busting wax vs. ebay

so every time i look at iamjoecollect's site, i'm tempted to buy some wax. it does look fun and exciting, but when it comes down to it, i just can't pull the trigger. ebay is just far too enticing. i would much rather spend 8 bucks for the 2 autos that i actually want. its just too frustrating to spend $60 on a box to get 2 autos that i don't want. its not really a money thing either. sure, if i'm not going to get the cards i'm after, i'd rather get the good hits so i can recoup my money. i think i'll just stick to letting joe collector buy the boxes, and he can show me what he gets.

another recent ebay conquest

a nice 3 color patch of the new guys in the collection, hank blalock. i picked up this beauty for $3.75 shipped, or $1.25 per color.

before there was silk

one of the more interesting non-auto & non-game used inserts over the past couple years has been the unique topps silk line. they seem to be a hit with played collectors. its refreshing to see an insert line be so successful without using a sticker auto or a tiny piece of jersey, bat, base, or band aid.

however, this idea was alive and well over 12 years ago. 1997 leaf featured an insert called "dressed for success." though i've never seen one, this auction describes the card as a cloth card. it's also serial numbered. donruss was so ahead of the curve back in the day. does anybody have one of these cards?

a recent purchase of mine

this bad boy cost me $8.51 including the shipping. i was pretty happy to get it. it's not every day you see a patch card with this many colors on it. the seller listed it as a 4 color patch, but you can see that it's clearly a 5 color patch. count em: gray, black, white, red, and blue.

i started collecting hank this year after adrian gonzalez got off to a hot start. i had been collecting adrian for a couple years. it sucks being priced out of your player, but i'm not complaining too much. i did make about $130 selling 5 autos that i bought for maybe $16 with shipping. it's definitely funded my blalock collection. i now about 15 autos and 6 patches including the beauty to the right.

when i found the mo rivera card below, i decided to look at some other 1996 leaf signature series cards, and i stumbled across this card. though its not serial numbered, this gold version is supposed to be limited to 500 sets.

there doesn't seem to be to many thome certified autos around. the guys just gets no respect. i mean his power numbers are just incredible. yes, his career ran right through the heart of the steroids era, but he hasn't slowed down much since testing began, and his peaks come at what you would expect for his age at the time. 554 career probably clean home runs puts him in some pretty good company. he even has a shot at 600. any thome collectors out there?

a must for any pittsburgh fan

i was born to late to ever visit forbes field in pittsburgh, but i feel like i've been there before. my dad and uncles used to tell me tales of past superstars that played there: clemente, stargell, mazeroski, the waner brothers and pie traynor. but, they always made sure that they included josh gibson in the discussion of the greatest pittsburgh players. they told me how he was probably the real home run king, and that he, not babe ruth, was probably the greatest player ever.

now the card to the right of gibson is a little misleading. he is in his crawfords jersey. the crawfords were another nergo league team in pittsburgh at the time of the homestead grays. gibson actually played for both teams during his career, but it was the homestead grays that played their home games in forbes field not the crawfords.

i'll hold off on snagging this card for a few days just in case any other pittsburgh fans out there want to grab it.

mo gets no. 500

mariano rivera has had a remarkable career. last night he picked up save number 500 against the mets. what has been so incredible about that number is the fact that rivera has one pitch. he throws his famous cutter, and that is it. just sit back and digest that a bit. i mean he has consistently dominated big leagues with one pitch. this never happens. it doesn't matter if you throw a 105 mph heater. you won't make it very far if that's your only pitch. major league hitters are way to good to be dominated by one pitch, one speed. yet mo has established himself as the most reliable and dominate post season closer in history. oh and his regular season numbers aren't too shabby either.

so before you run out and drop another c-note on another prospect, give this card a look. it's from back in the day when getting a certified auto in a pack was a thrilling prospect.

back to mo's cutter. i think that's the one pitch i'd like to step in the batters box and try to hit. anyone else up for that?