Trade: Lebron For Enroth/Mullin Patches

I recently got a few cards in from a completed trade I worked out with Greg over at Plaschke, Thy Sweater Is Argyle. First off, let's get one thing straight. Greg might have the coolest blog name ever. Second, it's not just the name of Greg's blog that's cool. He regularly posts interesting commentary on the sports card world, his collection and the L.A. Dodgers. So if you haven't already, click here to checkout his blog.

Greg and I have been trying to put a trade together for sometime. Unfortunately, I think it was more of me and my collecting habits that held the trade up. Although I do have a ton of different collections going right now, I'm picky when it comes to trades. We got it done thought, and I hope Greg enjoys the LeBron patch I sent. I know I'm certainly excited to add the 2010 Upper Deck Ultimate Debut Threads Jhonas Enroth Jersey card and 2011 Panini Limited Legend Chris Mullin Jersey card. You can see the cards below. Thanks for the trade Greg!!!

Here's a link to my trade page. Let me know if you have anything I'm looking for or you see anything you like. Happy collecting and… "Enjoy Every Bounce of the Ball".

2011 Panini Limited Legend Chris Mullin Jersey

2010 Upper Deck Ultimate Debut Threads Jhonas Enroth Jersey

What's Your Favorite Teams Best Overall NFL Draft Choice?

As I'm sure it is for many of you, the NFL Draft is akin to a national holiday for me. I look forward and analyze every major sport's draft, but the NFL's draft has a certain added excitement about it. I've been watching the it year after year for as long as I can remember and this year will be no different. Although I have to work until 9:00 PM EST tonight, I shouldn't miss too much. Besides, there are three days to soak in every pick from the #1 Overall selection to "Mr. Irrelevant", and I plan on going through every single pick.

Aside from all the Mel Kiper Jr. mock drafts (I'm a big fan of Mel by the way) and beer advertisements (I also like beer by the way) that highlight this event, the NFL Draft is a time to really look at the state of your favorite NFL franchise. I certainly look ahead to all of the possibilities, but I also look back at some of the picks made in previous years. My Buffalo Bills have made their fair share of uninformed picks, but they have also made some very good decisions as well. This got me thinking about which draft decision was the best in the Bills draft history. So without further adieu, here's the Buffalo Bills best overall NFL Draft choice/selection/decision:

I know former Bills Defensive End Bruce Smith was the #1 Overall Draft pick in the 1985 draft and that makes my pick for the franchises' best draft selection a bit of a cop out, but their were some analyst who had Defensive Tackle Ray Childress as the #1 prospect. So it wasn't a complete no brainer. However, I do think it worked out well for the Bills and Smith as he helped lead the Bills to four straight Super Bowl appearances while eclipsing the all-time NFL sack record with 200 career sacks.

The 2-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year also made 11 Pro Bowls and was a 9-time NFL First Team selection. He was also recently enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2009. Certainly, if there is a Bruce Smith type player available in this year's draft, we in Bills country want him.

As for the '97 Metal Universe Precious Gems card, it's pretty awesome. All of these Metal Universe and Precious Gems cards look amazing, but this Smith one looks especially cool. Sure, I'm just a little bit biased, but I really like how the vibrant red background looks against the blue and white of Smith's jersey. Like the Bills' 1985 1st Round Draft Choice, this card lives up to it's potential.

I certainly could have gone a few different ways with this choice of which Bills' draft decision was their best, but the impact Smith made on the Bills franchise was immense. I'll post a few cards from some of the other Bills' draft choices over the next couple days, so stay tuned for that. In the meantime, let everyone know what you think was the best draft choice/decision/selection of your favorite NFL franchise?

The Jordan Collection (Part 11): '92 SkyBox Salutes

'92 SkyBox Salutes Michael Jordan

All these years and tons of autographed or jersey cards later, and I'm blogging about a 1992 SkyBox Michael Jordan card. Some collectors might write this card off because it hold little monetary value, but this is one of the coolest looking cards I own. Actually, any early SkyBox card looks great. These were so simple and yet such fun. I hope you enjoyed this abbreviated Jordan Collection post and of course… "Every Bounce of the Ball".

