I Heart Relics!

Joe, this slap is for you...

Jacoby's Treasure Chest has been pre-empted today because of something of far greater importance. I cannot in good faith show you some lousy, worthless autograph pieces of junk, when I would much rather sing to you the praises of the greatest invention known to mankind...the relic card!

Relics cards are without a doubt the greatest innovation that this hobby has ever seen. Gimmicky? Not a chance! the relic card gives collectors of all ages the ability to own an actual piece of game-worn material from an actual major league baseball star. There is no greater feeling on earth than tearing into a pack of wax to find that "slightly thicker than normal" baseball card that reveals a limitless number of treasure opportunities.

Limitless indeed. Bat relics, warm-up jerseys, pants, all-star jerseys, home jerseys, away jerseys, dual jerseys, triple-threads, stadium seats, jerseys of people who sat in stadium seats holding bats...

There truly is no greater feeling than holding that tiny little square swatch, you can feel the fabric and imagining the player that wore it, and the amazing plays that took place with that jersey. And the jerseys are guaranteed game-worn! Game worn by that player? During an actual game? Who knows, but why should we ever question baseball card producers, after all they are out their to please us! My personal thoughts are that these relics are from each player's greatest game ever played, and that the card companies are just being modest by not telling us.

Just the name alone...relic...rolls off the tounge nicely.

rel·ic 
–noun
1. a surviving memorial of something past.
2. an object having interest by reason of its age or its association with the past: a museum of historic relics.
3. a surviving trace of something: a custom that is a relic of paganism.

A surviving memorial of something past....WOW! An actual piece of baseball lore displayed beautifully in the never dull, always creative baseball card housing case. The sacrifices made by card companies to fulfill our desires to own a piece of the past are monumental, and their efforts are much appreciated!

You might see relic cards go for unusually low prices on eBay. This is exactly how it should be as those who don't understand the values of owning a piece of history clearly are stepping aside for those that do. Quite frankly it makes me sick to my stomach knowing that so many beautiful masterpieces go unnoticed by "novice" collectors who clearly don't understand the significance of the relic cards. Makes me sick, I tell ya.

Many collectors value autographs over relics. AUTOGRAPHS?? Are you kidding me....AUTOGRAPHS? Playoffs?? Clearly only the uneducated collectors value ridiculous shiny stickers signed in massive quantities, in undecipherable scribbles, then slapped on a regular thickness, boring piece of cardboard. Smudges, smears, and fading abound, and as auto collectors fume at a faded 2007 Sweet Spot baseball, relic owners grin knowingly as they gently stoke their Kendry Morales home jersey polyester. So soft.

So what relics are the best to collect? Well, ALL OF THEM of course! Star players, prospects, burnouts, relics that spell words, relics shaped like stars, home plate, some bunny-looking rabbit thing (Bowman Heritage), or the Letter M (Goodwin Champions). I am actually not sure why the letter M, but I am fairly certain it stands for marvelous! Don't even get me going on relics with stripes or stitching, but if you are fortunate enough to pull one, penny sleeve it, topload it, screw it down and never let it out of your site. That baby is golden!

In closing, I have clearly chosen the wrong path since I started collecting. I have seen the error of my ways. Its not about the autographs, people, its about owning HISTORY. I thank the card companies and Michael Eisner for taking all of my money and making this dream a reality. Run out and get yerself some relics today!

...I am going to go throw up now.

Something horrible has happened!

Life has been rough. Two days of bachelor parenting have worn daddy down. Weather has gotten cold again, traffic has sucked, skies are gray...and the dark cherry Starbucks mocha has given me heartburn. It also looks like Buchholz will be on the outside looking in as Wakefield is once again pitching great (in the spring).

So as I sluff my way into the office (by the way, you know that scene from "Return of the King" where Gandalph and Merry look depressingly at Mordor and its growing darkness in the distance? I really need to take a picture of this for you, but just inside the front door of the office is this abstract painting that I SWEAR looks like the flat valley beneath the giant glowing land of Mordor. I SWEAR. Very depressing sight to see each morning.).

So I jump into my new Gmail account and there is a letter from Joe. "Awesome" I think, "let's talk some cards". Instead I get this...

Hey there Mike,

Thanks for the relic pack! That was mighty generous of you - I will now begin the payback process! What's funny is that the four sweet spot relics have all been in my COMC at some point in the past week. Good stuff.

So the first order of business in the payback process is....

SLAP!

Please enlighten us all as to why relics will hold their value better long-term than autographs.

Oh no! For those that followed the great 2010 Topps-o-Cuffs Rip-Off, Joe and I went head-to-head and the consequences for losing the contest was that the other blogger got to be slapped four times by the end of the year. That slap entitles the winner to force the loser to write a blog posting about anything...anything at all, and I have to do it.

Relics vs autos? Oh man, this is gunna be rough. Stay tuned..and pray for me.

"Dear God, make me a bird, so I can fly far, far away from here"

---Jenny, "Forrest Gump"

The weekend that was...

Lots of pretty pictures coming up! Part of the reason for lack of posting (or posting with scans) over the last couple of days is that JD and I have been bachelors while mom is away with some girlfriends. We did typical guy stuff, watched TV, tossed a ball around, went to the card shop and (thankfully) he slept through the night both evenings, which finally gave me a chance to jump on the scanner and get in some stuff.

