Christmas Pulls Part 1

 

So I wrote on New Years Day that I'd post something soon, and low and behold today is the 17th and I was totally like...

FUUUGGGGG!!!!

I haven't posted anything in a while!  So I decided early on today that I would get my act together and post.  Must've been something in the stars or my coffee because when I came home I had a sweet little envelope in the mail box.

So i'll start with that little adventure.

Back in December my boss had hooked up all the managers in his area with a nice little $25 giftcard and took us out to breakfast.  It wasn't a big deal nor was it expected and I really didn't know what I'd want to pick up with the gift card. 

I had a feeling that compared to the Christmas before I was in for a smaller year when it came to baseball cards.

Not complaining of course... just that last Christmas was a big year with big pulls and this past Christmas I'd have been foolish to expect the same luck. 

So I decided that I'd have a go at picking up some gaurunteed hits and ensure myself some nice additions to the collection.  Or so I thought...

The gift card would go towards 2012 Leaf Pete Rose The Living Legend Baseball cards.  Each box garaunteed an autograph or redemption for a relic autograph.

 

 

 

However when I opened my box and packs I got NO such hit.  Naturally I was slightly crest fallen, but decided to just get ahold of customer service and see if I couldn't get it straightened out.  Now, I knew Leaf had been bought out by someone else but beyond that hadn't dealt much with them.  So I was surprised to find that they didn't have a customer service department like Topps.  No email communication, just a phone number.  When I called said phone number I got a specific person and her voicemail.  Not a good feeling to be honest.  But I left a message anyway with my situation and thought this would be a lost cause. 

 

However I got a call back about a week later from that young lady and we spoke about the box and she asked if it had the original packaging and all that.  I informed her I'd been collecting for a while and felt like I didn't buy a box that had been tampered with and she told me to just go ahead and send in the UPC and serial number from the box and she would get me my card. 

 

I was very impressed.  I went in to this thinking it was a long shot to get my replacement and I was wrong.  This just goes to show that the smaller companies do just a good job, if not better (i'm talking to you Topps!  10 Months to send me that friggin Sketch Card!).  Here is my new Pete Rose Auto.... A welcome addition since I had recently traded away the other one from my collection.

 

 

I really like the card and the candid photo of Pete reading what I assume is the sports section.  Most likely checking up on the scores for games he had bet on the night before, lol.  Still a HOF in my book.

 

WOOGIES NOTE:  So I started writing this a few days ago but found trouble uploading photos, but my brilliant wife discovered if I switched from Compose format to HTML format that I could upload photos that way.  Its a pain in the a$$.  So I'm going to break this post up.

 

I hope you enjoyed my Pete Rose update and stay tuned for the Christmas Pulls.

 

Sad day...

First Earl Weaver and now Stan Musial...

and I still can't upload pics on this damn blog.

I'm just going to crush a beer and go howl at the moon...

Good Night

Help...

I'm trying to write a new post and I can't...  well I can, but blogger isn't allowing me to upload pictures.  Is this a thing for anyone else or is it just me?  Who the hell wants to read my blog if I don't have pictures?  I sure as heck don't wanna write with out them. 

Anyone got any advice or knowledge of the problem?

Happy New Year

Indeed... A Happy New Year to you all!

I spent my day off today cleaning up and putting away all the Christmas decorations and my home is once again back to normal and in good order.

I had a good holiday and came up with some excellent additions to the collection!  Some with interesting tales to go along. 

I will soon be posting what I got this holiday and will either do one long post or a two parter.  I would have got cracking tonight, but my phone needs to be charged and I haven't taken any proper photos of what I have to display.

So you've got that to look forward to anyway.

I would like to discuss my New Years Resolution though...

As a collector that is.  (The real one is to lose weight... fat chance)

It is a task I've been dreading for a few years but with all the new product and future new product I am bound to get it has got to be done...

The Dreaded Inventory!

That's right... that damn card catalog is about 85% filled and I need to inventory it all.  I'm at least ahead of the curve in the fact that it is mostly separated by company, year, and set.  However, I haven't a clue for the most part of what I have.  Who knows... maybe I'll find some killer SP cards that I didn't even know I had.

Only one way to find out... and that's my resolution!

(so you can look forward to those posts as well... gripping, I know)

Until Next Time

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

PANDA WATCH 2012 UPDATE

So back in October I wrote a post about Pablo Sandoval and if my Lineage Auto would see an increased value after he was awarded the 2012 World Series MVP.

Let us check out the cover of this months Beckett Baseball!



Previously my card was valued at $15.

Today it is valued at $25

Pardon my math, but I believe this to be at least a 60% increase in value.  Not bad Panda!

Can I get some help!?!

So I'm in the second round of my Fantasy Football Playoffs and if I win this weekend I'm back in the championship for a second year in a row.  Unlike last year our runner up will at least get $100 but the winner takes home $500.

If I'm the runner up i'll likely take the wife out to a nice dinner or something like that, but if I win it all i'll be splitting it down the middle with the wife to allow her to buy whatever she wants with her half so that I can buy whatever baseball products I want.

So here is the question I pose to all my loyal readers...

You've got a budget of $250 and you can buy anything you want...

WHAT DO YOU BUY!?

I could get a couple boxes of some mid range product like Gypsy Queen or Heritage.

I could spring for a higher end box of cards like Triple Threads Baseball or Topps Sterling.

