the familiar pinstripes) from Jeremy Hermida and yes, Dontrelle Willis! This card is numbered to 50. Here it is!



So, how did I do with these auctions?
Oh right, I haven't said how much I spent...well the most pricey card was the fifth in order, that cost me a pharaonic amount of 1,84 dollars!
So it goes by itself that the remaining five cards costed me exacly 4,95 USD total!
Which, if the Math's gods still assist me, means I have spent less than a dollar per card!

In my humble opinion, it has been a very steal, but I'm open to discussions about it, so please let me know what do you think!

Since I bought many more cards, I may decide to post other pictures and comments on them, it depends on the response to this post..who am I kidding, I'll post them anyway, even if just for my personal collector's pleasure!

A big CIAO to everyone and keep collecting!

mercoledì 1 luglio 2015

I'm back!

Well, to be honest, I never left...

But I changed media, in fact I started an Instagram account, which became active on Christmas Day, in order to post some Hits I got in the boxes purchased from Dacardworld as Christmas presents to myself.

I got to say that has been quite a blast, in these six months I posted about 100 individual pics of my cards, and acquired nearly 200 followers...which is unthinkable for a person like me that avoids both Facebook, Twitter and similar...
Using Instagram resulted also in a couple trades, as well as purchases directly from other sellers.

Using Instagram is also incredibly useful, since you can manage everything directly from the cellphone, taking a picture of a card, adding a brief comment, and voilà it is available to possibly the whole world..

The main obstacle I had so far in updating my blog has been the moving into a new house, in which I have no scanner, which basically prevents me from having pictures for the posts.. But since the post I'm writing right no will have no pictures at all, maybe I can continue to manage my blog without pictures (which would remove probably every interest in the readers), buy a scanner for the new house (which is not very useful except for the blog and is an expense I can prefer avoiding right now) or try something pretty scientific and futuristic...writing the post on my Pc and try to add the pictures from the app on my phone...

I think I'll go with the third option, hoping is feasable.. otherwise I'll try to get a scanner and go back to the old fashioned posts with pictures...

Btw, I have a ton (more or less) of new cards, some of those are currently in my mailbox at COMC, other are travelling right now across the US to get to the above mailbox, and other are still ongoing auctions on ebay...

One last tought I jus had, since I'm still trying to complete the 2013 Topps Tribute WBC set, a box currently costs 120 $ on Dacardworld (that price is equal to 6 Hits, and some base cards), to which I must add about 40 $ more dollars for shipping...total of 160$...
So why not spend the same amount of money (if not less) on ebay? Where I have the opportunity to choose in advance a card I don't already have, and have it shipped to my mailbox for a low price. An average price for the cards I'm looking for is 10$ (not considering super high end cards), meaning that for the price of a box with 6 mysterious card I could buy almost 10 or more cards of players from Chinese Taipei! This is a no brainer for me!

I'll keep you (if there's still anyone reading this blog) updated..

Best regards from Italy and keep collecting!