Beast Mode In Seattle

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With the unlikely win by the Seattle Seahawks yesterday over the defending Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints and Marshawn Lynch's incredible touchdown run, I thought I'd show off a few of the Lynch cards in my collection.

Being a Buffalo Bills fan, there really aren't too many current players to collect. At least, not many to get too excited about. I've been a fan of Lynch since Buffalo Drafted him with the 12th overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft. The one-time Pro Bowl selection ('08) is only 24 years old and obviously has some talent. That's why I was disappointed when the Bills traded him to the Seahawks earlier this season. Getting a 4th round pick in this years NFL Draft and a conditional pick in next years didn't help to ease the pain either.

I had hoped the Bills would have held on to the powerful young back to go along with the speedy C.J. Spiller. Fortunately for Seahawks fans and viewers yesterday, that wasn't the case. I'll continue to collect Lynch auto's, ref's and patch cards. His 65 yard run last night reminds me of some of the other famous runs in NFL history like the "Look at that!" MNF Bo Jackson run down the sidelines or the Marcus Allen Super Bowl XVIII run. Lynch's running style may not be the most graceful or the fastest, but he does have a running style. And that running style is called… "Beast Mode".

Mail Time and It's A Good One: Yankees, Bills, Auto's, Ref's, Patches!!!

I'm always excited about any new cards I'm able to add to my collection, but I'm really pumped about this recent haul. I normally don't buy this many cards in a week, but I was able to get a few nice deals. Auto'd cards are always great and there's a few of those here, but the bright red Precious Metal Gems Smith card certainly is an eye catcher. So without any further ado, here are a few of my recent eBay conquests:

'10 Francisco Cervelli Topps 206 Auto

'95 Juwan Howard Topps Finest Ref.                                 '08 Marshawn Lynch UD Heroes Auto 14/25

'04 Winfield/Mattingly Upper Deck Ultimate Dual Materials 30/60 

'04 Lee Evans UD Ultimate RC Signatures 150/250      '97 Bruce Smith Metal Universe Precious Metal Gems 18/150              

I'm Just A Glutton For Punishment: My Marshawn Lynch Addiction

('08 Marshawn Lynch Upper Deck Exquisite Endorsements 08/30)

The Buffalo Bills are enduring their worst season in franchise history, and that means a few things for this collector and fan. The obvious is that football Sundays are a bit difficult to watch. Less obvious, but just as crucial, there really aren't too many players to collect on the Bills right now. I've added a few cards to my PC of a few Bills players, but it's tough when none of those players are doing much on the field. The same goes for Marshawn Lynch. I've picked up a number of nice UD Exquisite and Ultimate auto'd/jersey cards the past year, and it seems like I just can't stop. I guess I'm just a glutton for punishment.

He was recently traded to the Seattle Seahawks and will hopefully start putting some big numbers up. He's still only 24 years old and has a boat load of talent. It'd be nice if he could make another Pro Bowl or ten. That would certainly help the value of these cards go up, but it's really not about the book value. I really like these Lynch cards. Maybe its the crazy "Marshawn Lynch 23" signatures or his tough running style. Whatever it is, I'm Just A Glutton For Punishment.

The '09 UD Exquisite Football Collection Experiment

UD released its 2009 Exquisite Football Collection in late March. Since then, I've wondered if I could actually add one or two of these awesome cards to my collection. Let's face it, these Exquisite cards aren't too cheap. They feature beautiful designs, great multi-colored patches and on-card auto's all on a thick card-stock. In addition to all those great qualities, they also carry hefty price tags. Whether you're lucky enough to buy a case, box or some singles, you're going to spend a pretty penny. Still, a collector can dream.

Lucky for me, my birthday came around earlier this summer, and I saved a few extra bucks for a birthday gift. I was going to by a box of basketball cards, but I'm like a kid in a candy store when I see new products regardless of sport. Actually, I'm like me in a candy store (Nerds and Vanilla Charleston Chews). So as my birthday approached in June, I decided to use my self-appropriated funds to buy a few '09 UD Exquisite Football cards instead of a box of hoops cards.

I had $100 saved up for my birthday basketball box, so that meant I now had $100 for a few Exquisite Football cards. My goal was to buy five or six cards with that money. So far, I've spent $53 on five cards (including shipping) from that original $100. I think I've done a pretty good job of finding good deals and nice cards that I'm excited to add to my collection. I'm no math major, but that leaves me $47 to add one last really sweet Exquisite card. Here're the five cards I've added to my collection thus far:

('09 UD Exquisite Lee Evans Auto-Biography Hinged Booklet)