you want Bryce Harper autos? I have Bryce Harper autos....

Sothe other night was trade night at Maple Leaf Sports, my local card shop. I'm not even going to make jokes about it being 45 minutes away in light traffic. This is serious business.
2011 Bowman had made it's appearance. And believe it or not, there are a few baseball collectors coming out of the woodwork up here in the Great White North. Especially the hit chasers.

The jumbos got ravaged first. I had thoughts of picking up a box. Just for the Braves. And some guy named Stras... Harper. But by the time I cleared the mothballs from my wallet, all the jumbos were gone. Sold. Cracked. Wrappers everywhere. A bunch of hockey collectors walking around confused why they don't see ice or skates on these guys....

I looked at the "hit ratio" for regular hobby, only one auto per box, and said to myself, Nah........

So my buddy Mike stepped up and grabbed one. A few packs in he pulls his auto. Yeah, if you've been paying attention, it was Bryce Harper chrome rookie auto.

Euphoria ensues... the heaven's part, angels are singing, doves are let loose as everyone gathers around to see the magical card that has just paid his next two months mortgage payments. As Mike goes to show off his prize, and if you've been paying attention to the title (look again if you need to, now back to me), he notices another card stuck to the back of th Chrome Harper auto.

As he seperates the two, his Chrome Harper auto becomes a Chrome Harper auto and a Blue Bordered Chrome Harper auto.

Make that his next 6 mortgage payments.

Surprisingly, Mike made it out of the shop safely.

If anyone wants to see the magnificent glory that is The Harper. Please check out Maple Leaf Sport's Hit blog.... HERE. You can magnify the pic if you dare by clicking on it.....

TTM success, Casey Daigle's wife!!!

Leave it to the Canuck to write to a ball player's wife, instead of to him. That's just the way I roll. Besides, as Casey tries to catch on with the Giants this year (good luck with that) his wife may be a better pitcher than he. At least, underhanded, anyways.

In case you haven't figured it out yet, I am speaking of Team USA's Ms Jennie Finch. Yeah, the one with 235236346636 no hitters. That one.

 Mrs Daigle was kind enough to sign two photos for me.

Sweet hey?

oh yeah, and if you want the chance of free cards, go here and follow the instructions, like I did.

TTM success! Here kitty, kitty, kitty.....

One of my latest TTM success stories.

 Super softball pitcher Cat Osterman.

Cat nicely signed two 8x10's for me.

For an even better return, check out my other blog; Just A Bit Offside

Hot Dog!

First off, I hope everyone had a safe and happy hallowe'en. I see that most of Detroit is still standing, so that's nice.

Apparently the Giants won more than the pennant. Proving the theory that if no one watches, will there still be a winner. Speaking of Canada of course. Or am I? Apparently regular season football games drew a bigger audience than the World Series. Interesting. I wonder if Bud Selig even noticed.

But enough of that. On with bigger and better things. Like a contest!!!!! Relax. It's too late for you. I already won it.

Justin from The Hopeful Chase held a contest awhile back. Go HERE for the link. He showed a picture, and it was up to us to come up with a caption.

Well wouldn't you know, I won. Sweet. What did I get? First, I got an on card hand signed in person auto of none other than Steven Stamkos. Effin sweet.

 Next, he really threw me for a loop. He sent a Joey Chestnut auto. Now I must confess that although I had heard the name before, I had no idea who he was.

Everyone needs a hobby I guess.

Thanks Justin!!!!

All Hail The Cobra! Gary Simmons!

My latest TTM success is from former NHL goaltender, Gary "The Cobra" Simmons.
Gary was nice enough to personalize the photo I sent, along with signing two cards.
A 75/76 Topps...

and a 78/79 OPC.

Gary registered a shutout in his very first NHL game against Atlanta 10/11/74.

Gary was also nice enough to send a hand written letter to me thanking me for my interest in his career and answering a couple of questions I had asked him in my fan letter.