OR....

I could hit the electronic bay and buy a hit and avoid a let down box.

Like...

OR....

 

OR...

All for $250 or less.  So with all of that being said... What do you guys (and girls) think?

I'll let you know in a couple of weeks if I hit the Fantasy Football lottery.

Till Next Time...

The Man Cave

If my blog was a television show I would consider this first year to be season 1 and this post to be my Season Finale. 

It's taken over a year to get the actual project completed and to be honest it's still only 95% complete, but it was done enough to finally have people over and show it off to family and friends.

My brother and I celebrated our 28th birthday this past Monday and had family over Sunday as we celebrated a day early when everyone could get together.  It also marked the occasion for the grand opening of a place we jokingly refer to as Dewskies Pub, because we like the slogan "Get your Brewskies at Dewskies!".

So with out further delay...

Welcome to Dewskies

 

 For those of you who read or follow me on the reg, you'll remember this post about the Saloon Doors.  Before we take the tour through pictures I thought it would be a good idea to show you the lay out of Dewskies.  Being the annoyingly detailed guy that I am I of course had the lay out of the cave down on paper with a scaled down version in order to asses how all my furniture would fit down there.

Here's the lay out.

Sooo you see what I mean.  At least I knew everything would fit!

Moving on... through the doors.

 

As you enter Dewskies you'll be greeted by 2 time Gold Glove Catcher Matt Weiters on your left and the bar will be to your immediate right. 

 

We've got the "Bar Tender View" here. 

 

You'll also notice when you first enter this old ass rail road sign that was left by the previous owners.  Put a Batman Mask in the middle of it and it becomes a kick ass wall piece.  Above and along that whole wall is a pennant for every MLB team with the AL East prominently displayed first.

 

Here is shot of the bar and the extra Oriole Logos I got to put on it from my Fathead.

 

Here is a better shot of both stools I picked up for the Bar as well as some of the photos I've got next to the bar.  The far left shot is of my rugby days from college followed by a photo of Ruth, Gehrig, and Foxx.  The old time football player is my wife's Grandfather who was a helluva athlete.  Lastly is a cool gift from my wife and a shot of Ripken on the night of 2131.

 

As you turn the corner from the bar you'll see the shuffle board table to your left and the card catalog up on the right.  Check out how I put baseball cards up on the weird little drop in the ceiling.  I think it added a lot of pop.

 

Here is a great shot of the Shuffle board table in all it's glory.  I know its a little close to the dart board, but I don't really have enough friends to play both games at the same time.  Crisis averted!

 

Here is a shot of the old Remco game board that I use to display some game used cards and autos.

 

I've got a small window that I've turned in to a mini Gotham city.  Really its a few 3D city puzzles and a Kenner Super Powers Batmobile with Batman, Robin, and Joker.  (The greatest super hero toyline ever.  period.)

 

Above the catalog I have the painting of the 206 Honus Wagner card (perhaps the most famous card ever) to the left of the painting is a fake glove ad for a Lou Gehrig model glove and below is that sweet photo of Babe Ruth swinging away while smoking a stogie.  Dude could party!

 

Next is a chair and a half with a great photo plaque of Brooks Robinson.  Above is a bat display with a Brooks Robinson auto'd bat with some cool baseball on display.  The ball all the way to the left is signed by Richie Ashburn as well as the Catfish Hunter auto I pulled from the National.  The mask hanging up was my fathers umpire mask from when he used to ump my little league games.

 

The roaring fire place.

 

This is a shot of the couch with an uncut sheet of 1933 Goudey cards (an obvious reprint) with a signed photo of Rick Dempsey and Scott McGregor from the 83 World Series Orioles.

 

Further down is the poker table my wife and I felted along with the rest of my collection on display.

 

It wouldn't be a Baltimore man cave if I didn't have a shot of Ray Lewis putting Ben on his ass.  Oh yeah... it's signed also!

I got this poster last year in honor of the Ravens Superbowl team.  It was the same day as my Anniversary and I took my wife to the game.  It was also the first game back for Ed Reed from an injury and we watched him get 2 interceptions!

 

You may have seen this one earlier.  I love the Reggie cover.  You rarely see him portrayed as an Oriole.

 

1 reason the cave is only 95% done.  This TV needs an upgrade.  Does the trick for now though...

 

I have 4 out of 6 statues from the past season.  I need Ripken and Brooks if anyone happens to have them.  I also have 3 sweet mini helmets on display.  The one to the far left is Terrell Suggs, with Lewis in the middle, and Ed Reed to the right.

All 3 Defensive Players of the Year.  No big deal!

I've had that Ripken Wheaties box since I was about 8 or 9.  No logos on it makes it more valuable.  Still has the cereal!

 

This mirror came from my Father in law from his time in the Air force.

This was probably one of the best moments... my first draft beer at Dewskies!

 

As for my birthday I got this great print of the first ever football club for the NFL.  Looks a helluva lot like Rugby.  I love it!

 

And lastly my parents got me a set of four chairs for the poker table!  An excellent birthday present!

 

Well folks... that's the Man Cave.  Aka Dewskies!

 

I know it was a long read, but season finales are usually an hour long as opposed to 30 minutes.  I'll be back after Christmas to show off what I got!

 

Till then...

 

GO RAVENS.

 

Thanks for reading!