The Big Guy In The Middle: Marcell Dareus Ref Auto RC

2011 Bowman Chrome Auto/ Ref RC

I really don't know much about this card other than it features Marcell Dareus, who is a key cog in my Buffalo Bills' revamped defensive line, and that I love the look of the auto/ref. as with most refractors, the card looks better in hand. It almost looks like Mr. Dareus takes up the entire surface of the card. At 6'3'', 325 pounds, he is one big boy. I just became a Bills season ticket holder about two months ago in the Paul Maguire Club, so I can't wait to watch Mr. Dareus gobble up some quarterbacks next season.

So What Do I Do With This Now?: '08 Bowman Chrome Jesus Montero Blue Refractor RC

2008 Bowman Chrome Jesus Montero RC Blue Refractor #'d /99

As an avid sports memorabilia collector and Yankees fan, I decided a few years back to start collecting a Yankees prospect. I wasn't sure who that prospect would be, so I did a bit of research. I talked to other collectors, I read all the MLB prospect ratings and decided on Jesus Montero. Yeah, I know… big surprise there. In truth, I wanted to collect Austin Jackson, but the Yanks traded him just before I could pick up any of his cards. That was a lucky break for me I guess, since we all know it's no fun collecting a guy for your favorite team who ends up getting traded the next year.

So you can imagine my dismay when I heard about Montero being traded a couple months back. I do think my pinstripes made the right baseball decision, but the front office brass obviously weren't keeping my trading card collection in mind when they made the trade.

So basically, I have a card that looks great. I love the blue refractors, but I'm not sure I'm going to hold on to the RC. The whole idea of buying this card for me was to follow Montero as he came up through the minors and contributed to the big club. I know Montero is still one of the hottest young bats in baseball and he could become a big star, but you may see this one in my Trade Bait Album sometime soon.

Happy Collecting and… "Enjoy The Smell of that Spring Training Grass". Actually, scratch that. Have you ever seen a baseball field after professional baseball players are through with it? Those folds are disgusting. Guys are spitting who know what every five seconds. Grounds keepers are throwing manure and pesticides everywhere. With all the half eaten sunflower seeds on the ground, you would think they were getting ready to produce sunflower oil. It's a mess out there. How about this…, "Enjoy Every Crack of the Bat".

3 Sports... 3 Cards

Apparently, Blogger has had some issues the past couple of days. I'm not sure how this has affected other blogs, but I haven't been able to post for about 24 hours and my last post was deleted. Maybe somebody over at Blogger wasn't a hockey fan. Anyways, everything seems to be working just fine now. Since I got out of work an hour early, I figured I'd type something up quick.

I've been getting out sniped on eBay pretty regularly over the past few weeks. I've been so close on a number of cards I need for several of the sets I'm putting together, but just haven't been able to close the deal. As frustrating as that's been, there's always another poster, trading card or piece of memorabilia on my Watch List for me to bid on. Here are a few recent eBay wins:

'10 Upper Deck The Cup
Chris Butler Rc

My hockey fever continues with this 2010 Upper Deck The Cup Chris Butler RC. UD's The Cup has been the premier hockey product in the industry for sometime now. I know 2011 will be out soon, and I'm pretty excited about that. Also, Panini has just released a preview on The Knight's Lance for their high-end hockey product called Dominion Hockey. Both will feature on-card auto's and great patches. I'm pretty excited to see these two products go head-to-head.

The Butler card isn't autographed or anything fancy like that. It's just a well designed RC that is limited to only 25. Butler is a young defensemen for my Buffalo Sabres. He started the season as a healthy scratch most nights, but was often paired with Tyler Myers as the Sabres' top defensive duo by season's end.

I'm glad to add this super thick card to my ever growing hockey collection. It really didn't set me back too much either. I think I paid under $10 including the shipping. Well worth it for an up and coming player in the Sabres franchise. Hopefully Butler will be here in Buffalo for a longtime to come.

'97 Topps Finest Anfernee Hardaway
 Gold Refractor

I'm sure many of you know by now that I'm a huge "Penny" Hardaway collector. I was a fan back in his playing days and there are just a ton of great inserts and auto's out there of Hardaway to collect. Plus, who didn't like those Lil' Penny Nike commercials from the 90's? He is just a fun player to collect.

This 1997 Topps Finest Gold Refractor is a Hardaway card I've been going after for sometime. For some reason, I've gravitated to these Finest Gold Refractors. I have about 10 different ones right now. I'm not actually trying to put the set together… I swear. I've seen this Hardaway card sell for $30.00 bucks before and one also sold for $18.09 recently. However, I was somehow able to steal this one for $9.99. I can certainly deal with a half-price auction win!

It's been awhile since I've picked up a nice Hardaway card. Hopefully this Gold Refractor will get me back in the Hardaway swing of things. Especially if I'm able to pick one or two up for a few pennys. Gotta love a cheesy play on words.

