Shogo Akiyama Auto

I picked up this 2020 Topps Chrome Sapphire auto of Shogo Akiyama today off of eBay for a great price. I had been looking to add an auto of Akiyama to my collection since he was the Reds first Japanese ballplayer. He signed a three year $21 million dollar deal with the club back in 2020 but was released by the Reds in June of this past year. 

It Finally Appeared!

For 19 years I've been working on the 2003 Fleer Authentix baseball set. There were times when I thought about just giving up on this build and thinking to myself that I'll never be able to accomplish this task. Two cards have eluded me for years, but today I was finally able to nab one of them. Behold, the last card I needed to complete the base set....Chin-Feng Chen! This card popped up today on COMC and I couldn't purchase it fast enough. Not sure when I'll have the card in hand. Maybe I'll request a shipment from COMC before the end of the year. The only card remaining from this set that I need is the Hometown Heroes Johnny Damon relic card. Here's hoping it doesn't take another 19 years for one of those to surface.

Paul Janish Auto

Did you know that Paul is currently a coach on his alma mater Rice Owls? He played a total of three seasons for the Reds from his call up on May 14, 2008 through the 2011 season.

Gookie Dawkins Auto

I picked up this 2000 Fleer Showcase Gookie Dawkins auto for a few bucks last year on COMC. Did you know that Gookie won a gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games? He's currently the manager for the Daytona Tortugas.

Raisel Iglesias Auto

I picked up this 2018 Topps Finest Iglesias auto last year on COMC and just now posting about it. Did you know that Iglesias attempted to defect from Cuba in September 2013 but was caught. He was successful in November of that same year. Iglesias is currently with the Braves.

Lurking in the Shadows

As luck would have it, a few days after I acquired the Piazza and Thomas shadowbox cards this Freddie Freeman card appeared on eBay with a Buy it Now/Best Offer. I submitted a reasonable offer to the seller and he accepted. This is my 15th shadowbox signature card from 2015 Topps Strata and I'm now down to needing only 9 cards to complete the set.

It Pays to be Patient

 A year ago I saw a listing on eBay for a 2015 Topps Strata Frank Thomas Shadowbox Signature card for $250. At the time, I was tempted to purchase the card to add to my set Shadowbox set build but I decided to hold off until I took care of some of my other collecting goals first. Needless to say, I waited too long and the card ended up selling a few months later. I guess that was a good thing because last week another 2015 Topps Strata Shadowbox Frank Thomas popped up as well as a 2015 Topps Strata Shadowbox Mike Piazza COMBINED for less than that first Frank Thomas card I saw listed a year ago. Check them out!

With these two additions I'm down to just 10 more cards from this set build. The Ichiro is going to be the tough one to chase. Regardless, it's nice to add two Hall of Fame autographs to my collection