Purple Tears

How glorious was it to be a Baltimore fan this year? By far the best sports year of my short life...

So WTF has happened in the last 4 weeks!?!?!

I get it... it's a business.

I mean getting to watch Ray Lewis and Matt Birk ride off in to the sunset retiring as Superbowl Champions was great. Sad. But great. Fitting for two players of their caliber.

Watching Paul Kruger go to the Browns and Dannell Ellerbe bolt to Miami was tough... but that's the business. Watching Baltimore trade Boldin to the 49ers for a 6th round pick was like a shot in the pills... but we understood it.

We have a saying in Baltimore...

In Ozzie We Trust. 2 Superbowl championships and countless playoff teams... we don't question it.

BUT HOW CAN WE LET ED REED GO???

Seriously... I cried purple tears.

I just can't watch Ed play for another team. So I won't. Instead I'll pretend that Ed has retired and will now take this time to eulogize him.

Watching him come in to the league in 2002 we knew we had someone special on our team.  He had 5 INTs as a rookie and by 2004 he was NFL Defensive Player of the Year and set a few records that season.  I was lucky enough to get this mini helmet signed from that amazing year in his career.  Check it out...

 

I've been lucky enough to have seen Ed Reed play a few times and now that he is gone will cherish those memories that much more. 

 

The last time I was able to attend a Ravens game was October 24th 2010.  It was my 1 year anniversary with my wife and the Ravens were playing the Buffalo Bills and it was Ed Reeds first game of the season as he had been out with an injury up to that point.  Not only did we watch the Ravens win a thrilling game in OT (the turning point coming off a Ray Lewis strip fumble and recover no less) but we got to see Reed record 2 interceptions on his way to leading the league in INTs after missing the first 6 games of the season.

 

That game and season was a testimate to Ed Reed's ability and he will be missed dearly in Baltimore.  Hopefully Ed goes on to bigger and better things in life after football.

 

Thanks for reading...

 

2013 Topps Heritage Box Break!

Yeah... I know what I said.

"But Woogie... I thought you weren't going to buy cards till your collection was inventoried!"

You know damn well I'm not even close to finished with that.

I'm weak... what can I say?

So I did some projects around the house and like the good dog that I am... err... I meant boy that I am... my wife let me get a box of 2013 Topps Heritage.

I did very well in my humble opinion. 

ANYTHING IS UP FOR TRADE.  Check it out!

I pulled 2 Image Swap Variations of 2 SUPERSTARS!

 

These cards fall 1 out of 26 packs.

 

I also pulled 2 Venezuelan cards. 

 

 

These cards fall 1 out of every 47 packs!

 

Lastly I managed to pull this Color Swap variation!

 

 

Chase Headley Color Swap.

 

These cards fall 1 out of every 155 packs!

 

I also got a Brandon Morrow Heritage Chrome card numbered 64/564

 

 

This cards falls 1 out of every 42 packs!

 

I also pulled a Dee Gordon Clubhouse Collection Jersey

 

 

Now not all of these came from the same box.  I happened to pick up 5 packs first to see if I liked it and I pulled one of the Venezuelan cards and the Pujols Image Swap.  So in all I picked up 29 total packs.  Some very excellent pulls for the number of packs purchased!

 

I also have a few inserts from each category.  If you're trying to make a complete set reach out to me and I'll let you know what I've got!

 

Thanks for reading!

 

Now back to inventory...

 

 

 

Ray Lewis Book Ends

Greeting friends... It's been a while, but rest assured I'm currently hard at work on inventory.  I've got over 1,500 1986 Topps cards, and NOT a complete set.  Needless to say I'll be giving away alot of 86 Topps to some kids who may just get a small thrill out of it or need some cheap stuffing for a hamster cage.

I did get a recent addition to my collection and wanted to share.  As most of you know I'm a big baseball collector and love the Baltimore Orioles.  However I do have a small part of my collection dedicated to the Baltimore Ravens.  I have 3 mini helmets signed by Ed Reed, Terrell Suggs, and Ray Lewis.  I also have another photo (on loan from my brother) of Ray Lewis that is autographed.

Aside from these few autographed items I also have some cool ticket stubs.  My uncle has been a ticket holder since the Ravens came to town and I happen to have his first game ticket stub against the Steelers.  This of course would be the first regular season game played by future Hall of Famer Ray Lewis.  Check it out!

NOTE: This is what my stub looks like but isn't the exact one.  I pulled it off eBay because I'm too fuggin lazy to go down to the cave and take a picture of it.  Sorry...

So that very same Uncle decided to drop a lot of coin on a once in a lifetime trip to New Orleans in order to see Baltimore beat up San Fransisco.  When I heard he was going I called him and told him A: I was extremely jealous and B: If it wasn't too much to ask could I have his ticket stub to add to my collection.

My Uncle being the kick ass man that he is obliged and brought me home his ticket stub as well as the little finger lights given out for the half time show.  Those are still in the plastic bag... I'm guessing my Uncle was more interested in holding his beer than putting a couple lighted fingers in the sky for half time.  Check out that stub too!

NOTE: This too was pulled of the Internet because again, I'm too lazy to snap a pic and load it on my computer.  I only have the one stub but it has the same face value $950 as well as this program right next to it.

So calling back to the title of this post.  I have Ray Lewis' first regular season game ticket stub as well as his last professional game ticket stub. 

Interestingly enough when I got the mini helmet signed by Ray Lewis he also signed the certificate of authenticity.  This is the ONLY time I've seen an athlete sign both the item and the certificate of authenticity.  I think I'll put together the two ticket stubs and frame the autograph in one nice display to be hung on the wall in the cave!  Unless you guys think I should do something different with them... feel free to chime in below. 

When I'm done organizing my 1986 Topps I'll post about which cards I need and if anyone can help me I'd appreciate it.  Just don't expect a big time trade.  The complete set is only worth $25... It's like I'm paying myself $.50 an hour to organize this set. 

A true labor of love.

Till next time...

Thanks for reading.