I asked Gary about what it was like being a goalie for an expansion team in the early '70's NHL.

He responded that, while it was very challenging at times, it was still playing the greatest game in the greatest league in the world.

About his nickname of 'The Cobra", Gary told me that a teammate of his while playing for the Phoenix Coyotes of the WHL in 1972 told a reporter that his new goalie was "lightning quick, like a cobra."

The reporter put that in his newspaper column, and the name stuck.

Thank you Mr Simmons!!!!

Who doesn't love milkshakes???

Awhile back I shared with you one of my favourite players growing up. Goalie Denis Herron. For those of you not with us in January, I urge you to go back in time and read that short little post. I'm sure he will become one of your favourites too.... LINK

Well, that card makes another appearance on the ole blog today, but for a different reason. There seems to be some sort of smeared scribbling on it now....
and it's brought some friends....

ahhh, good old '70's airbrushing..... like a warm blanket....

along with a couple of photos. Dig the old Scouts uni's....

ahh... clean ice, clean, white boards... those were the days.

Mr Herron got all this back to me in just 18 days. Amazing considering the speed of our postal system.

I also sent Denis three more cards that were extra so that he could keep them if he didn't already have them. He did. Maybe to keep, maybe to send out to others..... whatever.

Thanks Denis!

TTM Success! Murray Bannerman!

Some, if not most of you probably read that headline and said; "Who?" Murray Bannerman! Former goaltender for the Vancouver Canucks (very briefly), but better known as goalie for the Chicago Black Hawks in the mid '80's. Also, the proud owner of the mask. You know the one.
Oh yeah. Murray's backup goalie at the time was some dude named Tony Esposito. Maybe you've heard of him. Murray made two All Star games in his career... pretty good considering the pressure of replacing a living legend in Esposito.


Mr Bannerman signed my 8x10 and one card that I sent him.

Thanks Mr Bannerman!

Gilles Meloche TTM success!

catchy title, eh? I have to admit it, I stole it from my good friend GCRL. We'll call it, a tribute. Yeah, that sounds good.

I've been wanting to tackle some ttm auto requests for awhile now, but could never get going. So to ease into it, I thought about hitting up retired players first. They tend to not move around as much. That narrowed it down, but I needed further focus. So why not start by expanding my '70's goalie collection?

So I headed out to Costco, got a dozen 8x10 photos made up, and mailed them off. The first one arrived home awhile ago.
Mr Gilles Meloche! Gilles was one of my faves from growing up. He played for one franchise for most of his career, although it was a bumpy ride. He started with the California Golden Seals, (which had just changed their name from the Oakland Seals) stayed with the team when they transferred to Cleveland as the Barons, and finally ended up in Minnesota with the rest of the Barons as they folded into the Minnesota North Stars.

Here's my 8x10
I read on some ttm auto forums that you have to watermark your photos so ebay douchebags don't steal your scan and reprint it to sell online. Really? People do that? And it works?

Gilles also signed three cards for me, chronicling his career.

check out that airbrush job! They forgot to airbrush his defenceman in the background, still in his Cleveland Baron colours.

Here Gilles is in his own Barons uniform.

and finally we have the glorious California Golden Seals uni, with OPC text and team variations. (how's that Jim?) The Topps version (of which I do not have) still has the Seals team name and logo.

Gilles is currently the goaltending coach for the Pittsburgh Penguins. He still found time to sign for me. Thanks for the autographs Gilles Meloche!

Auto Mania

I just received a package from an ebay seller. I bought several cards from him/her. All "hits". Either jersey, or in most cases, autographs. You ever find a seller who has about 20 cards you're interested in, all ending around the same time, at the right price, and no one else is online? It's rare, but when it happens, it's glorious.

I'll show the first three today. Up first, a 2009 UD Ballpark Rookie Auto of Braves pitcher James Parr, 106/500. The cost? .99 cents. Good thing he's not Japanese.
Next we have an on card Goudey Graph. Sweet assed card if you ask me.... oh yeah, .99 cents for this one as well...