Tyler Meyers In The Hoopography House: 2011 Upper Deck SPx Shadow Box

'11 Upper Deck SPx Shadow Box Tyler Myers

It's official, I can't enough of Upper Deck's SPx Shadow Box cards. This time I've been swallowed up by the excitement of the NHL Playoffs and just couldn't pass up this 2011 Shadow Box card featuring Buffalo Sabres' defender Tyler Myers. Myers is one of the best young players in the NHL and I'm just glad he's wearing a Sabres' sweater right now.

As for these SPx Shadow Box cards, they're really cool. This is the second year Upper Deck has released versions of these inserts. They are case hits inserted into the football and hockey products. I hope they release versions in the basketball product. Each card is very thick and has a raised 3D image of the featured player in the middle of the card.

I have two Thurman Thomas Shadow Box cards. One is from his playing days with the Buffalo Bills (click here) and the other is from his Oklahoma State University days (click here). Aside from the look of the Myers card, I'm really excited about adding this one to my collection as the Sabres are currently leading the Philadelphia Flyers in a best of seven first round playoff matchup. Hopefully the Sabres can close out the series today.

Happy Easter and, "Enjoy Every Bounce of the Ball".

Box Review: 2011 Panini Classics Basketball

LeBron James Blast From The Past Insert

2011 Panini Classics Base Card Back & Front 

2011 Panini Classics Inserts & Jersey Card

2011 Panini Classics RC Auto's & Dress Code Jersey

One of my favorite basketball releases from last year was Panini's 2010 Classics Basketball. That's why I was so excited to receive a box of 2011 Classics Basketball. I busted it open last night and had some time to get my thoughts together for this review. It certainly was a fun 18 pack box to open, and the four hits didn't hurt either. As usual, I'll go through what I liked and didn't like from the box in this review. Stay tuned to Hoopography for a future contest/giveaway.

Review:
First off, I pulled a Landry Fields RC on-card auto. That might not mean much to some collectors, but I was pumped to see this card come out of one of the first packs I eagerly ripped open. It's certainly a very nice addition to my Knicks collection. So with my excitement for the Fields auto exclaimed, let's get on with the rest of the review.

If you like great vibrant color, Classics has you covered. Panini is often criticized by collectors for not using team colors in certain products. It's a criticism that I share, however, Classics smashes that complaint. There isn't one card that doesn't effectively utilize color in the design. That color is accompanied by some nice foiling that is unfortunately difficult to see in the scans. I think it's apparent that I really like the overall design of the product.

The inserts are nice. Again, color is used nicely in the inserts just as with the base cards. I'm always a fan of cards featuring legends and you can't really go wrong with legends like Scottie Pippen, Oscar Robinson, Larry Bird and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. There's also a nice variety of different inserts from the Classic Moments to the Classic Combos. The inserts are very fun.

Finally, the hits were nice, but not overwhelmingly exciting. Sure, I love the Fields RC auto and the D. Wade jersey card is cool, but the single color jersey patches aren't going to heat up the Bay anytime soon. I understand that this particular box didn't yield a multi-color patch and I've seen some nice ones on the Bay, but it would have been nice to pull a card with a bigger or multi-colored patch. I will also point out that the two auto's I pulled were very nice on-card auto's. This is a big plus for Panini Classics and was certainly a highlight to last year's product as well.

My final thoughts on Panini's 2011 Classics Basketball are positive. I love the overall design and the on-card auto's make Classics a nice buy. I had more fun busting open this box than I've had in a long time and I certainly recommend other collectors to checkout 2011 Classics Basketball. I'm going to keep the Landry Fields RC auto and I'll be giving some of the cards away as team packages to a few bloggers I know collect specific teams, but stay tuned to Hoopography for a contest/giveaway. Let me know what your thoughts are on Panini's 2011 Classics Basketball and of course… "Enjoy Every Bounce of the Ball".

Barry Sanders In The Hoopography House: 1997 Upper Deck SPx Pro Motion

Here is my most recent eBay conquest and addition to my four sport Upper Deck SPx insert collection. As I'll outline below, I am currently trying to put together four SPx insert sets from the late 90's that feature similar diecut and hologram designs. This Barry Sanders is the second football card to the collection thus far and is pretty sweet if I do say so myself. Here's a little more background on these Upper Deck SPx inserts.

