Biggest Pull In My Life

As you might not have known, i have been working on my consumer behavior project on collecting for awhile and needless to say, it got me back into collecting hardcore. (Like i ever left or needed help for that matter.) So tonight i just really got the urge to look through some cards, so i "talked" ashley into taking me to Target. So we get there and i look in the card aisle to get a new Topps 2006 World Series Updates and Highlights wax box. So i open up the cards, honestly hoping for a Cory Lidle update card because its a pretty cool tribute card, and i get through 5 packs before i lose it and flip out in the middle of Starbucks (ash wanted coffee).

I look down and see the greatest pull i have ever had.....

A MICKEY MANTLE GAME USED BAT HOMERUN #104 RELIC CARD!!!So i go nuts for basically....the rest of the night. This card is number 05/07. So it is ultra rare and is estimated to be valued at $200.00.........SCHWING!! I basically bought the card for $.15 too! ($9.99 for a box of 66 cards)

So let's just say that this is what i would call a keeper card. It is valued at $200.00 and there are only 7 out there of it. Mickey Mantle is dead, so its not going to be affected by what he does in life and as the years go buy, his legend gets bigger and bigger, so the price can only go higher and higher!

Needless to say, i think i will be holding on to this card for awhile.

Keep On Collecting!!

Greater Boston Sports Card Show

Hey everyone!

Last weekend I went to the Greater Boston Sports Card Show in Wilmington, MA. It was a massive card show that filled up a gymnasium type hall. I had to go to this card show because i am doing a consumer behavior project and I chose card collecting, so i have to interview fellow collectors.

Anyway, by awesome timing, i went the same day Carl Yastrzemski was doing an autograph signing, so i got to meet him....

Over the summer, as you know, i bought a lot of autographs over the summer. One of my potential buys was a Carl Yastrzemski baseball....for $129.00. Now that's just a little too much...even for me. So when he released his price list for this signing, i was disappointed to see $100.00 next to 8x10's and Baseballs, and a whopping $50.00 for baseball cards. I'm sorry, but i just can't spend that much for a autographed card. But then i realized that i bought something over the summer that is aching for a Yaz autograph....


What it is, is a 8 1/2 x 11 puzzle that is completed by 63 puzzle pieces that come in groups of three pieces in 21 different cards. Well i had an amazing idea to put the puzzle pieces that i wanted autographed (the pieces that make up his white shoulder) and put it back into the cut out of the card. So therefore, i get a unique $100.00 item autographed for the price of $50.00. Genius.

So i present the card to Yaz and he puts a marvelous autograph on it....

Thanks Yaz!!


Also, Frank Robinson was there, but i definitely didn't have enough money to get his autograph.

He seemed very nice, as he was joking and playing with the little girl in the picture.

Well, after getting the Yaz autograph, we (Geoff, Ash, and I) started walking around the card show and we were overwhelmed with amazing pieces of memorabilia. Especially this...


It was an amazing site, and if you can't tell...it is a 6 foot by 12 foot wall of autographed baseballs.....um.....WOW!

Well in closing of my random blog, i would like to say that i will hopefully start updating more often, especially on this blog, because i have a lot of catching up to do!

P.S. I am sending out an autograph request for the great Red Sox HOFer Dom DiMaggio sometime this week, so i will keep you posted on the outcome.

Happy Hunting everyone!

Greg

Summer Autographs

Hey everyone!

Over the summer, i had an amazing, well paying 40 hour a week job. As a result, i was able to expand my collection of autographs to include Hall Of Famers that i know i will never meet. So i went to their respective websites and researched their autographs. I pick out the ones that i could afford (or at least justify spending the dough on) and made sure that they were authentic. Then, come pay day, i would buy one or two and then sit back and watch my collection grow. Well, here is a recap of my summer purchases:

Paycheck #1 - Stan Musial - This was the starting of my purchases, i knew that he did it through a website and that sparked my idea to look up other athletes that signed through their websites. As for Musial, he sent a great autographed ball along with a signed certificate of authenticity. Great buy for a HOFer who is getting up there in age.