I went into the card shop on Saturday to pick up some more 9 sleeves and talk some shop. I didn't feel like purchasing a whole box of anything and the only loose packs I thought about were Topps, but I have a bit of Topps-lash going lately, so right by the register I found a little product called Panini threads basketball.

Eh?

Basketball. Roundball. I actually do follow the sport to some extent, being a Blazer fan and the such. Did you hear that Joel Pryzbilla re-tore his leg muscle getting into the shower last weekend? Yup, been that kind of year up here in P-Town. Regardless, the product of discussion apparently allows for up to four autos or relics per 24 packs. I reached toward the middle left and grabbed four packs. Came away with two autos!

Legend Walt Frazier! This sweet card is numbered to 25 and features Baron Davis in short Knickerbocker shorts. Yikes.

While that was definitely an exciting pull, this card came in the third pack...

Sweet! A Brandon Jennings Auto Letterman patch. While the numbering is high on these babies, the cool thing is that this guy can BALL and is most likely your ROY. There is something more intimate about the black ink versus the silver ink on SP Authentic.

Sunday rolled around and the wife left town. I got the itch to rip a box while my son took his nap and also was in a buying mood after the Michael Phelps card sale went final. I opted for another box of SP Authentic because I wanted a couple more Letterman patches. These were a mixed bag...

Jay Bruce Almighty. See what I mean about the silver ink and the black ink? I like Bruce enough to enjoy this card, and the numbering is nice and low as well. I really like the color-scheme of the card as well...

Brett Anderson - Not really following the AL West much, but I am told Brett Anderson is an up-and-comer, which is a good thing because...

I pulled his regular auto as my third hit. Nice variety Topps. However, I do love my pitching phenoms, and if this guy breaks through then I will obviously change my tune in a hurry.

Here are some of the serial-numbered items if interested.

Reyes and Rodriguez are pretty sweet with the rainbow refractor numbering and foil going on. Not sweet for my collection, but maybe for yours!

If anything here jumps out at you, let me know!

State of the Blog Address

Howdy Howdy!

Well, gosh darn if the least entertaining thing to do after a small hiatus is to do an administrative blog, but one of the reasons that I have not put up a post in a few days is that a ton of stuff has gone on, and I literally cannot decide what to do first. So I figure the best starting point is to just spill out a bunch of bullet points for you. Enjoy!

• Abandon Ship! - First and foremost, Yahoo mail has gotten the best of me. When it comes to searching for a particular email for a trade offer or a mailing address, it has just gotten ridiculously out of control. I am getting way too much spam and yahoo has not been good about getting some mail to me in a timely manner, therefore....I have jumped ship and gone over to Gmail! Here is the action item: I have chosen not to transfer all of my contacts and emails over from Yahoo...I mean if I did that, then what is the point? If you frequent this blog and we have made trades and the such, can you please email my new Gmail address (in my contact info) with your name, and address so I can have your info at my fingertips for future trades?

• The Year of the Tek - For the last week or so, I have shaken my head at the increasingly growing number of hobby boxes that are piling up in the game room. Each time I say I am going to get it all organized, I go out and bust another box instead. I have 2010 Heritage, 2009 Unique, 2009 Topps High-Numbers, 2009 Goodwin, 2010 Topps Flagship, and various other sets at your disposal. I am either not collecting the set, or have a bunch of doubles, so please email me and let me know what you need and I am more than happy to oblige! My collection wants this year have narrowed down significantly. Here they be...

1) Red Sox - While I love all of my Red Sox, I can't make room for them all, therefore I have decided that the players that I value the most are Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia, Jon Lester, and Jason Varitek. I am pretty sentimental towards Tek this year because I think this is probably the end of the line. I am looking for any and all cards of these players.

2). 2009 Heritage High Numbers SP's - I was mortified when Beckett combined the pricing to reflect cards 1-720. I was so proud to have completed 1-500. I definitely want to finish this set for good, and I have MOST of what I need minus several SP's of course.

3). Topps Flagship inserts - This is essentially just to burn time until Ginter comes out. I like LL, Peak Performance, CYMTO, and the Toppstown Golds. Turkey Reds are cool, but I am pretty much happy with the old-timers for that set. If you are interested in any of the other subsets, just let me know. I also have some subset dubs if interested.

4). Which reminds me of another issue. I worked my butt off to get TR 1-100 last season only to have Topps screw me again with another 50 in the High Numbers. That's a rookie collector for ya. I won't make the same mistake this year, but I would love to sew up that set as well if anybody can help.

• Absence makes the brain grow foggier - I am hoping that the new email address helps me organize a bit better. I mean, after all, I did my Capstone Project on Google, so I should have known to switch a LONG TIME AGO to the new system. Anyways, as chaos reigns supreme in my life and emails get buried, so do trade discussions. If you are owed anything by me at this time, please email me and let me know (plus include your address!) and I will remedy that right quick!

Think that's all I can muster for the moment. I have had some interesting hits from products lately that I will get posted up tonight. Blogs are more fun with pictures, and some are coming soon! Thanks!