As many of you know, I currently have what seems like a thousand collections going. I can't help it. There're just so many great cards, magazines, kicks and posters out there to collect. One of the first items that got me back into the hobby several years back was the rediscovering of late 90's SPx inserts. Mainly, the '98 SPx Duo View hockey cards, '97 and '98 SPx Pro Motion basketball cards, the '97 SPx Cornerstones baseball cards and the '97 SPx Pro Motion football cards. With the exception of the '98 Pro Motion cards, these sets are all very similar featuring cool die cut designs and crystal clear holograms. Because of those design attributes, I've always liked them.

So far, I have a few cards in four out of the five SPx sets listed above. The first set I started building was the '97 SPx Pro Motion basketball set. In my humble opinion, it's highlighted by one of the best looking Michael Jordan cards in the hobby (click here). Ironically, that's the only card I need to complete the five card set. Even without the Jordan, I'm pretty excited to be 80% done with the set. Unfortunately, I'm not as far with the other four sets. I have the '97 Jeter/A-Rod Cornerstones card pictured above, the '97 Karim Abdul-Jabbar Pro Motion card pictured below and the Barry Sanders card pictured at the beginning of the post.

If anyone has any SPx insert cards from the five sets I'm collecting, let me know. I'd love to get these collections jump started with a few trades. You can look at my want lists and trade album by clicking here. There are a few jersey and auto'd football, baseball and basketball cards in there now. I'm always open to trades with fellow bloggers as well as anyone who is a member of Collectors Card World and Sports Card Forum. Thanks for reading and… "Enjoy Every Bounce of the Ball".

The Oak Man Goes Crazy!!!: '97 Charles Oakley Autographics

'97 Charles Oakley SkyBox Autographics

I've seen some crazy eBay sales in my time, but this '97 Charles Oakley SkyBox Autographics sale from earlier this week is institutionally insane (click here). I'm a New York Knickerbockers fan and liked The Oak Man, but $90.99 is a bit ridiculous for this card. Don't get me wrong. I would love to add this card to my collection. Oakley has a great signature and the SkyBox Autographics cards are great. I've even bid on a number of these as they've come up on the Bay, but not for close to $100. Actually, I've been outbid at around $30.00 - $35.00.

So I guess there are two questions to ask regarding this recent eBay sale. Why did this particular '97 Charles Oakley SkyBox Autographics card go for nearly 3x's the normal selling price and would you purchase this card for that price? Happy collecting and… "Enjoy Every Thrill of the Auction".

Poll: What Will You Do With You Tax Refund?

The Jordan Collections (Part 10): '96 Jam Session Show Stoppers

'96 Jam Session Michael Jordan Show Stoppers

We all have our "White Whales", and I'm no exception. Sometimes I feel like there are 1,000 sports memorabilia items I'm chasing at the same time, but every now and then I add a piece to my collection that really gets my blood flowing. This week one of those items came in from a conquest on the Bay. This '96 Jam Session Show Stoppers Michael Jordan card is really a centerpiece in my collection. I'm currently trying to put this set together and of course, the Jordan is the toughest card in the set to acquire.

90's insert sets came in all shapes and sizes. Whether it was die cuts or holograms, card designers let their imaginations go wild. One prominent design feature was foiling. I was a big fan of foiled card surfaces back in the day and continue to be a fan to this day. Most cards that have foiling incorporated in the designs today are mainly used as an accent on boarders or around jersey pieces. That's fine by me as the foiling always looks great and really dresses a card up even if it's just used as an accent. However, some companies went all out with foiling during the 90's by creating entire card surfaces made up of the stuff.

The '94 Fleer Ultra Power in the Key set (click here) is a prime example of the use of foiling during the 90's. If that's not enough foiling for you though, checkout this '96 Jam Session Show Stoppers Michael Jordan insert. Not only is the entire surface foil, but it's a taller 2.5 x 4.75 inch as apposed to the traditional 2.5 x 3.5 inch card size. That means a whole lot more foiling. Which I like.