Finally (for this post) we have my boy. Mr Second Half himself. An auto jersey thank you very much.

yeah, it's a sticker auto, but what are ya gonna do? $2.50 brought Adam home.

Why do card shops and shows insist on charging $20, $30, $80! for these things? Do they not have the world wide web at home?

Maybe their mom is on dial up?

Whatever... enjoy, and I'll show off more later. Including a little story on "the curse"

I'm on a roll....

2010 is turning out to be a good year for hits. First, if you remember (and I keep reminding you, so how can you forget?) I pulled this patch /50 beauty.
Yesterday, I cracked open a box of 2007 Upper Deck Football looking for a Peterson Star Rookie. No Peterson, but I did pull this.

Mr Larry Fitzgerald Philadelphia insert auto #'d 1/5

I have no idea what the odds on these Philly autos are... but I'm happy with this one.

Before I forget...

I'm running a wee behind on my posts. What with the holidays and then the contest, other things have fallen by the wayside.
I still have two xmas posts to do. So here's the first one.
I've talked before that I never get cards for xmas. It's not that my wife doesn't want to get any for me, but she doesn't have a clue as to where to get them, or how much to pay.

But this year, she managed to come up with a little something.
Behold.
24"x36" custom framed and matted. The best front four in football for the late '60's and early '70's.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Doomsday Defence.

George Andrie, Bob Lilly

Jethro Pugh, and Larry Cole.

A hand signed lithograph of the mother freakin' Doomsday Defence. I could go on about how they were the greatest front four in the NFL, or how Bob Lilly was voted the best defensive tackle in history when he was voted into the Hall of Fame... but I won't.

Just a big thanks to my sweetie!

Before the Southside Mafia gets here...

Awhile back, okay... waaaaaayyyy long ago, I showed off some football cards that the Peoples Champ sent me.
No. Not that one. This one. All you need to know is written write here. Actually, he sounds a lot like Tommy Hanson. But I digress.

The Wicked One also sent over a few of his treasured autos. Now I've been meaning to post them, really I have. But my camera and I have our little disagreements. It's a thing. You may or may not understand. I finally convinced it to cooperate. I think. Maybe not.

Anyways, The Don has been bugging me to get these up for all to see. I had better before he sends some of his boys up here. If you do, dress warm bro, it's -21 here at noon today.

First up, Cleo Lemon, Super Mark Duper, and Tomas Vokoun.

and Olli Jokinen, Stephen Weiss, John Vanbiesbrouck and some dude I haven't had time to figure out who he is yet.

These are frickin' sweet! Sorry the pics are so crappy. Maybe my camera won this round after all.

Thanks Wicked! You da man!

Press Pass vs. Topps

Press Pass 1
Topps 0

a question of satisfaction...

For all you box breakers out there.... you know who you are... I want to know what you look for when you bust open a box? Is it a complete set? Hits? Jerseys? Or is that Jersies? Maybe autographs are your thing? Shiny parallels?
And at what cost? How do you rank whether you've just opened a good box, or a bad one?
I'm just looking for opinions here.

For example. You buy a box for $30. In it you find a complete base set, an auto,
and a four colour game used patch.

Are you happy?

The reason I'm not showing what product this is will be revealed in my next post where I will post my box break review.

Let me know what you think now, AND after you find out what these came from. Your opinion may change.

Cardshow bounty part 2

I found this guy at the cardshow who had a lot of binders with autographed cards in them. As usual, they were all hockey. But he overheard me talking to someone and said that he had baseball too... he just never displays them on the table. He dug around under the table and came out with three binders of baseball for me to look through.