Paycheck #2 - Yogi Berra - Hall of Famer and a great affordable signer. I order this autographed baseball from his site, and i was surprised to receive it in 3 days. He included the baseball, a hologram matching a hologram on the certificate of authenticity, and a bonus autographed player card. He went above and beyond what was expected.


Paycheck #3 - Whitey Ford - I stumbled upon his site randomly and figured...Why Not!? So i busted out the Debit card and bought this beauty of an autograph. It was $50.00 and totally worth it. Came with a COA and not much else. But a great buy nonetheless.



Pay Check #4 - Bob Feller - I had planned to buy Feller from www.reggiejackson.com, but then i found out that Bob Feller has his own museum that sells autographs of Bob Feller and various athletes who sign with him. And guess what?? I just saved a bunch of money by switching to www.bobfellermuseum.org!! So because saved a bunch of money by switching websites, i bought an autographed 8x10 of Bill Mazeroski too because the shipping and handling was combined in one! So basically i got two for the pr


Paycheck #5 - Brooks Robinson -I was sold on Brooks when i saw the price. $40.00 for an autographed baseball and engraved stand...ummmm SOLD! So i ordered up this amazing piece of memorabilia and within no time, i had it on display. And by on display i mean it is still in its original box, inside another box because we are "redoing" my room. So it should be on display when i move into my own house. Yay.....



Paycheck #6 - Johnny Bench - This was one of my first targets, but i waited because i wanted to get the other players first. Honestly, Bench is only in his 50's so i knew there was no immediate rush to get his autograph. On the other hand, most of the other players were in their 80's, so they had the elder priveledge of joining my collection first. Well it took all summer until i had it, but when i came back from college at the end of september, it was there waiting for me and it is certainly a beautiful signature. Definately worth it for one of the greatest catchers ever.


Well there you go, those are my summer autograph additions. I hope you all paid attention, because there will be a pop quiz next time. Now please read pages 127-138. Have a good night!!

Happy Huntings!

Where Did It All Start?

That my friends is the toughest question of all. It's tough to think back to your first autograph, because odds are, you were too young to remember it. But that is the beauty of autograph collecting, you don't just get great memories, you get tangible things to remind you of the great memories.

My first autograph memory is that of Don Sweeney, the old Boston Bruins defensiveman. He came to my elementary school, Seach School, but I was too sick to go to school. My brother being the amazing kid he is, got it for me and I still have it today, scribbled on the back of a piece of paper with green marker colored on the side (Jonathan probably got bored through the day and doodled on it.) =)

This autograph really sparked something inside of me. I don't really know why, but seeing someone's signature on a little piece of paper left me wanting more. I didn't even get to met Don, (which is probably the best part) but I was still so excited about it. So here is spawned, I needed and wanted more.

Around this time, my Uncle got word of my enthusiasm toward autographs and decided to help me out a little. He worked for Kodak Camera's in the marketing department, so he was always rubbing elbows with sports stars and celebrities. (One notable time was when my parents got to met Robert Parish....sadly they didn't think to get an signature....) Well some of his connections were with the Red Sox, so whenever he could, he would throw 4 tickets our way and off we would go to the park. I got to see Wade Boggs, Mo Vaughn, Dwight Evans, Mike Greenwell, John Valentin, Roger Clemens, Bruce Hurst, Oil Can Boyd, etc play at the good ol' Fenway Park, all thanks to the kindness of my Uncle. Well game after game, I became more and more enthusiastic toward memorabilia and autographs. Around this time, I would get other autographs, like Ken Hodge (Boston Bruins player who was at a Weymouth Celebrity softball tourney), various members of a Cape Cod baseball team (Sadly I didn't keep track of who signed and I got them to sign a dollar bill so there is no real way of knowing who I got that day...maybe this will lead to a nice research project....hmmmm), and a similar situation when I went to the 1999 NHL draft and I got half of the first round draft picks, all of the second and the first half of the third round. But I have no clue who is on the pennant I had them sign. (Another research project??) The one person I know I got on the pennant was NHLer Doug Wilson who played for the San Jose Sharks and is now involved with the GM.

I realize that I am getting pretty sporadic with my "timeline" so I am going to end here and then take the time to seriously write down a timeline here later.

Check back here for that soon!