The scan really doesn't do this card justice. These Jam Session cards look a little better in hand. The entire set consists of nine cards and were inserted into hobby boxes at a ratio of 1:48. I only have the David Robinson and Jordan from the set, but I'd love to put this set together. Some of my favorite 90's players are featured in the set including Michael Jordan, Anfernee Hardaway, John Stockton and Grant Hill. Not too shabby of a player checklist.

It's always nice to get the Jordan out of the way when building a set. It's usually the toughest and most expensive card in a set. These Show Stoppers cards don't appear on the Bay that often, but they're also not the most known about cards either. hopefully I can grab a few more of these soon. So if anyone has any cards from this set, let me know. Here's a link to my trade album and want lists. I'm certainly open to trades for this… Yet Another 90's Insert Set.

Happy Collecting and… "Enjoy Every Bounce of the Ball".

Thurman Thomas In The Hoopography House: 2010 Upper Deck Exquisite Premium Patch 26/75

2010 Upper Deck Exquisite
Thurman Thomas Premium Patch

2010 Upper Deck Exquisite Football was recently released and I'm definitely on board. I'm still not sure if I like it better than the 2009 version, but it's certainly deserving of the Exquisite name plate. With my Exquisite gushing done, it's on to the card.

This Thurman Thomas Premium Patch card looks better in hand. I'm not sure what it is about thicker card stock, but cards just look better with thicker stock. Also, the white patch is actually a piece of painted fabric from the numbering or arm sleeve. It's a nice little addition to my Thomas collection.

Aside from getting a nice new card of one of my favorite Buffalo Bills legends, I got a pretty sweet deal on this item. I paid exactly $6.00 for the card including shipping. The seller even sent the card in a snap magnet holder. I put many of my cards in snap mag holders, so that was a nice surprise. Just as thicker stock cards look better, so do cards in snap mag cases.

This is the first 2010 Exquisite Football card I've gotten in so far. I hope to buy a few more, especially at the price of this card. Happy collecting and… "Enjoy All The Exquisiteness of Your Memorabilia".

Contest (2011 Panini Absolute Basketball): And The Winner Is...

Kevin Love Star Gazing jersey/auto #'d/10

Congratulations to The Diamond King. There were many close guesses in the Absolute Memorabilia contest, but The Diamond King came within two of the correct total assists, rebounds and points of Jason Kidd, Kevin Love and Blake Griffin respectively. J. Kidd had a total of 655 assists, K. Love had a total of 1,112 rebounds and B. Griffin finished with a total of 1,845 points. I'm no math major, but the summation of those three numbers is 3,612.  The Diamond King had the closest guess with 3,610. Congratulations!!!

Please email me your mailing address at Hoopography@yahoo.com so I can get the 2011 Panini Absolute Memorabilia box out to you. You can checkout the entire contents of the box and the box review here. Thanks to everyone who participated and… "Enjoy Every Bounce of the Ball".

Jason Kidd In The Hoopography House: '97 Topps Finest Gold Refractor

'97 Topps Finest Jason Kidd Gold Refractor

Here's another recent addition to the collection. I'm a fan of old school Jason Kidd inserts, auto's and refractors. I also like the Topps Finest Gold refractors from 1997. I have a good portion of the set already including some of the bigger names in the set. You can see a few of them here. This Kidd gold refractor certainly is a very nice addition to the set.

Jason Kidd has been one of the most consistent point guards in NBA history. He was highly tauted coming into the Association as the 2nd overall pick in the 1994 NBA Draft by the Dallas Mavericks. Ironically, Kidd rejoined the Mav's after stints in Pheniox and New Jersey. The 10-time NBA All-Star has also been selected to the All-NBA First Team 5-times and has two Olympic Gold Medals from 2000 and 2008. In my eyes, Kidd is a surefire first ballot Hall of Famer. The one piece of hardware still missing from his mantel is a championship ring. Maybe if Kidd plays forever, which I think he just might, he can finally get to the top of the NBA mountain.

This card cost just under $10 shipped which isn't too bad. Many of these gold refractors sell for a pretty penny including "Penny's". I do have a good number of them, but I'm no where near putting the entire set together. I'm going to concentrate on putting a few of the other sets I'm collecting together, but I'll continue picking these cards up as I go. I hope you enjoyed a peak inside the Hoopography House. Happy collecting and… "Enjoy Every Bounce of the Ball".