Here's what I came home with...
Drew Denson, the Braves 1st round pick in '84 played 12 games for Atlanta in '89.
Dion James ended up with twice as many SB's as HR's in his career. That's what you get from a guy with two hats.
Russ Nixon is one of my favourite managers. Because of his beautiful .376 winning % as manager, the Braves were forced to bring in Bobby Cox as skipper. Thank you Russ.

Tommy Gregg was one of a thousand no-hit outfielders the Braves employed in the late '80's early '90's. 13 homers in 6 years? Seriously?
Joe Boever pitched for 7 teams in 11 years. Nice sig though.
Rick Camp was 56-49 with a 3.37 ERA over 9 years on some horrible Braves teams. And his middle name is Lamar. Really.

Mike Stanton is #2 on the All Time list for games pitched. According to Baseball Reference, he pitched in 1178 games over 19 years.
Don Hood???? Well, I needed him for my 1976 Topps set. Auto or no, he fills up a slot in my binder.

You may have heard of the next two....

That's Greg Maddux with the soon to be retired by two teams #31, and a young rookie named Tom. Hi Tom.

.50 cents each for the early ones... $2.50 each for the Hall of Famers.... $9 bucks well spent.

Card Show Loot!

So Calgary is having their annual card show this weekend. I couldn't attend on Saturday or Sunday, but a little trip there after work on Friday isn't out of the question, now is it?


My wife and I went there with $125 cash to spend. Let's see what we got....


But in the spirit of procrastination... I'll post it a little at a time over the weekend. But first, a little info on the show.


It was actually better than I had anticipated. Around 25 dealers with multiple tables each. Unfortunately, it was about 90% hockey. And still.... NO WAX PACKS!!!! Boxes only. *sigh*


One guy from Manitoba had a lot of vintage baseball.... from 1951 and up... but condition wasn't high while prices were. He even had a complete set of 1950 Bowman. Unheard of around these parts.



Anyways... on to the loot. One guy dug out a dusty binder from under the table when I wasn't impressed with the multitude of hockey jersey cards he had... in it were his baseball "collection"

He admitted he really didn't know much about the cards or the sport. Evidenced by the 100 or so '91 Donruss in pages. He told me to look at the back where some autos were.

I found three interesting ones... he said "2 bucks". I handed him my money happily, while he shook his head at the crazy guy not interested in hockey.



Auto #1

Ed Giovanola IF Braves


Ed never really had a chance with the Braves... moved on to San Diego, then quietly retired. Ed has good timing however... making his debut with the Braves in '95, becoming a member of the World Champions.

I like Ed's signature.... all of us guys with long surnames abbreviate. Deal with it.



Auto #2

Greg McMichael RP Braves


Greg began and ended his career with the Braves. He was a very dependable reliever over his career, ending with a 3.25 ERA.

Greg pitched very well in the playoffs, as he also was part of the 1995 World Champions.

Greg's auto looks very much like mine. Again with the long name thing.

Auto #3 (you knew I saved the best for last)



Eddie Perez C Braves



How cool is that? Eddie freakin' Perez. Ed was many things. The clubhouse joker. Greg Maddux' personal catcher. And a participant in the sausage race in Milwaukee. In a game he played in. He didn't win. Smoltzie will never let him live it down.


Eddie is now a valued member of Bobby's coaching staff. Looking after the bullpen.





So there you have the first part of my haul.... 3 autos for $2. More to come soon...

Autograph Sunday

2004 Donruss Diamond Kings Adam LaRoche Autograph

This little beauty is numbered 1/5 for those of you that matters to. It's everything you could want. Great illustration by artist Eric Cash. Beautiful colours. Yeah, I know, it's a sticker auto. Could be worse. It could've been a redemption.

My main man Adam here was traded away from my beloved Braves to the Pirates for reliever Mike Gonzalez. If Mike could ever remain healthy for longer than 4 days, I could evaluate the trade. Until then........ I'll just remain bitter that he no longer wears a Braves uni.

I miss cards like this... I miss Diamond Kings. I hope the new DK's in Donruss Threads are as good as this.