'97 Upper Deck SPx Pro Motion Troy Aikman

The '97 Upper Deck SPx Pro Motion set is one of those sets I'm attempting to put together. Actually, I'm putting together all the SPx Pro Motion sets across all four major sports for both '97 and '98. This Troy Aikman is a great addition to the '97 Football set. I unfortunately scanned the card in a top loader, so the scan didn't turn out too great. Although I'm certainly no Dallas Cowboys fan, not bitter at all about Super Bowls XXVII and XXVIII, I love the card's design. I'm getting close with both the '97 basketball and football sets, but the baseball and hockey are a struggle. Also, my '98 Pro Motion sets are coming along even worse, but I'll keep working on them. The chase is all apart of the fun. Happy collecting 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".

Big Thanks To Mark Over At The Chronicles Of Fuji

A big thanks is in order for Mark over at The Chronicles of Fuji. He sent me a package with a ton of great items for me to enjoy. If you haven't already, make sure to checkout his blog. He has quite the collection going and provides great commentary on trading cards, vintage Beckett covers, Starting Lineup figures and more. Thanks again Mark. I will be sending something out your way very shortly.

January, 1992 Beckett Football Issue #22

This Beckett issue from 1992 is an item that I've wanted for quite some time now. It features Jim Kelly from the glory years of the Buffalo Bills and the K-Gun Offense Super Bowl years. I'm such a big fan of this issue and cover that I will be framing it to display on the wall. Plus, it's always fun to look up prices from a bygone era in card collecting.

Here are a  few of the cards Mark sent. There are lots of great refractors and jersey cards, which was very generous of Mark. I love the Action Packed Earl "The Pearl" Monroe card in the first card scan image on the left. I'm also a big fan of the card design of the mid-90's Flair cards. Those USA Flair cards are a great example of that design style that I'm so fond of and admire. Plus, many of those players like Shaquille O'neal, Mark Price, Shawn Kemp and Kevin Johnson were some of my favorite. And come-on, how can you not like a Team USA card?

Thanks again Mark. This was a very fun package. I will be sending something out to you on Monday that you hopefully will like. Happy collecting and… "Enjoy Every Bounce of the Ball".

Some Of My Best Trading Card Acquisitions Of The Last Few Months

Here's a few of my favorite cards from the past few months. I've wrote posts on most of these, but it's always fun to show them off. After all, part of the fun of card collecting is showing your cards off. What are some of your favorite trading card acquisitions of the past few months?

               '08 Bowman Chrome                   '10 UD Ultimate Laettner Auto               '97 Topps Finest Gold Ref

               Montero Blue Ref RC

'03 Kobe/Williams UD Ultimate Dual Jersey

'91 Kenny Anderson Star Pics Auto               '08 Brett Gardner RC Auto         '03 Jay Williams UD Ultimate Auto RC

'00 UD Paul O'neill Buy Back Auto

   '09 UD Exquisite Cunningham Auto            '80 Topps Henderson RC                   '08 Hawaii Trade Conference                                                                                                                                        Miller/Evans Auto

        '02 Topps Bo Jackson Memorable Materials                          '97 UD Exquisite Legendary Lynch Auto

'00 UD Bruce Smith Legendary Jsy    '95 Topps Finest Hardaway Refractor           '97 Jeter Flair Hot Gloves

'08 UD Trilogy 1-2 Combo Vanek/Miller Auto

                                Bernie Williams, Paul O'neill & Andy Pettitte EX Essential Credentials

'97 Metal Universe Precious Gems Bruce Smith

                     '10 Topps 206 Cervelle Auto                         '10 UD The Cup Signature Patches Vanek Auto

'92 Classic Four-Sport Quad Auto (I've had this for a bit, but it one of my favorites)

                '07 UD Ultimate Legends Jim kelly Auto                       '96 Anfernee Hardaway UD Tribute Auto

 '97 Jordan UD SPx Holoview Heroes       '91 Larry Johnson Courtside Auto                 '93 Classics Exclusive                                                                                                                                          Manon Rheaume Auto

          '09 UD Thurman Thomas UD SPx Shadow Box                '08 UD Lynch Exquisite Endorsements Auto

'97 UD Jordan Commemorative Collection     '99 Thomas SkyBox Rubies            '93 TSC Beam Team O'neal RC

              '09 UD Exquisite Thurman Thomas Auto             '97 Ultra Court Masters (I'm putting the set together)  

             '10 Thurman Thomas UD SPx Shadow Box                              '07 Chris Mullin UD Ultimate Virtuoso

'09 UD SP Legendary Cuts Warren Spahn Auto

Mail Time: A Few Knicks Forward Danilo Gallinari Pickups

One of my favorite current players to collect is Danilo Gallinari of the New York Knickerbockers. The former 6th overall pick of the Knicks in the 2008 draft has a world of potential, but is plagued at times by inconsistency and lack of assertiveness. At 22 years of age and only two years of NBA experience, Gallinari is still transitioning from the European game. The talent, size and work ethic is there. It's just a matter of Gallinari gaining confidence in himself and taking that next leap as the Knicks third or even second offensive option. This all of course hinges on whether the Knicks will trade Danilo over the next few weeks. There's some player named 'Melo out west that everyone keeps talking about.

Here are a few recent Gallinari pickups I made on the Bay. The second Upper Deck Ultimate RC is for trade on my Trade Page.