Sunday, December 16, 2012

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!


Wednesday, December 12, 2012

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...

Thursday, December 6, 2012

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!
 
 


Friday, November 23, 2012

Mail Day

Another quickee...

I bought this off of the Electronic Bay weeeekkkksss ago and it finally arrived on my door step.

I've been having trouble finding this and I found it for an excellent price and jumped all over it!

 
Love this card!  I believe I just need Palmer and Ripken for all of the Oriole relics, but we all know I'm going for 100%
 
Nearly half way there.
 
Stay tuned for the Man Cave Special!

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Lineage Trade and Super Collector

About a week ago I made a small trade that helped my on going cause for a Lineage Master set and just yesterday met someone who blows my ambitions away.

A co worker of mine had picked up some Lineage cards as well and set me up with a Ryan Howard Cloth Sticker I needed in exchange for a Goodwin Champions Kate Middleton Mini "Lady Luck" parallel.

This....

 
 
For that...
 
 
My buddy likes to hit the casinos from time to time so hopefully that Lady Luck will bring him... well... some luck!
 
Yesterday I got a message from a guy out in KC who not only is on the same quest as me, but is also attempting to get all the Canary Versions, all Autographs, and well... every single variation or version of Lineage cards possible. 
 
And I thought I was passionate!
 
In short this guy has a wealth of cards that I need for my collection and rest assured I'll be in contact with him to try and pull off some block buster trades!  Only problem is I'm not sure I have enough in my personal stock to really make a splash.  We'll see!
 
Till next time.
 
HAPPY THANKSGIVING


Sunday, November 18, 2012

Fat Heads and Photo Bombs

I know... It's been too damn long since we last interacted.  Life is busy as ever and these are dark times for baseball fans.

Well... not all baseball fans.  The AL East Blue Jays have been kicking ass this off season landing Reyes, Johnson, and Buehrle from Miami and then signing Melky Cabrera all in the same damn week.

Meanwhile the biggest name the Orioles seem to be connected to is friggin Jonny Gomes.  That's just what Baltimore needs... A 32 year old DH who had a whopping 47 RBIs last year.  GRRREEEAAAT. 

So to brighten your off season here is some fun stuff to keep you entertained.  As stated in previous posts I recently got a Matt Wieters Fathead for my anniversary and put it up in the Man Cave. 

Hey Woog... What's a Fathead!?!

GREAT QUESTION!

Fatheads are life sized vinyl cut outs of your favorite star athletes that can be hung on most walls and surfaces over and over again!

Not only do you get the life sized cut out, but a bunch of other perks as well.  Check it out!


 
BOOM!
 
This thing was huge and I had to let it lay out over night to stretch out.  I decided to hang all of the smaller stuff first and take Matt off last.  So I got busy tagging my cave with Orioles Schwag.  Totally reminded me of the Adam Jones/Robert Andino put a bird on it video!
 
From a distance it actually looks like a real bat propped up in the corner.  The rest is pretty much Orioles Logos... So...

 
Put a bird on it.

 
Put a bird on it.

 
Put a bird on it.

 
Put 3 Birds on it.

 
1 Bird

 
2 Bird

 
3 Bird... Ah ah ah.
 
I hung a few more... but you get the point.  I put a bird on it.
Then it was time to tackle Matty.  After cleaning the wall and dropping the pennants I had hanging on the wall, we carefully removed Wieters from the poster.  (NOTE: Be careful about not tearing your fathead if you end up buying one)
 
 
Luckily Matt wasn't too big for the wall, but it was close!

 
Great shot of me working the air bubbles from his crotch.

 
Pretty sure those air bubbles are gone Woog....

 
Alas, Matt in all his glory! Naturally once it was hung I decided it needed to move slightly to the right...

 
Finally, a drinking buddy! 
 
This was a great item for the Cave and really completed the set up.  Stay tuned for the full unveil! 
 
However, just before we end this post I wanted to share with everyone...
 
THE ART OF THE PHOTO BOMB.
 
I had gone to Camden Yards and had the wifey take some photos of me with some of the statues that the Orioles put up through out the summer.  I just recently looked thru them and found that I had been photo bombed in one of the shots.  It was hilarious!  Check it out.
 
 
This was of me and Eddie Murray. Can you see them???  How bout a close up?
 
 
Classic photo bomb.  Hats off to those dudes.
 
Hope you enjoyed.  Till next time...
 
Thanks for reading.