Who Would You Collect…?

We all have our favorite's who we collect and there are plenty of reasons for those favorites. Sometimes it's a hometown player or a legend who brings back fond memories. However, there are certainly players who are at the top of the hobby that everyone would like to collect, but their cards/memorabilia might be out of reach for some collectors including this one. I thoroughly enjoy collecting cards, posters and kicks from my favorite players, but I also wouldn't mind adding an Upper Deck Exquisite or Panini National Treasures RC of Mr. Blake Griffin to my collection. They're about $1,000 out of my price range, but this did give me a good idea for a blog question. More specifically, what young/rookie player at the top of the hobby world right now would you start collecting regardless of finances?

Robert Meachem In The Hoopography House: Auto'd Blog Prize

This 8 x 10 Robert Meachem Panini Authentic Auto is pretty cool, unfortunately, I could careless about Robert Meachem. For that reason, I recently loaded this item up in my Trade Bait Album on the Hoopography Facebook page. I won the auto'd pic in a Panini contest sometime around Thanksgiving. It took a bit for me to get it scanned and posted, but it's finally up here. Check out my Trade Bait Album and let me know if there is anything you're interested in putting a deal together for.

Happy Collecting and… "Enjoy Every Thrill of the Trade".

Glenn Robinson In The Hoopography House: '97 EX-2000 A Cut Above

1997 EX-2000 A Cut Above Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson

One of the coolest cards in my collection is this Glenn “Big Dog” Robinson 1997 EX-2000 A Cut Above insert. The Cut Above set is one of the more sought after and best designed insert sets of the late 90’s. They’re also fairly rare with a pack insertion ratio of 1:288. The set also features some of the biggest stars and superstars from that era including M. Jordan, K. Garnett, A. Hardaway, A. Iverson, G. Hill, S. O’neal and more. I’ve wanted to add one of these cards to my collection for a longtime and finally was able to pick up this Glenn Robinson for just under $9. Not bad, as the card has a book value of $40. Here is a link to the last eBay sale for this card (click here). I would also like to add the A.I., “Penny” Hardaway and Grant Hill cards to my collection. Ok, who am I kidding? I would like to put the entire set together. Un-fortunately, I don’t think I can swing the same deal on those cards as I did the Robinson. Many other collectors have been searching for these awesome 90's inserts and prices have skyrocketed.

The card looks great and even better in-hand as it has a refractor effect on the front surface. The back of the card is cool too as the “saw” theme/graphic is carried on to the back. The set becoming harder and harder to put together as prices have gone up considerably. There are only ten cards in the set and it's no surprise that the Jordan will hurt your wallet the most at around $250 - $300.

The “Big Dog” is one of those players that seems to get overlooked by many fans and collectors today, but his 11 year NBA career numbers don’t lie: 20.7 points & 6.1 rebounds/game. The former #1 overall draft choice of the Bucks in the ’94 NBA Draft also made two All-Star games and was selected to the ’96 Olympic Dream Team II.

A Much Deserved Nod To HOF'er Chris Mullin

2010 Panini Classics Significant Signatures Chris Mullin #'d 15/25

Ok, Chris Mullin hasn't been enshrined into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame just yet, but he will be on August 13th. I watch the enshrinemnt ceromony every year, but I'll be extra excited for this year's ceremony to see one of my favorite players get his just due. Along with Mullin, Dennis Rodman, Tex Winter, Herb Magee, Artis Gilmore, Arvydas Sabonis, Teresa Edwards, Reece "Goose" Tatum, Tom "Satch" Sanders and Tara VanDerveer will all be inducted. It's a very nice class that I can't wait to listen to while they relive their basketball journeys.

As for Mr. Mullin, the former St. John's star was selected to five NBA All-Star teams, won two Olympic Gold medals, was a numerous All-NBA performer and the '85 John Wooden Award Winner. He averaged 18.1 points, 3.5 assists, 1.6 steals and 4.1 rebounds/game during his sixteen year career. More impressive than all those accolades and stats, was Mullin's sweet left-handed jump-shot. The Brooklyn, NY native is well deserving.

