Scooter Gennett Autograph Baseball

I picked up this autograph baseball of former Red Scooter Gennett last week for a really great price. The auto is from very early in his career but that's ok. I've been looking to add an autograph baseball of his for a while now and I couldn't pass up this ball for the price I paid for it. For those who might not know, Scooter is one of only twenty two Major League Baseball players, and the only Red, to hit four home runs in a game. He accomplished the feat on June 6, 2017 against St. Louis. He went 5-5 in the game with 4 home runs and 10 RBIs.

Another T206 For My Set Build

I've been some time since I've added a T206 card to my collection. For the longest time it seems like I've been sitting on needing nine cards to complete my T206 Cincinnati Reds team set. That changed this week when I found this Art Fromme Sovereign back on eBay. I'm glad to add this card to my collection not just because I needed Fromme, but this is another back I've been wanting to get and now I have one. I'd still like to track down a Cycle, Tolstoi, American Beauty and El Principe De Gales to add.

I Got a Rocket for Christmas!

Just before Christmas I was able to get a card I had always wanted as a kid, but never had the funds to acquire it back in the late 80s. When this card came up on eBay for a reasonable price I decided to finally pull the trigger and add it to my collection. Not sure if Roger will ever make it to Cooperstown, but I'm happy to now have a copy of this 1984 Fleer Update Roger Clemens rookie.

Sometimes it pays to lose

A few weeks back this card popped up on eBay for the first time in almost five years. After a week of bidding, I ultimately lost out on the card to another bidder. I was very disappointed I wasn't able to land this card since it's one of three 2011 Gypsy Queen autographs I need to complete the set (the other two being Aaron and Koufax). I thought for sure I would have to wait years again for another copy to show up on eBay; however, image my surprise when another copy appeared a week later for a Buy It Now price that was $75 less than what my final bid price was on the card I lost out on. I'm extremely happy to add this card to my 2011 Gypsy Queen set build. Hopefully this year I'll be able to add one of the other two cards to my collection. I'm still trying to decide if I want to pursue the autograph relic cards from this set that are numbered to 25 copies. Some of the players in that checklist have autographs in the standard autograph set (Frank Robinson, Roy Halliday, etc.) but there's some players that only appear in the autograph relic set that are future Hall of Famers that command a premium (Kershaw and Cabrera).  That would easily run me a few thousand dollars to put this set together and with other pre war Cincinnati Reds cards I'm trying to acquire, that would put a damper on chasing after those cards. 

Adding a White Whale to the Collection

I've always been a huge fan of 2015 Topps Strata. For the past decade I've been slowly acquiring the Shadowbox Signature set from this release. I still have seven more cards to track down for that set build. There was also another card in this release that I had hoped to acquire at some point, but with the print run being at only 25 copies I knew that it wouldn't be easily. Last month one finally showed up on eBay and I was able to land it for a decent price. Numbered 18/25, this 2015 Topps Strata Signature Patch of Joey Votto is now part of my collection and one of the best cards I own of Votto.

It's Not Fun Anymore

It's been a few months since I last posted to the blog. A lot has happened since then. I've been spending a lot of time finishing up some set needs on my wantlist. In fact, if things go as planned I'll be wrapping up three sets by the end of the year. All that being said, the hobby just isn't fun for me anymore. If Fanatics isn't acquiring a company or license on a given day then I can guarantee that Collector's Universe is acquiring a company on that day. I feel as though my choices are quickly becoming limited in every aspect of the hobby. I don't grade cards. I never have and I never will just because of the subjectivity that's involved in the whole process. I think it's literally a house of cards that's just waiting to collapse. There's an over saturation of graded cards out there and with stories of PSA changing grades to appease certain customers sets a bad precedent. But that's not what I'm here to complain about. There are, or I should say were, multiple outlets where I could purchase cards that now don't interest me that much. Comc use to be my go to site for purchasing singles. Apparently I missed the memo about them jacking up their shipping costs. I had a shipment of about 100 cards sent to me in April of this year for $5.99. Today I went to request a shipment of 98 cards and was dumbfounded to see that it was going to run me $19.99 for the CHEAPEST shipment which wouldn't be sent to me until February of next year. Needless to say, I'll be adding only a few more cards to this order and that will be the last time I purchase anything from Comc. Beckett Marketplace is another site that I frequent for purchasing cards but with Collector's Universe buying them, I'm sure it's only a matter of time before that site goes dark or the fees become so outrageous that it's not worth using. Finally with eBay, I refuse to bid on any cards anymore because of shill bidding. Like I said in the title, the hobby just isn't fun anymore. I'll probably keep using Sportlots to get cards for my collection, until they too are bought by Fanatics or Collector's Universe. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before this whole things implodes. The question for me is, will I still be participating in the hobby when that time comes.

2015 Reds Autograph Baseball

Here's the latest addition to my autograph collection, a 2015 Reds team signed Opening Day Major League Baseball. There are 16 signatures on this baseball: Bryan Price, Billy Hamilton, Todd Frazier, Jay Bruce, Joey Votto, Zach Cozart, JJ Hoover, Manny Parra, Chris Dominguez, Anthony DeSclafani, Ryan Mattheus, Burke Badenhop, Brennan Boesch, Mike Leake, Nate Adcock and one I can't figure out. I'm hoping I could eventually have Brandon Phillips, Aroldis Chapman, Johnny Cueto and Eugenio Suarez sign this ball.This is my ninth team autograph baseball and I have a team autograph baseball from the 1950s through the 2010s.