As for the hobby side of things, I suppose more and more Mullin cards will be posted on the Bay as we get closer to the induction ceromony. That's a good thing for a Mullin collector like me, but hopefully the prices of those cards wont go up. Fortunately for me, I've been able to grab a few very nice on-card auto'd cards like this 2011 Panini Classics Significant Signatures 15/25 card of Mullin. This will look great next to my prized Mullin card seen here.

Here's a fun Nike Commercial from '93. I have several Mullin TV commercials bookmarked, so I'll most likely continue to post these videos right here on the blog and on the Hoopography Facebook page right up until the Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony. For now, enjoy the nice work the marketing department at Nike did back in '93.

Contest: 2011 Panini Absolute Memorabilia Box Giveaway

Do you think you can guess some season ending stats of some of the NBA's best? If so, you can win an entire box of 2011 Panini Absolute Memorabilia I recently reviewed. To see every card included in the prize/giveaway, click here. So I suppose you want to know the rules for the contest:

1. You must be a follower of Hoopography. If you do not have a Blogger account, you can join the fun on the Hoopography Twitter page and/or Facebook page.
2. One guess per contestant.
3. Because three of the bigger cards from the box feature Jason Kidd, Blake Griffin and Kevin Love, I am asking you to guess the regular season total number of assists Jason Kidd, points Blake Griffin and rebounds Kevin Love will have combined. So I'm looking for the summation of those three numbers. Please note, it doesn't really matter if you guess the individual numbers correctly, but rather, the summation of those numbers.
4. Entires will be accepted until this Friday, April 8th (11:59 PM ET) and a winner will be announced on Thursday, April 14th. That is one day after the last day of the NBA regular season.
5. There are no extra entries for publicizing this contest on your own blog, however, one of my goals with Hoopography is to network and connect with as many collectors from around the world as possible. In other words, it would be appreciated if you publicize the contest to get as many collectors involved as possible even though it's not required to enter the contest.
6. I will utilize random.org to determine a tie break if needed.
7. If no one guesses the exact number, the closest guess will be the winner (even if that number is over the actual number).
8. Happy Collecting and… "Enjoy Every Bounce of the Ball".

Ryan Miller and Thomas Vanek In The Hoopography House: '07 UD Dual-Plexi Autograph 1-2 Combo Clearcut Autos Miller/Vanek #'d 041/100

'07 Upper Deck Dual Plexi Autograph 1-2 Combo Clearcut Autos Ryan Miller /Thomas Vanek #'d 041/100

With the NHL playoff races tightening up, it's high time that I show some support for my Buffalo Sabres. What's the best way for a sports memorabilia collector to show his or her support for their team? Obviously, it's to buy trading cards featuring players from their favorite team, so that's what I've done. I love acetate cards, and this '07 UD 1-2 Combo Clearcut dual auto card of Ryan Miller and Thomas Vanek is pretty awesome. This card certainly is a nice addition to my collection, but hopefully it'll bring some luck to the Buffalo Sabres down the stretch. Happy Collecting and… "Enjoy Every Slap of the Puck".

Book Review: Ted Williams: The Biography of an American Hero

Ok, let's get something straight right off the bat. I am and always will be a New York Yankees fan. However, I can certainly appreciate greatness… even if that means acknowledging a Red Sox great. Let face it, there weren't too many greater than Ted Williams. Leigh Montville does an excellent job of depicting that greatness and so much more in Ted Williams: The Biography of an American Hero.

There's no questioning Williams' prowess in the batters box and on the field. Montville expertly describes some of Williams' greatest accomplishments in thrilling fashion. This is because of Montvilles' extensive baseball knowledge and experience as a sports writer. However, it's not the detailed description of  Williams' 1941 .406 season that sets this biography apart from previous ones. It's the detail into the man off the field that makes the book a must read for any Red Sox or baseball fan. From Williams' time as a pilot in WWII and the Korean War, his notoriously foul mouth, exploits as an outdoors man to his final resting place in a cryogenics lab,  this biography lets the reader understand the ballplayer and the man.

I certainly recommend the book, but I must warn you, it's a bit lengthy. There were sections that certainly could have been taken out to shorten the book. Otherwise, Montville does a great job of intertwining the man's flaws, greatness, personality and exploits on the field.